Theological Thursday: The Nature of Extremism

It's not about religion - it's about NOT being a dick

(My rant below the meme)

This especially stands out since I learned about the "Freedom From Atheism Foundation," which is presumably some whackjob Christian-counter-point to the "Freedom From Religion Foundation."

Ironically, from what time I did spend choking through the FFAF Facebook page, I suspect members of these two organizations would agree that all religions are bad except themselves. *

Such irony they would have so much in common. Actually, if I'm right, it's merely another marker in how hypocritical these fake-Christians at the FFAF really are.

See, humans naturally have a cruel streak. Sadism - as an extreme manifestation of cruelty - is an aberration, but occasional cruelty is, alas, depressingly normal.

Humans also want to feel good about themselves. That is also normal. We are hard-wired to do what feels good right now, in this moment right here. Don't confuse that with hedonism. Some people take more pleasure from long-range planning and anticipation than they do instant gratification. For example, healthy eaters can say "I am happier right now knowing I will stay fit than I would be right now eating that whole pie."

So, when the two run together, you can get this destructive and vile behavior of "It will make me feel good about myself to go and kill someone, In The Name Of God." Fucked-up thinking by any reasonable standard, but that's the whole point.

Now, atheists - whatever their failures, or not - don't carry around some 3rd-party mechanism to exhonerate their consciences for fucked-up behavior.

And yes, I just called religious holy texts a mechanism to justify fucked-up behavior, because that is exactly how people use them. "I beat that gay man to death, because Jesus hates fags!"  Um, no, you beat that man to death, because you're a sick sack of shit, who would have found some other excuse to be violent, and blaming Jesus is not only convenient, but it gains you instant sympathy from people who so want to be martyrs that they'll ignore the part about themselves siding with a murderous sick sack of shit.

I mean, look at the psychos at Westboro Baptist Church. Any "Christian" who sides with these people "because they're Christian" is essentially saying "Why, yes, I will hurl myself into that fetid cesspool of shit, and wallow with the pigs in the muck, and how dare you tell me I smell like shit for doing so!"  Um, duh? Hello, Good Christians would denounce those psychos as "not really Christian" and move on.

* (Yes, I just equated atheism with religion, but don't get hung up on that right now; stay focused.)