So I was browsing this forum, laughing at silly Christians and silly atheists arguing over evolution again, and this Christian was accusing this atheist of uncritically believing in evolution out of blind trust in the majority of scientists without actually understanding the issue in detail. He accused the atheist of making a “bandwagon argument,” an “argument from authority…”

And that’s when it hit me. Authority. Atheists are the authorities now–or at least that’s what the evangelicals are trying to cast them as. Kids in youthful rebellion against grumpy old biology teachers, and their Darwinist classmates? Conformists. Teacher’s pets. Fucking Ben Stein raising a fist jackbooted eugenicists.

There’s more. Christian rock. Hip Christian t-shirts. Christians with mohawks, piercings, tattoos. These crazy fuckers. Taking what used to be the status quo and wrapping it up in the trappings of rebellion. Sexy Puritans. Our culture has gotten permissive enough that you can make keeping your thighs together transgressive, especially if you have hot thighs.

See where I’m going yet?

Think about it. Who was the last Rebel? Marx? El Che? who knows, but it was one of the communists, one of the atheists. But who were the rebels before then? John Brown. Martin Luther. Maybe even Jesus himself. Christians used to have that share of the collective unconsciousness, and now they see an opportunity to take it back. I don’t know who their candidate is, but Rick Warren is a good bet, especially with his humanitarian cred. And if you’re clued in, it should be no surprise that their arch nemeses are also Rebels. I’ll bet good money that the “new atheists”–Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett, Harris–are all hardcore Dukes, and one of them is the current godwalker (I’m gonna say Hitchens).

The election was a setback for these fuckers, but they’re still at it. Especially if Warren is their man, what with the inauguration. I’m doing what I can to trip ’em up–got a couple good tilts rolling Rick now–because I mean, if they succeed, it’ll be bad for the Underground. I know we usually laugh at both sides in Darwin vs. Jebus, but come on–a world where regression is radical? Abstinence is subversive? Not gonna be a good place for magick.