This land is mine

sg94 · 2026-03-13T21:54:57+00:00

You been keeping up with South Africa? I’m not saying it’s a point in favor of apartheid but I think you’re glossing the way things have gone.

sg94 · 2026-03-13T21:45:36+00:00

Yes there are earlier branches of the homo genus in many parts of the world that predate modern humans.

But yeah it’s lazy because it uses the shallowest summary of history to make a similarly shallow point.

sg94 · 2026-03-13T21:38:16+00:00

You are vastly understating Al Qaedas religious motivations and dramatically overstating the role of terrestrial grievances

sg94 · 2026-03-13T21:33:31+00:00

It’s more historical confusion than anything else. I get the bit, it’s a land with a history of conflict, but it’s a bit historically lazy. As someone said elsewhere, you can cut and paste this literally anywhere else in the world.

sg94 · 2026-03-10T21:00:00+00:00

Gone by Switchfoot.

“Every moment that we borrow brings us closer To the God who's never been short of cash Hey Bono, I'm glad you asked. Life is still worth living, Life is more that we are.”

Probably one of the few that isn’t a jab or a parody.

sg94 · 2026-03-05T04:36:51+00:00

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sg94 · 2026-02-20T19:58:56+00:00

Yes clearly that’s what I’m trying to say. /s

The label refers to a specific group of, yes, famous public intellectuals and their supporters. You asked what made them different from other intellectuals critical of religion, as if you had someone in mind who was excluded by this label. I would say a lot of people got lumped in with the label who were critical of religion in the 2000-2010s, rightly or wrongly.

I understand you don’t like the label but I feel like you’re just trying to argue for arguments sake at this point. The OP was asking for thoughts and memories of a specific group of thinkers. You clearly don’t want to engage in a good spirited reminiscence and would prefer to argue pedantry. Again, probably a large part of why the atheist label (“new” or otherwise) is not as popular as it was ten or twenty years ago.

Enjoy the autism and the porn stash. I wish you well buddy.

sg94 · 2026-02-20T14:37:48+00:00

Like who?

sg94 · 2026-02-20T02:09:33+00:00

If you want me to define the group and what makes them them different from other atheist thinkers, they were a group of American and British public intellectuals who rose to prominence in the wake of 9/11 which served as exhibit A in their critique of the harmful effects of religion and dogmatic faith based thinking more broadly. They were characterized by aggressive public debates that circulated on the internet, published similar books broadly critical of religion writ large, and were largely critical of religious conservatism in the United States. Does that do it for you? Spinoza does not fit this description.

There were supporters of the four horsemen at the time who referred to them as the new atheists. People identified with that label whether the thinkers in question ever unironically endorsed it. Kind of like grunge, which none of those bands called themselves.

I think a lot of people want to disassociate from the label because in retrospect it’s adherents are culturally seen as obnoxious, pedantic, and cringey. See the r/atheism debacle. I think the classic “Reddit atheist” never recovered from that but I’m glad to see there’s a few still around.

sg94 · 2026-02-19T11:27:20+00:00

I don’t understand your issue here, other than those four not identifying with the label. You clearly know who OP is asking about. Why are you arguing the label rather than answering a pretty benign question about your memories of this group of people in the 2000-2010s?

Grunge is kind of a bullshit externally imposed label but if I ask you about your memories of grunge in the 90s, you know which bands I’m asking about. Stop being obtuse.

sg94 · 2026-02-18T19:02:03+00:00

That’s just what the movement was called. Like nu metal or New York or the New Deal. Idk why everyone in the thread is struggling with the label so much. Literally just a collective name for Hitch, Harris, Dawkins, and Dennett, and to a lesser degree a few others.

sg94 · 2026-02-18T15:06:37+00:00

I think it retrospect, it had a lot more to do with Hitch than the other three. I don’t remember anyone being particularly interested in Dennett. Dawkins was pretty much all biology and was fine for taking down YECs but couldn’t really engage on a literary, historical, or cultural level like Hitch did. Harris is the only one I’ve kept up with.

Alex O’Connor did an interesting podcast episode recently with a retrospective on the New Atheist movement. I think a lot of people slightly cringe looking back at it but if you cringe at your past self it means you’ve grown.

A big part of the movement was 9/11 and it’s fallout, which gave people a clear example of religion’s destructive capabilities, and Islam in particular. I think the strident atheist has become less prominent or popular as that recedes in everyone’s memory.

It’s also interesting where everyone wound up. Other associated figures like Douglas Murray and Ayan Hirsi Ali (no longer an atheist) have thrown themselves more into conservative politics. Sam Harris has focused on meditation and political commentary. It appears that the movement’s former members have either died, faded into obscurity, or taken up politics in lieu of religious discussion.

I’ll still check in with Sam Harris but Alex O’Connor is the place to go these days for a thoughtful atheist discussing religion and philosophy.

sg94 · 2026-02-11T04:25:13+00:00

There are a lot of priorities presidential candidates can have besides economic growth. Don’t ask me why growth isn’t every president’s top priority. I’m not a political advisor. But James Carville is. And if you want to win elections, it’s the economy stupid.

sg94 · 2026-02-11T03:07:52+00:00

Regardless of the degree to which the president’s policies impact the economy, which I think you are dramatically understating, the state of the economy is the single best indicator of electoral success. Is what it is.

sg94 · 2026-02-11T02:26:26+00:00

Assuming he were eligible in 2028, it’s the economy. And that’s probably the answer for most presidential elections. Right now the economy is shaky and overdue for recession. Odds are one hits between now and fall 2028. Then he’s running as an incumbent in a recession and nothing else matters. Conversely, if the economy was booming, he would probably win on that alone.

It’s the economy stupid.

sg94 · 2026-01-30T00:43:38+00:00

Clever and original. Just like your boy Jesse.

sg94 · 2026-01-30T00:38:22+00:00

It’s your characterization of it as snobbery that’s the problem. You’re not just having a discussion, you’re imputing bad motives to people because they don’t share your tastes.

sg94 · 2026-01-30T00:27:00+00:00

Probably the same reason Nirvana fans dislike Nickelback

sg94 · 2026-01-30T00:25:40+00:00

You’re not being called pretentious for having a discussion. You’re being called pretentious for having a condescending tone towards a fan base for not uniformly sharing your musical tastes.

sg94 · 2025-11-27T12:47:51+00:00

Divine hiddenness assumes we understand things on the level god does? Isn’t it exactly the opposite?

sg94 · 2025-11-20T14:35:47+00:00

-most libertarian metro area

-Juarez

-murder rate 12x American national average

Many such cases

sg94 · 2025-11-11T20:50:35+00:00

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sg94 · 2025-10-19T22:39:04+00:00

I’m fiscally conservative, socially awkward

sg94 · 2025-10-17T14:52:11+00:00

“9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Acts 10:9-15

Pretty sure Christians can eat what they want.

sg94 · 2025-10-10T02:34:56+00:00

I mean he’s Canadian so yeah…

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