MacNCheezus

After reviewing the rules once more (it's been a while since I played), I stand corrected.

It is, however, a winning hand (as long as no one else has a 2 card 21).

You see the other results I got... at least this hand is an actual blackjack. The rest of them were pure nonsense.

EDIT: actually, here they are, for your entertainment:

It's a wrong observation based on what you see online. When you see atheists online being explicitely atheist, they have some hot issue with religion at the moment. The vast majority of non-believers are just chill.

It's possible that my view is somewhat skewed by mainly observing atheism through online discourse, but the "hot issue" with religion seems to be a perennial one. After all, most atheists seem to come from religious households, and a lot of it appears to be a form of rebellion against parental tyranny. Meanwhile, people who were raised in atheist households often seem to seek out religion instead.

Religion is a means of social control, enforcing comformity and protecting the privileges of the in-group and the impunity of the hierarchy.

That's not necessarily a bad thing as long is it is not oppressive. Having an orderly and well-behaved society benefits everyone after all. I don't think you'd enjoy living in a society without rules or norms for all that long, because it makes for a short and brutal life for most people.

You have just acted in bad faith (as you admitted you just guessed what the intentions of the other person were) as a means to protect your identity, your worldview, rather than sincerely considering the honesty of the other person because you have been abused into interpreting the possibility of reasonable doubt as a threat.

That's an interesting accusation coming hot on the heels of telling me that social control and conformity are bad things. Why would you possibly care? And aren't you making yourself guilty of the same crime by assuming the reason for my acting this way? What if it was merely a reasonably educated guess based on the observation that the vast majority of people who complain about Christians not living up their own stated values never even attempt to live those values themselves?

Nothing of this is an attack against you. I just want you to see your attitude will only lead you to continue living in a cloud of fear, hindering your own growth.

Come on now, that's textbook gaslighting and psychopath behavior. "I never did the thing I'm currently doing" said the abuser, "and if I did, it's for your own good."

Citation needed. This is a total straw man argument.

Believe it or not, but it turns out studies on this actually exist.

Two U.S. M-Turk studies (Studies 1A and 1B, N = 429) and two large cross-national studies (Studies 2–3, N = 4,193), consistently show that disbelievers (vs. believers) are less inclined to endorse moral values that serve group cohesion (the binding moral foundations).

Specifically, disbelievers are less inclined than believers to endorse the binding moral foundations, and more inclined to engage in consequentialist moral reasoning. [...] It seems plausible that the more constrained and consequentialist view of morality that is associated with disbelief may have contributed to the widespread reputation of atheists as immoral in nature.

Very interesting also that you're showing the exact same behavior (i.e. consequentialist moral reasoning) in the remainder of your comment. This poses the question, if society were to evolve to consider rape, murder, and theft as excusable or even desirable behavior, would you go along with it?

As I am positive you know, quite a few things in Judeo-Christian scripture were considered "moral" in their time but are now viewed as unquestionably heinous.

What exactly are you referring to here? Slavery? Persecution of homosexuality and witchcraft? I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the abolitionist movement was largely driven by Christians, while the other two causes were championed by atheists or non-Christians. I'll leave my moral judgment of the latter aside so as not to unnecessarily inflame the discussion with reactionary rhetoric, but I will pose the question of whether in light of the rapidly declining birth rates in the west, homosexuality is a net good for society as a whole.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

A crime against humanity

I don't need to, because Christ has delivered us from the need of worshiping Yahweh, in much the same way that Prometheus delivered mankind from worshiping Zeus.

Don't you understand? The point of Christianity isn't to worship, it's to become a moral person. Whatever amount of horror or exploitation you may have seen going on around you in the church you grew up in wasn't a sign that it had failed, but rather, that it worked on YOU in a way that it didn't on everyone else, because it gave you eyes to see what others were missing – that is, all the evils and crimes they had committed and were still praying to be delivered of.

I understand that this is somewhat of a horrifying gift to receive, but you should treasure it anyways because it will keep you from running straight into the welcoming arms of another abuser – which WILL happen if you deny it.

Everything you do and say in this life will leave a mark on you, one way or another. Look up epigenetics if you need a scientific explanation for this. There is no such thing as a free lunch – getting rid of God does not get rid of the consequences of doing evil.

A man can dream...

Works for me! As long as Amazon will still deliver to my address, you can find me homesteading at my Uncle Ted cabin sending virtual mailbombs to fiat currency enthusiasts. Don't come visit without an appointment though or you'll be leaving in a box.

Come on, his last name is Ram-sey and you're making him a Llama?