stop being interested in the content of what Peter Thiel is saying, and start being interested in the social and political function of what he is saying. Conte

stop being interested in the content of what Peter Thiel is saying, and start being interested in the social and political function of what he is saying. Content: Antichrist, prophecies, futurism; nothing that holds a truth value. Antichrist prophecies have been well established for hundreds of years as making coded gematria claims about Nero Caesar, a mother-murdering tyrannical ruler of the foreign empire that had recently destroyed the Second Temple ~79CE by the time John of Patmos was bitterly writing in ~95CE. "Nero Caesar" transliterated from Greek ('nrwn qsr') into Hebrew and added up using standard gematria gives 666. "Nero Caesar" transliterated from Latin ('nrw qsr') to Hebrew and added up gives 616, which appears in the earliest manuscripts. It's so plain and so obviously concerned with contemporary political goals of the author as to be almost boring. Social Function: What is the social and political function achieved by Peter Thiel doing this in today's environment, styling himself as a Prophet of 'antichrist' matters? It provides a swift pathway to an important role in unifying and binding himself to the anti-democratic theocratic Dominionists which he currently has little influence over, alongside the existing base that he already has vast influence over: the antidemocratic faction of the tech industry. By achieving a role unifying and consolidating power over the two major antidemocratic power blocs - both of which have built in tools of vast social influence (religion, social media), Peter Thiel aspires to place himself in a position of staggering influence atop a worldwide upheaval that is demolishing democratic power structures further every day. I really think greater fluency in religion and in politics and history would help tech workers equip themselves resist be manipulated and controlled this way. For the other bloc - the religious bloc being fished here- it has been fertile ground for grifters for decades now, so I hold very little hope that the theocrats (and in particular the New Apostolic Reformation crowd) have any hope of applying the appropriate scrutiny to Thiel's "prophetic religious claims" to allow that bloc to identify and somehow resist this cynical and dystopian power-play. Further details: https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/1n9djkf/peter_thiel_antichrist_obsession_roasted_on_joe/ncn05gz https://www.reddit.com/r/atheism/comments/1n9djkf/peter_thie...