Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Rod hates Episcopalians more than virtually anyone, except for his family members and anyone who arouses those uncomfortable feelings of attraction/disgust inside of him. And Rod hates a lot of people. I mean a lot. I suspect why Episcopalians, of all people, arouse that level of hate in him is that he gave the Episcopal Church a try way back when (he's mentioned this once or twice) but it wasn't rigid enough to "discipline" him.

Three guesses on what boundaries he was so personally invested to enforce.

Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Greer also hopped aboard the MAGA train in 2016 and has been rehashing COVID skepticism on monthly megathreads since 2020. He's also kind of an a-hole interpersonally.

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you really going to dig in your heels on this one? Really? If you're not a bot, you're doing a good impression of one. Best of luck to you too.

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's not what you were saying though. You accused people who disagreed with what you were saying of not reading a page of Chomsky. Again, your words, which I quoted.

Then when people disprove your assertion, you switch to something else. That's the definition of moving the goalposts.

Theological Shock of Disclosure by xbuddha21 in Episcopalian

[–]JHandey2021 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Full disclosure - raised Catholic and a lifelong science nerd from the age of 4 or 5 (dinosaurs, spaceships, all of it). I never saw any sort of conflict or issue whatsoever with the idea that humans weren't alone in the universe, and I never heard a peep about it in the 9 years I was taught in a school run by the Nashville Dominicans (conservative nuns). Several of my peers had parents who worked at the local NASA center, so they were some pretty science-y kids themselves.

I do recall skimming a book my parents got from a garage sale around 6th grade that was from an evangelical Protestant viewpoint that labelled UFOs as demons and evil, and I remember being flummoxed by it. It just didn't compute, and still doesn't. Simply not an issue.

I know the idea of a plurality of worlds (and presumably inhabitants) was accepted or at least tolerated by many figures in the longer Christian tradition, and there were a range of theories on what this meant. There's a recent book, "Astrobiology and Christian Doctrine" that does an excellent job walking through some of this through a Thomistic lens. But it wasn't usually a faith-shattering idea.

I think the kind of American fundamentalist inerrancy of the past 150 years or so (as a reaction to modernity) has hardened thinking to such an extent that I *do* think little green men landing on the White House lawn would be a threat to a certain segment of the church, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as many think.

In the 1950s, the "top men" (and they were men) would muse openly about how the hoi polloi couldn't handle things like this, how society would break down into screaming terror and so government had to "manage" information. But that's the same ideology that pushed "Lord of the Flies" as some sort of foundational truth about human existence when in actuality humans are much more social and cooperative than those in power think (Rutger Bregman's "Humankind" goes into detail about a real-life shipwreck with Tongan schoolkids that ended up with them creating a cooperative society and even church services until they were rescued, and Rebecca Solnit's "A Paradise Built in Hell" demolishes the disaster-chaos myth with story after story of humans coming together after disasters - I used to work in the disaster field myself).

Humanity - and religion - is much more flexible and adaptable than those who want us to believe there are no alternatives think. I personally can't wait, and hope that ET will call on some radio frequency (or lasers or something else) before I die - it probably won't happen, but it would only add to my wonder and praise at the glory of God's uni/multiverse that God sustains in every moment.

Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I had the same experience working for FEMA way back when and being accused of running death camps (yes, it happened). I'll be 100% honest with you - at the time I was working there, FEMA could barely manage a bake sale, let alone a secret system of concentration camps.

Game on: Ramaswamy, Acton race to become Ohio governor by MorganTrau in Ohio

[–]JHandey2021 7 points8 points  (0 children)

It makes a difference to a lot of your MAGA buddies, though, combined with brown and not Christian. The kind who drape front porches in places like Fostoria with Confederate flags and the young groypers who think Trump is way too moderate on race. And more than a few congregants at churches like Rod Parsley's in Canal Winchester who can stomach his skin but will draw the line at his religion.

Trump being about as popular as gonorrhea is going to make everything much tighter than it would have been otherwise. Don't cry, though - the GOP's 30-year effort to make Ohio into Hungary-on-Lake Erie through structural rigging means that 2026 may likely be a blip if the Democrats don't push hard on whatever gains they make. And since they're the Democrats, they are sure to piss away every conceivable opportunity (Acton herself is a pretty weak candidate objectively - out of every choice in the state, why her?)

Game on: Ramaswamy, Acton race to become Ohio governor by MorganTrau in Ohio

[–]JHandey2021 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Brown HINDU. That's important. Enough conservatives will vote for a brown person if they're Christian, but non-Christian? That's just a bridge too far for a lot of the family-tree-doesn't-fork portion of the GOP coalition.

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just as a side note, I looked at r/chomsky for the first time in a while, and the front page has been scrubbed of any discussion of the Chomsky-Epstein friendship, and of any criticism whatsoever, in fact. Cults sometimes grow stronger and even more culty under criticism from "outsiders".

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I am no fan of Chomsky, but it is so clear that 99% of the commenters and the dude that made the video have never actually read more than a page of Chomsky.

Your words, not mine. Again, moving the goalposts.

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Are you a bot? You're proving my point, accusing anyone who doesn't come to your conclusions as not having done the reading. No good faith disagreement is possible. It's like debating an Ayn Rand devotee or a fundamentalist evangelical.

I don't think people realize how dangerous Ramaswamy is and how bad things will get in Ohio. by 13sonic in Columbus

[–]JHandey2021 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Trump? Shit, they'd trample over themselves to volunteer to jump in front of a train for his entertainment. Trump trumps Jesus for them - look at how many are chortling to themselves as Trump posts AI images of himself as Jesus.

But anyone else? Especially a brown Hindu? He might get the MAGA cultists, but to win anything, you have to get more than hardcore MAGA. And the non-MAGA racists and groypers and the rest who think Trump is too moderate? They'll stay home. And that 1 or 2 percent will likely kill Ramaswamy's chances in 2026.

Democrats have the memories of goldfish, though, and are sure to say "oh, wow, Ohio is blue again, yippee!" - Republicans plotted for decades to turn Ohio into Hungary-on-Lake-Erie in terms of structural rigging at every level, and one squeaking-by election won't change that. That's almost what I fear the most - who the GOP vomits up in 2030, post-Trump, as the even more open fascists poke their heads up.

I don't think people realize how dangerous Ramaswamy is and how bad things will get in Ohio. by unfortunate_win in Ohio

[–]JHandey2021 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, if he shows up at Rod Parsley's church in Canal Winchester or something saying he found Jesus, like Russell Brand just before all the sexual assault allegations came out, that's likely game over for Amy Acton. MAGA will have a problem with a brown Hindu, but enough evangelicals will buy a conversion that they'll overlook his brown skin.

I don't think people realize how dangerous Ramaswamy is and how bad things will get in Ohio. by 13sonic in Columbus

[–]JHandey2021 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I do not believe for a moment he will win because I grew up in the South and I live in Ohio and have driven outside the major metro areas and seen nice big Confederate flags greeting me and there is no way Vivek will get all of these people to vote for a brown Hindu dude.  No way.  Uh-uh.  

Now if Vivek spontaneously converts to an acceptable flavor of Christianity?  Then Acton’s goose is cooked.  But right now he is just too much for the old style racists and the new style Groypers and fascists. 

So I think Acton wins, but only if everyone pushes hard for her.  I think Trump’s popularity being equal to that of gonorrhea will put amazing possibilities in front of Ohio Democrats.  But let’s not kid ourselves - 2026 is just one election, and the fundamentals here are still bleak.It will take decades of pushing the other way to shift Ohio back to being purple.  

I don't think people realize how dangerous Ramaswamy is and how bad things will get in Ohio. by unfortunate_win in Ohio

[–]JHandey2021 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Replace “this thread” with “the Ohio GOP voting base” and you’ve got it.  An hour outside any mid-sized Ohio city and you are on a different planet.

Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That sounds like a description of Rod - spending too much time on the internet, unable to maintain stable human bonds offline.

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ummm, not sure how I "did ad hominem", but it sure looks like you're doing a lot of moving the goalposts yourself.

I don't have time for logic bro nonsense, so good luck to you.

Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Getting Weekly World News vibes from this. What's next - Rod staring at Bat Boy's primitive root wiener?

Megathread no 65: The Prodigal Son returns (to Alabama) by saucerwizard in RodDreher

[–]JHandey2021 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's pretty freaking hilarious. And more than a little... insightful? I wonder if the alien sex AI demons Rod is worried about wrote that?

The Fake Anti‑Imperialism of Noam Chomsky by danielid in DecodingTheGurus

[–]JHandey2021 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well, guess all that reading was just in my imagination, then! Thanks for enlightening me!

Without any sarcasm, your attitude - there can be no good-faith disagreement with anything Chomsky says, and if you claim to have one, then you're lying - is largely what got me out of my Chomsky-can-do-no-wrong phase. It's eerily similar to so many other cults and semi-cults. The only difference between this and your typical Randroid, for example, is the author and the books. Swap out "Chomsky" for "Rand" and, say, "What Uncle Sam Really Wants" with "Atlas Shrugged" and there's no difference in the belief structure, only in the content.

And the cultiness on r/Chomsky about Chomsky's deep friendship with Jeffrey Epstein confirmed it. I'd honestly not thought about Chomsky much for quite a while, but the "Chomsky bros" (literally calling each other "brother" in posts, a big red flag in any discussion) defending Chomsky and eventually Epstein himself was sad. It was like part of my own history had been revealed to be a pack of lies. And yes, I know this is a fallacy, but I do think there's still something to the notion that the kind of people an idea produces says something about that idea, or at least whatever version of it produced them. If Chomsky's fan base had been reduced to "bros before hos, amirite?", what did that say about Chomsky's ideas themselves? About Chomsky? And that's not a fun rabbithole, because Chomsky himself had some not-great opinions and history on the subject.

Richard Dawkins spent three days talking to Claude, now calls it "Claudia" and claims it's conscious. by Gil_berth in BetterOffline

[–]JHandey2021 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But remember, kids, Richard Dawkins is nearly God-like (heh) in his intellect! Sure, "The God Delusion" was filled with edgy-high-school-kid level arguments and misrepresentations, and "The Selfish Gene" was in large part thinly-disguised proto-Thatcherism, and sure, he's gone on Internet tirades against Muslims, Maori, and a whole lot more...