A few skeptical thoughts about Tim Cook of Apple "coming out"

Photograph by Ashley Gilbertson for Bloomberg Businessweek

Last week, Apple CEO Tim Cook made national headlines by publicly "coming out" that he was gay.

Let's start with this statement:

So let me be clear: I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.

This would be whose god? The god of conservative versions of the world's three monotheisms, whose members think that gayness is some sort of sin?

The god of liberal versions of those monotheisms, whose Santa-kind lovingness is powerless, I guess, to keep believers in conservative versions of those monotheisms from being hateful?

And, that's part of what's wrong with the mush god of liberal monotheism.

And, if gayness is a "gift," then so is straightness, right?

That's at the heart of the statement on Facebook (and Twitter) by philosopher Peter Boghossian:

I've never understood how someone could be proud of being gay. How can one be proud of something one didn't work for?

It's not PC, but it's true IF one has a certain definition of pride. And, in that case, why not "straight pride"?

Even if "gay pride" is in one's status, and not in achievements to become gay, then why is "straight pride" wrong, especially if it includes surviving in today's world of social justice warrior slings and arrows?

This gets back to another criticism of mine of social justice warriors, namely that "no one knows the misery they've seen." The martyrdom hand to back of forehead, etc.

Of course, the social justice warriors are all agog over this statement. I saw this being tut-tutted over by Gnu Atheist SJW Greta Christina, because a Facebook friend had commented on Christina's Facebook post about her blog post. Sorry, even with the ability to put a "no follow" in the HTML, out of principle, I try not to link to hardcore SJWs except when really necessary.

But onward, because I'm nowhere near done with Cook yet. He later says:

Being gay has given me a deeper understanding of what it means to be in the minority and provided a window into the challenges that people in other minority groups deal with every day. It’s made me more empathetic, which has led to a richer life.

Really? So, there's a "gift of gayness"?

Erm, wrong!

I've said time and time again that being an atheist is no guarantor of intellectual superiority or better critical thinking skills. I guess I will now have to add that being gay or lesbian is no guarantor of superior empathy or emotional depth.

Need I mention that paragon of gay emotional sensitivity J. Edgar Hoover?

Anyway, I'm moving on from skeptical thoughts to cynical ones.

Cook notes that people at Apple have known this for years. So, why "come out" now? After all, gay marriage is legal in California. Beyond that, how hard is it, really, to "come out" when you're the CEO of the company? Doubling down on that, how hard is it, really, to "come out" when you're the CEO of a tech company in Silicon Valley?

And, that photo? Is it merely coincidence that there's a sundog in a position to almost give Cook a secular, nay a gay-pride rainbow, version of a halo?

Since Ashley Gilbertson does NOT work for Bloomberg, but for a photo agency, survey (of one) says: Not a coincidence. If you're a professional photographer of that level, something like that doesn't happen by accident.

Per a mobile Net joke, I could say, "There's an app for that," but of course, that would be a cheap and tawdry joke.

Besides, to be non-jokingly cynical, with the CEO of a company with post-Steve Jobs stock price turbulence, etc., there actually may be an app for that. And, an Apple product for that.

Apple Gaydar, on sale soon at your nearest Apple store.

And, I am hoping this gets read enough for SJWs to go agog over that statement, too.