Lemmy does have value, because the demographics are a bit more focussed here compared to much larger but more mainstream platforms, not to mention that larger platforms like reddit are already so bot-infested, they start to interfere with each other. It’s so trivial to make and deploy bots now with LLMs, I’d be very surprised if there weren’t bots here.

I think the reason we don’t notice them as much here is the quality of moderation tends to be higher (on average, so far).

I’m an ugly bag of mostly water.

Ah, but you see, cancer is all natural.

But what about a bit of human now and then, as a treat?

God is not about forgiveness and such in the New Testament. That’s a retcon by later Christians to make it more palatable.

He preached violence:

Matthew‬ ‭10:34‬: Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

He was just as happy to send people to hell:

Matthew‬ ‭13:41-42: The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Every single horrible decree in the Old Testament still applies in the new (despite modern Christians trying to redefine what ‘fulfil’ means):

Matthew‬ ‭5:17-18‬: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

That’s last one includes all the slavery, rape, genocide, etc. Jesus could have spoken out against those things, but instead he said all those judgements were just and should be continued.

Matthew‬ ‭10:21‬: And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.

Pretty violent, and not very loving.

And let’s not forget the revelations, in which Jesus will doom billions of people to a horrific existence followed by eternal hellfire, not for doing wrong things, but merely for not being devoted to him. Even the devout and righteous of other religions, and even babies who haven’t had the chance to sin.

Remember, Jesus is the same god as in the Old Testament – if god is eternal and unchanging (which the Bible says he is), he is literally the same entity who committed atrocities before he decided to wear human skin and sacrifice himself to himself.

This is not a loving god.

Ooh, I’ve never heard of those. Thanks!

I’m not basing this on trump, but on Vance’s latest assertions. I actually think Trump has become largely irrelevant (except for his bloviations to the press) – he’s not even aware of what he’s signing, which is clear and on camera.

I’m paying more attention now to what Vance and the other henchmen say.
You’re right, it’s mostly Musk and Theil, but that’s more a business relationship than a dom-sub thing.

It seems the power has been shifting over the past couple of weeks. I hate to promote hope here, but it seems like something is terminally wrong with trump, and those jockeying for position aren’t bound by so much kompromat and are aware backing Putin isn’t a winning strategy.

I strongly disagree. All incarnations of Abrahamic gods have been vengeful and cruel, including Jesus.

Believe it if you like, but a loving god is a retcon, and your own texts prove that.

Humanism is the absence of an authoritarian deity. The reason humanism exists is because we are a cooperative species that’s helped and fostered each other for millions of years. We have archaeological evidence of this that far predates any notion of modern gods.

Okay, but no gods exist, so all belief, no matter how seemingly benign, is delusional and harmful.

It’s only a small step from seemingly benign belief to this dangerous delusion, and it only takes a charismatic leader saying the right words to turn that belief into violent fanaticism. Otherwise good people will commit or support atrocities based on these delusions.

People don’t support horrific things because they’re moustache-twirling villains – they think they’re good people supporting good things, and these beliefs convince people to do horrific things by twisting their minds.

That’s been the case for thousands of years.

I don’t disagree that it works. That’s what I mean – a disturbing number of people buy this obvious bullshit, mostly because they were indoctrinated into it, so their critical thinking was compromised before they had the chance to discern fiction from reality.

It’s sad, and tantamount to child abuse, and now we all have to deal with the shitshow caused by people who believe in fairy tales and will make us all pay for it.

Which antichrist?

I think manipulating an emperor into adopting your kid as an heir worked once. Another time, tricking people into thinking you’re socialist then backstabbing them worked. Or perhaps whitewashing your record of abject failure by becoming a reality television star.

These people are genuinely, certifiably insane, and they’re in charge.

People who believe in fairy tales, demons, and other childish nonsense as adults should be referred to mental health services, not be given the keys to the economy and governance.

How can so many grown adults think this is okay? It’s complete madness. They’re dooming us with their psychopathy and people are nodding along like this is normal. Fucking hell.

Something something sparkling conservatism.

Yeah, we can see that’s what you’re in. Thanks for acknowledging it.

The word ‘pussy’ as a pejorative predates its use as a slang for female genitalia. It actually originates from ‘pussycat’, as comparing a person to a jumpy and easily scared feline. Any misogyny attached to it is extremely recent and performative.

Man, you’re all over this thread not knowing what words mean.

It’s not misogynistic, but this one does have that root:

Stop being a cunt. (And I say that as a woman.)

Being Jewish isn’t a shield against being ignorant, ffs.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_German_National_Jews

Nobody is making assumptions here but you.

Your comments have been very clear.

If you’re actually Jewish, you should be far more careful with the word ‘fascist’, and you should learn about history before throwing that word around. Fascism is happening now, so being judicial with that word is more important than ever.

I’ll remind you of your comment that sparked this subthread.

I said Kirk was a fascist, and you said: ‘Hilarious how the people saying he was a fascist are themselves the fascists’.

Anyone with a brain would easily see you’re saying I am actually the fascist. Would you like to try again?

I’d love to have a conversation with you about this, but we both need to be honest.

No, I can’t name any fascist movements that didn’t end in violence. That’s why it’s so terribly deadly, and why we can’t allow it to fester. They don’t start with violence, though. They start with populism.

Can you please explain what about my comment made you say it was fascist? Are you still confident you know what that word means?

e: now you’ve run away, and are trolling others in this thread instead. I hope someday soon you’ll try to learn something rather than insisting on your own ignorance. We’ve all been wrong. It’s okay.

So you agree that fascism is far-right, authoritarian, and ultra-nationalist, you’re only haggling that it’s ‘by force’.

Can you give me any citations that say fascism is only fascism once it uses force?

I am not throwing around that term, I assure you, and it seems so far that you don’t actually understand what that word means.

It’s a political ideology, nearly the opposite of socialism.

So, again, can you explain why you said my comment was fascist? By your definition, I did not use force. What about my comment, or my ideology that you seemed to get from it, was fascist?