And whether you choose to react to that with worship and gratitude or fear and loathing is up to you But like... you can't actually put the universe on trial You can condemn God for being an asshole for disease and suffering and death happening but they still happen
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You've just got to find a way to deal with it See what you can do to make those things happen less Strike some kind of deal, if you can, and if you can't, well, find a way to think about it that gets you through the day
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One of my thoughts about a D&D type world where the gods are literally real and active entities was that the clerical class are the equivalent of lawyers
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Replying to @arthur_affect
I'm suddenly reminded of the line from Pratchett where he said that sometimes the gods would come around to atheists' houses and break their windows.
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Replying to @AbelUndercity
Yeah exactly Being a D&D/Discworld atheist is like being an anarchist in our world I may very well not think that the gods *should* be gods and I may not recognize their authority in a moral sense and I may deeply hate them But I pay my taxes so I don't go to jail
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
It's one of those things that's actually pretty deep if you think about it Do you "believe in" the law? Do you "believe in" the United States government? Or, say, the value of the US dollar?
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
Many people on some emotional level *disbelieve* in these things really angrily and fervently but they, nonetheless, pay their taxes, stop at red lights, have a US passport, deposit their paychecks at the bank You gotta *act* like you believe, because everyone else believes
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
(And by the same token, looking at it from the other direction, nobody believes quite as fully as the on-paper "religion" would have you think As people point out, we all inevitably break the law nearly constantly and cops and judges openly see enforcement as a judgment call)
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
David Foster Wallace got all philosophical about this regarding, of all things, income tax returns
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
Having this quasi-religious debate between his IRS auditors over whether there literally is such a thing as an Objectively Correct tax return every US citizen has, and that your goal should be to get as close to that as possible
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Vs. the "liberal" idea that there are *many* different possible valid tax returns based on competing but equally valid interpretations of the tax code and of real life ("Who's to say what a business expense REALLY is") and it's a matter of what you can convince people of
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Replying to @arthur_affect @AbelUndercity
The question isn’t belief, but reasonable reliance. A law may be vaguely written: the question is whether you can reasonably rely on a meaning for satisfying your obligation under it. “Reasonableness” is as judges by your fellow citizens (ultimately a jury) Law is *social*
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Racism and bigotry, in that understanding, are thereby fundamental threats to rule of law. I can open carry in Ohio. An African American man cannot. Because I can reasonably rely on the open carry law to ensure that others—individuals and the state—respect my right to do so.
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