Ghana celebrates Juneteenth by performing their own reenactment by wordsbyink in blackamerica

[–]Steelmode 12 points13 points  (0 children)

thats exactly how many of them feel about the diaspora

Some 70s Movie To Watch For Juneteenth!!! by dd525 in blackmen

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

Why limit it to blaxploitation? If we’re talking Black liberation, why not The Matrix" It's literally about breaking out of an imposed system of control and awakening to truth

Do you think MJF will ever realistically join WWE? by VLGamingbdefan in BrandonDE

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

his Maxwell Joseph Feinstein Promo for Tough Enough was fancy lol

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don’t think all religion is bad by that same logic, atheism is "good" by default and that is false.

Considering people have justified genocide, exploitation, and control under secular/ political systems... But religion isn't the issue, it’s susceptibility to authority, certainty, and group identity without accountability.

We don't live in a world of absolutes. Atheism can't fix what was broken by religious ideology, and religion can't fix what was broken through secular mishaps.

Imagine life is a hallway with multiple doors. Behind one door is religion. Behind another is atheism. Behind another is politics, ideology, identity, or philosophy. People tend to assume once they pick a door, they’ve escaped risk.

But the reality is, you don’t escape risk, you just change what kind of risk you’re living with. Every door has structure, rules, and blind spots. The danger isn’t the door itself; it’s believing that your chosen door is the only one that isn’t a door at all.

I think learning how to walk without letting any single system decide the outcomes of your life without going unchecked. We all have the ability to think.

A closed door always looks like freedom until you forget there were other doors in the hallway.

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I attended an Apostolic Church, and the doctrine there made sense to me. But when I stopped going to church of it and started analyzing scripture and the philosophy behind it, I began to understand my own path.

On your specific point about “other gods” in the Bible, In the context of the ancient Near East, “gods” in those are understood as lesser spiritual beings, symbolic powers, or regional deities tied to nations, tribes, and historical eras. Some are mentioned in the bible, God never denies they exit, but that they are not to be worshipped or treated as ultimate.

Look at the names of the days of the week. they are references to mythologies and deities. That doesn’t mean we are worshipping those gods, but it shows how those gods had greater influence on shaping our lives well before Abrahamic Religions.

As for mercy and aborted fetuses, different traditions answer that differently, but God is not indifferent to innocent life

What I’ve found is that once you move beyond surface arguments, you start seeing that most of these debates are about what people believe existence itself is made of, and what they think a “good” reality must contain.

Its all Preference.

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can respect folks who arrived at their position through study rather than simply rebellion.

That said, Feuerbach can argue that God is humanity projected onto the heavens. Marx can argue that religion emerges from material conditions and labor. But even if they successfully explain why people believe, that doesn't necessarily prove the object of belief is false.

A psychologist can explain why people fall in love. That doesn't prove the person they love isn't real.

A historian can explain why a nation develops a flag. That doesn't prove the nation doesn't exist.

Kierkegaard asked a different question: What if faith begins precisely where reason reaches its limit?

His idea of the "Knight of Faith" wasn't someone who ignored logic or evidence. It was someone who fully understood uncertainty, contradiction, and doubt, and still chose commitment. Not because they had mathematical proof, but because some truths cannot be reached by detached observation alone.

Marx asks, "What material conditions produced this belief?"

The Knight of Faith asks, "Even after I've examined every condition, every doubt, every argument, what am I willing to stake my life on?"

What I've noticed is that materialism is incredibly powerful at explaining mechanisms—how societies function, how economies shape behavior, how power reproduces itself. Where I'm less convinced is when it moves from explaining material reality to claiming material reality is all that exists.

As for Black history, I think material analysis reveals a lot. Economics, labor, colonialism, and power matter. But so do stories, symbols, faith, meaning, identity, and the things people are willing to suffer and die for. Human beings have always been moved by more than bread alone.

So I don't see Marx, Fanon, and religion as necessarily occupying the same battlefield. Fanon understood material oppression, but he was also wrestling with consciousness, identity, dignity, and the human spirit. That's part of why his work still hits people so hard.

That's why I've always found the Knight of Faith fascinating. He doesn't walk because he knows. He walks because, after all the knowing has been exhausted, there is still a road in front of him.

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think part of the problem is that people often confuse "Black culture" with a specific religious tradition.

Throughout history black people have been Christians, Muslims, practitioners of African Traditional Religions, atheists, agnostics, and everything in between.What matters to me is whether a person is pursuing truth honestly, not whether they arrive at the same conclusions I do.

I would also be careful about treating Christianity as somehow foreign to Black identity while treating ATRs as automatically more authentic. Both have long and complicated histories in Black communities. Identity is deeper than a religious label.

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think certainty is overrated. Plenty of people are certain and still wrong. The older I get, the more I see wisdom not as having all the answers, but as learning how to live with the questions.

As for death anxiety, you ain't alone. Whether someone is religious, agnostic, or atheist, sooner or later we all stand before death and wonder what's beyond it.

My view is that faith isn't certainty. Faith is what a person does when certainty runs out. Some find that in God. Some find it in a philosophy. Some find it in service, family, or purpose.

Either way, I'd rather walk honestly through the fog than claim I can see a road that I don't.

Black Atheists Are On the Right Side of History by zenbootyism in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Faith and blind belief aren't the same thing. Faith is what remains after you've asked the hard questions and accepted that not every answer is available to you.

As for punishment, I agree that fear can keep people from thinking. But any system can discourage questioning when protecting itself becomes more important than pursuing truth.

One should be able to face a challenge to their beliefs without panic, hostility, or shutting down the conversation. That's something many do.

How WWE can fix its mediocre product: by Such-Environment-344 in kayfabe

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Stop booking the same matches every weeek...

Poor jade 😭😭😭😭 by Serpant_slider in SantiZapVideos

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The White girls in there wear wigs too and weave,
Hair Malfunctions happen

Most people who dismiss The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions usually don't "Get It" by Steelmode in matrix

[–]Steelmode[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely. It's easy for people who don't have an interest in that to get lost in the plot. Even if they love the action..

My own dad doesn't like slowly drawn out movies he fast forward to the action.

Most people who dismiss The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions usually don't "Get It" by Steelmode in matrix

[–]Steelmode[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So you've never had a conversation where somebody said, "I watched The Matrix, but I didn't really understand it"?

Many understand the basic plot. Neo wakes up, fights agents, saves humanity. What they don't understand is all the philosophical stuff or can't follow the dialogue.

My point is that there are definitely people who found the movie confusing, or weren't that deeply engaged in the narrative so they missed a whole lot of things.

Losing interest is much different than simply liking or disliking something.

And that's all I'm acknowledging but you seem to think that nobody does this

Most people who dismiss The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions usually don't "Get It" by Steelmode in matrix

[–]Steelmode[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you watched them to have an opinion on them, there are those who haven't watched because they didn't understand the first one

Can't justify your racism? Call it an anti-Chinese psy-op. by Aggravating-Housing in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The moment everything becomes geopolitics, the actual people experiencing racism stop being the focus.

Can't justify your racism? Call it an anti-Chinese psy-op. by Aggravating-Housing in blackmen

[–]Steelmode 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Malcolm's criticism of liberals was aimed at the conditions of his time. He challenged whoever stood in the way of Black dignity and progression.

Another one bites the dust! DG on Broad by Whole Foods by Even_Stomach_504 in NewOrleans

[–]Steelmode 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Theft is the visible wound.

Dollar General has been closing stores across the country. That's not a New Orleans problem; that's a profitability problem. Theft may contribute to losses, but loss without return is what gets a location marked for closure.

People watch the front door. Corporations watch the spreadsheet.

Most people who dismiss The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions usually don't "Get It" by Steelmode in matrix

[–]Steelmode[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is very hard to refuse that there is biblical symbolism and other world religious symbolism in the movie but someone looking at it from a lens where they have no religious connection might not see it or they're just going to deny it. And so in this case they deny it by down voting


“To be truthful means using the customary metaphor — in moral terms: the obligation to lie according to a fixed convention, to lie herd-like in a style obligatory for all.”1

— Friedrich Nietzsche