Hotter, Badder, and Unpopularer Takes

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Texarkana back for round 2??

He/she was a poster who also held this viewpoint?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

The Spongebob TV Show was designed with the intent of pushing young children into a mindset where far-right political ideology could be implanted more easily.

This is one of the dumbest things I've seen in this entire thread.

As someone who grew up watching the show and still does watch it ocasionally, I never picked up on any political messages whatsoever other than that one episode that dealt with climate change.

Unless you think there's some sort of subliminal right-wing messages hidden in it, which is frankly hilarious.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Rhode Island will never be anything other than a solidly Democratic state at the Presidential level.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Cannibal Holocaust is one of my favorite films of all time, and I consider it better than, say, Citizen Kane or The Godfather.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

I’m also pro Assad.

Assad is a horrible dictator, I can't fathom how anyone could call themselves pro Assad.

But of course I get called that fairly often since I don't support us trying to have Iraq 2: Electric Boogalo in Syria.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

People under the age of 26 should not be allowed to join the military.

Where did you come up with this arbitrary age?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Identity politics are racist.

All politics is identity politics.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Texas is not significantly more likely to flip Democratic in 2020 than South Carolina and Alaska are.

Yes it is, but none of the three will flip.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Texas is not significantly more likely to flip Democratic in 2020 than South Carolina and Alaska are.

Yes it is, but none of the three will flip.

Texas is more likely, but not significantly more likely to flip than South Carolina and Alaska. Sabato is certainly unjustified to put Texas in Lean R and the other 2 all the way in Safe R.

I don't think so, those are reasonable ratings. You could make the case that Alaska is only Likely R because it's very elastic and swingy, but certainly South Carolina isn't flipping unless the Democrat actually does win the NPV by 12+ points.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Trump's obvious atheism is what gives me the most pause about my likely vote for him in 2020. A person with as much power as the US President needs to feel accountability to something greater than themselves.

And that something greater should be the US Constitution, the American people, and the rule of law.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Trump's obvious atheism is what gives me the most pause about my likely vote for him in 2020. A person with as much power as the US President needs to feel accountability to something greater than themselves.

And that something greater should be the US Constitution, the American people, and the rule of law.

I love the Constitution, but it can't love me back.

God can't love you back either, it's all in your head. like saying your imaginary friend loves you back, hell, it's literally saying that.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Trump's obvious atheism is what gives me the most pause about my likely vote for him in 2020. A person with as much power as the US President needs to feel accountability to something greater than themselves.

And that something greater should be the US Constitution, the American people, and the rule of law.

I love the Constitution, but it can't love me back.

God can't love you back either, it's all in your head. like saying your imaginary friend loves you back, hell, it's literally saying that.

This is a thread for "hotter" takes, we don't yet have one for scalding ones.

I realize I sometimes come across as a typical /r/atheism euphoric fedora-tipper, but if you really look at it, how can you say there's any more evidence that God exists than there is that imaginary friends are real? it's all a matter of the individual having faith that something exists in spite of the fact that it's impossible to prove and incredibly unlikely to actually exist.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Trump's obvious atheism is what gives me the most pause about my likely vote for him in 2020. A person with as much power as the US President needs to feel accountability to something greater than themselves.

And that something greater should be the US Constitution, the American people, and the rule of law.

I love the Constitution, but it can't love me back.

God can't love you back either, it's all in your head. like saying your imaginary friend loves you back, hell, it's literally saying that.

This is a thread for "hotter" takes, we don't yet have one for scalding ones.

I realize I sometimes come across as a typical /r/atheism euphoric fedora-tipper, but if you really look at it, how can you say there's any more evidence that God exists than there is that imaginary friends are real? it's all a matter of the individual having faith that something exists in spite of the fact that it's impossible to prove and incredibly unlikely to actually exist.

There is clearly more evidence for the existence of a deity, which is what makes this an interesting discussion for literally thousands of years. You have to be willfully obtuse to ignore or dismiss the evidence so freely.

What undeniable evidence is there that a deity exists? and if this evidence did exist, why are most scientists atheists or agnostics?

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Your commitment to science is the problem, you dingus.

Well, it's either science or superstition. I'll choose science every time.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Your commitment to science is the problem, you dingus.

Well, it's either science or superstition. I'll choose science every time.

I hope you two have a great life together.

Eh, my girlfriend probably won't be too thrilled but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Your commitment to science is the problem, you dingus. Of course you can't prove the existence of something that defies the laws of the universe when your standard for it's existence is that it abides by the laws of the universe and can be recorded doing so.

As much as religions have repeatedly tried to establish themselves as epistemological special snowflakes as they are relegated to 'gods of the gaps', they are just as much as scientific theories claims about the literal nature of the universe. If you want to believe, that's your prerogative, but you have no right to talk down to someone who demands of your claims the same basic standard of reasoning we hold literally every other claim about the world to.

This is exactly right. if I claimed that I was the son of God, came about from a virgin birth, and had the power to turn wine into water, everyone would laugh and say I'm insane, yet Christians actually believe this crap. it's 100% nonsense that has no basis in science or reality. many of the stories in the Bible also are scientifically impossible.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Your commitment to science is the problem, you dingus. Of course you can't prove the existence of something that defies the laws of the universe when your standard for it's existence is that it abides by the laws of the universe and can be recorded doing so.

As much as religions have repeatedly tried to establish themselves as epistemological special snowflakes as they are relegated to 'gods of the gaps', they are just as much as scientific theories claims about the literal nature of the universe. If you want to believe, that's your prerogative, but you have no right to talk down to someone who demands of your claims the same basic standard of reasoning we hold literally every other claim about the world to.

This is exactly right. if I claimed that I was the son of God, came about from a virgin birth, and had the power to turn wine into water, everyone would laugh and say I'm insane, yet Christians actually believe this crap. it's 100% nonsense that has no basis in science or reality. many of the stories in the Bible also are scientifically impossible.

     Of course they're physically impossible. That is why they are called miracles. Given that the ability to accomplish the impossible is key to the testimonials of Christ, as attested to by those who saw Him, this argument misses the mark and as such is unconvincing.

Miracles aren't real, there's zero evidence for them. you can't accomplish the impossible otherwise it wouldn't be impossible in the first place.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

-words n stuff-

I realize I come across as an "edgy 16 year old atheist", but I'm neither 16 years old nor intentionally trying to be edgy. the burden of proof should be on people who claim a God or Gods or Goddesses exist, not on people like me who say there's no evidence they do and as such, no reason to believe they do. yes, I realize science can't answer everything, but it is still all we have unless you want to blindly follow religion and superstition, and many, many aspects of the Bible itself go against what is scientifically possible, and yeah, I know - "muh miracles", "muh anything is possible through Jeebus", but those aren't arguments. if I tell you that I can lift a 1,500lb car with my bare hands and refuse to show any verifiable proof, would you blindly say it's a likely story when I claim I did it through the power of Christ or something to that effect? I see religion as a remnant of our more primitive past where we didn't have science and made up Gods and Goddesses just to explain things that science can easily explain now. there is simply no need for religion in modern society, and the sooner it's eradicated to the dust bin of history, the better. and also, I don't mean to sound like Richard Dawkins because I in fact have numerous disagreements with him - but these are largely political differences rather than me disagreeing with his views on religion. I've never been to a church in my entire life and I'm damn proud of that - I also think forcing children to go to church is basically child abuse.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

EC, have you ever seriously wondered if like....you’re wrong? Like, what if you die and actually do go to whatever form of hell (literal or more metaphorical) exists? Does that not trouble you even a little bit? If I’m wrong, I just rot in the ground. But if you’re wrong...?

I admit it's possible I could be wrong, but it's also possible that little green men from a distant Galaxy are abducting humans and probing their buttholes. just because something is technically possible doesn't mean it's likely or even probable, and I'm so sure, based on all available science and facts, that hell doesn't exist, that I'm 100% not afraid of going there when I die. and if I am wrong, at least I can say I lived my life the way I wanted to and actually enjoyed it, rather than following the rules from a 2000 year old garbage book so I can go to some lame heaven for squares.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

I see our dear friend Enlightened Centrist (that’s his name, right?) has yet to hear of guerrilla warfare.

What are you saying? guerilla warfare is miraculous or can't be explained by science? I apologize, but whatever you mean by this went over my head

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

  I see religion as a remnant of our more primitive past where we didn't have science and made up Gods and Goddesses just to explain things that science can easily explain now. there is simply no need for religion in modern society, and the sooner it's eradicated to the dust bin of history, the better.

I disagree strongly with you on this one. I think religion plays a vital role in modern society in constraining those who are incapable of independent moral thought, which I believe is a much larger population than most of us would like to think. There are people out there who believe that moral and ethical rules are derived solely from divinity and enforced only by the pain of divine retribution - can you imagine what this sort of people would do if freed from that threat?

I don't think it's a coincidence that most serial killers tend to be nonbelievers - there are a lot of people who simply wouldn't think twice about harming their fellow man for their own gain without the threat of punishment hanging over their head, and unfortunately, the existence of such killers show that our current justice system is insufficient to completely deter them.

Forming an independent moral system requires high-level thought and good parenting and education, and our society is nowhere near being able to provide that to everyone. Until then, I am very happy that those who don't feel that they have something breathing down their back to prevent them from harming me.

I've never met anyone of any belief system who fully agrees with me on this take, by the way, so hopefully it's unpopular enough to re-rail the thread.

I don't see how religion prevents people from doing terrible things, in fact, religion inspires just as many people to do terrible things as it does to do good things, and there is no good deed tat can be done by a believer that can't be done by someone who doesn't believe. the idea that we need religion to give people morals or a sense of right vs. wrong is simply not true. I go by a very simple moral code: don't be an asshole, and treat others the way you would like to be treated.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Religion is a remnant of our more primitive past, just like eating and sex. It's really time we get beyond that sort of thing.

LOL what?! humans have to eat to survive, and have to have sex to reproduce so the species survives. we definitely don't need religion to survive.


You're comparing two very natural things to something that is the opposite of natural. all animals must eat and reproduce to survive, but humans are the only ones who have made up magical deity's to make themselves feel better about their lack of understanding.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Religion is a remnant of our more primitive past, just like eating and sex. It's really time we get beyond that sort of thing.

LOL what?! humans have to eat to survive, and have to have sex to reproduce so the species survives. we definitely don't need religion to survive.


You're comparing two very natural things to something that is the opposite of natural. all animals must eat and reproduce to survive, but humans are the only ones who have made up magical deity's to make themselves feel better about their lack of understanding.

Again, you deliberately dumb down the debate to make your own viewpoint look smarter in comparison and refuse to accept that many people who believe in a higher power don't "need" to; they simply do.

I didn't say otherwise, I realize that people who believe in a "higher power" simply choose to do so rather than there being some inherent biological or natural reason to do so. but comparing religion to eating or sex is just patently absurd, it's like if I compared using the internet to breathing. the internet and religion are both things we absolutely do not need to survive, while having sex, eating, and breathing are inherently things we must have/do to survive.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Religion is a remnant of our more primitive past, just like eating and sex. It's really time we get beyond that sort of thing.

LOL what?! humans have to eat to survive, and have to have sex to reproduce so the species survives. we definitely don't need religion to survive.


You're comparing two very natural things to something that is the opposite of natural. all animals must eat and reproduce to survive, but humans are the only ones who have made up magical deity's to make themselves feel better about their lack of understanding.

Again, you deliberately dumb down the debate to make your own viewpoint look smarter in comparison and refuse to accept that many people who believe in a higher power don't "need" to; they simply do.

I didn't say otherwise, I realize that people who believe in a "higher power" simply choose to do so rather than there being some inherent biological or natural reason to do so. but comparing religion to eating or sex is just patently absurd, it's like if I compared using the internet to breathing. the internet and religion are both things we absolutely do not need to survive, while having sex, eating, and breathing are inherently things we must have/do to survive.

I'm not agreeing with shua's comparison, but you literally have never once discussed non-atheists on this site without implying that they believe what they do because, in some way, it makes them feel better and for no other meaningful reason like coming to the well thought out conclusion that they think the most likely scenario for the Universe in its current state is an intelligent agent outside of space-time.

I'll agree to that. some people do in fact come to the conclusion that a deity exists based on their interpretation of facts and evidence, and while I strongly disagree with their opinion, it's just that, an opinion - and they're entitled to it. I believe that religion started as a way to explain things that were unexplainable at that time and as a way for humans to cope with their inevitable mortality, but I'm not saying that's still why people are religious. there are many different reasons why someone might choose to believe in a higher power, I'm not denying that. I'm simply saying I believe, based on the best scientific data, that the facts are on my side. I am NOT saying I believe my atheism makes me better than believers, and in fact, my significant other and many of my family members are religious and I still love most of them and think highly of them.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

EC in this thread:

No. I don't claim to be enlightened (my name is purely a joke), and I also do not claim to be a genius or posses a "vast intellect". I am of average intelligence at best.