The Barefoot Bum gives up:
The world, I now believe, does not want to be saved. Whether the ordinary people close their eyes to the precipice towards which we are rushing headlong, or whether they see and simply do not care, or believe God or science or truth will magically rescue the chosen few, I do not know.
I’m not discouraged by the vitriol of the religious, of the libertarians, of the laissez-faire capitalists. I am, however, discouraged by the vitriol (and worse, the often blithe dismissal) of atheists, philosophers, progressives, socialists and communists, always (to my eyes) for daring to disagree with some item of cherished dogma. Perhaps I’m equally guilty of my own vitriol, but I have always done my best to at least avoid dogmatism, to substantiate my anger with facts and arguments. I have received no such consideration from my detractors. Perhaps I am wrong; I don’t think I’m stupid, but who does?
Perhaps I am myself no better than the ordinary person or my detractors; how can I know what I am blind to? Either way: what use is my work? Even the mostly sensible intelligentsia, from Marx to Myers, attract little more than hordes of ass-kissing sycophants: such is the most I could aspire to. Hell with that….
The world cannot be saved, does not deserve to be saved, does not want to be saved.
It would take the proverbial heart of stone to read this heartfelt cry of godless despair without smiling. There is nothing new under the sun; if the Barefoot Bum had ever truly read the Bible he would realize that he hasn’t figured out anything that wasn’t already explained in Ecclesiastes. And yes, if one’s idea of “intelligentsia”, let alone “mostly sensible intelligentsia”, encompasses both Karl Marx and PZ Myers, I’m afraid the question of stupidity must be conclusively affirmed.
It is not news that the world is damned of its own accord, that it is doomed by its own desires. The Good News is the same today as it was two thousand years ago. You are not forced to follow the way of the world. There is another Way on offer.