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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2603 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 25, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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Frats market themselves as a conspiracy against outsiders that demands your dignity if you want to get in on it. It's not a bad thing that this is being attacked as bad and suboptimal and worthy of being shamed over. The victims of hazing are actually unscrupulous people trying to get in on it to perpetuate it, so it's fair if everyone sees their humiliation on the internet.

I mean that’s certainty one theory, but another theory would be that stressful experiences build brotherhood, which I recall reading in a study involving militant groups a long time ago. If fraternities selected and promoted suboptimal norms then we should expect to see members perform worse, but we see them perform better. In any case, America is one long humiliation ritual so it’s not actually a bad thing for young men to become habituated to this early, provided there is no actual harm being committed.

America is one long humiliation ritual

Care to elaborate?

You’re liable to be replaced by H1B or passed over for AA hires, your tax dollars may go to a senseless war or random Somali / Haredi scams, your town might become +60 foreign in a decade, that sort of thing. There’s just a lot of humiliation involved with being an American today, so it’s good to get training in dealing with that early.

It's interesting, my read on you (and I try to keep Mottizens sorted in my head) is a Christian who takes his faith seriously. I associate that (perhaps wrongly) with goodwill toward one's fellow human, love one another, if he hath all this yet hath not charity, etc. So... that, but you also have this other, angry, intolerant, legalistic, pessimistic side. I don't think you're as old as I am but maybe you've personally had many negative experiences? None of ny business. We all contain multitudes, to misquote Whitman.

I would say that I take Christianity seriously, not that I take my personal faith seriously, which would involve a lot more activity etc.

goodwill toward one's fellow human, love one another, if he hath all this yet hath not charity

This was historically counterbalanced with a hatred against injustice. You can read where Paul says a true Christian “abhors evil”, or where Christ is enthroned because He loves righteousness and hates evil, or where Christ commends the Ephesians for their hatred. The absence of hatred in American churches is why so many suffer from all sorts of personal and civic problems. The passion-less modern Christianity doesn’t work, and it doesn’t even bring people into the religion. It is, IMHO, “fake and gay”.

I wouldn't suggest I have a handle on modern Christianity, though your use of the word passionless is brutal and poetic. I would however suggest that hating evil and hating people are quite different. But I am not personally interested in having a meta or even base-level discussion on Christianity as a phenomenon in the world. Nothing against you as an interlocutor, just not my thing.

To me, loving neighbor means ensuring that the commons are clean and beautiful, that drugs and bad influences are exterminated from neighborhoods, that media for those under 20 are censored for morality, ensuring men get good jobs so that marital bliss increases, ensuring food is healthy, hanging fentanyl dealers publicly, that kind of stuff. The stuff that we can reasonably predict will lead to the happiness and peace of my neighbor, especially my poorest neighbor. There’s not really any benefit to someone just yapping about how much they love their neighbor, which is just worthless signaling at best, and actually a horrible illusion at worst.

Indeed. I've known many who share your views, though would not have been able to state them so succinctly.

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