PayPal and Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel is embarking on an unusual intellectual journey this fall—delivering a sold-out four-part lecture series on the biblical figure of the Antichrist. The private lectures, which will be held at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, represent the latest evolution in Thiel’s increasingly public theological interests that intertwine his Christian faith with his concerns about technology’s potential to enable authoritarian control.

    • some_kind_of_guy@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I’m no biblical scholar, but isn’t this one of the features of the antichrist? Like that they will have false prophets and other dastardly types trying to deceive people and advance the real antichrist’s agenda?

    • TwoBeeSan@lemmy.world
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      Abrahamic techno facism?

      Well Facebook let companies know that users would volunteer their most valued data… And now there’s an ai identifying Palestinians based on their facial features so they can be starved better.

      Soooooooo eidunno. Billionaires are the new prophets in this wealth obsessed world.

  • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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    People are seriously paying money to have the devil himself (Peter Thiel of PayPal, Palantir, and Pal of Epstein) teach them about religion.

    I don’t like having to do this, but this shit is literally blasphemy. It’s all there in the book y’all have been using like an all powerful shield against modernization. Now this evil tech bro is going to tell you all about the anti-christ, and the path to eternal life through technology?! Come the fuck on:

    Matthew 15-20: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

    San Francisco you have a very important job to do: I feel like people should go with megaphones and, warn everyone attending that they’re being deceived by a false prophet and going to hell.

      • rainwall@piefed.social
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        Nah, theil is a deeper evil. He’s been putting his paypal and facebook billions to spin up the altright pipeline for literal decades.

        He quietly funds all sorts of institutes and influencers and silicon valley wonks and founders that gin up most of the nasty shit we interact with now, all to feed his dream of libertarian kingdoms where ownership is governance, where the only right people have is to leave. He is literally a monarchist, and views himself as a king in waiting.

        Hes not just a loudmouth idiot like Musk, who splashes money around wildly. Hes more of a Rasputin, the power behind the crown, and hes been very successful at it. Hes someone who coordinates evil, sets it in motion and keeps it building.

      • athairmor@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        You used to need more social skills to get rich. You had schmooze, negotiate, coordinate, intimidate. Now, any psychopath who can whip a few software developers can make billions.

  • Ileftreddit@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    It would be cool to hear his take on things, if for no other reason than he has a huge amount of influence in the current government and had a hand in project 2025; and he’s I think an accelerationist who believes society needs to collapse and be remade into some techno-feudal state with himself as lord of part of California and also everyone’s personal information. Cause Palantir definitely has all your shit at this point.

    • GreenShimada@lemmy.world
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      Oh, he’s banking on society collapsing. That’s what his Praxis network-state-city is about.

      If you’re not familiar with Curtis Yarvin, he’s the crazy glue holding it all together. Get deep into that mess, it’s what happens after Project 2025 runs out of ideas.

      • tempest@lemmy.ca
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        I’m curious as to how they think they will make it through it.

        All their wealth is magical stock numbers on a computer. They better have some gold on hand to pay to protect their shit.

        They can ride out the worst of it in their bunkers but if they want to be Immotan Joe it’s quite the dice roll.

    • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      I mean yeah that’s about it. It seems like we could probably just all read that and know you probably saved us having to listen to him stroke his own ego for several hours.

      I guess I kind of understand going to hear it to find out what’s being discussed, but the plan is pretty much the wealthy will inherit the earth. The opposite of what the bible actually says.

      I would just be very hesitant to give this guy a penny of my money. Unless you plan to secretly record and pirate whatever he says behind closed doors. Then I fully support it.

      Actually now that I think about it, if you can catch him even hinting at anything involving organ transplants and immortality behind closed doors I would campaign for you to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and a medal of honor.

      https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/xi-putins-hot-mic-moment-long-science-extend-125246841

        • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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          Yess!!! God dammit and it’s so crazy that people are never going to actually believe it until it’s too late to do anything about it. Like it will probably just get normalized to the point where it’s considered a privilege to be sacrificed for the wealthy bc you’re allowed a better quality of life compared to your peasant peers in order to keep your organs in tip top shape.

          Like people keep saying everything is just a distraction from the Epstein files, but that shit has become a distraction from what all he’s trying to normalize in the meantime while Republicans keep dropping kayfabe and pretending they’re shocked in order to keep us distracted.

          They just dismissed Congress early and went home for the summer. They’re supposed to be returning but are about to just shut down the entire government instead. Probably indefinitely. The entire Republican party is going scorched earth. By the time all the files do get released (if ever) it will be beyond the point where it matters.

          The goal has always been to overthrow the government and replace it with an oligarchy.

          Do people actually understand what organ harvesting, sex trafficking, pedophile oligarchs stand to lose if some files are released confirming what we already knew once we no longer have any accountability, elections, or a justice system, and every city is controlled by the state dictator’s military? Nothing. That’s why they don’t give a fuck.

  • LillyPip@lemmy.ca
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    3 days ago

    These people are both insane and in charge. They have the means and the will to kill us all.

    • smeenz@lemmy.nz
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      2 days ago

      I don’t understand how such stupid people end up so rich and powerful. .

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    What is it with billionaires that they have to go insane? It’s like all of them end up like those classic campus bond villains

    • Basic Glitch@sh.itjust.worksOP
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      I kinda wonder if it’s like how two people can watch a movie and come away with a completely different view of the same character. They saw the asshole villain that was made to be unlikable and thought “man that guy is cool,” before they began a series of very poor life choices. Life imitating art.

  • OboTheHobo@ttrpg.network
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    3 days ago

    his concerns about technology’s potential to enable authoritarian control.

    I don’t even know what to say at this point

      • No_Eponym@lemmy.ca
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        Llike all men of power, when he talked of prices worth paying, you could be sure of one thing. Someone else was paying.

    • Ecco the dolphin@lemmy.ml
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      He named his technology company after a wizard pondering orb wiretapped by LOTR-satan.

      Im sure theres some great jokes here but I don’t have anything snarky to say about it, I’m just tired.

  • sad_detective_man@leminal.space
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    every time I see one of them pull this weird shit, I have to walk myself through the process again of how christians got to solidarity with the rich. I don’t know why I keep forgetting that was always the purpose

    • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      Anyone interested in this topic, at least how it happened in the United States should check out the Behind the Bastards episodes titled “How the Rich Ate Christianity”

        • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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          Fairly certain that informed that episode but I do need to read that in its entirety myself

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Related to Thiel, check out The Coming Storm, too. I think it’s that podcast that keeps returning to The Sovereign Individual as something that ties a lot of these nuts together.

        • cmbabul@lemmy.world
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          My friend you do not understand how happy I am to talk about this topic at length and spread awareness. Appreciate you too!

          Another recommendation for anyone reading this and interested is the book Jesus and John Wayne.

  • mcv@lemmy.zip
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    2 days ago

    “his Christian faith”? Is Thiel Christian? Or is he just calling himself that for cultural political reasons, like Peterson and Musk?

    (For the record, I am Christian, and I’m constantly horrified at what passes for Christianity in the US.)