Social justice warriors, ie, the #SJW, also can lie — and do, apparently

Which of these two receipts is the authentic one?
Screen capture via NBC4/New York

I've said more than once that being an atheist is no guarantor of moral superiority, or of intellectual superiority or critical thinking skills.

I apply this especially to the so-called Gnu Atheists, the more stridenly evangelistic atheists, or, if you will, the more fundamentalist atheists.

Well, this may apply also to the younger-age subset/offshoot of Gnu Atheism, the Atheism Plus movement. Per the header, this offshoot has identified itself with being activist on social justice issues, activist to the point of saying that live (as well as dead) white males, especially heterosexual ones, too often speak from a "privilege" point of view.

Well, Gnu Atheists and Atheism Plusers have not been the only one decrying conservative Christians stiffing restaurant wait staff of tips because they were gay, looked gay or whatever. But, they've been in the forefront of this.

So, couldn't a wait staff person just be human enough to be tempted to fake getting stiffed on a tip?

I say yes, and, I say, as a New Jersey restaurant incident reaches a new brouhaha, one wait staff person was just that human — or, more bluntly, apparently just that dishonest.

Would it be that hard to do this? I don't think so, if you'll follow me in looking at the dueling receipts.

I believe it's common for merchants to keep a copy of the pre-tip credit card receipt. It would then be easy for the server to write a message on it. Think about it. Does any restaurant you go to print out a second receipt, with the tip printed out in computer font, after you write in the tip amount and total in pen, and sign? No restaurant I have been at does that. So, it would be easy for Dayna Morales, or an accomplice, to alter the original merchant's copy.

Second, the writing. A signature is pretty short, and thus comparisons between it and the note written on the merchant's copy aren't a good comparison. But, at least, I'd say that's not an exact match.

And, on second look, the double 5s on the 93.55 on the merchant copy look like they're from a  different hand than the 111.55 on the customer copy.

I've no idea if, in advance, Ms. Morales knew she would get as much monetary sympathy as she did. But, she's apparently getting a few dinero. She says she's donated part of it to the Wounded Warrior Project, but doesn't say what the total is, and what percentage she's donating.

In any case, the mainstream media is catching up with this line of thought. The New York Daily News is reporting Morales may have forged the receipt. 

More yet on a third link. The wife is saying she couldn't have made the slash in the waitress' receipt version because she's left-handed, among other things. If so, that would explain the different top bars on the 5s.

And, here's the clincher. Morales is apparently a serial fraud, who lied about serving in Afghanistan, having cancer, or suffering Superstorm Sandy property damage. More details at the original newspaper story link. (Please, folks, don't boycott the restaurant because of Morales.)

Meanwhile, here's the family's statement, from the first link:

The husband said he and his wife have both worked in restaurants and believe in the value of tipping, and noted that he didn't vote for Gov. Chris Christie because the governor doesn't support gay marriage.

As for why a family that says it doesn't care for for gay issues would want to make an issue about it? It's simple. It's about honesty and integrity, not just as individuals, but as a representation of what they hold forth as their Christian values. Atheists in general, and social justice warriors of various types, don't win points by supporting a possible fraud.

That said, this isn't the only recent example of Gnu Atheists showing some sort of ethical skeevyness. As Dan Fincke notes, American Atheists is basically being assholes to score cheap Gnu Atheist brownie points over excoriating the religious response to relief for Filipino victims of Typhoon Haiyan. It's then doubled down on the asininity, per Fincke, by growling in outrage over people calling the group exploitative.

And, this is the second time in a week for something like that. We previously had FFRF distorting all that we know about Lincoln's religious history, and what we know he said at Gettysburg, vs. pre-address handwritten versions of his speech.

Again, per a blog tag here, it's "pulling a Chris Mooney." Everybody engages in some degree of "motivated reasoning," at least some of the time. Perhaps that is part of my angst about Gnu Atheism.

And, having posted this blog into an open group (therefore I'm not violating my social media privacy standards) on Facebook, I see the motivated reasoning continue to come. One person has asked if the family dining out couldn't have faked the receipt, including photoshopping. Oh, I'm sure they "could have." I'm also sure Capricorn 21 "could have" been correct and we never actually landed on the moon. 

And now, as of Dec. 1, the SJWs have been punked by McGill University! By nice, polite Canadians!