“As a Christian, I don’t think you can be both MAGA and Christian,” one person wrote in the comments of the video.
Two weeks ago, Jen Hamilton, a nurse with a sizable following on TikTok and Instagram, picked up her Bible and made a video that would quickly go viral.
“Basically, I sat down at my kitchen table and began to read from Matthew 25 while overlaying MAGA policies that directly oppose the character and nature of Jesus’ teachings,” she told HuffPost.
In the comments of the video ― which currently has more than 8.6 million views on TikTok ― many (Christians and atheists alike) applauded Hamilton for using straight Scripture as a way of offering commentary. Others picked a bone with Christians who uncritically support Trump.
Meh. If social media served a purpose, to me, it was to show just how many dimwits are out there who will beg for someone to tell them what to do and how to act and what to think.
You can take religion from them, but they won’t stop being gullible and lost, and they’ll just fall prey to the next scumbag with no scruples that comes along, be it a politician or some other con artist.
The problem isn’t religion - it’s an excuse, a cover.
I agree in part. But most of these people are as gullible as they are BECAUSE of religion. They’re taught from birth to follow unquestioningly, and to trust their feelings over evidence. (I know, I was one) Without religion, then indoctrinating children wouldn’t be as easy or widespread.
They’re getting indoctrinated by the fox news and qanon groups or sovcits or whoever gets to them first. It’s not a question of if they get indoctrinated, but by whom.
Some will actually be capable of realising it and break free, but then you have the one actively opting into it.
At least the churches have discernable objectives, unlike many other groups operating in the cesspits of the internet.
Unfortunately, I think you are right.
Even as we see adherence to xtianity slowly dying off, I’m not sure I am seeing evidence that people are getting any better at spotting logical fallacies and not falling under the spell of cults like donvict/qanon (and conservatism/Republicanism in general), Randroidism or being duped by ridiculous conspiracy theories. Which is weird, because even as it’s become nearly frictionless to do a quick check on something whether it’s by your favorite search engine or an LLM, it’s like people refuse to do exactly that, and instead wait for whatever their modern version of a guru (lying liars on Faux, Youtube feeds, IG, podcasts, etc…) tells them to think about the matter.
As much as I hated the hot take from the bothsiderist types about the “new atheists” and claiming any atheism was just another religion ( 🙄 demonstrating they don’t really understand definitions ) I do think the South Park episode where they lampoon all of that was probably not too far from the mark…meaning the future part where there is a war between different factions of atheism…I mean, given the way the typical person approaches these things. It’s like some people really desperately want someone else to do all of their thinking for them.
i see your point, but what “excuse” or cover is better, or even as effective, at hoodwinking people en masse into throwing away critical thinking and denying reality the way religion does? forcing people into a perpetual state of desire while also proclaiming those desires to be “evil” means your flock is saturated with guilt, fear, and shame, willing to do “gods will” in order to win infinite reward in the afterlife. after they die of course
and of course “god’s will” is different for every person you ask, even within the same church
Opium for the masses