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<\/p>\nMaybe it’s a part of growing up, but I just no longer have the interest in arguing about certain things I used to love debating\/arguing about at length (i.e. OS X’s superiority to other operating systems). \u00c2\u00a0It is with a little bit of this wisdom that I see a little bit of myself in ZJEmptv on YouTube, a.k.a. Zinnia Jones, the “Queen of Atheism” (note: ZJ is actually a guy, and no, he isn’t trans, though given his look, he’s happy with being referred to as “he” or “she” and I may mix genders of pronouns in this post as it feels right).<\/p>\n
(UPDATE Feb 2013: ZJ actually did come out as trans since I wrote this. Keeping gender pronouns as they were for posterity)<\/p>\n
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ZJ covers a wide variety of topics, but her two biggest topics are queer-related topics, and topics related to atheism. \u00c2\u00a0In the earlier videos, you’ll find a spunky teenager with unkempt hair with a bad attitude telling you about his dick (seriously), but there’s been a gradual transition to longer, better kept hair, some makeup wearing, and sadly, her videos are now very monotone; in a quest for better eloquence, she’s now writing out her video transcripts and reading off of them. \u00c2\u00a0It feels lacking in emotion and unhuman, but they’re her videos, not mine, and I won’t judge.<\/p>\n
In any case, despite being a high school dropout and never having gone to college, ZJ is a fantastic debater, carefully picking apart opponents’ arguments and meticulously destroying them. \u00c2\u00a0ZJ is also no slouch academically, usually being quite knowledgeable about any subject he tackles (now I feel sexist, referring to ZJ as a boy when talking about his intelligence, but referring to her as a girl when talking about how her videos are robotic sounding… my bad) and being generally very well-informed.<\/p>\n
To me it feels like such a waste of greatness to see him on YouTube. \u00c2\u00a0Have you ever read YouTube comments? \u00c2\u00a0I usually think twice before posting one myself, because I don’t feel idiotic enough to belong in the ranks of the people who leave the worthless drivel they call comments. \u00c2\u00a0And here ZJ is trying to win people over to atheism (an evangelical atheist?).<\/p>\n
ZJ, this post is for you, and I’m giving you this advice out of pure admiration. \u00c2\u00a0If you’ll forgive the irony, you’re preaching to the choir. \u00c2\u00a0The religious people you try to reason with are not going to be convinced to abandon religion after seeing reason, and if they do, they’ll get there on their own. \u00c2\u00a0People don’t become religious because their minds followed a soundly logical path. \u00c2\u00a0Most of them just had it presented to them as fact at a very young age, and went with it. \u00c2\u00a0Others are looking for something to follow. \u00c2\u00a0Whatever the case, people who are sticking with religion are not doing so because it’s the logical thing to do. \u00c2\u00a0They’re doing it because they’re putting blind faith in the belief system, and the belief system was cleverly constructed to “reward” you for your blind faith. \u00c2\u00a0With an ingenious system like that, no number of YouTube videos will win people over. \u00c2\u00a0They’ll have to see it and realize it for themselves, just as you did at one point.<\/p>\n
It’s sure frustrating, though, isn’t it? \u00c2\u00a0It’s frustrating to be a second class citizen because people want to turn their belief system into a law that applies to you. \u00c2\u00a0It frustrates me that I went through school thinking the US has cleared up all its injustices, only to realize after I came out of the closet that this was far from the truth, and it’s still socially acceptable by many to hate me for my orientation. \u00c2\u00a0It’s frustrating to see Australia, where gay marriage was overturned by a landslide vote. \u00c2\u00a0It’s frustrating to see the African countries where citizens cheer on the execution of gay people. \u00c2\u00a0It’s frustrating to see that anyone who believes in a religion is already 99% atheist because they don’t believe in any of the other religions, but are convinced that theirs is the right one.<\/p>\n
In addition to the frustration, there are the true dangers of religion, which you point out. \u00c2\u00a0Humans are very prone to following authority, and you start to find that religious people become okay with genocide under the right circumstances (remember what other group of people became okay with genocide?). \u00c2\u00a0Religious people become complacent about child abuse under the right circumstances. \u00c2\u00a0Religious people make the connection that the war the US is in is somehow its punishment for not treating gay people badly enough. \u00c2\u00a0It’s enough to make you want to curl up in a ball, repeating to yourself “this isn’t the world I want to live in.”<\/p>\n
So what do we do to spread the good word of atheism? \u00c2\u00a0Well, if I was convinced that you could convince people out of religion by the logical reasoning you use in your videos (even if it was just a few people), I’d say keep doing that. \u00c2\u00a0But as I said, if someone’s smart enough to connect the dots, they’re going to do it with or without your help. \u00c2\u00a0But look at the trends. \u00c2\u00a0The US is getting more secular with each generation, and despite religious people’s fighting, religious faiths are dying down. \u00c2\u00a0Religion is fading away, albeit at a pretty slow pace, and people are going to start treating each other better because of it. \u00c2\u00a0We have to push for better educations for people, and to equip people mentally with the bullshit detectors that will eventually go off one day when they’re sitting in church. \u00c2\u00a0We have to come out of the closet (I know, we did that once already, isn’t that enough?) as atheists. \u00c2\u00a0As more and more people start identifying publicly as nonreligious, people will start to realize that nonreligious people aren’t the savages religion makes them out to be.<\/p>\n
So, ZJ, in conclusion, I love your spirit and your intelligence. \u00c2\u00a0Use those in a way to make a difference; to enjoy your own life and enjoy the mental freedom you get as an atheist who rejects gender boundaries. \u00c2\u00a0And I’d love to hear your take on my thoughts here, too. \u00c2\u00a0You always do have a way with breaking apart arguments. \u00c2\u00a0And if I don’t see a video or blog post about this, I’ll safely assume you couldn’t find flaws in my logic and I’ll assume I’m right.<\/p>\n
Much love,<\/p>\n
Aaron<\/p>\n
EDIT: ZJ did respond quite promptly.<\/p>\n
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And here’s the video:<\/p>\n