I am going to copy a message thread beween myself and a FB "friend" which got me thinking, maybe other people out there have heard of scammers who proclaim their atheism in order to attract suitably guillible "marks." In which case, I will have to admit my argument is patently absurd and revise my hypothesis...until then, I'm fairly convinced that my shit is bona fide.
NOTE: The first entry in the thread was actually my status update which I posted sometime over the weekend, I think Sunday. It WAS NOT directed at anyone in particular and was read only by people who are in my circle of friends and upon whom's wall ticker my update comment happened to land (for whatever reason known only to Mark Zuckerburg and maybe god).Anyway, here's the thread from my Facebook page:
ME: This is an excerpt from an email I recently received: "I am Mrs Helen Moore, a devoted Christian. I have chosen you for an inheritance. Please contact me for more details. Private contact email mrshelenmoore@..." What did I do? Deleted it. Why? because it's a scam! How did I know? The minute I read the words, "devout Christian."
Sunday at 5:44pm · Like ·
FB FRIEND: Hater!
15 hours ago · Like
ME: Yes, C-----, that's precisely what I am when it comes to Christianity (and all religions) but not necessarily towards all those who practice it!
14 hours ago · Like
FB FRIEND: (SILENCE. NO RESPONSE.)
ME: Actually, to be honest, (since you've gotten all quiet over there, wherever you are) I have to say that I do (for reasons which I will explain) "prejudge" people that I meet who are "aggressively devout" or "smugly religious." Why? Because I think that are they are either immature/naive/complacent/disingenuous--intellectually speaking--or a combination of them all. They are not brave people, the faithful. They would never admit that they don't, TRULY, know whether there is a God or not, let alone admit to having any personal doubts about him. I think it takes far less courage to be religious than to be atheist.
One thing for sure, is it takes far less common sense to be religious than atheist. Which is why these scammers use religion to attract their "mark." Because religious people depend upon their religion to define them as good people, and not their actions, they are just as likely to be greedy as anybody else. But what separates the and makes them a better mark than atheists, is the fact that they are so prone to gullibility and to suspending disbelief, especially when it comes to their religion. Why did the Catholic priests get away with molesting kids for YEARS? Because parents couldn't bring themselves to consider the possibility that these "men of god" were doing anything to harm their children. You'll never hear a scammer say, "I'm an atheist, and I want to share 10 million dollars with you, just as long as you're an atheist too! Oh that, and so long as you send me $2000 dollars for the "bank fees" it's going to cost me to wire half of this 10 million to you!" Why? Because there'd be no one to scam! Atheists make up a very, very small percentage of the population, for starters, and, on top of that, we tend to be highly dubious, highly skeptical people. We don't care if someone else shares our lack of a belief in God enough to ignore the fact that what they're saying to us makes no sense whatsoever! But religious people have to make concessions all day long, in order to quiet the cognitive dissonance that religion INHERENTLY generates! And II would love to hear your feedback.
8 minutes ago · Like
NOTE: The first entry in the thread was actually my status update which I posted sometime over the weekend, I think Sunday. It WAS NOT directed at anyone in particular and was read only by people who are in my circle of friends and upon whom's wall ticker my update comment happened to land (for whatever reason known only to Mark Zuckerburg and maybe god).Anyway, here's the thread from my Facebook page:
ME: This is an excerpt from an email I recently received: "I am Mrs Helen Moore, a devoted Christian. I have chosen you for an inheritance. Please contact me for more details. Private contact email mrshelenmoore@..." What did I do? Deleted it. Why? because it's a scam! How did I know? The minute I read the words, "devout Christian."
Sunday at 5:44pm · Like ·
FB FRIEND: Hater!
15 hours ago · Like
ME: Yes, C-----, that's precisely what I am when it comes to Christianity (and all religions) but not necessarily towards all those who practice it!
14 hours ago · Like
FB FRIEND: (SILENCE. NO RESPONSE.)
ME: Actually, to be honest, (since you've gotten all quiet over there, wherever you are) I have to say that I do (for reasons which I will explain) "prejudge" people that I meet who are "aggressively devout" or "smugly religious." Why? Because I think that are they are either immature/naive/complacent/disingenuous--intellectually speaking--or a combination of them all. They are not brave people, the faithful. They would never admit that they don't, TRULY, know whether there is a God or not, let alone admit to having any personal doubts about him. I think it takes far less courage to be religious than to be atheist.
One thing for sure, is it takes far less common sense to be religious than atheist. Which is why these scammers use religion to attract their "mark." Because religious people depend upon their religion to define them as good people, and not their actions, they are just as likely to be greedy as anybody else. But what separates the and makes them a better mark than atheists, is the fact that they are so prone to gullibility and to suspending disbelief, especially when it comes to their religion. Why did the Catholic priests get away with molesting kids for YEARS? Because parents couldn't bring themselves to consider the possibility that these "men of god" were doing anything to harm their children. You'll never hear a scammer say, "I'm an atheist, and I want to share 10 million dollars with you, just as long as you're an atheist too! Oh that, and so long as you send me $2000 dollars for the "bank fees" it's going to cost me to wire half of this 10 million to you!" Why? Because there'd be no one to scam! Atheists make up a very, very small percentage of the population, for starters, and, on top of that, we tend to be highly dubious, highly skeptical people. We don't care if someone else shares our lack of a belief in God enough to ignore the fact that what they're saying to us makes no sense whatsoever! But religious people have to make concessions all day long, in order to quiet the cognitive dissonance that religion INHERENTLY generates! And II would love to hear your feedback.
8 minutes ago · Like
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