I guess with the French election I'm mainly thinking about the second round. If it's Philippe versus Le Pen then hopefully enough people will back Philippe, because I think Le Pen would be worse.

In the first round maybe there's more freedom to vote for who you really like. But if it ends up being Melenchon versus Le Pen in the second round, it could be pretty difficult to stop Le Pen winning.

Okay I'm going to block you now. I've been polite in every response I've given. What I'm saying is "let's agree to disagree" but apparently you aren't happy with that.

Protip: it's not polite in any way to describe a person you're talking to as "a lost cause", and that's why I'm blocking you.

Torygraph propagandists are losing their jobs?

Let me go and find my microscopic violin...

Maybe we just look at it in different ways and I think that's fine. People can have different perspectives.

Rich people pump money into politics in order to amplify their personal whims. Then they wonder why self-described socialist politicians are becoming more popular.

Someone who claims to be talking to Spider-Man telepathically might be doing so. I think it's unlikely, but I don't think I can rule it out 100%. Personally I don't think Thor or Yoda or Gandalf are different in this context because I think they're all fictional, but one day maybe it will be proven that at least one of them actually exists, although I think that's unlikely.

Anyway, originally I was just saying my view about religion. I don't think I'd label every religion as "bad". I think religion can inspire some people to do bad things, but it also seems to inspire some people to do good things. That's just the way I see it really.

Apparently he has citizenship of the USA and Canada as well as South Africa:

According to Isaacson’s biography and an Esquire magazine profile of Musk, he became a US citizen in 2002

I think they're probably not talking to ghosts/aliens/etc, but I can't rule it out 100%. Just like I don't believe in God, although I can't be 100% certain that God doesn't exist. So I'm an agnostic atheist I guess - I don't believe in God but I'm not 100% certain of his non-existence. Maybe God will reveal himself in the future, although I doubt it.

what made you give up your religion?

I've never been religious. My parents aren't religious, so religion was something our family was never into.

They could be talking to those entities. I haven't come across any convincing evidence to support the existence of angels, but maybe angels could exist. I think there's a lot about the universe we don't know.

I suppose if I were talking to a polite and friendly person who claimed to be in contact with angels, maybe I'd try to find things I might have in common with them, rather than focus on whether they're correct or not about angels existing.

Thanks very much for answering, I appreciate it.

I'm trying out Piefed. Lemmy looks like relatively good software, but I don't like the political views of the developers behind Lemmy. Their whole shtick seems to be "non-western countries good, western countries bad".

Of course, western countries have done many bad things. But I think plenty of non-western countries have also done bad things. I just don't buy into a narrative which always tries to paint western countries as "the bad guys" and non-western countries as "the good guys".

Okay thanks, I might post it there, although I noticed on that community the Piefed dev said he's busy with PHP stuff, so maybe I'll wait a couple of days.

I don't really know who is right and who is wrong though. I don't believe in God, but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is a God and the religious people are correct. I just think that there are some religious people I've met, and surely others who I haven't met, who are relatively good people, and I'd like to get on well with them, even if I don't fully agree with their views. I can see why you find certain views frustrating though.

A man with an extraordinary amount of privilege, inherited by him simply by accident of birth, who is completely out of touch with the struggles of ordinary Brits?

Yeah it would be pretty fitting for him to represent Britain, given that people like him control modern Britain.

Maybe we just have different ways of looking at it.

In terms of how Muslims view LGBT people: I mentioned that the mayor of London is a Muslim, and he has been to LGBT pride parades, so I think he's more supportive of LGBT people than a lot of non-Muslims are. So I guess it depends on the particular person. Some religious people might be anti-LGBT but other religious people are more welcoming of LGBT people.

But yes maybe we just have different ways of looking at it, which is fine I think.

I definitely prefer rational, evidence-based thinking to thinking which isn't supported by evidence.

If I were to say "all religions are bad" though then I think I'd alienate some religious people who are decent. I might not agree with their religious views but if I think they're decent then I don't want to alienate them.

For example, apparently Zohran Mamdani and Sadiq Khan (the mayors of NYC and London respectively) are both Muslims. I don't agree with those views; I'm not a Muslim myself. But I still think both of those people are relatively decent, more so than some other politicians. I guess I'm more interested in whether a person is decent, than whether a person is religious.

Fuck America

Maybe I'd prefer a world where nobody is religious. Maybe I'd also prefer a world where everyone shares my taste in music, and my political views, and so on. But people do have differences.

I definitely understand the frustration with some religious people, particularly if they use religion to try to justify hateful views. Then again, there are non-religious people who hold hateful views. I think I'd rather spend time with a non-hateful religious person than a non-religious hateful person. To each their own though.

I don't think that quote is referring to the deal that the UK had when it was in the EU. I think the quote is referring to the UK's post-Brexit deal with the EU (the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). I guess Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader who gave that quote, believes that the Prime Minister is wasting time if he tries to get an improvement on that deal, because she thinks the EU won't significantly change it. I disagree with Badenoch's pessimism though. I think the UK should try to get a closer relationship with the EU, and I think the EU might be receptive to this.

Michel Barnier, formerly the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, recently indicated his support for "a stronger EU-UK defence pact", for example. That article shows that Barnier considers freedom of movement to be a non-negotiable part of single market membership (just like it was when the UK was in the EU). But he seems open to the idea of the UK not adopting the euro, if it rejoined the EU: "he added that adopting the euro need not necessarily be a condition of renewed membership". This is coherent with Barnier earlier this year saying that the UK could potentially stay out of the euro and out of the Schengen Area if it rejoined the EU:

I am speaking about Schengen, I am speaking about the single currency: there are other member states who are not in them. It is perfectly possible to have opt-outs in these fields.

I'm saying there have been cultures in history where atheists faced discrimination. I think atheists in western countries used to face discrimination and ostracisation. And in some Muslim countries even today, if a Muslim leaves their religion, they can face harsh penalties.

some kind of lame-ass desperation to appease those with opposing views, in the hope they won’t ask you awkward questions that challenge your cozy conceits

I'm not desperate to appease people with opposing views. I just know that I have met some religious people in my life who I got on well with. I didn't agree with their views, but I could still get on with them. If I come across someone and I think they're a decent person who I can get on well with, then I won't mind what their religious views are, as long as they are respectful of my lack of religious belief.