Atheists for Liberty News - Issue #16
An Unexpected Ally: Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Max Carlisle
With so many celebrities falling into the intellectually weak trap of “spiritual but not religous” or “God is love” camps, it’s refreshing to find that movie star, champion bodybuilder, and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger draws a clear picture when it comes to his thoughts on the concept of an afterlife. In a recent interview in Interview Magazine (essentially a conversation between him and fellow actor Danny DeVito) he said, straight-forwardly, “When people talk about, “I will see them again in heaven,” it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won’t see each other again after we’re gone. That’s the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don’t.”
Schwarzenegger went on to lament how unfair it seems that people have to die at all, closing the topic with “…but in any case, it’s a reality, and it truly pisses me off.” It is not clear if he thinks that he will be aware of being dead, or if simply knowing ahead of time that he’s going to die someday is what is truly bothering him, but regardless, the Austrian Oak was refreshingly dismissive of any concrete concept of a conscious afterlife. It should come as no surprise that a man who has dedicated a large chunk of his life to the science of exercise and fitness would have a practical and rational worldview. We can hope that this topic will come up again with him in public conversations and his strong voice of clarity will be heard even further.
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Book Review:
By Roling Kaloti
In Jason Riley’s book, Please Stop Helping Us, he makes the case on how liberal democrat policies have actually made things harder for black men to succeed in life and education, since it's a popular belief that their failure is due to systemic racism. Riley explains that in black majority communities, they glamorize black rappers and believe it's cool to speak improperly and to not focus on education. So, when they hear black men speak proper English, some of them refer to it as "speaking white." He mentions the belief that black people are being targeted by police due to racism, but explains the racial gap in crime; how black Americans are more likely to commit crimes, how many are doing illegal drugs, and how many populate prisons compared to other races.
He points out that blacks from African countries actually outperform black Americans, as well as Asians who outperform both black and white people. He also addresses how poorly black people do in schools, how there are black high school seniors who can read at an 8th grade level, and achieve low scores on SATs. He points out how democrats aim for affirmative action for blacks to go to better schools for no other reason than their race, but even then, they have a higher chance of failure and dropping out compared to black people who go to less prestigious schools, as the teachers teach at a pace more suitable for them. He brought up a story by Stephan Carter whose application was denied by Harvard but was called back because they didn't realize he was a black man and now wanted him in. Carter took offense to this because they thought a black Stephan Carter was good enough but a white Stephan Carter was not good enough, and a Stephan Carter with this resume must be a white guy, so he ended up choosing Yale instead. Riley also brings up how affirmative action had been attempted multiple times over a few decades in the late 20th century and has done very little to lift black people out of poverty, referring to the economist Thomas Sowell as a source (who Riley recently wrote a biography on.)
Overall, I think this was a really smart and important book. He writes well and makes his points clear. I'm so glad he addressed multiple issues from democratic policies to common beliefs many left wingers hold about black Americans. He addresses that these beliefs have led many black Americans to see themselves as victims and how this has only continued to be a problem. I'll give it a 7 out of 10. I recommend it if it's an issue you're interested in.
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