Category: Faith

The Age of Doubt

Cults / Musings / Politics / Social media issues / What I'm Reading Now3 Comments

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was the age of scientific advancement; it was the age of flat-earthers and chemtrail fanatics. It was the age of medical discoveries; it was the age of anti-vaxxers and homeopaths. It was the age of information; it was the age of Qanon conspiracies and creationists. It was the age of liberal democracies; it was the age of rising fascism. It was the age of technology; it was the age of 5G paranoia. It was the age of reason; it was the age of fundamentalist religions. It was … click below for more ↓

The Troubling Lack of Empathy Among Conservatives

MAGA cultists / Psychology & Sociology / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / What I'm Reading Now9 Comments

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Empathy is a nasty word to conservatives. Elon Musk recently showed his contempt for the very notion of considering another’s feelings, calling it “civilizational suicidal empathy.” And then, to make sure everyone knew his views, the technocrat added in an interview with fellow rightwing MAGA cultist Joe Rogan, “The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy, the empathy exploit.” Which means he sees empathy as a weakness he can exploit. Information-warfare.com noted, “Musk’s perspective on empathy aligns with certain ideological frameworks, particularly technocracy and the Dark Enlightenment [DE] movement. These ideologies do not prioritize empathy as a guiding principle but … click below for more ↓

What if Julian Jaynes Was Right?

Evangelicals / MAGA cultists / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / US PoliticsOne Comment

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In 1977, Princeton University psychologist Julian Jaynes published his controversial book, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Hardly a title that should have captured the public imagination, but it managed to create a stir in the media, among Jaynes’ peers, as well as among other scientists. And, surprisingly for an academic work, it sold out its first printing. It went through new printings in 1990, 1993, and 2000. It was criticized, attacked, and debunked at the time, but also praised, debated and discussed. It still is, albeit not with the same vigour that attended its … click below for more ↓

Atheists Beware: Trump Will Come For You, Too

Atheism & Spirituality / Trump fascism / US Politics5 Comments

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While women and immigrants will initially be the main target of the Talibangelists in the upcoming Trump theocracy, they will not be the only victims of Trumpist repression. Among the many targets of his vindictive agenda of vengeance and punishment will be both believers of other faiths and non-believers. Perhaps the main difference in treatment will be that women will be repressed, their rights and careers taken away, and expected to be baby factories, while others will be arrested, put into camps, jailed, and in many cases deported. The extremist pseudo-Christians Trump appoints to positions of power and authority will … click below for more ↓

Imagine There’s No Heaven…

MAGA cultists / Politics / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / Theocracy / US Politics3 Comments

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The title above is how Imagine, the iconic 1971 song by John Lennon, begins. It is still being played and sung, more than 50 years later. Wikipedia tells us it is “one of the 100 most performed songs of the 20th century.” The song was re-released as a single in 1980 following Lennon’s murder, reaching number one on the UK charts. It was re-released in 1988 and again in 1999. For some listeners, myself included, that first verse was an opening to an atheist anthem to sing aloud: Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below … click below for more ↓

Christofascists Make Their Move in Oklahoma

MAGA cultists / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / US PoliticsOne Comment

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The MAGA pseudo-Christians in the USA have recently been making bold moves toward implementing their oppressive theocracy and making Gilead a reality in their states. Louisiana required one of the two biblical Ten Commandments to be posted in every classroom (albeit without identifying which of the two even though they have significant differences). Now Oklahoma has decreed that “all schools must incorporate the Bible and the Ten Commandments in curriculums.” No one is surprised that when ranking education in the 50 states, these are always rated among the lowest: in recent scores Oklahoma ranks 49th in K-12 and Louisiana 40th. … click below for more ↓

Donald Trump and the Art of Victimhood

Christianity / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / US Politics6 Comments

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Persecution. It’s a deeply-ingrained core component of the myth of Christian history, and well-weaponized in modern times by rightwing politicians who depend on the support from both the faithful and the pseudo-Christian Talibangelists. We’re under attack, they claim, justifying their own attacks on other faiths and non-believers. They use the imagined threat of persecution against Christians to justify book banning and book burning, forced prayer in schools, cuts to education, closing libraries, cuts to healthcare, bans on same-sex marriage, and restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. Their legislators implement repressive and oppressive measures to “save” their faith from secularists, liberals, scientists, … click below for more ↓

The Rise of the New Fascists and Their Threat to Democracy

Canadian Politics / International politics / Politics / Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / US Politics12 Comments

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I wonder if this was how my father felt in England, watching the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1920s and ’30s. By the time of my father’s 20th birthday, Mussolini had already secured his one-party-state in Italy; Hitler was elected and appointed chancellor. He would do the same in Germany within six months. While these two tightened their authoritarian hold on their nations, Stalin in the USSR would begin his Great Purge, and Franco would join the coup that led him to fascist power in Spain. Argentina went through a rightwing, military-backed coup in the 1930s. A far-right … click below for more ↓

Making Gilead a Reality

Rightwing claptrap / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / US Politics4 Comments

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American Talibangelists recently took a giant step towards creating Gilead in the USA when the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were due the same legal protection as real children (although children there have less protection because Repugnicans care little about actual children than embryos). It extended the the legal definition of a human life to start at conception.* This 131-page ruling includes 41 references to god, flipping the bird to even lip service to the separation of state and church. And so the Talibangelists moved Gilead closer to reality.** Rightwing Canadians and PoiLIEvre supporters are watching closely to … click below for more ↓

How Low Can You Go?

Faith2 Comments

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A Gallup poll released last summer suggested Americans are finally waking up to reality, although clearly they still have a long way to go. An article about this hopeful change in American thinking on Gallup’s website was titled, Belief in Five Spiritual Entities Edges Down to New Lows. Exciting as that headline seems, the figures showing belief in the supernatural are still way too high for a supposedly modern, advanced nation. And never forget that the Talibangelists still have a chokehold on US politics and when they are in power, they use that force to compel their form of religious … click below for more ↓

Musings on Atheism, Belief, and Statues

Atheism & Spirituality / Critical Thinking / Culture wars / Religious intolerance2 Comments

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The website godchecker.com lists roughly 4,000 “weird and wonderful Gods, Supreme Beings, Demons, Spirits and Fabulous Beasts” which have been worshipped since the beginning of recorded history. Many are still being worshipped.  It’s quite an amusing and exhaustive collection of deities, demons, and demigods like saints. All gods and demons are, at least to me, weird, albeit not wonderful except as expressions of our limitless imaginations. Ditto with the rest of the supernatural baggage that comes with deities: reincarnation, ghosts, angels, an afterlife, souls, saints, and miracles.* Seeing these lengthy lists of gods and their underlings underscores the point made … click below for more ↓

Musings on the Post-Xmas Days

Atheism & Spirituality / Christianity / Culture / Culture wars / Festivals & EventsLeave a comment

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I am glad to have reached the first week in January of 2024 without telling a lot of people to simply fuck off and leave me alone during the past month. The urge is, I’m afraid, great and growing stronger every year. The Xmas season does that to me, beginning as it does in early September, when Canadian Tire and other box stores start putting Xmas lights and decorations on display for sale. The selling season continues through the late fall when suddenly every radio station, box store, and most retail outlets seem to play the same, endless loops of … click below for more ↓

Why Jesus Won’t Answer Your Prayers

Books about books / Christianity / Language & Grammar / Meaning of words / Words & etymology2 Comments

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Christians pray to Jesus, but get no reply. They pray to Jesus for parking spaces closer to the mall, to win the lottery, to make their boss disappear, to lose weight, to restore Donald Trump to his lost presidency, for their kids to win the little league game, for better business sales, and other really important stuff. And yet nothing ever happens. But would you respond if someone called you by another name? If your name was, say, Bob, or Sara, would you respond if someone called you Dobbie? Or Parat? Because that’s what’s happening when people pray to Jesus.* … click below for more ↓

That Fake War on Xmas

Atheism & Spirituality / Christianity / Cults / Culture / Culture wars / Faith / Pop CultureOne Comment

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In my part of Canada the “war on Xmas” begins in September when some local box stores start putting Xmas ornaments and decorations out, sometimes just after Labour Day. By mid-October there are whole store sections dedicated to pushing gaudy, offshore-made, increasingly tacky lights and displays. Then the canned Xmas music starts infecting shoppers through tinny ceiling speakers. Xmas tree lots spring up in mall parking lots. It’s a cultural virus being spread among us. The Resistance (aka me) comes forward to bravely ignore these increasingly strident blandishments. We refuse to purchase any of their wares until at least Remembrance … click below for more ↓

Biblical Commandments the Pseudo-Christians Avoid

Politics / Talibangelists and pseudo-Christians / US PoliticsOne Comment

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The Talibangelists (aka the Christofascists) like those on the Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) or in the anti-abortion movement like to pretend they base their decisions, their politics, their morality, their education, their lives on their bible. But as we’ve seen so many times; they don’t like to follow everything in their bible. Christofascists only quote very selective passages that confirm their existing beliefs and can be used to promote their totalitarian ideology. There are too many inconvenient biblical commandments that would get in the way of their intended theocratic, misogynist, and racist state. For example. look at the … click below for more ↓

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