No matter what some others might say, I’ll remain a skeptic.

I’ve been writing about this for a while now and especially in the last couple of days attempting to point out the absurdity of criticism that we receive from a small group that just seem to be angry that the remainder of the community will not buy into their dogma.

Think about this for a moment; when you have to go to the extent of coining a new term for those that just ask that when you make an extraordinary claim, to present evidence to back that claim up.

So instead, some hide behind a made-up word. You can’t ask someone for proof of their claims of sexism or misogyny in skepticism because, well, they have none. It’s okay to ask for proof of Bigfoot, or UFO’s; questions about sexism in the community? Unfair!

The skeptic community is full of sexists. Prove it. Show me the evidence. Skeptics are anti-woman. Really? Show me your evidence. No. They won’t. Of course, when you or I state something not on the approved list of acceptable topics, they always shout, “citation needed”. Citations are then provided. Run away while shouting “hyperskeptic”.

I really didn’t see this coming until after the infamous “elevatorgate” incident which was, in my opinion, blown way out of proportion. This one 30 second or so statement on a video ended up becoming a cry of sexism and misogyny in the community. It may have been coming for years though and many of us were oblivious to that fact.

Of course after this laughable incident, I recall seeing a post by someone, it may have been at Skepchick, stating that they knew there were bad people in the skeptic community. There is a list of speakers (men) invited to events that they know are harassers.

This list, of course is only known to a few of the faithful. We, the great unwashed, are not allowed to know who’s on that list. If you didn’t get it, this is their “proof” of sexism.

A whisper campaign against some people that they dislike because – can you believe it? – these people don’t actually buy into everything this group wants them to accept.

A whisper campaign. Unproven accusations of (recently) sociopathy, and in the past of harassment, sexual assault, even rape. These are the tactics used attempting to silence their adversaries. Actually, I’m glad some of these have disowned skepticism. We don’t need them. We don’t want them.

Let’s not let them have their way.