this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
211 points (99.1% liked)

Atheism

5469 readers
82 users here now

Community Guide


Archive Today will help you look at paywalled content the way search engines see it.


Statement of Purpose

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.

Inadvisable


Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.


If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.

Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.

 ~ /c/nostupidquestions

If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we'll have a look!


Connect with Atheists

Help and Support Links

Streaming Media

This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.

Orgs, Blogs, Zines

Mainstream

Bibliography

Start here...

...proceed here.

Proselytize Religion

From Reddit

As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

MAGA is a religion

You are nearly there. The decline of religion is replaced by political ideology. Religion has traditionally provided community and a sense of belonging and purpose. Since the advent of scientific revolution, religion has been steadily been declining. Coupled that with the growing individualism, since the promulgation of liberalism, and we have people feeling alienated and purposeless. The scientific revolution and individualist priorities atomised what was once communities and now there are only individuals left to fend for themselves. These vulnerable individuals are easy prey for demagogues who promise to bring back that sense of belonging and togetherness. It is not a coincidence that many rural areas are MAGA and religion is still alive and well. And what's the main characteristic of rural countries? Its loneliness. Hannah Arendt made an insightful conclusion that loneliness is a precursor to totalitarianism.

The extremely liberal and individualistic values that happened in 19th century giving rise to collectivist totalitarianism is repeating again and we haven't learned. Even a lot of Lemmy users don't get this and scoff at the "deplorables", wondering why the poor voted for Trump. He offered a sense of belonging to the poor and alienated, which both centrist Democrats and Republicans abandoned long ago.

[–] Jumbie@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It’s you that is nearly there. Your attempt to blame liberalism doesn’t resonate and surely does not seem to have a historical precedent.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The old historical meaning and value of liberalism is emphasis on individuality and private property. Those two come part and parcel together. It is no coincidence that socialism developed as a collectivist response to liberalism. Many people think socialism is only on economic level but socialism is, well, also social. Socialism tries to go back to collectivism; where group well-being is more important than individual. Think about it, why do the slogans "1% vs 99%" and "for the many, not the few" are leftist while centrists shun it? Other ideologies also tried to claim collectivism, namely communism and fascism. These ideologies are anti-liberal in the sense that they are against individualism. Never mind some of the collectivist ideologies are not democratic but that requires another discussion. In any case, you will notice socialists, communists and fascists often use "we" in their rhetoric more than the liberals and centrists alike, because of greater emphasis on collectivism, as in "us" rather than "you" and "I".

I urge you to read more on the historical development of political ideologies, especially on collectivism and individualism. This is not simply left or right, this is also collectivism versus individualism. This is what gets lost on the current discourse and why I think liberals and left lost ground in recent decades, because they don't understand. You don't have to agree, you have to understand. At the very least, progressives like Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sanders and AO recognised this and they understand, and captured the appreciation of MAGA voters.

[–] Jumbie@lemmy.zip -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

If you change the meaning of a word then you can apply behaviors to it that win your argument.

I’m sure you don’t mean to but hiding it inside a collection of other words looks like obfuscation to “sneak” the point in.

I think where you went wrong in your initial hypothesis was when you correlated liberalism to individualism. Individualism is a western affliction and applies to both conservative and liberal demographics.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Ask yourself why liberal Democrats are so against progressives. Ask as well why in liberal cities, there are so many NIMBYs voting against affordable housing despite being "progressive". The individualistic values "sneaks" to economic policies.

It's going to be a lot but I urge you to read on the historical development of liberalism and you'll understand. It then ties to why socialism developed, and later on fascism and communism.

There is deliberate obfuscation by your government and elites to muddy the terms to prevent further mobilisation of people against them. While in other parts of the world, calling one's self a socialist, democratic socialist or social democrats are perfectly fine, it is very much a no-no in the US and Americans instead call themselves progressive.

[–] Jumbie@lemmy.zip -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

There we go. I suspected as much. You’re being quite dishonest and it only took you three giant walls of text to let it out.

I don’t debate conservatives. You have nothing to add to my experience. Goodbye.

[–] TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

You have nothing to add to my experience.

Precisely what I'm talking about, individualistic.

Just know that liberals in other countries are considered conservatives. Like, Mamdani is considered far left in US, but his policies are normal in Europe.