I am, and I'm a hardline atheist. The past ten years have solidly convinced me that most people are not cut out for living without a religion - they'll say they don't have one then they'll fit something else into the same slot of their brain and we're no better off.
Worse off, in fact: I'd rather the competing mix of old standards each with established rules and power structures to this morass of new-and-crazy where everyone's looking for - or making - power vacuums to exploit.
At the height of the Evangelical moral panic power I used to make fun of them on accounts with my real name. Today there's an orthodoxy with a priesthood so powerful and a laity so rabid I dare not affix my real name to even mild criticism. If I'm ever found out I'll suffer consequences similar to excommunication at the height of the Dark Ages - not able to interact with others, not able to work, not able to engage in simple commerce. I've been made a member of a church I never signed up for and I will suffer like any other heretic if I botch a shibboleth.
So yeah, please come back Jehovah! I still don't believe in you but boy do I ever need you; you're way more mellow than your replacements.
I am, and I'm a hardline atheist. The past ten years have solidly convinced me that most people are not cut out for living without a religion
Even back in 2010, Dawkins himself stated that he'd come to think that Christianity was ultimately "a bulwark against something worse".
I agreed with him then (in his case, he was speaking about the weak response of secularists to Islamic terrorism), and I definitely agree with him now.
If you've ever talked with theist and they've asked you the question of how you as an atheist can possibly be trusted not to be a murdering raping theiving monster with no morals, or better yet, had them openly tell you that if were not for their belief that they would go to hell, they would be doing those things, then you've already glimpsed the animal lurking under the thin veneer of civilization.
It seems most people actively desire, if not outright require an authority figure to tell them what is right and wrong.
At the height of the Evangelical moral panic power I used to make fun of them on accounts with my real name. Today there's an orthodoxy with a priesthood so powerful and a laity so rabid I dare not affix my real name to even mild criticism.
If you've ever talked with theist and they've asked you the question of how you as an atheist can possibly be trusted not to be a murdering raping theiving monster with no morals, or better yet, had them openly tell you that if were not for their belief that they would go to hell, they would be doing those things, then you've already glimpsed the animal lurking under the thin veneer of civilization.
Our problem was thinking that was a handful of weirdos we just kept running into, and not sign of something bigger. Even as we simultaneously call humans chimpanzees in suits. Hindsight's 20/20, huh?
Even as we simultaneously call humans chimpanzees in suits
That's the funniest thing. We decided that human beings were ultimately just chimpanzees with slightly smarter tool use, but we completely neglected to consider what that ultimately meant about human behavior.
We didn't step back and ask ourselves why every group of humans on earth develops some kind of nonsensical cult with a authoritative priesthood to both enforce and selectively alter its jargon when necessary.
Even back in 2010, Dawkins himself stated that he'd come to think that Christianity was ultimately "a bulwark against something worse".
Dawkins may say that, but he doesn't act like he believes it to be true. He still publicly spars with the religious and mocks religious beliefs.
Someone who truly believed that Christianity was "a bulwark against something worse" would either defend that thing or at least stop attacking it in order to avoid the worse outcome. Instead he gives material support to those who want the worse outcome.
I love that he uses the same dismissive to opposing viewpoints attitude in both tweets. It's a big part of what makes these people so frustratingly annoying.
Yeah, they're atheists. If you remove religion, the only thing that keeps people in check is a tyrannical government. When you remove government, and there's no religion to fall back on, chaos takes over. It's the only reason America was ever possible to begin with, and the only reason it's now falling apart.
Early Americans were largely moral and religious, and saw government as overbearing and unnecessary. Their morality was rooted in their religion, so it was rather consistent and unchanging, while government is always pushed around by fads and fashions . Now that nobody is religious anymore, they're all crying for big government to step in a take control. They're emotional "spiritual" dingbats with no moral compass to guide themselves by, and government is no substitute.
Eh, they're slightly correct. More wild west hinterlands absent of military presence like Deadwood (not the show) than Mad Max.....Though most of that line of thinking comes from fear of self responsibility and god forbid they'd have to be armed instead of relying on the law enforcement, that they hate.
AKA mob rule with votes. I always tell people that a gang rape is a democracy and you got out voted, it's kinda funny seeing it "click" with statists and normies and they start asking other questions.
I feel like saying: Nigger the founding fathers didn't want you to vote for a reason, and for all the best years of this country, nonwhites and women couldn't. Universal suffrage as an American value is a Communist fabrication.
Christopher Hitchens called the Abrahamic concept of God "a celestial North Korea." But surely, a metaphorical totalitarian state is preferable to the physical totalitarian states that rise in its absence.
The problem is that we vaunted intellectuals lost the most basic thing of all: The theory of mind. You put a little kid in a room with a basket and a dresser, then have a man come in and hide a ball under the basket. Then have a woman come in and move the ball from the basket to the dresser. Then ask the kid where the man will go to look for the ball. The kid will say the dresser because he/she hasn't yet sussed out that other people aren't working with the same info.
The hell of it is, theory of mind covers a lot more than that. To use a computer metaphor, that basic example above is essentially about people not having the same data. Problem is, the software and the hardware platforms are also unique and we forgot (or never realized) that. Whatever part of us lets us keep running our code isn't standard loadout and if anyone without the right (or wrong) wiring who tries it is going to fuck it up. So we saw this whole godless trend exemplified by Internet Atheism and thought "Neat! More people like us!" when they really weren't. So we got blindsided by stuff like Atheism+ and the fuck-your-god-dad atheism that thinks Islam is juuuust fiiiine. And, irony of ironies, we're now in a Hell of our own devising.
My pastor sometimes makes references to "Intellectual Barbarians" who are smart people with very perverse hearts, and who don't care how much misery their executed ideas cause.
He also makes references to "Hot Tub Christianity" where people go to Church once a week for a feel-good seminar. They're taught not to worry about sin because not sinning is hard and they'll be forgiven anyways. In some extremes they're taught that God is more an idea than a supreme being who existed before mankind.
And also "Counterfeit Christians" who claim to be Christian but don't put God first in their lives. I tell you it's especially hard to love my neighbors these days, but it's a commandment I must follow. Not because "it makes me feel good" or because "I should be a decent human being;" but because Jesus commanded it; and He did not stutter. (If you look at my post history you'll see I'm bad at keeping it, but I'm trying).
I honestly believe that this country would be different and a lot more souls would be saved if there weren't so many Hot Tub and Counterfeit Christians out there.
I am, and I'm a hardline atheist. The past ten years have solidly convinced me that most people are not cut out for living without a religion - they'll say they don't have one then they'll fit something else into the same slot of their brain and we're no better off.
Worse off, in fact: I'd rather the competing mix of old standards each with established rules and power structures to this morass of new-and-crazy where everyone's looking for - or making - power vacuums to exploit.
At the height of the Evangelical moral panic power I used to make fun of them on accounts with my real name. Today there's an orthodoxy with a priesthood so powerful and a laity so rabid I dare not affix my real name to even mild criticism. If I'm ever found out I'll suffer consequences similar to excommunication at the height of the Dark Ages - not able to interact with others, not able to work, not able to engage in simple commerce. I've been made a member of a church I never signed up for and I will suffer like any other heretic if I botch a shibboleth.
So yeah, please come back Jehovah! I still don't believe in you but boy do I ever need you; you're way more mellow than your replacements.
Even back in 2010, Dawkins himself stated that he'd come to think that Christianity was ultimately "a bulwark against something worse".
I agreed with him then (in his case, he was speaking about the weak response of secularists to Islamic terrorism), and I definitely agree with him now.
If you've ever talked with theist and they've asked you the question of how you as an atheist can possibly be trusted not to be a murdering raping theiving monster with no morals, or better yet, had them openly tell you that if were not for their belief that they would go to hell, they would be doing those things, then you've already glimpsed the animal lurking under the thin veneer of civilization.
It seems most people actively desire, if not outright require an authority figure to tell them what is right and wrong.
Same. This is an utterly undeniable truth.
Our problem was thinking that was a handful of weirdos we just kept running into, and not sign of something bigger. Even as we simultaneously call humans chimpanzees in suits. Hindsight's 20/20, huh?
That's the funniest thing. We decided that human beings were ultimately just chimpanzees with slightly smarter tool use, but we completely neglected to consider what that ultimately meant about human behavior.
We didn't step back and ask ourselves why every group of humans on earth develops some kind of nonsensical cult with a authoritative priesthood to both enforce and selectively alter its jargon when necessary.
Dawkins may say that, but he doesn't act like he believes it to be true. He still publicly spars with the religious and mocks religious beliefs.
Someone who truly believed that Christianity was "a bulwark against something worse" would either defend that thing or at least stop attacking it in order to avoid the worse outcome. Instead he gives material support to those who want the worse outcome.
He's a senile old man at this point. Has been ever since his stroke.
He's never going to change his ways now, no matter what.
He's had occasional bouts of lucidity, but they are few and far between.
I love that he uses the same dismissive to opposing viewpoints attitude in both tweets. It's a big part of what makes these people so frustratingly annoying.
I've chatted with a lot of professors who believe society would be mad max without governments.
Yeah, they're atheists. If you remove religion, the only thing that keeps people in check is a tyrannical government. When you remove government, and there's no religion to fall back on, chaos takes over. It's the only reason America was ever possible to begin with, and the only reason it's now falling apart.
Early Americans were largely moral and religious, and saw government as overbearing and unnecessary. Their morality was rooted in their religion, so it was rather consistent and unchanging, while government is always pushed around by fads and fashions . Now that nobody is religious anymore, they're all crying for big government to step in a take control. They're emotional "spiritual" dingbats with no moral compass to guide themselves by, and government is no substitute.
Eh, they're slightly correct. More wild west hinterlands absent of military presence like Deadwood (not the show) than Mad Max.....Though most of that line of thinking comes from fear of self responsibility and god forbid they'd have to be armed instead of relying on the law enforcement, that they hate.
Unrelated, but I dig your username!
Don't forget "Democracy"
AKA mob rule with votes. I always tell people that a gang rape is a democracy and you got out voted, it's kinda funny seeing it "click" with statists and normies and they start asking other questions.
I feel like saying: Nigger the founding fathers didn't want you to vote for a reason, and for all the best years of this country, nonwhites and women couldn't. Universal suffrage as an American value is a Communist fabrication.
We must protect Gaia the Earthmother!
Christopher Hitchens called the Abrahamic concept of God "a celestial North Korea." But surely, a metaphorical totalitarian state is preferable to the physical totalitarian states that rise in its absence.
The problem is that we vaunted intellectuals lost the most basic thing of all: The theory of mind. You put a little kid in a room with a basket and a dresser, then have a man come in and hide a ball under the basket. Then have a woman come in and move the ball from the basket to the dresser. Then ask the kid where the man will go to look for the ball. The kid will say the dresser because he/she hasn't yet sussed out that other people aren't working with the same info.
The hell of it is, theory of mind covers a lot more than that. To use a computer metaphor, that basic example above is essentially about people not having the same data. Problem is, the software and the hardware platforms are also unique and we forgot (or never realized) that. Whatever part of us lets us keep running our code isn't standard loadout and if anyone without the right (or wrong) wiring who tries it is going to fuck it up. So we saw this whole godless trend exemplified by Internet Atheism and thought "Neat! More people like us!" when they really weren't. So we got blindsided by stuff like Atheism+ and the fuck-your-god-dad atheism that thinks Islam is juuuust fiiiine. And, irony of ironies, we're now in a Hell of our own devising.
My pastor sometimes makes references to "Intellectual Barbarians" who are smart people with very perverse hearts, and who don't care how much misery their executed ideas cause.
He also makes references to "Hot Tub Christianity" where people go to Church once a week for a feel-good seminar. They're taught not to worry about sin because not sinning is hard and they'll be forgiven anyways. In some extremes they're taught that God is more an idea than a supreme being who existed before mankind.
And also "Counterfeit Christians" who claim to be Christian but don't put God first in their lives. I tell you it's especially hard to love my neighbors these days, but it's a commandment I must follow. Not because "it makes me feel good" or because "I should be a decent human being;" but because Jesus commanded it; and He did not stutter. (If you look at my post history you'll see I'm bad at keeping it, but I'm trying).
I honestly believe that this country would be different and a lot more souls would be saved if there weren't so many Hot Tub and Counterfeit Christians out there.
Trust me, Jesus would not be loving these degenerates.
So Joel Osteen and the normie right.
I'm also an atheist and I completely agree.
I never thought I'd say that even just 10 years ago but here we are.
This is one of the best comments I’ve ever read. Completely encapsulates how I feel in a very articulate way. Hats off to you.