Tell us what you're really thinking!
At one time, I read Digg, then I started reading Reddit, now I read neither. I stopped reading Digg because the content getting filtered up didn't suit my tastes and I was lured into the recommendation feature of Reddit. I abandoned Reddit because it's overrun by hateful atheists.
Reddit has basically become a gathering of people dedicated to a single goal: pointing out how stupid and backwards everyone that doesn't read their site is (particularly the religious right). The following topics show up frequently:
So, as quick gut check: everything that the users of Reddit condemn the "religious right" for spending so much time discussing, they do in almost exactly the same fashion. The only difference is that they have opposite viewpoints. It's this judgment fest about how they're right and their opponents are wrong. It's about how their education and knowledge makes them right.
What they're faulting the "simple people" (I'll use that term from now on) for is that their method for searching for truth is wrong, and theirs is right. It implies somehow that they've discovered the ultimate method for knowing what is true. I would guess that their source of ultimate truth is science? And yet science, by definition, makes no claim to absolute truth. Maybe it's math that's their source? Or logic? No matter. What I want to get at is that they feel the simple people of the world (I include myself) either don't know how to discover what is true, or have the wrong method for discovering what is true. And for the Christian, the source of truth is God.
And I need to take a tangent here. It's one of the reasons I believe in God, so it's a big one. I cannot see, in this world, a legitimate source of truth. There's no science, teacher, or form of logic that I can look toward and know that it is a source of truth. There is, to me, a giant gap. A source of truth has to speak to me, has to be somehow active in my life. Science can't do that, another human can't do that. I see all sorts of indicators that there is a source, but I don't see the source itself. It's why my source of truth is truth itself (in Godly form). And to claim that truth itself just exists, as just truth, cold and inanimate, is to take away its ability to influence anything else. It's why I used the word "source". It's why I believe there's a God.
Where it gets bad is for either side of the argument to believe that they know the ultimate method for discovering what is true. Neither side, regardless of their source of truth, should be able to claim that. And for one to look down on the other seems to be a matter of arrogance. If you understand that your method for discovering what is true is flawed (even if your source isn't) then you won't rag on each other so much.
But what's so bad about Reddit is that they should know better. They have a reference, they have source materials. They can see that there is a broken society of people who think they have it all figured out and are frequently totally wrong. It's reactionary, it's a mirror of what they see as being wrong. It's upsetting that a group of people who view themselves as very intelligent (and likely are very intelligent) can't see that.
Jupiter's Sacks-
Jupiter has given us two sacks to carry. One sack, which is filled with our own faults, is slung across our back, while the other sack, heavy with the faults of others, is tied around our necks. This is the reason why we are blind to our own bad habits but still quick to criticize others for their mistakes
Prometheus & Truth-
Prometheus, that potter who gave shape to our new generation, decided one day to sculpt a statue of Truth, using all his skill so that she would be able to regulate people's behaviour. As he was working, an unexpected summons from mighty Jupiter called him away. Prometheus left cunning Trickery in charge of his workshop (Trickery had recently become one of the god's apprentices). Fired by ambition, Trickery used the time at his disposal to fashion with his sly fingers a figure of the same size and appearance as Truth with identical features. When he had almost completed the piece, which was truly remarkable, he ran out of clay to use for her feet. The master returned, so Trickery quickly sat down in his seat, quaking with fear. Prometheus was amazed at the similarity of the two statues and wanted it to seem as if all the credit were due to his own skill. Therefore, he put both statues in the kiln and when they had been thoroughly baked, he infused them both with life: sacred Truth walked with measured steps, while her unfinished twin stood stuck in her tracks. That forgery, that product of subterfuge, thus acquired the name of Falsehood, and I readily agree with people who say that she has no feet: every once in a while something that is false can start off successfully, but with time the Truth is sure to prevail.
Truth in the Wilderness -
A man was journeying in the wilderness and he found Truth standing there all alone. He said to her, 'Ancient lady, why do you dwell here in the wilderness, leaving the city behind?' From the great depths of her wisdom, Truth replied, 'Among the people of old, lies were found among only a few, but now they have spread throughout all of human society!'
-Aesop's fables