A very important discussion by Engels about materialism:
1892 English Edition Introduction to Frederick Engels' "Socialism: Utopian and Scientific"
[General Introduction and the History of Materialism]
#socialism #communism #capitalism #marxism #materialism #theism #agnostic #religion #god #atheism
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/soc-utop/int-mat.htm
This is a long way to say: If you don't understand the effects of cognitive dissonance, and don't unpack your own internal contradictions, you can be more easily manipulated into behaviors and beliefs you would not *consciously* agree with.
If you like free agency and are a big fan of free will, this is the sort of thing you need to work on.
#philosophy
#atheism
#theism
#exvangelical
#exvie
#exmormon
#exmo
#ReligiousTrauma
#AbuseCulture
Theological concepts like "The Problem of Evil" aren't just atheist gotchas. The contradictions within certain theologies can exist unawares within the minds of believers, causing dissonance that comes out in ways that perpetuate and allow harms to continue.
For instance, even if a Christian believer has not consciously considered the Problem of Evil, they will still feel this contradiction whenever it is encountered:
1. God is good.
2. God is omnipotent.
3. God allows evil to exist.
They will have many sideways methods of resolving this discomfort, which will vary from person to person and from situation to situation.
They may, for instance, lean on Just World views (the feeling that the world is automatically fair and so if someone is disadvantaged they must have done something to deserve it) when it comes to LGBTQ issues. God is good, and omnipotent, so if a queer person is suffering, it isn't because their church community has stigmatized them or because church doctrines about God's will are wrong (or further, that God might not exist or might not be good), no it must be proof that being queer is sinful and they deserve their suffering.
This same formula applies in many other areas, including towards abuse victims.
The contradictions within many popular forms of theism are not harmless. They get resolved, usually unconsciously, by organizations and individuals. When they are resolved without mindful consideration of the consequences, people get hurt.
For abusers and powertrippers? This is by design, to their benefit, and more likely to be conscious.
IN HAPPIER HAPPY NEWS,
MY NEW BOOK IS OUT.
APPETITE FOR ANTITHESIS: (DE)KNOWING GOD IN A LENTEN PRACTICE
Foreword by N. Irish philosopher #PeterRollins.
So, happy #Lent a week in -- but it's not too late to give up God for a season. My book can help! 
Links and book description following in thread!
#theism
#atheism
#pyrotheology
#RadicalTheology
#DeathOfGodTheology
1/
As the meme says, I want to be sparkly, in pinks and purples...but the world is on fire, and I am angry. I wanted to be happy -- I got traumatized.
But the #GOODNEWS is that if all goes smoothly, I shall hit "publish" on my newest book (my first ever non-fiction!) within the next 48 hours:
APPETITE FOR ANTITHESIS: (De)KNOWING GOD IN A LENTEN PRACTICE
#indiepub
#selfpub
#AtheismForLent
#PeterRollins
#Lent
#philosophy
#theism
#atheism
#DeathOfGodTheology
#existentialism
#RadicalTheology
I'm now an apatheist (actually, I've been one for a while now, but I just found out what apatheism is). I just don't care about arguing with people about if god exists or not. It doesn't matter. If god exists, it clearly can't or won't do anything. If it doesn't, then it doesn't. Who cares!?
There are serious problems (capitalist oppression and exploitation, climate change, racism, sexism, etc) that we should be focusing on instead.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism
Do recent #scientific discoveries make the case for #theism stronger?
A thread on arguments for the existence of #God (federated from my #Bluesky account).
https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:j3ya4kgw5u764z2bxtfiyvd6/post/3lhnvyqwhic2r
Lack of education and the conservative attack on any non-parochial education explains a lot. Ignorance and lack of questioning leads to authoritarianism; it is all about power and controlling people's minds by teaching them not to think. Interesting article attached.
#BoostingIsSharing
https://bigthink.com/thinking/a-c-grayling-we-dont-need-to-bring-back-religion-we-need-to-bring-back-education/
...who twists Bonhoeffer to prop up calls for Christian nationalist violence.
Gross. And scary. (Apparently the #BonhoefferMovie is in the same vein. 
Watch with eyes open, y'all.)
So I had to go through my manuscript and either find other sources for the same pieces of info, or cut those particular passages. All because of asshole Metaxas.
FASCISTS ARE WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS. 
2/2
#theism
#atheism
#philosophy
#PeterRollins
#AtheismForLent
#DietrichBonhoeffer
#EricMetaxas
Let that sink in.....
#antireligion #atheism #atheist #antitheist #christian #christianity #evolution #freethinker #god #godless #godisfake #goodwithoutgod #growup #godlessandhappy #islam #jesus #nogod #reason #religion #religionpoisonseverything #religionsucks #religionkills #science #satan #secular #secularism #thebible #theism #truth
...but the only thing he actually excels at is getting himself into bankruptcy and making the taxpayer cover his debts. It’s actually a shame he’s not a better capitalist, because then he’d be less of a burden to the rest of us."
This essay will appear in my forthcoming book APPETITE FOR PARADOX, which is sure to make everybody on *all* sides mad.
2/2
#philosophy
#politics
#religion
#theism
#atheism
#faith
#PeterRollins
#AtheismForLent
#AppetiteForParadox
INCOMING: a book announcement
This is going to turn out either frabjously amazeballs or utterly disastrous.
https://courtcan.com/2024/09/26/incoming-a-book-announcement/
I went to r/DebateAnAtheist, and I completely lost any desire to debate or converse with any theist. I'll just keep it at this: if there's no evidence, I'm not going to believe it.
I have no idea if there is a God or an afterlife. All I know is that I have no rational reason to believe in them because there is no sufficient evidence to support the existence of either. Therefore, I am an atheist and a materialist. I have no burden of proof. The burden of proof is on the theists and believers in the afterlife.
Friedrich Engels discrediting the biblical creation story and the biblical flood by pointing out that they were stolen from other religions.
"...the whole biblical history of creation and the flood turns out to be a part of the old heathen religious myths which the Jew have in common with the Babylonians, Chaldeans and Assyrians."
There has never been a scientific theory that was later replaced with a supernatural explanation, but there is a long and extensive history of things having supernatural explanations that were later replaced with scientific theories. Humanity has yet to provide any rational or logical reason to accept supernatural explanations over scientific explanations.
#science #supernaturalism #materialism #idealism #atheism #theism #logic #illogic #rationalism #irrationalism #skepticism #gullibility
Willaim Lane Craig and Ben Shapiro.
Oh. My. Bog.
As someone else said: Bill and Ben, the flower pot men. They make as much sense, and their philosophy seems to be centred around weeeeed. 
Seriously though, Bill highlighted one of my early problems with god concepts: the idea that an entity or presence existing outside of experiential time can decide to do anything. Making a decision requires a period of contemplation weighing options and ending at the point of decision, and taking action requires a period between the decision to take the action and the point where the action occurs. Both of these require the necessity for the entity or presence to experience linear time within itself.
Homer Simpson made a perfect rebuttal to Pascals Wager in the episode "Homer the Heretic", S4E3 :
"And what if we pick the wrong religion?
Every week, we're just making God madder and madder."
