Today on Twitter

I like Twitter a lot: If I had to choose between Facebook and Twitter, I’d keep Twitter. I’ve written before about some of the value I get from Twitter, but one of the things I haven’t mentioned is the how fascinating I find its role as a sort of instant vox populi, sharing what people are thinking and wanting others to think, too. Today I thought I’d share a couple such Tweets that caught my eye.

“There's no cavalry to save us when corporate behemoths born of deregulation go too far. The time is now. The cavalry is us.”

One of the folks I follow on Twitter, @StopBeck, Tweeted this today, speaking about the political situation in the US (the rally in Madison, Wisconsin was going on at the time). I couldn’t possibly agree more.

A particularly annoying Tweet came from the other side of the political divide:

“Atheists waste their lives helplessly trying to ridicule God. The Christian runs to God as the ONLY refuge in these catastrophic last days.”

This Tweet was from someone I don’t follow (I got there through someone I do follow). The tweeter is a “Christian” extreme fundamentalist and rabidly anti-gay political activist and promoter of the “ex-gay” scam. As with all wingnuts, I won’t link to him or his Tweet.

What struck me about this Tweet was how downright stupid and ignorant it is. I’ve known many atheists over the years, and I haven’t heard them “trying to ridicule God”, helplessly or otherwise. Some have ridiculed Christians, or fundamentalists, anyway (and sometimes possibly too much or too stridently), but why would they “ridicule” something they don’t believe exists?

Also, since by definition an atheist doesn’t believe in any god, it means that they also don’t believe in any one god’s “catastrophic last days”, so no “refuge” is needed from something they don’t believe in.

I’m frequently appalled by what conservatives—religious or political—say about their opponents. It’s often so ignorant that I have to wonder if they’re stupid or just being wilful. I honestly can’t tell. Maybe it’s just meanspirited.

At any rate, these two Tweets kind of sum up the good and the bad of people’s Twitter spoutings. The juxtaposition of the two is part of what makes it so fascinating to me. But it’s all the other, more everyday stuff that keeps me coming back, even if they aren’t usually what I’d bother sharing with other Twitter users, let alone in a blog post.

Mainly, I just think it’s kind of interesting thoughts can be so entertaining when expressed in 140 characters or less.