Quote Originally Posted by Beanz View Post
Quite ironic and funny just how cynical your opening post is I understand what you mean and you illustrate it perfectly with the 'Fake News' phenomenon, but the one sided "only my station and side is telling the truth" tsunami has actually been refreshingly absent for a few days now.

To be fair to the flat earthers your theory of it being a bandwagon is not really born out here on the forum with just one poster subscribing to it. Not sure how many atheists there are but again I don't think your assertion they don't believe in anything and think they are the ultimate cool is that accurate either. Most atheist will belive in the innate ability of people to do good things for strangers without having the threat of some God's punishment hanging over them. Sure some are cynical like we all can be, but as an agnostic I really don't think adhering slavishly to any religious tradition is a sign of being a more committed or responsible person, for many it is just habit and/or precisely for the look of the thing.

You get very moral balanced believers, and absolute scummy and abusive bastards, both claiming to use the same book and worship the same God. Just like you get atheists who don't give a shit about anyone other than themselves and those who actually live their lives far more closely aligned with supposedly ChristianJudeo principles, then actual Christians/Jews whilst only ever claiming to be humanists etc

The conspiracy thing is incredibly interesting for me on many levels. Having grown up under a system in which almost everything I was told turned out to be a lie, I have no problem with believing the truth often being obscured with the deployment of smoke and mirrors by those in power. That same power though is abused by those who pedal some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories for profit, and the buzz that power and belief that they are privy to some unique secret gives them. Things like Holocaust deniers pretending there is some kind of censorship and cover up does nothing to help their cause when they are seeking to rewrite history to fit their own agenda. The extreme polarisation that many conspiracies promote are actually inherent and purposeful tactics designed to discredit the kind of rational discourse they are themselves saying is forbidden.


9/11 is a brilliant example. Even if you believe the authorities in control knew nothing about it before it happened there is very little rational evidence that could explain away how convenient the ensuing war on terror proved to be for western interests in oil rich middle eastern countries. It interweaves so intricately with climate change denial and then when people like Tony Blair are made Peace Envoys for the Middle East, all bets are off.


Well I meant "bandwagon" in the sense that overall it seems the movement has picked up steam lately. The forum is but a tiny, tiny minuscule cross-section of society, and having even one Flat Earther is significant when extrapolated to the general population. Atheists? No, you're right... as with any group of people, there will be exceptions. Good Samaritan, good people atheists.... and SOB, miserable church-goers. Though from my own personal observations, it seems the atheist contingent in the forum is a bit heavy toward the non-exceptions, thus in a way prompting my generalization. On the other hand, it's also been my experience that many Bible-thumping religious people have the worst personal characteristics of anyone you'd ever meet. So yeah... there's exceptions.

Conspiracy theorists generally get an initial raised eyebrow from me. Again, questioning is healthy.... to a point. But when you find that someone constantly questions everything, it sets off alarms, at least with me. As kids we probably all went through the "but why" phase. Or have had kids that went through that. But after the 5th or so "but why" even the most well-meaning parent will usually resort to the "because I said so" final answer. I don't know what makes a person question everything in life. Or more accurately still..... put everything into question or doubt. How do you go through life like that? That question will usually bring out the predictable "you are all sheep" response. But it's not a contest about how gullible anyone is, or how inquisitive the other guy is. IMO, you pick your battles. I find it easier to question historical doctrine than I do scientific facts. History is just something we were taught off textbooks since Day One. There's no labs that prove to you that such and such happened. Science, on the other hand, includes theories and proof. Whether or not we as individuals want to accept those proofs is entirely up to us, I guess.

You got your incurable skeptics, and you got those who like you said promote certain conspiracy theories to suit their personal agendas. The former I think suffer from a bit of a condition, while the latter are just opportunists, who think nothing of bending the truth to get their point across and their agenda pushed.

I STILL think cynicism is the new "cool", though.