People seem to think belief (or lack thereof) is a one dimensional line.

Theism - Agnosticism - Atheism

But it’s more like the political compass with Theism - Atheism on one axis and Gnostism - Agnosticism on the other.

Theism/Atheism is a comment on whether you believe in god(s).

Gnostism/Agnosticism is a comment on how strongly you hold that belief (or lack of belief).

Are you absolutely certain there’s no god? Then you’re a gnostic atheist. Believe in god in sort of a wishy-washy way? Then you’re an agnostic theist.

I’m a die hard atheist, but I also consider myself an agnostic. Because although there’s no evidence of a god it’s also impossible to prove a negative.

To be a gnostic atheist would actually take a leap of faith I’m not willing to risk.

I’ve decided to worship the reconstructed proto-indo-european pantheon.

OG gods for the win!

Reminds me of a two partner joke I made up when I was eight or nine.

What do you call a fly without wings?

A walk.

What do you call a frying pan with legs?

A wok.

I’m not American… but I am Scottish/British and I’ve never quite understood the whole being proud of your country thing.

Unless one is a hypocrite it’s always been clear to me that if you’re going to be proud of all the good shit your country has done you’ve also got to be ashamed of all the bad shit.

And with a few centuries of colonialism under the UK’s belt (and before anyone says different, no, Scotland very much partook and benefited from it) I seriously don’t have the emotional fortitude to feel that much shame.

Feeling pride in your culture? In your community? Fine. But in your nation state? A bunch of administrators with delusions of grandeur wrapped in a flag? I’d argue that’s unnatural because nation states in no way played a role in our evolutionary psychology.

Maybe I’d feel different if I was born in a wee inoffensive country somewhere… but I hope not. Nation states are pragmatically necessary but I don’t think we should be getting too invested in them.

I refuse to make fun of dietary restrictions after spending five years as a waiter rolling my eyes at gluten free people and then developing a gluten intolerance.

The universe is a tricky bitch. It gave me a literal pain in the ass.

The animations I put on Newgrounds. The Angry Atheist series.

1. AA gets in a rocket and goes up to heaven to fight God in a katana battle. In the end they both get killed by Buddha.

2. AA shoots up a church service and get taken out by an old lady sucking his face off with a plunger.

3. Jesus’s Revenge. The Son of God comes for AA. I think he kills him but then gets run over by a drunk driver.

4. AA drops a nuke on the Vatican.

I’m Scottish and once or twice a year will drive through the original Dallas. These days it’s just a single row of about two dozen houses (it has the remnants of a medieval castle though).

Must have been pretty trippy living there in the 80s when one of the biggest shows on American and British TV was Dallas.