I find myself in a pickle.
I have a MySpace account (a few, actually, if you count the fake ones for the fake bands I and a friend of mine made up and pretend to promote). However, it turns out that the Powers That Be over at MySpace are religious bigots. The forum “Atheist and Agnostic Group” was deleted by MySpace in response to a campaign by Christians on the site. MySpace deleted the group for the first time two years ago, but reinstated it. For some reason they did it again at the beginning of the month, and now they refuse to bring it back. Contrast that with MySpace’s response to the hacking of the largest Christian group on the site: MySpace Founder Tom Anderson personally restored the group, and promised to protect it from future deletions. I suppose this shouldn’t be a huge surprise, since Rupert Murdoch bought MySpace back in 2005.
Here’s the thing: I like my MySpace profile. I tracked down people I haven’t spoken to in years through it. I like the fact that it is customizable. I like being able to spread the word about upcoming theater projects and whatnot. But I cannot help but view this as an attack on my freedom of speech and religion. I might have to delete my account, just out of principle.
PZ Myers and New Humanist are also asking what the proper response should be. I’m certainly open to suggestions.
Youch! That’s assy.
It’s a tough call. If you’ll feel like a tool for staying, I’d say cut the cord. But as a protest it probably won’t mean much to them without some organized million atheist walkout that gets their advertisers in a tizzy.
I suppose at the heart of it, MySpace fears the organized nature of Christians over the organized nature of Atheists. I seriously think Rupert Murdoch simply blows with the prevailing winds. Maybe this is a good opportunity for Atheists to flex their big muscles as an organized group. I think the perception is still that Atheists aren’t an organized group. It would be all the buzz on Digg.com right alongside that “Anonymous” group that’s taking on Scientology (That’s a pretty cool story, if you’re following that).
*sigh* But it is telling. MySpace doesn’t respect the ideology or the folks who follow it. And they don’t fear you either. That should probably change.
Lately I’ve been thinking about fear as a way to get our businesses and politicians to stay in line. Not mortal fear. Just some sort of constant anxiety about what the general populous might do. The Christian Right really have that schtick down. They must be studied. STUDIED.
Whoa dude. That’s freaky. I musta REALLY meant what I said.