On February 22, reporters from BuzzFeed published a libelous story defaming me specifically, and by association the skeptical and atheist community in general... It has been very hard to remain silent thus far as my integrity and the integrity of the academic and skeptical communities, which I care about deeply, have been impugned.

Better, the major secular groups have taken public action. The American Humanist Association removed Krauss from their speaker pool and are reviewing a past Humanist of the Year Award given to him, with an eye to deciding whether to rescind it. They also issued a commendably strong statement:

“It’s deeply disappointing when someone we’ve honored, and who regularly speaks to the world representing humanists everywhere, fails to meet our expectations. When a prominent humanist’s commitment to reason, compassion, and egalitarianism appears to be fundamentally compromised by his or her behavior, we must act on our disappointment to ensure that the world understands humanists at large don’t condone such misconduct,” said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation, citing “well-documented allegations of sexual misconduct”, has removed Krauss from their honorary board. (Krauss’ wife Nancy Dahl popped up in that thread to defend him, with her usual vitriol – with the highly ironic result of motivating another woman who hadn’t come forward to contact BuzzFeed with her own account of Krauss’ misbehavior.)

The Center for Inquiry also said they were suspending their association with Krauss. I admit this surprised me a little. Of the big secular groups, they had the closest ties to Krauss, especially through their subsidiary, the Richard Dawkins Foundation. As I’ve noted previously, CFI’s leadership has a history of hostility to feminism, and one of the incidents BuzzFeed reported on took place on a CFI cruise. It would be nice if they’d examine their own complicity; but the fact that they’ve said anything at all is noteworthy.

Atheism makes me happy because it gives me permission not to believe in something I just fundamentally don’t believe and haven’t since I was really really young. It is peace. But I think for some of atheism’s most shit-for-brains members, it’s a belief system that’s really bound up in ego and having something to lord over other people. Ultimately I think that’s its appeal for a loud minority, which is extraordinarily unfortunate.

I will no longer be interviewing women who have left religion, since I cannot in good conscience refer them to the atheist community, where they could find support... All the resources are tainted with connections to the top tier of misogynist, sexist men.

I got to see Mandisa Lateefah Thomas (founder/director of Black Nonbelievers) again, and she gave a killer talk on Saturday called Who Says Community is Dead? reminding everyone how incredibly important community is, and how standards for appropriate behavior within that community are not only permissible but critical to avoid pushing out good people by holding onto the trolls.

I’m still an activist, but after nearly a decade of active participation in online atheism (a loose community of forums, blogs, YouTube channels, and fandoms of figures like evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and writer Sam Harris), I mostly stepped away from the online side of atheism a few years ago. One of the biggest reasons for this was my growing concern over its failure to adequately address some of its darker currents—such as overt sexism, racism, and anti-Muslim bias.

Countless people I’ve spoken with over the years describe finding the movement through atheism’s frequently trafficked blogs and forums, just as I did. And there are of course valuable aspects of atheism’s strong online presence. Atheists who aren’t open about their beliefs—especially those living in totalitarian or ultraconservative environments where it isn’t safe to be open—can find resources that help them connect with likeminded peers, or simply feel less alone. Online forums and organizations like the Clergy Project, which offers anonymous support to religious clergy who no longer believe, positively impact people’s lives.

But there’s a toxic side to internet atheism. For years, women and people of color have repeatedly voiced how atheist websites, organizations, and public figures ignore their concerns and tolerate—or even actively contribute to—an environment that makes them feel unsafe and unwelcome, particularly online.

Given these concerns, it’s not surprising that areas of online atheism increasingly seem to be overlapping with the alt-right.