Good come back.

@motrubl4u Nope. I personally don't own guns, but I know at least a few who do. And they are pretty armed to the teeth, and they are all very proficient. I am beginning to think that I might be the ONLY liberal atheist in the country who doesn't own guns....

@motrubl4u Another nope!

@motrubl4u trust me...your not the only one locked and loaded...

@motrubl4u
You are not the only one homie.

I understand but guns and me are not going to mingle. As an atheist, I still hold an energy or sort of all is well. It is my mindset and if I am asked to defend myself , I will , but I hope never to see guns in the streets. But you present a good debate, if they, the right wing, marches against us with weapons, it has to be on or we surrender. This is where I go to my twilight zone and relish in it.

The issue appears to be that their minds are already made up, and giving them facts and reasons merely confuses them.

@anglophone Yes. It is difficult to reason with people of faith, because they see reason, science, facts and evidence as evil.

@anglophone That's known as the backfire effect. The more facts and reasoning you bring to the table the more they cling to their treasured beliefs. Some people do come around and that gives me hope, although it isn't happening fast enough. The Atheist Experience has shown me that it can happen. Anthony Magnabosco is a good one to watch for ideas on how to talk with people about their beliefs. He practices street epistemology, and he has a patient non-threatening way that I like to watch.

@RhondaShotwell I had forgotten about the backfire effect. Thanks for reminding me.

He does not hide it. None of this is hidden. There is no Deep State, except for religion. And their plans are not hidden in any kind of 'deep state". Right in front of us. It's startling when people think there is some "secret plan". Nothing secret about any of it

Some days it just seems like it will not end well. That is just some days though. I think overall it will get better.

The Attorney General cannot properly be accused of using his brain.

Barr is catholic, not fundamentalist christian.

@KKGator But much the same concept. The Catholic church, given half a chance, grabs power. Witness Spain under Franco.
What's more, Catholics date from an earlier Christian breakaway sect than fundamentalists.

@Petter Oh, the catholics are the original gangsters, no doubt.
They've got the worldwide thing happening.
In this country though, they have to "share power" with the evangelical assholes.

@KKGator How frustrating for them!

@Petter Ikr!?

Actually Barr self-identifies as Catholic.

More like a bulb in a field of tulips!

@TheMiddleWay The whole premise of Barr is flawed anyway. It presupposes that the USA law is still the wide-open country of Lewis and Clark. Yes, you have lax gun laws but other than that it is incredibly litigious and authoritarian. You cannot smoke on a NY street and many public parks, cannot gamble online anywhere or irl in most states, have very strict TV censoring regarding sex/nudity/foul language, have the highest prison population in the 1st world, and the only one that sanctions capital punishment. Not exactly a population that is trusted to do the right thing with minium state control.
If religion worked as an efficient check, then the USA would have less crime than secular nations, not more.

@TheMiddleWay But it is fair to compare countries with similar incomes. Ethiopia with Malawi or The UK with the USA.

@TheMiddleWay Okay USA and Australia. Similar incomes, the population of immigrants, age of the country, plus endless miles of bugger all.
IF? Religion is a good method of social control then the USA should be far safer than Australia. Its influence would trump (pardon the pun) any other factors

@TheMiddleWay Population density (people per sq. km) in the United States was reported at 35.77 sq.
You are not going to get an exact match but taken against a broad spectrum of 1st world historically western democracies. From Ireland to N.Z., the Czech Republic to Canada, all with varying population densities and incomes some higher or lower but all with a lower religious population and crime rate. Add to that the USAs religious belief has been historically much higher, it is falling now as is, funnily enough, the crime rate.
Now if a religious belief was a significant positive force in social control? We would see some evidence, when in fact we see the opposite.

The way I see it is if you have some 17-year-old guy and you give him a set of nearly impossible rules then he is going to fail. If stealing a car and having a wank is both wrong then he has already guilty of a gateway sin and the car is just another one.
Then you have those that lose their faith. If religion was all that kept you from bad choices then without it you are morally in the wild west.
To make the case for Christianity as an effective means of social control is as I have demonstrated dubious at best and fallacious at worst.
It is also been philosophically condemned on both sides. Bertrand Russell said you can make the same case for Santa and it is also condemned as heresy by the Catholic church.