So, a neo-Nazi who happens to also be a Satanist, one Ethan Melzer, faces multiple counts of conspiring to murder U.S. nationals, conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel, attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and conspiring to murder and maim overseas. And new charges unsealed this week included two counts accusing illegal transmission of national defense information; he is alleged to have given sensitive details about his own unit, including location and movement, to an international neo-Nazi organization, as well as an al Qaeda member abroad. Ethan Melzer apparently calls himself a traitor, and described his own behavior as tantamount to treason.
Anyway, it's a really stupid mess, and we can dig into the details as needed.
Still: If Melzer was an atheist, do you think he would have been a less dangerous neo-Nazi? If he was an atheist, would the former infantryman have betrayed his country? Would he have made better decisions?
There are all sorts of reasons to ask. Perhaps I'm recalling a bizarre redefinition of religion, a political simplification, from once upon a time. More practically, there is the easily recognized point that atheism does not in and of itself prevent ignorance, prejudice, tribalism, and such. We might also consider an old canard about a dearth of morality in the absence of God; or another about moral relativism.
Once upon a time there was a strange thread in which an atheist confessed to envy of religious belief. For many, this seems an easy enough sympathy; we might criticize religious belief as some sort of crutch, but for the faithful, sure, it brings some comfort. But this seemingly positive aspect of living experience was not what the one envied. Rather, he looked at cruel people who wielded their faith in God like a weapon against others, and envied that power to inflict against the weak.
It could be that maybe Melzer might have gone with other groups, instead of occultists and al Qaeda, were he an atheist, but every once in a while it's fair to look past the religion. When considering Nazi and neo-Nazi creed, code, and cult, we're hardly going to wipe our brows in relief because at least it's not religion. To the other, Satanism, in this case, is a symptom.
Anyway, it's a really stupid mess, and we can dig into the details as needed.
Still: If Melzer was an atheist, do you think he would have been a less dangerous neo-Nazi? If he was an atheist, would the former infantryman have betrayed his country? Would he have made better decisions?
†
There are all sorts of reasons to ask. Perhaps I'm recalling a bizarre redefinition of religion, a political simplification, from once upon a time. More practically, there is the easily recognized point that atheism does not in and of itself prevent ignorance, prejudice, tribalism, and such. We might also consider an old canard about a dearth of morality in the absence of God; or another about moral relativism.
†
Once upon a time there was a strange thread in which an atheist confessed to envy of religious belief. For many, this seems an easy enough sympathy; we might criticize religious belief as some sort of crutch, but for the faithful, sure, it brings some comfort. But this seemingly positive aspect of living experience was not what the one envied. Rather, he looked at cruel people who wielded their faith in God like a weapon against others, and envied that power to inflict against the weak.
†
It could be that maybe Melzer might have gone with other groups, instead of occultists and al Qaeda, were he an atheist, but every once in a while it's fair to look past the religion. When considering Nazi and neo-Nazi creed, code, and cult, we're hardly going to wipe our brows in relief because at least it's not religion. To the other, Satanism, in this case, is a symptom.
(Correction: I actually managed to weave a second case in there, about the napalm; believe it or not, that was another Satanic neo-Nazi, in a separate issue. While I'm embarrassed by the error, I'm also struck at the thought of having two Satanic neo-Nazi cases gong on at once; the other is the sad tale of Jarrett Smith. In either case, the question remains.)