barca

I have struggled with reconciling Christianity to my reality for 25 years, being from a fundamentalist family that attends a cultlike church around which all their life activities focus. I have come to believe that Christianity is primarily a shared hallucination and social construct (like other religions) which operates via social strong-arming to silience dissent and appeals to humanity's natural tendency toward guilt, shame and fear. Those raised in the church have every reason to keep silent about any qualms or doubts they may have. If they raise these opinions, they risk social ostracism. Since humans are social creatures, it is very rare that a person will sacrifice his church and family relationships by questioning the faith. I was lucky enough—truly, it is not so lucky—to have been ostracized from my late teens for being a "rebellious youth", and once I was ostracized, I no longer had to operate under false pretenses in order to secure my place in the community. After that I saw no reason not to voice my dissent openly. That said, I do believe in the metaphysical power of Christian teachings, if they are taken metaphorically. There is great value in Biblical teachings, as there is other religious works.

We are also responsible for the bodies inside us, if we so happen to be pregnant with a child. A human's right to life does not somehow begin when it exits the birth canal. Modern women may not like to hear this, but it still makes perfect sense. Do you support abortions up until the moment of birth?

In a strict, spiritual—yet non-religious—sense, abortion is murder. Statistically, only 1% of abortions are performed with a claim of rape/incest. Even in rape/incest cases, it is a myth that abortion is the best option in order to save the life of the mother. There are surgical procedure that can be done to save the life of the mother, but these procedures attempt to save both mother and child. If the child unfortunately dies, that is a tragedy, but it is not an outright abortion. I am tempted, like many, to be open to the idea of very early abortions (pre-7 weeks), but even this leaning is only due to human selfishness. As I said before, in the strictest sense, it is a spiritual wrong, and can be no other way, since LIFE is sacred. Those who support abortion are primarily ego-driven and oppose life.

That's fair, but Viktor Orban could have an aneurysm and die tomorrow. What then? The issue with Hungary is its proximity to the rest of Europe and its status as an EU member country. One can't place too much faith in a place because of its current rulers. The policies of a country can flip on a dime, as we've seen with Australia and Canada. I agree. In some ways, I think the geographic argument is a stronger one than the political one. Some of the islands of Southeast Asia and the Caribbean could be potential spots. I wonder what would set one over the other, aside from proximity to the US in the Caribbean. I do think that some islands in Thailand would be quite a bit more affordable and relatively safe in the long run.

I believe Operation Cyber Polygon deserves more votes. While I can't say if it's directly linked to COVID, I think this is a real threat that will take down communications infrastructures in the coming years, disconnecting all of us from one another.

I'm an American who's been traveling the world as a digital nomad for the past decade, but I'm starting a family soon and wondering where would be the safest place to settle. Obviously places like China are at the very bottom of the list. What's at the top?