Tonight, I saw something that basically explained why I can’t be a part of the atheist ‘community’ anymore.
Recently Seth Andrews of ‘The Thinking Atheist’ posted a video response to Pastor Greg Locke, who showed up at an ‘Open the Economy’ rally.
America is in a real Catch-22 situation these days. Trillions of dollars are being spent right now – money being printed that is going to bite them in the ass later – to keep people in food, wages, and business for small amounts of time. However, it’s not working. Some businesses are gaming the system, others are refusing to work because they get paid more to stay at home than they would on the job, and the supply lines that deliver food and other goods to the cities are grinding to a halt. Sheltering in place may be stemming the spread of COVID-19, but pretty soon many people are going to find themselves out of food and no means to get more.
America is fast approaching the point where it’s either go out and risk dying, or stay home and die. Many are choosing the former.
I’ve admired Seth for years. He was always the rational voice in the shit-storm of the atheist ‘movement’ back when I first started. He showed me that the best way to deal with some of the abject stupidity out there was to mock it. Then, when 2016 happened, Seth did what a lot of other atheists did. It was no longer about God, but about Trump.
In his video against Locke, he refers to some protests as a ‘MAGA circle jerk.’ He also throws a bit of shade at the right wing earlier in the video. Ok, look. I’m OK with some bombastic language. Hell, every time he mentioned the word ‘Jesus,’ I hear the twang in his voice, which kinda fits if I’m being honest.
But seriously, this video just rubbed me the wrong way.
You want to criticize the people who’re doing this, then do so. You want to yell at Greg Locke, then fine. Keep the politics out of it. Yeah, I get it: you don’t like Trump. No one likes Trump. He’s a bloviating blow-hard who had to keep spouting word salad to cover up the fact that he knows very little about any subject with which he’s presented. But if that’s the case…if he is truly such a moron…THEN HOW IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS FUCK DID YOU PEOPLE LET HIM GET ELECTED TO THE HIGHEST FUCKING POSTION ON THE GOD-DAMNED PLANET?!
Don’t give me your Russian bot bullshit. The fact is the DNC had such a hard-on for Hillary that it went against what the people wanted. The people wanted Sanders, but the DNC knew that if they propped up a Communist then they’d lose their corporate clout. Oh please, the DNC is about as much ‘for the people’ as the GOP is, which isn’t.
For the past 4 years, all I’ve heard from the Democrats is Orange Man Bad, Russia, and more recently Green New Deal. No real effective policies, no feasible plans with which to fight against Trump, and a host of ‘candidates’ for President that has all the punch of a can of Coors Light. Instead of listening to the people, the Dems retreated to social media to feel the pulse of society. And look where it got them.
I’ll admit I don’t know all the ins and outs of American politics, but everything I’ve seen points to a huge contradiction. You call him a bad president, yet his popularity grows. You scream ‘ISTAPHOBE’ at the top of your lungs, yet he’s making strides with the moderates. You chant ‘Orange Man Bad,’ and more and more people walk away.
The atheist ‘movement’ may have moved away from the Christian god, but has instead embraced a non-theistic religion of intersectionality, complete with its own dogma of ‘join us or be a Nazi.’ Instead of rationality, you traded one dogma for another because critical thinking is too hard. And it is hard, because you have to listen to all sides of an argument before you draw a conclusion. Everything I’ve seen on any side of the socio-political fence is just a bunch of echo chambers, polarized and divided by idealism, religion, and politics.
In our quest for equality, we’ve become more divided than ever because it feels good to point the finger and scream at the outsider. We make the hot take and get virtual back-pats for our ‘pwning’ of the Other. Conversations are deemed evil, and those who dare entertain the ideas of the other side are considered traitors or sell-outs.
Seth, I respect you as an atheist. I’ve met you once before and it was an honor. You showed me that there was a way out of belief where I could still hold my head up and live the kind of morally good life I’ve always led, but without a divine crutch. You helped me open my mind…so why did you close yours off?
Criticize religion, sure, but stop conflating one political side with religion. David Silverman proved that there were a lot of conservative atheists out there…or is his work invalid now that he’s fallen from grace?
COVID-19 is a monster. It’s ruthless, aggressive, and for many who contract it, fatal. But right now, people are more scared of starving to death than they are of risking infection, and frightened people are capable of many irrational things. They’re desperate, not knowing how to handle the situation they’re in because they’ve never seen anything like this before. Hell, none of us have. Up where I live, thankfully it hasn’t hit the level of panic that it has in the US, but I’m sure we’re not that far behind. Society is tearing itself apart because no one knows what to do.
And what do the political leaders say? Orange Man Bad vs. trying to keep the peace. Sure, Trump may be an idiot, but at least he’s doing something other than sniping at his opponents. The only way to beat his populism is with another populist, one hopefully more educated and politically savvy. Joe Biden is not the answer.
You’re gonna have Trump for 4 more years at this rate. After this year you’ll have 2 years to get your shit together AGAIN and work on filling both houses with your people. Try not to screw it up again.