memes

When it falls we need to figuratively topple their statues. Rename their libraries and airports and make their names on buildings and in laws illegal.

Obviously that doesn't mean that the next 4+ years are going to be particularly pleasant for the people who live here, of course.

You bring up a good point, but I don't think religion necessarily involves the kind of unreality I have in mind.

A lot of religious claims deal with things that are unfalsifiable. Invisible forces, unreachable gods, consciousness after death, things like that. Not the most rational stuff in the world, but not obviously false on the face of it either.

Now, though, we've got folks believing things that are easily disproven. Climate change denial, anti-vaccine bullshit, the never-ending parade of moral panics churned out by the above mentioned propaganda machine, Jewish space lasers, pet eating immigrants, etc.

I won't go so far as to say that religion never causes people to deny observable reality; it surely does. But I think the right wing media empire we have now does so intentionally and on a scale greater than any religious movement I can think of.

I know it’s easy to see Zionists and Christian nationalist psychopaths, and fear the irrationality of so much of the world, but that’s not the full nature of religion - and many of us see much more than that.

I mean, many of us have faith beyond that. I gave $10 to a homeless guy today. I trusted beyond rationality he wasn’t going to spend it on a bottle of scotch. Even when it’s trust in other humans, that’s faith. Even when it doesn’t make sense, trust and faith in people’s empathy, or a higher purpose keeps some people going.

I’m definitely an atheist, but occasionally I’ve seen spots of really nice elements to religion - that have often become less visible in the recent cases of religious extremism.

I think history is full of rulers who were hated by their people, but were deposed by their peers for selfish reasons, rather than by uprising.

But there is lots of wiggle room in that argument, I admit. My point was more of a technical one than a practical one.

I think that a rigid class/caste system can probably work purely on jealousy rather than on propaganda, but this isn't based on real world example.

Rupert, Lachlan and their allies are trying to do that in the Nevada courts currently. But the first lawsuit ended with a judgement that upheld the rights of the three liberal children. He is now preparing to appeal that. However, if I remember correctly, the entire arrangement only applies if Rupert Murdoch dies before 2030 (or so), so if he lives longer than that, he may be able to arrange his legacy in whatever way he desires.