And now he’s just back hanging out at his mother’s house? This is messed up.
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I kinda sorta think I get your general gist, but I really have to take a lot of issue with your statement that “ALL religious belief, at least the supernatural kind, is inherently and inescapably crazy”.
I’m assuming your opinion is directed more at organized religious institutions. I myself have issues with them, as well as so-called missions to spread a particular religious belief.
That said, I find the statement lacking in relevance to what appears to me to be an incessant spiritualism of the human animal going back way before recorded history. I have significant doubts that a people who are unable to see much in the night sky beyond the planet Venus can intellectually grasp their nature better than a creature which lived and died beneath the vast expanse of the visible universe.
Does believing in good and evil require a belief in angels and devils? No, and I’m sure you understand how both ideas can convey profound intellectual concepts, much like a child’s drawing can convey something on par with Rembrandt’s best. Does consideration of sacred space and profane space require an acceptance of heaven and hell? No, but as a concept they lead to considerations of nature and reality as profound as anything Einstein conceived. Even irreligious, smart people have an awareness of spooky places — Auschwitz in the dead of night. Are they crazy?
I’m not casting aspersions on your asparagus ; - ) And I’d bet we probably agree on a lot, especially under the topic of spirituality instead of religion. But your generalization was quite broad, and unfair in my opinion taken as targeted at people who are genuinely striving to propagate goodness in the world.
Today is Trump’s last full day. Cheers : - )
O great news. I hope it’s just the first of many.
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Good point. After 1/6, it would be difficult for any of these guys to pretend that they were anything but an insurgency attempting a coup. The marchers can pretend that they were only useful idiots, but anyone who tries anything on 1/20 has to be aware that he or she is on a suicide mission, which makes it even more frightening. By the time you have bluffed your way through more than one checkpoint you have to admit that no, the President didn’t invite you and yes, you are aware that what you are doing is an attack on the country.
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23 hours and some minutes and counting.
The we convict the motherfucker.
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I’m relieved by the deplatforming and hope we can hold the line there. However, I was listening to the podcast “The Daily” this morning and they were interviewing Trump supporters about the events of 1/6. These were people who did not go to the Capitol “rally” – a 50-year-old graphic designer, a wealthy mom, etc. Still big Trump supporters even after the riots. And they kept saying that their voices have been silenced, because Twitter and FB finally drew a line in the sand and because Parler was shut down. That it was a violation of the 1st amendment, etc. It really is crazy talk. I think my neighbors may have been a little taken aback – I couldn’t help but burst out “FFS!” from time to time. So while I’m glad about the deplatforming, it will only feed their perception of themselves as victims.
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You’re sort of abnormal in the United States if you’re not agitating for violence, planning a school shooting or engaging in mass insurrection against the government.
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As you noted they don’t need any help seeing themselves this way so it hardly matters since the trade-off is shutting down disinformation and downright deadly lies. It’s worth it.
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What did they think was going to happen when they stormed the capital and Facetimed the whole shit
These are some seriously stupid motherfuckers
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Not sure it’s the first. I think Ma Barker and Zip-tie Jr. may have been the first to be charged with Conspiracy.
So maybe not the first but certainly not the last. We should see conspiracy charges for these QAnon Seditionists. If they act on their conspiracy, it’ll advance to Insurrection.
Conspiracy, Sedition and Insurrection. Not a group of charges I’d want to be facing. Those carry some heavy consequences.
I hope we see more of those charges handed down to everyone involved in Trump’s Miserable Adventure …
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That happens tomorrow. And not a moment too soon. 
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I just meant a belief in actual, literal divine beings and supernatural events, which is by any reasonable measure “crazy” (note that this doesn’t make one crazy, but the belief itself is, since it’s based on that which has never been proven, can’t be proven, and almost certainly does not exist), and not in the idea that there’s “something” out there greater than us or what we can sense, see or envision, or which explains it all and is some general governing principle of the universe and existence, but which has no sentient or willful nature of its own (i.e. a “god”) and cannot do that which is against the laws of nature (i.e. a “miracle”).
I know I set people off when I post such things so I generally don’t. If it ends up alienating and not convincing people, what’s the point? And even if such alienation was part of a longer-term process of convincing people (and sometimes you do have to piss people off to get them to see things differently and be open to changing their views), doing it in a venue such as this is kind of inappropriate unless it’s the topic of discussion. So I’ll refrain. I know how important faith, religion and such are important to many people, and insulting them is like insulting their friends, relatives and other beliefs.
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I remember when I though something like this could not happen in the U.S.A:
> After the swearing-in ceremony is completed, Biden and Harris will take part in a Pass in Review with members of the military on the East Front of the Capitol. Pass in Reviews are a military tradition that honor the peaceful transfer of power to a new commander-in-chief,
I completely understand. I think I tend to do the same thing when I allude to something (usually) spiritual as opposed to religious, so I know what you mean. I don’t intend to convert anyone to a religion, and I’ve learned that a lot of atheists and agnostics nevertheless pursue answers to the great mysteries religion tries to fill, and I can respect that. Particularly, I saw the comfort in my mother during her last minutes when her priest arrived and gave her the last rites. I hope my last minutes are as peaceful.
Is she in heaven watching me now? God I hope not… lol
If it was anyone else on here, I wouldn’t have even tried to write what I did. Thank you. Please don’t refrain. Ideas are good. Talking is good. I look forward to further conversations.
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Yeah, I have to be careful as religion is about as important as it gets for some people, even more than their loved ones, and whether I personally agree with their faith or faith in general, I have to respect that and tread carefully, just as I’d hope that others would respect what’s important to me, even if they don’t like or agree with it.
Plus, honestly, I think that we’d be in a shitload of trouble as a society if we took away peoples’ religious beliefs without something just as powerful to replace it. They’d be lost and angry and confused and act out in all sorts of ways, some unfortunate. If society ever does abandon religious faith, it has to be gradual and replaced by something as vital.
For me, it’s a belief in general morality and regard for others, empathy, sympathy, respect, the common good, love, beauty, joy, friendship, social stability, and so on, and wonder at the mysteries of life, existence and the universe. That’s enough for me. That’s my “god”. Might not work for others but it does for me.
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I wish more people realized that.
Cheers
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If they were successful wouldn’t that make Harris or Pelosi President?
I don’t think they’re thinking this through …
Surprise, surprise.
I hope you are right in this. I am not sure that genie is going back in the bottle. “Keep your goverment off of my Medicare” was just a practice level of crazy. These people have learned to believe much crazier stuff since and now they are dragging their guns around. I hope Joe and Kamala figure out a way to defuse that sucker.