Christians have spent centuries conditioning a knee-jerk fear of atheism. All while keeping people blissfully oblivious to what Christians, acting in the name of Christianity, have done to their fellow humans. This massively screwed up world is, to no small extent, the work product of believers. When people become convinced they're operating under divine sanction, they're capable of excusing almost any horror.
It’s unconstitutional for a humanist group to receive government money in order to provide protection and support to humanists in dangerous parts of the world, but perfectly reasonable for a catholic school to get government money taken from public schools to openly teach their religious doctrine to American children who may not have any other option for school. And that’s religious freedom to these dickheads.
People are literally dying because they don’t believe in these assholes’ gods, but it’s anti-Christian to interfere. What could that possibly mean? That it is the foundation of Christianity to murder people for not believing. But you just can’t say that out loud nowadays.
OT- Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, the two legislators who were expelled from the Tennessee state house by butthurt racist Republicans, have now officially been elected back to their seats:
First, let's finally dispense with the term "Republican" Party. They don't want a republic, they want either an oligarchic dictatorship with theocratic features, or a theocratic dictatorship with oligarchic features. Their money fanatics and their god fanatics will slit each others' throats until one version prevails, but either one will still be the same bloody nightmare for everybody.
So let's refer to the two parties as the Democratic Party and the DEMAGOGIC Party.
The Demagogues have always needed boogeymen and scapegoats: Boogeymen to scare their base into giving them more power, and scapegoats on whom to blame their failures.
They've gone through a long list of targets for these two categories: The Holocaust pretty much spoiled their being able to use the Jews for a few generations, although that's creeping back. Communists were the villains du jour in the 50s and 60s, but since the fall of the Soviet Union, that's lost its scary edge. Since then they've used Black people, Hispanic people, Muslims, and asians with diminishing effectiveness, and they've worn out using gay and lesbian people because the younger generation see through that bullshit. Recently, they've fixated on trans people and drag queens as the combination boogeymen and scapegoats, but that's already beginning to show signs of going stale too.
So who's next to be the Demagogic Party's boogeymen and scapegoats?
Atheists.
Very often a target group gets the bull's eye on their backs because it's in ascendency, and atheists are certainly that nowadays. Their accelerating growth in the U.S. and abroad is scaring the religion industry, so we'll be the ones getting the accusations of evil intent, and the blame for the Demagogues' failures.
Stay alert, stay calm, stay rational, stay in touch, don't fall for their or anyone else's scare tactics, and consider taking self-defense classes just as part of a healthy lifestyle.
"He’s using a misleading right-wing talking point to tarnish two organizations that are actually advancing our nation’s goals."
I doubt we would agree on what our nations goals are. I'm all for religious freedom and separation of church and state while this clown seems agin' it. Just another asshat claiming that if you aren't advancing *his* agenda you're clearly advancing an opposing one.
Referring back to an earlier story about the business in NC that fired workers for not joining in their prayer games, here in the Land of the Free, Christian Nationalists would be more than glad to find methods to deny rights to the non-religious or non-conforming beliefs like exclusion from work for refusing to pray along.
I tried looking up the number of countries on Earth that have the death penalty just for being Christian. I got no results back.
On the other hand, there are currently 13 nations listed that have the death penalty just for being atheist. A dozen are where Islam holds sway and the 13th (Nigeria) is almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians. That bit on info was my very first hit.
Who are the oppressed/persecuted ones, Rethuglikkkans?
I would say the key to understanding this is to recall that to certain types of theist, 'religious freedom' means 'we are free to force everyone else to bend the knee'.
And the follow-up that certain types of political people, regardless of their agreement with that sentiment or not, find people with that sentiment very useful tools.
The irony of the GOP believing the U.S. would promote atheism when atheists are still routinely persecuted within the U.S. would be hilarious if it wasn't so dangerous.
I couldn't even get a prominent business publication I was contracting for to include an article I wrote advocating DEI programs stop excluding non-religious people because they won't touch the topic with a ten-foot pole, which further proved my point in writing it in the first place.
One only has to remember radical religious Republicans want their brand of a Christian Theocracy and the rest of the Republicans go along to get reelected. I am a non-believer but if others want to believe that is up to them. I only care when they try to lie about things and try to legislate laws based on their beliefs that the rest of us must follow whether we another religion or none at all. The bare face truth is these folks with their radical brand of Christianity are liars, thieves, con men and women who want power over all of us; just like Abraham wanted control over his people so he invented this mythological God.
The Pro-Life Party just proved they care NOTHING about life.
Had Christians been put in danger because of the release of sensitive information, the GQP pigs would be screaming from the rocky shores of Maine to the sands of Hawaii.
Reading the subtitle of the article again, I can only think: Of course Republicans don't care. Not only are they atheists, but non-white foreigners. I don't think there is any intersectionality they could care less about. I think they even care more for children than such people, and we know how little they care about children.
Is anyone else starting to think that this country (and the world) WOULD be better off if we started actually being as hostile to Christianity as christians claim we are?
The death cult has enough money and influence to own more than half of our political system, to say nothing of its ownings across the planet, all of it being used to enrich themselves, funnel victims to the sadists that make up their institutional hierarchy, and actively make everything worse for everyone.
Imagine all of that, just...gone. imagine the progress we could make. The amount of needless suffering that could be averted.
Once again, Christians in government are demonstrating just how scared shitless they are. They see INCLUSION of non-believers in a government-sponsored statement, regarding freedom of belief, and they instantly try to twist it into "promoting atheism."
Now, personally, I wouldn't mind seeing atheism and freethought promoted a bit around the US, but that's clearly not what's happening here. There is a diversity of beliefs out there in the world, and so long as none of those systems impinge on our government, there shouldn't be a problem. Thing is, there IS a problem with Christianity in particular. They think it's their ball, their bat, and their game, and any suggestion that such is not the case amounts to persecution to them. Christian privilege is what is at the root of all this 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑚 𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔 and nothing else.
For myself, I intend to continue to be an out atheist and to exercise my own freedom of thought as I see fit ... and if the likes of McCaul or Banks or anyone else want to suggest that I'm promoting some "radical ideology," I'm quite prepared to give them or anyone else an earful on just how "Christian" our government and constitution is. You see, I've actually READ it.
Christians have spent centuries conditioning a knee-jerk fear of atheism. All while keeping people blissfully oblivious to what Christians, acting in the name of Christianity, have done to their fellow humans. This massively screwed up world is, to no small extent, the work product of believers. When people become convinced they're operating under divine sanction, they're capable of excusing almost any horror.
It’s unconstitutional for a humanist group to receive government money in order to provide protection and support to humanists in dangerous parts of the world, but perfectly reasonable for a catholic school to get government money taken from public schools to openly teach their religious doctrine to American children who may not have any other option for school. And that’s religious freedom to these dickheads.
People are literally dying because they don’t believe in these assholes’ gods, but it’s anti-Christian to interfere. What could that possibly mean? That it is the foundation of Christianity to murder people for not believing. But you just can’t say that out loud nowadays.
OT- Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, the two legislators who were expelled from the Tennessee state house by butthurt racist Republicans, have now officially been elected back to their seats:
https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-three-election-lawmakers-expelled-1ae19a1bd5f042624568e94b30c8fc1b
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj23VmxxkVY
Both won their special elections by overwhelming margins- Jones standing at 78% of the vote in his district, Pearson at 94%.
I was wondering when they'd get around to us.
First, let's finally dispense with the term "Republican" Party. They don't want a republic, they want either an oligarchic dictatorship with theocratic features, or a theocratic dictatorship with oligarchic features. Their money fanatics and their god fanatics will slit each others' throats until one version prevails, but either one will still be the same bloody nightmare for everybody.
So let's refer to the two parties as the Democratic Party and the DEMAGOGIC Party.
The Demagogues have always needed boogeymen and scapegoats: Boogeymen to scare their base into giving them more power, and scapegoats on whom to blame their failures.
They've gone through a long list of targets for these two categories: The Holocaust pretty much spoiled their being able to use the Jews for a few generations, although that's creeping back. Communists were the villains du jour in the 50s and 60s, but since the fall of the Soviet Union, that's lost its scary edge. Since then they've used Black people, Hispanic people, Muslims, and asians with diminishing effectiveness, and they've worn out using gay and lesbian people because the younger generation see through that bullshit. Recently, they've fixated on trans people and drag queens as the combination boogeymen and scapegoats, but that's already beginning to show signs of going stale too.
So who's next to be the Demagogic Party's boogeymen and scapegoats?
Atheists.
Very often a target group gets the bull's eye on their backs because it's in ascendency, and atheists are certainly that nowadays. Their accelerating growth in the U.S. and abroad is scaring the religion industry, so we'll be the ones getting the accusations of evil intent, and the blame for the Demagogues' failures.
Stay alert, stay calm, stay rational, stay in touch, don't fall for their or anyone else's scare tactics, and consider taking self-defense classes just as part of a healthy lifestyle.
"He’s using a misleading right-wing talking point to tarnish two organizations that are actually advancing our nation’s goals."
I doubt we would agree on what our nations goals are. I'm all for religious freedom and separation of church and state while this clown seems agin' it. Just another asshat claiming that if you aren't advancing *his* agenda you're clearly advancing an opposing one.
Referring back to an earlier story about the business in NC that fired workers for not joining in their prayer games, here in the Land of the Free, Christian Nationalists would be more than glad to find methods to deny rights to the non-religious or non-conforming beliefs like exclusion from work for refusing to pray along.
The Party of Personal Responsibility/Party of Law and Order, everyone.
Lies, damned lies and Rethuglikkkans. I'd call GQP xtians whores, but that would be an insult...to sex industry workers.
I tried looking up the number of countries on Earth that have the death penalty just for being Christian. I got no results back.
On the other hand, there are currently 13 nations listed that have the death penalty just for being atheist. A dozen are where Islam holds sway and the 13th (Nigeria) is almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians. That bit on info was my very first hit.
Who are the oppressed/persecuted ones, Rethuglikkkans?
I would say the key to understanding this is to recall that to certain types of theist, 'religious freedom' means 'we are free to force everyone else to bend the knee'.
And the follow-up that certain types of political people, regardless of their agreement with that sentiment or not, find people with that sentiment very useful tools.
The irony of the GOP believing the U.S. would promote atheism when atheists are still routinely persecuted within the U.S. would be hilarious if it wasn't so dangerous.
I couldn't even get a prominent business publication I was contracting for to include an article I wrote advocating DEI programs stop excluding non-religious people because they won't touch the topic with a ten-foot pole, which further proved my point in writing it in the first place.
https://jdgoulet.substack.com/p/atheists-need-not-apply?r=10bxpq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
One only has to remember radical religious Republicans want their brand of a Christian Theocracy and the rest of the Republicans go along to get reelected. I am a non-believer but if others want to believe that is up to them. I only care when they try to lie about things and try to legislate laws based on their beliefs that the rest of us must follow whether we another religion or none at all. The bare face truth is these folks with their radical brand of Christianity are liars, thieves, con men and women who want power over all of us; just like Abraham wanted control over his people so he invented this mythological God.
This is kind of dumb move on defacist part, it proves that republican voter "integrity" bill are nothing more then voter suppression.
https://www.mediaite.com/trump/ron-desantis-comes-out-against-trumps-2020-election-fraud-claims-theories-did-not-prove-to-be-true/#article-nav
The Pro-Life Party just proved they care NOTHING about life.
Had Christians been put in danger because of the release of sensitive information, the GQP pigs would be screaming from the rocky shores of Maine to the sands of Hawaii.
Reading the subtitle of the article again, I can only think: Of course Republicans don't care. Not only are they atheists, but non-white foreigners. I don't think there is any intersectionality they could care less about. I think they even care more for children than such people, and we know how little they care about children.
Is anyone else starting to think that this country (and the world) WOULD be better off if we started actually being as hostile to Christianity as christians claim we are?
The death cult has enough money and influence to own more than half of our political system, to say nothing of its ownings across the planet, all of it being used to enrich themselves, funnel victims to the sadists that make up their institutional hierarchy, and actively make everything worse for everyone.
Imagine all of that, just...gone. imagine the progress we could make. The amount of needless suffering that could be averted.
𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑑𝑜𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑠𝑒.
-- David Hume
Once again, Christians in government are demonstrating just how scared shitless they are. They see INCLUSION of non-believers in a government-sponsored statement, regarding freedom of belief, and they instantly try to twist it into "promoting atheism."
Now, personally, I wouldn't mind seeing atheism and freethought promoted a bit around the US, but that's clearly not what's happening here. There is a diversity of beliefs out there in the world, and so long as none of those systems impinge on our government, there shouldn't be a problem. Thing is, there IS a problem with Christianity in particular. They think it's their ball, their bat, and their game, and any suggestion that such is not the case amounts to persecution to them. Christian privilege is what is at the root of all this 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑚 𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔 and nothing else.
For myself, I intend to continue to be an out atheist and to exercise my own freedom of thought as I see fit ... and if the likes of McCaul or Banks or anyone else want to suggest that I'm promoting some "radical ideology," I'm quite prepared to give them or anyone else an earful on just how "Christian" our government and constitution is. You see, I've actually READ it.
I'm not so certain that they have.