Article makes case that world is more peaceful due to rise in Atheism.

Courtesy of the Guardian:  

The quiet truth behind the inescapable headlines about man’s inhumanity to man is that the world is actually becoming a more peaceful place. Deaths from war and conflict have been declining for decades – and, if current trends continue, we can make them rarer still. 

What mysterious force is sowing peace among humankind? One possible reason is that there are more atheists and nonbelievers than ever before. 

In America, millennials are the largest and least religious generation in the country’s history. The trend toward secularization in the US mirrors the movement in Europe and throughout the developed world. And poll after poll have shown that the nonreligious also lean more progressive and more pacifist on a wide variety of issues relating to violence: torture, the death penalty, corporal punishment, military adventurism and more. 

As long as humanity was in thrall to the violent morality of religious texts, our societies were warlike and cruel. As the American revolutionary Thomas Paine said, belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man. It’s only in the last few decades, as we’ve begun to cast these beliefs off, that we’re making real moral progress.

As an outspoken Atheist I of course want to think that the rise of non-deists is the reason for all kinds of positives in the world

And though I would agree that much of the warlike behavior we are witnessing in the world today is driven by religious ideologies,  I am not entirely convinced that doing away with religion automatically translates into a more peaceful world.

We kill for a variety of reasons, religion is just a convenient method by which to excuse our hatred or demonization of a group that we deem less worthy than our own tribes.

 So I am interested in your thoughts on the matter.

Sarah Palin shares a mash letter she received from one of her fans. A 90 year old fan.

"I've still got it!"

Courtesy of Palin's Facebook page:

Received this very kind comment from 91-year-old Iwo Jima veteran Mr. George Monta… 

"Sarah, you are precious to me, a Iwo Jima Veteran, 91 years old and hoping you know how much America needs you!" 

Of course I'm kind of teasing about the mash letter part, this seems like a genuinely nice old man, however I am not joking about the age of the folks who still believe that Sarah Palin is worthy of their respect or affection.

Of course due to this man's military service and history, Palin's ghostwritten response was syrupy sweet: 

Mr. George Monta, YOU and your fellow veterans are the heroes America has always relied on. You kept us safe and fought selflessly for our freedoms, and literally brought the world back from the brink. The Greatest Generation is truly that; our leaders in Washington and those seeking to lead must be mindful of the true American spirit within you. YOU are precious to our great nation. God bless you, sir.

Now I agree that Mr. Monta is indeed a hero and deserves our respect. 

However I would suggest that the entire reason Palin made such a big deal about receiving this comment is because, well first because it makes her feel wanted, and secondly because she thinks that it helps paint her as a supporter of the military.

However in truth she, and her fellow conservatives, are constantly looking to start some shit in the Middle East to find reason to send our soldiers into the middle of some firefight in a god forsaken desert where they can die for the "glory of their country."

People who support our military members do not constantly look for ways to end their lives. Just saying.

Sarah Palin is no supporter of the military. She is an opportunist who believes that associating herself with soldiers, and ex-soldiers, somehow makes her seem knowledgeable about war and foreign affairs. (Spoiler alert: She is knowledgeable about neither.)

And yes she dresses like this in order to carbonate the hormones of men, most of whom have not been able to get their little soldier to salute in decades, and to make them feel similar to the way strip club customers feel when the dancers rub boob glitter on their faces during a lap dance even though there is no way in hell they would ever go home with them.

And personally I am sickened by the fact that men like Mr. Monta, who really should know better, are so easily fooled by the magically inflatable chest, the store bought hair, and the poorly applied patriotic camouflage.