this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2025
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“It’s very ‘Handmaid’s Tale’-esque,” one official said.

The Trump administration has ordered State Department employees to report on any instances of coworkers displaying “anti-Christian bias” as part of its effort to implement a sweeping new executive order on supporting employees of Christian faith working in the federal government.

The department, according to a copy of an internal cable obtained by POLITICO, will work with an administration-wide task force to collect information “involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration” and will collect examples of anti-Christian bias through anonymous employee report forms.

The cable was sent out to embassies around the world under Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s name. The instructions also were released in a department-wide notice.

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[–] [email protected] 91 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Fuck religion, brain dead morons

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago

Religion is a big fuckin sham. At best it’s brainwashing people to fawn over fictional characters and at worst it’s a disgusting grift to get rich (tax free not to mention) by taking advantage of people’s fear and insecurities. The world ~~could use~~ needs more secularism.

[–] [email protected] 34 points 2 days ago (1 children)

We are cursed to live in a society where most grown ass adults still believe in magic.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

Religion, AI, living forever, etc. The people at the top of american society are quite possibly among the most gullible rubes to live on this planet. 45 years of low taxes has cooked our society

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 days ago (5 children)

I'm an atheist, but I don't think we should hate on other people based on their religion, tbh. The problem is the institutions and persons that take advantage of people's faith.

People are free to believe whatever they want to believe, that's none of our business, imho; but.. to whoever exploits people's beliefs and vulnerabilities, fuck them worthless pieces of bloody shit to the infinity. Again, imho.

[–] [email protected] 72 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

You know, I totally agree people are free to believe whatever they want and obviously I know and am friends with/family with people who are religious and I don't necessarily think poorly of them on an individual basis.

However, my belief on a personal level is religion is fucking stupid and an artifact of humans from a bygone age when we were significantly dumber, unintelligent, and didn't know anything about the world and universe. I hate religion and wish I could live long enough to see it die. It makes me so happy knowing that overall religious individuals, at least in the US, are declining year over year.

I'm aggressive about it here because this is the internet and those are my true feelings. But ya irl it would be pretty scummy to be so hostile and rude to someone based purely on their religious beliefs

[–] [email protected] 19 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Hear hear. People are trying to live their lives and grapple with the universe in a way that they can cope with. But the institutions themselves are evil, barbaric relics that belong in history books.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

100%, I've made my distaste for religion clear but I'm honestly jealous of them sometimes. How nice would it be to truly believe there is a heaven or after life of some kind, that would be a nice feeling indeed.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

You could always choose to believe in a scientifically plausible religion! Here's one of my favorites:

Imagine a far future utopian society. Something Star Trek or better. No one wants for anything, even aging is cured.

However, utopia has a problem. How do you raise children in paradise? In a world where your every whim can be conjured up for free, how do you raise children without them turning out to be a bunch of spoiled sociopaths?

Simple. Don't even try. Raise them in a simulation. Choose the environment carefully. Raise them in a simulation of an earlier historical era. Far enough back that they will experience some struggle, but not so far back that they'll be living as slave in ancient Rome or something. You want to educate people, not torture them. And ideally in a period that has a concept that the future can be far more advanced than the present. Ancient societies didn't really grok the concept of technological advancement. The 21st century is a great era to build an ancestor simulation around.

And, just like that, there's your religion. When you 'die' in this life, you just wake up in the real world. Maybe there's even a judgment component there. Maybe you have to go through several lifetimes if you don't live a good enough life in the simulation. Are you a sociopathic billionaire in this life? Back in the tank with you, you're going around the wheel again until you learn not to be an asshole. When you've shown you can live a just, noble, and compassionate life, only then are you allowed to graduate from school and enter into the real world. You're biologically immortal, so you can just keep spinning on the wheel as long as necessary. Oh, and you'll be reunited with all your departed family and friends, once they graduate as well.

There. A completely scientifically plausible religion that requires zero supernatural forces or entities. It rewards the virtuous, punishes the wicked, provides for the resurrection of the dead, and promises eternal paradise. No God or gods required. It's a hybrid of Christianity and Buddhism packaged in a techno utopian wrapper. I call it "The Church of Graduation."

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Wouldn't that like...fuck with one's psyche at a fundamental level? You die, a traumatic experience, and then you wake up and you're literally in the "afterlife"? Wouldn't that just be a massive confirmation bias to the individual, despite being entirely fabricated by the people who run this hypothetical program?

Am I overthinking this?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 22 hours ago

Sure. But how I think of it is most people go through several virtual lifetimes. Your memories are temporarily suppressed during each one. In the end, they all come together, and you have the wisdom of several lifetimes to guide you. A mindfuck, yes. But utopia has some really good psychologists. And they wouldn't just dump you from the tank out onto the proverbial sidewalk. There would be a lengthy orientation and education process. There's no rush. You have all the time in the world to come to terms with things.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Thats a fun thought, thanks for sharing

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't know if you've ever read the short story "The Egg" by Andy Wier, but if not, I think you'd like it.

https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Yup! This is a similar idea, just grounded entirely in our physical universe.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago

The institutions are shaped by people too. Hear hear, there are nice people and scumbags.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 2 days ago (2 children)

I’m an atheist, but I don’t think we should hate on other people based on their religion, tbh. The problem is the institutions and persons that take advantage of people’s faith.

I'm not particularly anti-religious, but this is essentially the "not all men" argument in clerical robes.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The problem is the institutions and persons that take advantage of people’s faith.

This is the fundamental reason that religion is a problem in the first place though. Someone starts a religion based on what they believe, they get into a position of authority, and soon they're asking for more from their followers: more money, more resources, more women... Etc, etc.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

Sorry, maybe I did a bad job at explaining myself - I think all of the religious institutions are bad because they take advantage of the people, not just some of them. I just wanted to extend that to other non-religious ones that do the same.

If that's not what you meant, do you mind explaining why this is a "not all men" argument?

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

It has limits though - people can believe whatever, but they still shouldn't harm others.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 days ago

There is no place for religious believes in a workplace or anwhere outside basically. You have a job to do that should be defined. Where does god come into this? If you believe god forbids to do xy on the job then the job is not for you. Just quit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Just embedding your linked image quick