Why Atheism will Replace Religion, and Why Capitalism Cares

Here's a question that's bugged me for years: why aren't all Christians strong socialists? As Carl Gibson at HuffPost wrote the other day:

Christians would do well to vote for those who actually practice what they preach. While Perry and Paul demand cuts to public programs and health care for the uninsured, President Obama is finding his inner Luke and asking the richest Americans to share their possessions to help lessen the burden of deficit reduction already on the shoulders of working families.

If Jesus demanded a socialistic approach to helping the poor, then why are evangelical Christians almost universally against socialized medicine, unemployment insurance and a decent Social Security system?

Because it's bad for religion, that's why.

Nigel Barber did some fascinating research about atheism. He wanted to know why atheism is so strongly correlated with wealth. Along the way, he discovered the fascinating answer: It's security, not wealth, that drives people to religion.

Tea Party Candidate not Racist - He just doesn't want Nigras and Hispanics to vote

I found this via P.Z. Myers' blog and have to share it. No comments necessary. You get bonus points if you can watch it to the end. It's Grady Warren, Tea Party candidate in Florida.

Tea Party: Just a Christian Sock Puppet? New Pew Report Reveals Truth

Would you be surprised to learn that the Tea Party isn't actually a good cross section of America? That in fact they're mostly a sock puppet for Evangelical Christian politicians?

The Tea Party likes to pretend that it's a grass roots salt-of-the-earth organization made up of average Americans who are sick of big government and taxes. They want to pretend that they represent black, white and brown, male and female, young and old.

But the facts are otherwise. The Tea Party is actually a stronghold

Biblical and Constitutional Inerrancy: Why the Tea Party is so Crazy

A few days ago I wrote that the Tea Baggers seem to live in an alternate reality. And today, I'm pleased to announce that I figured out why.

The Tea Party's alternate reality arises from the Doctrine of Constitutional Inerrancy, the belief that the United States Constitution is perfect and its authors are practically saints.

My "Aha!" moment came when I realized that Constitutional Inerrancy is a side effect of a belief in Biblical Inerrancy, the idea that the Bible is God's literal word, perfect in every way. The Tea Party has apparently extended that hollow philosophy to our Constitution and its authors. It's a new quasi-religion.

It's no surprise that these two beliefs go together. Willingness to accept authority and take things on faith

America's Conservatives Making Us a Nation of Idiots?

I was feeling glum about my fellow Americans and how some seem so incredibly ignorant. And like most of us, where do you turn for comfort? Why, YouTube, of course! The place where you can forget your troubles and go on an endless stroll through a landscape of funny and amazing videos.

I found a Bill Maher monologue from about a year ago, in which he hits the nail on the head. America IS full of ignorant people.

It's funny, but frightening too...

Tea Party: Living in an Alternate Reality

I finally figured the Tea Baggers out. The problem isn't that Tea Baggers are wrong or stupid. They're not an evil mob hell-bent on returning us to the dark ages, even though that's exactly what their agenda would achieve.

No, the problem is the internet and cable TV, which have allowed them to build a new reality, a different reality than the one in which the rest of us reside. They live in one world, we live in another. Unfortunately, our two worlds occupy the same physical space.

We used to interact with our neighbors. We went to a few churches and schools, shopped at our local stores, and maybe joined a club or took dancing lessons. We had to rub shoulders with our neighbors, many of whom had political views quite different from our own. We were immersed in the diverse mainstream political culture. It was unavoidable.

On top of that, our TV and radio stations numbered just a few, and they were required by law to provide access to all viewpoints. Our newspapers might be liberal or conservative, but they never were radical.

In other words, we couldn't avoid hearing our neighbors' viewpoints.

But in a weird twist of irony, the information age has spawned a new new cultural phenomenon: deliberate ignorance. Instead of two or three TV stations and one newspaper, now we can select from hundreds of sources for our information. Why is that bad? Because we can listen only to what we want to hear. We can choose to be ignorant of other views. We can find a news station, a web site, and an online group of friends who will do nothing but reinforce and even amplify our world views.

It doesn't matter how nutty, outrageous or even factually wrong our views are, we can find a dozen web sites of self-congratulatory friends who will supply us with "facts" to strengthen our position and with moral support to make us feel good about ourselves. Worse, we can avoid encountering anyone who might have a different view of the world.

The internet and information age were supposed to bring the world together,

Best Christian Headline Ever: "Sarah Palin's Breasts are Real"

This may be the best Christian headline in history: Sarah Palin's Breasts are Real; Not So With Growing Number of Faithful.

How can you top that! Last week the web was abuzz with rumors that Palin had a boob job, which would have been quite a disaster for her political image.

Most Christians view boob jobs with a wink and a smile. As Dolly Parton said, "Why not?" Dolly was wonderful for her no-nonsense philosophy: if it makes a woman feel better and more self confident, what's wrong with that?

I have got little feet because nothing grows in the shade.
– Dolly Parton

But some of Sarah's hard-core supporters (no, not that kind of support!) don't share Dolly Parton's humorous and kind philosophy.

The Tea Party: The Sarah Palin Sycophant Party

Syc.o.phant – a self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite (From dictionary.com)

I wrote off Sarah Palin the quitter, and decided she wasn't worth writing about ... but that speech at the Tea Party Convention was just too much to resist. What a circus of sycophants!

My favorite line from Palin's speech at the Tea Party convention: When asked what she'd do to improve national security, a key point in her strategic plan was to "pray for divine intervention." Seriously! She actually believes that asking for magical intervention from God should be part of our military and diplomatic strategy. If she is ever elected, we'll need some magic, that's for sure.

If Palin's fate as a non-candidate wasn't sealed before, it is now. The Republican old-boys network was really mad when she quit as governor of Alaska. They've been shunning her ever since as a viable political candidate. That's not to say they don't use her crowd-pleasing power and sexual attractiveness to pull in the votes and further their own agenda. But to the real power behind the Republican machinery, she's just a tool to be used as long as it keeps its shine, then discarded.

So, where does someone like Sarah Palin go? She's drawn, like a moth to a candle, to whoever will adore her, and now it's the Tea Party. They're the people who think in simple platitudes, the ones who dragged the Republican Party so far to the right that they lost the Presidency, the Senate, and the House, all in one vote. The Republican leadership, reeling from this disaster, is trying to get back to a more reasonable centrist platform. These Tea Baggers (didn't they even bother to learn what this means in modern slang?) started feeling ignored, so they're forming their own political party.


That's unforgivable to a mainstream political party. There's nothing worse in an election than having a third-party candidate split the vote. It's political suicide. Palin shot herself in the political head when she quit her job as governor of Alaska, now she's put another bullet through her political heart. She'll never be a Republican presidential candidate.

I guess it all makes sense. Simplistic politics, and a sexy bimbo to head your party. Why didn't I think of that?