i don't think the guy at the bar last night was random, and i was cognizant of it as the discussion was ongoing.

it's not exactly clear to me what it is that some shady political establishment thinks it would accomplish by convincing me that a god exists. i mean, i can guess that they may possibly be thinking that it might make me more industrious - that's the anarchist deconstruction of religion in the first place, that it's a tool used by capital to maximize productivity and keep good order. i'm not really interested in being a criminal, so trying to convince me, specifically, would have to be with the aim of making me more industrious.

i don't pretend that the preachers and politicians and other "enforcers" have any real faith in anything. it's only the ignorant at the bottom of the chain that actually believe any of this stuff; the enforcers are behaving pragmatically in the interests of their benefactors, as they always are. so, where the real debate lies is not in the validity of religion, but in the value of it. will religion actually make people more industrious? what the atheist argues is that it will not make people more industrious, or more moral or more pliable and may actually even make them less productive, less moral and more rigid. i think the only point we agree on is that religion is essential for generating jingoism and promoting war - you can't successfully declare and wage and win a war without using religion to generate support for it and that is a truth that has demonstrated itself repeatedly over the centuries.

i'm trying to imagine what i'd actually be like if i legitimately, honestly, seriously believed in a god and i have to think i'd probably actually be some kind of jesus freak missionary. if you took away my fear of death, i'd be a lot more willing to take risk and my threshold for pain would be a lot higher. so, i'd probably end up as a full-time political activist. what would change is probably that i'd convert my cynicism into a sense of self-righteousness and find myself more actively engaged in protest. i could very well end up in jail. and, i might end up on people's shirts.

free jessica

i'd rather just be free, thanks.