(1) Today I'm celebrating the best Easter in my 48 years on this earth.
And I'm not even a Christian. But I'll tell you why I'm so grateful for the life and death of Jesus Christ, and those who follow him today, especially those in the USA.
And I'm not even a Christian. But I'll tell you why I'm so grateful for the life and death of Jesus Christ, and those who follow him today, especially those in the USA.
(2) Some years ago I came across the online atheist community, and became very interested in their views and practices. During that time I opened this Twitter account, as a way to connect to that community. I keep the account bc changing the username is too much of a hassle now.
(3) I don't support the practice of assuming a person's beliefs and labeling them according to their Twitter username. I'm an agnostic, not an atheist. I don't believe in God, but I never rule anything out. Atheist SJWs are some of the biggest bullies online.
(4) I didn't get much into the online bullying when I was going through my atheist SJW phase. I only accosted theists who came at me with belligerence. I learned all the talking points used by each side.
(5) This period was an interesting prelude to my 180 degree turn from the political left to right in 2016. Being a nonreligious conservative places me in a minority group but I must say, religious conservatives are the nicest majority group I've ever encountered. LOL.
(6) I could write a thread about each of the theist & atheist talking points but today I want to cover the "you can't be moral without God" one. This used to really annoy me. It no longer does.
(7) It annoyed me bc I know my own moral compass works just fine. So it was a false claim. There are, of course, many examples of self identifying theists who commit heinous immoral crimes, such as murder, rape, torture etc.
And the same is true of self identifying atheists.
And the same is true of self identifying atheists.
(8) Online atheist SJWs claim they are all about the #evidence. This is where the fervent cries of #ScienceMatters come from.
Entire books have been written about their own hypocrisy and #ScienceDenial. We see examples of it every day.
Entire books have been written about their own hypocrisy and #ScienceDenial. We see examples of it every day.
(9) The actual evidence is clear: Human nature allows individuals to choose good or evil in every situation. No one is immune from making an immoral/unethical choice. All the major religions in the world claim to provide a moral framework that is based on absolute truth.
(10) There's an oft cited classic experiment from the early days of modern psychology (50s? 60s?). Subjects are told to press a button that gives a person a painful electric shock. Most continue doing this despite the cruelty of it.
I'd be one of the minority who didn't do it.
I'd be one of the minority who didn't do it.
(11) That experiment shows that most humans are capable of doing evil. It helps me fathom the unfathomable, ie how humans could follow the orders of the Nazis, or the Maoists, or the Peronists. And how Obama could attack the USA for 8 years & counting.
(12) Which brings me to my key point. If you approach objectively a study of American history in the mid to late 1700s, you will see certain ideas becoming reality in a very special country. No other country in world history has maintained a Constitutional Republic for so long.
(12) Atheist SJW talking points try to portray the founding fathers as deists for "church state separation." But the #evidence doesn't support this claim. Neither the 1st Amendment or any other part of the Constitution provide for church state separation in the way SJWs claim.
(13) Again, entire books are available that explain what 1A does and does not mean for religion in the USA. I now hold as a core belief that the founding and maintenance of the American Republic is only possible bc of Christianity, one of the most tolerant religions in history.
(14) In America, you are free to believe, disbelieve and practice any religion or nonreligion you choose. Hundreds of millions of fellow humans today do not have that privilege. While atheist SJWs quibble about tangential cases in the USA, these humans are ignored.
(15) An objective, evidential approach is to consider the body count of different religious and governmental approaches throughout history and around the world. #ScienceMatters, remember.
(16) I can very easily estimate that at least 100 million people have died in 100 countries over the last 100 years because of governmental models that make religious practice illegal. It's not even arguable.
(17) You can believe what you like, but in this house, we believe that Communism is our greatest enemy, and that Communists often try to distract people by whipping up anger toward other groups. Divide and conquer is the oldest military strategy.
(18) I've come to realize that the founding fathers were right, and so was Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Reagan, and of course Trump and Pence. They fought for individualism against collectivism, the rule of law against tyranny, and for the inter-related freedom of religion.
(19) I don't need to believe that Jesus rose again on the third day in order to love, respect and work with Christians. I believe his life and death catalyzed a giant leap forward in the development of civilization, culminating in the Age of Enlightenment and its eternal values.
(20) Our civilization learned much from the rise and fall of Rome.
Rome didn't embed Christian values in its form of government, and it fell.
The USA did, and remains in existence today.
Rome didn't embed Christian values in its form of government, and it fell.
The USA did, and remains in existence today.
(21) Those of us who live in countries outside the USA have a binary choice to make if our own country is to survive. We can either choose the constitutional, democratic rule of law, with religious pluralism and work with the USA, or we can work against the USA.
(22) There is no middle ground. The enemies of the USA (foreign and domestic) are intent on destroying her and everything she stands for, along with her allies. As for strategy and tactics, they learned their lessons from WWII. We apparently didn't.
(23) So when I watched the Easter message by POTUS, that was dripping with #GodBlessTheUSA, I wasn't triggered, like the SJWs are. I was encouraged and strengthened. Most Americans believe in God. And I am so glad they do.
Happy Easter, everyone.
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Happy Easter, everyone.
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(24) @threadreaderapp unroll please.👍
