5 ms·

US tells government employees to report on one another for "anti-Christian bias"

75 points by mdp2021 2y ago

mdp2021 2y ago
[flagged]
AdmiralAsshat 2y ago
And having successfully evicted all Muslims, Jews, Atheists, and "non-Christians" from government, we can then get back to what this country is really about: Protestants fighting over power with Catholics, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, Mormons, and so forth. You ain't seen nothing yet.
- hnpolicestate 2y ago
  The United States currently deports visa holders for criticizing a foreign Jewish country, Israel. Don't lump in the power structure with those who are actually victims.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > United States currently deports visa holders for criticizing a foreign Jewish country We’re deporting people for any and no reason, including a tattoo of “an autism awareness ribbon” [1]. Trump was elected to stop illegal immigration. He’s staffed his White House with idiot sycophants, however, and so can’t actually do that because it’s hard. So we get random deportations to make the numbers while the gangs probably have the freest reign they’ve ever had amidst the confusion at the FBI and in D.C. [1] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/31/venezuelans-deported-el-salvador-tattoos-tren-de-aragua/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/31/venezuel...
    - hnpolicestate 2y ago
      [flagged]
      - mdp2021 2y ago
        Sorry, I do not understand your post. You say, I understand, that some are investigated because of tattoos; we understand some of them are being deported; then you seem to state that the deportation is not because of the tattoos. Well, it seems after the tattoos... And the press does not make it evident that proper evidence is sought - it makes it look very discretionary. What was the intended logic?
      - fragmede 2y ago
        The account “hnpolicestate” arguing against the idea of a police state by defending tattoo-based deportation stereotypes is peak satire. You couldn’t script it better.
        mdp2021 2y ago
        I am not sure the poster is «arguing against the idea of» (etc.). Have you read both posts in the branch?
        fragmede 2y ago
        I wanted to point out their username
        hnpolicestate 2y ago
        [flagged]
        fragmede 2y ago
        Ableist comments like that don’t belong here. Let’s keep it respectful.
        mdp2021 2y ago
        It seems, from your other post, that your understanding of "autistic" is "non paranoid" - somebody who does not read in other's intentions what his own mind, calibrated on his own use and language, would suggest. Now, we have more problems there: * your disrespectful attitude towards those who have to deal with dire conditions, and * your belief in what your mind tells you, and * your idea that you believing your perceptions would be good practice... Re-read the guidelines, because your reading of people's speech is undesirable in general and here in particular.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - timeon 2y ago
    That does not necesserly mean that they care about particular religion.
- trod1234 2y ago
  > You ain't seen nothing yet. I know. This is exactly what Hitler did.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
cjbenedikt 2y ago
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". George Washington stressed freedom of religion as a fundamental American principle even before the First Amendment was ratified. Welcome back to the Inquisition. Or perhaps rebirth of the Blockwart ? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Blockwart https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Blockwart
- Paianni 2y ago
  Well, except for natives (until 1978).
lysace 2y ago
25% of the Swedish population migrated to the US during the 1800s. A large portion of those were very christian. Essentially they migrated because their christian beliefs were "too extreme" for the state protestant church here at the time. I've always wondered if that's how Sweden ended up mostly agnostic/atheist and part of the explanation for why the US ended up being so very religious.
- zeroCalories 2y ago
  I suspect religion is just a front. There are so many contradictions that suddenly make sense when you start thinking of it as a proxy for ethnic groups.
  - lysace 2y ago
    Nope. They are most of the time "true believers".
  - mdp2021 2y ago
    Historically, embracing a "persuasion" has been part of strategies in games of power - as in, "you are different from us so you cannot govern us". In the context of this submission: yes, again there can be suspicions of "partitic" actions ("see, we are defending our base"). Which, if this is the case, amounts to blasphemy (again as per my original introduction, then flagged). (And of course, with regard to the more times expressed relevance of this submission, it raises a question of "and where will this "defence" stop, also considering that we are creating pseudo-mind software?")
- mdp2021 2y ago
  > beliefs were "too extreme" One side of this idea could also be advanced for the Mayflower. That non-conformists look for new land and new societies is another reason for migration.
WarOnPrivacy 2y ago
The [State] department ... will work with an administration-wide task force to collect information "involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration" and will collect examples of anti-Christian bias through anonymous employee report forms. This aligns with the WhiteHouse' order to eradicate attacks on all faiths, as long as they are Christian. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/erad...
- like_any_other 2y ago
  > as long as they are Christian Or Jewish, which was their first priority (before Trump even): U.S. Says It Is Now Monitoring Immigrants’ Social Media for Antisemitism - https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g-s1-59149/immigrants-social-media-antisemitism-dhs https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g-s1-59149/immigrants-social-... Teacher Sues Texas After Being Fired For Refusing to Sign Pro-Israel Contract - https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-fired-refusing-sign-pro-israel-document-1262083 https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-fired-refusing-sign-pro-isr... The mayor of Dickinson, Texas, says a new state law requires that the city ask aid recipients not to boycott Israel. - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-harvey-israel/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-harvey-israel/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws Justice Department Announces Formation of Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism - https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-formation-task-force-combat-anti-semitism https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-... RFK Jr Declares “Anti-Semitism” a Public Health Crisis - https://seemorerocks.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-declares-anti-semitism-a-public https://seemorerocks.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-declares-anti-sem... Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism - https://web.archive.org/web/20211210030412/https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights/office-of-the-special-envoy-to-monitor-and-combat-antisemitism/ https://web.archive.org/web/20211210030412/https://www.state... Trump Administration Investigates These 60 Colleges Over Antisemitism Allegations - https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/03/11/trump-administration-investigates-these-60-colleges-over-antisemitism-allegations/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/03/11/trump-adm... Honestly I don't know how you missed these - in aggregate, they were widely publicized.
mdp2021 2y ago
Somebody having for their own reasons flagged the other post, I will have to write it again: this article was submitted as this input from the current adminstration seems relevant in those times when attempts at knowledge engineering (in the form of LLMs) are greatly concentrated in the USA. As written in the other post, aspects of the action in question seem to suggest a potential for the reduction of "debate" to low standards. It is a drive that could be concerning not just in general, but especially in light of the historic efforts abovesaid. The original post should be still visible for most - it just says the same in other terms. (Note: it was already heavily hit before I encouraged the silent attackers to grow speech and fingers - then it got flagged.) -- Addendum: furthermore, a factor with consequences will remain a sense of distrust towards the institutions. Very rightfully, as the article said, one part notes that «targeting anyone for their religious beliefs is discriminatory and is contrary to the Constitution». But other parts will be afraid that «in reality, it will weaponize a narrow understanding of [etc.]». There have been many signals that bring to doubt that matters will be treated with all respect to complexity - point that was strongly made in the original post.
nerdjon 2y ago
sigh 1379 days... It is scary that this could be used for... nearly anything? "Omg I am oppressed because this person has rights". Someone bad that someone else got a promotion and just looking for a "justifiable" reason to be upset that removes any personal responsibility or an easy explanation of "why". I honestly don't even know how to respond to this anymore. I feel like we are weeks away from Trump trying to actually make an official religion or some other crap like that.
- mdp2021 2y ago
  Of course there should be concerns about how the "anonymous denunciations" will be then held. I just did not think that the matter was really "on topic" here. But that could impact the credibility of the "partner" (which is in topic). But before establishing that that will be the treatment of the specific cases, we should either wait that such cases happen - or induce, judging whether horror stories (such as the Canadian actress recently detained and telling the story on the news) should be considered exceptional or structural.

75 points by mdp2021 2y ago

mdp2021 2y ago

[flagged]

And having successfully evicted all Muslims, Jews, Atheists, and "non-Christians" from government, we can then get back to what this country is really about: Protestants fighting over power with Catholics, Anabaptists, Presbyterians, Mormons, and so forth. You ain't seen nothing yet.

hnpolicestate 2y ago
The United States currently deports visa holders for criticizing a foreign Jewish country, Israel. Don't lump in the power structure with those who are actually victims.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > United States currently deports visa holders for criticizing a foreign Jewish country We’re deporting people for any and no reason, including a tattoo of “an autism awareness ribbon” [1]. Trump was elected to stop illegal immigration. He’s staffed his White House with idiot sycophants, however, and so can’t actually do that because it’s hard. So we get random deportations to make the numbers while the gangs probably have the freest reign they’ve ever had amidst the confusion at the FBI and in D.C. [1] https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/31/venezuelans-deported-el-salvador-tattoos-tren-de-aragua/ https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/03/31/venezuel...
  - hnpolicestate 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - mdp2021 2y ago
      Sorry, I do not understand your post. You say, I understand, that some are investigated because of tattoos; we understand some of them are being deported; then you seem to state that the deportation is not because of the tattoos. Well, it seems after the tattoos... And the press does not make it evident that proper evidence is sought - it makes it look very discretionary. What was the intended logic?
    - fragmede 2y ago
      The account “hnpolicestate” arguing against the idea of a police state by defending tattoo-based deportation stereotypes is peak satire. You couldn’t script it better.
      - mdp2021 2y ago
        I am not sure the poster is «arguing against the idea of» (etc.). Have you read both posts in the branch?
        fragmede 2y ago
        I wanted to point out their username
      - hnpolicestate 2y ago
        [flagged]
        fragmede 2y ago
        Ableist comments like that don’t belong here. Let’s keep it respectful.
        mdp2021 2y ago
        It seems, from your other post, that your understanding of "autistic" is "non paranoid" - somebody who does not read in other's intentions what his own mind, calibrated on his own use and language, would suggest. Now, we have more problems there: * your disrespectful attitude towards those who have to deal with dire conditions, and * your belief in what your mind tells you, and * your idea that you believing your perceptions would be good practice... Re-read the guidelines, because your reading of people's speech is undesirable in general and here in particular.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- timeon 2y ago
  That does not necesserly mean that they care about particular religion.
trod1234 2y ago
> You ain't seen nothing yet. I know. This is exactly what Hitler did.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

cjbenedikt 2y ago

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...". George Washington stressed freedom of religion as a fundamental American principle even before the First Amendment was ratified. Welcome back to the Inquisition. Or perhaps rebirth of the Blockwart ? https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Blockwart https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Blockwart

Paianni 2y ago
Well, except for natives (until 1978).

lysace 2y ago

25% of the Swedish population migrated to the US during the 1800s. A large portion of those were very christian. Essentially they migrated because their christian beliefs were "too extreme" for the state protestant church here at the time. I've always wondered if that's how Sweden ended up mostly agnostic/atheist and part of the explanation for why the US ended up being so very religious.

zeroCalories 2y ago
I suspect religion is just a front. There are so many contradictions that suddenly make sense when you start thinking of it as a proxy for ethnic groups.
- lysace 2y ago
  Nope. They are most of the time "true believers".
- mdp2021 2y ago
  Historically, embracing a "persuasion" has been part of strategies in games of power - as in, "you are different from us so you cannot govern us". In the context of this submission: yes, again there can be suspicions of "partitic" actions ("see, we are defending our base"). Which, if this is the case, amounts to blasphemy (again as per my original introduction, then flagged). (And of course, with regard to the more times expressed relevance of this submission, it raises a question of "and where will this "defence" stop, also considering that we are creating pseudo-mind software?")
mdp2021 2y ago
> beliefs were "too extreme" One side of this idea could also be advanced for the Mayflower. That non-conformists look for new land and new societies is another reason for migration.

WarOnPrivacy 2y ago

The [State] department ... will work with an administration-wide task force to collect information "involving anti-religious bias during the last presidential administration" and will collect examples of anti-Christian bias through anonymous employee report forms. This aligns with the WhiteHouse' order to eradicate attacks on all faiths, as long as they are Christian. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/eradicating-anti-christian-bias/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/erad...

like_any_other 2y ago
> as long as they are Christian Or Jewish, which was their first priority (before Trump even): U.S. Says It Is Now Monitoring Immigrants’ Social Media for Antisemitism - https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g-s1-59149/immigrants-social-media-antisemitism-dhs https://www.npr.org/2025/04/09/g-s1-59149/immigrants-social-... Teacher Sues Texas After Being Fired For Refusing to Sign Pro-Israel Contract - https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-fired-refusing-sign-pro-israel-document-1262083 https://www.newsweek.com/teacher-fired-refusing-sign-pro-isr... The mayor of Dickinson, Texas, says a new state law requires that the city ask aid recipients not to boycott Israel. - https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-harvey-israel/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/texas-harvey-israel/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-BDS_laws Justice Department Announces Formation of Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism - https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-formation-task-force-combat-anti-semitism https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-announces-... RFK Jr Declares “Anti-Semitism” a Public Health Crisis - https://seemorerocks.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-declares-anti-semitism-a-public https://seemorerocks.substack.com/p/rfk-jr-declares-anti-sem... Office of the Special Envoy To Monitor and Combat Antisemitism - https://web.archive.org/web/20211210030412/https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights/office-of-the-special-envoy-to-monitor-and-combat-antisemitism/ https://web.archive.org/web/20211210030412/https://www.state... Trump Administration Investigates These 60 Colleges Over Antisemitism Allegations - https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/03/11/trump-administration-investigates-these-60-colleges-over-antisemitism-allegations/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2025/03/11/trump-adm... Honestly I don't know how you missed these - in aggregate, they were widely publicized.

mdp2021 2y ago

Somebody having for their own reasons flagged the other post, I will have to write it again: this article was submitted as this input from the current adminstration seems relevant in those times when attempts at knowledge engineering (in the form of LLMs) are greatly concentrated in the USA. As written in the other post, aspects of the action in question seem to suggest a potential for the reduction of "debate" to low standards. It is a drive that could be concerning not just in general, but especially in light of the historic efforts abovesaid. The original post should be still visible for most - it just says the same in other terms. (Note: it was already heavily hit before I encouraged the silent attackers to grow speech and fingers - then it got flagged.) -- Addendum: furthermore, a factor with consequences will remain a sense of distrust towards the institutions. Very rightfully, as the article said, one part notes that «targeting anyone for their religious beliefs is discriminatory and is contrary to the Constitution». But other parts will be afraid that «in reality, it will weaponize a narrow understanding of [etc.]». There have been many signals that bring to doubt that matters will be treated with all respect to complexity - point that was strongly made in the original post.

nerdjon 2y ago

sigh 1379 days... It is scary that this could be used for... nearly anything? "Omg I am oppressed because this person has rights". Someone bad that someone else got a promotion and just looking for a "justifiable" reason to be upset that removes any personal responsibility or an easy explanation of "why". I honestly don't even know how to respond to this anymore. I feel like we are weeks away from Trump trying to actually make an official religion or some other crap like that.

mdp2021 2y ago
Of course there should be concerns about how the "anonymous denunciations" will be then held. I just did not think that the matter was really "on topic" here. But that could impact the credibility of the "partner" (which is in topic). But before establishing that that will be the treatment of the specific cases, we should either wait that such cases happen - or induce, judging whether horror stories (such as the Canadian actress recently detained and telling the story on the news) should be considered exceptional or structural.