Inspired by some of the discussion in this thread. I don't think it's appropriate place for that discussion there, but hey why not have a separate thread for it
If I think religion is not good in general, am I Reddit and cringe and basically Richard Dawkins?
I have legit misgivings about religion but even I see how hawkish new atheists and their types are. Got dawkins cheer leading imperialistic actions and calling himself culturally Christian. How does one take it? Not to mention how phony the other so called horseman of atheism are. I mean look at this shit
That culturally Christian thing pisses me off so much, because it’s not even an unhelpful phrase in general, the problem is that he’s proud of it.
I’ll fully acknowledge I am “culturally Christian,” but that is in no way a value judgement, just a factual observation that I grew up Christian and still celebrate Christmas and Easter and shit. In the same way someone is “culturally Jewish” if they celebrate the big Jewish holidays but don’t believe in god or go to temple.
But the thing is that you poke into "cultural Christianity" a little bit and it falls apart instantly, the same way that whiteness does.
There's very little tying some of the most Christian regions in the world together (like Poland, Italy, the Philippines, Latin America, the US, Russia, all very devout places in very different ways) except for some vague agreement on doctrine and dogma, and not even that.
It's always a shorthand for western, european imperialism, because sure as hell they're not thinking about Egyptian coptic Christians when they're identifying with "cultural Christianity"
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Mans also very defensive of that "bell curve" author. Also spoke in defense of torture
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And even if it was true, you have to be some kind of unique techno bro piece of shit to want to quantify the value of a people's lives through technological discovery. Like, your culture is only worth something if it produces le science, not because it has a right to exist and thrive by virtue of existing. Might as well get rid of all art that's not bazinga sci-fi marvel slop to make you go
The whole other thread about China had me thinking about this all day. How fucking slimy do you have to be to say "the Chinese people would be worth so much more if they invented more gadgets"
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https://hexbear.net/post/3801944?scrollToComments=false
The person we were dunking on was lamenting the "wasted potential" of le science Chinese people would've discovered if only they were a liberal democracy.
This rubbed me all sorts of wrong of course, but mostly because this person can only understand a people's value by amount of technology, like if people don't spend every waking moment being epic scientists they're a waste of space, and that all knowledge that's doesn't fit this person's view of development is worthless.
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It's just so... inhuman. When I think about the wasted potential (even if I'm a bit uncomfortable with the phrase) because of capitalism and genocide and dispossession, I don't think that we've been deprived of flying cars or nuclear fusion or whatever; I think about how many people could've been happier in a different world, how many families could've loved each other for longer and better, how many celebrations and expressions of the human condition could be out there, how much we're missing out on the feeling of basic human dignity because we're ground into paste by an uncaring, poisonous system.
I get really suspicious, and really sad, when someone demonstrates all they care about is technology, leaving any other part of being human to the side.
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Literal best use of the Debord emoji ever. Society of the spectacle is a fuck.
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I like it so much that I downloaded it and use it all the time as a WhatsApp sticker.
Hilariously Sam Harris writes books on meditation now, joined the McMindfulness camp. Its even impossible to criticism him on /r/buddhism without western-supremacists jumping down your throat.
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I also notice how a lot of atheist online who are noticeably quiet about the famous atheists who do convert to Christianity like Russell brand or ayan hrsi especially when they cosign far right rhethoric . It definitely would be a hell of a lot louder if one of em converted to islam