Erstwhile secularist Elon Musk now seems to be pissing off the non-believers.
After we remarked on the billionaire announcing during a Pennsylvania rally for Donald Trump last week that he’s now following the “teachings of [Jesus] Christ,” atheist Redditors voiced their displeasure at Musk’s recent turn towards the cross.
From the many r/Atheism users who think Musk is likely trying to “get ahead” of potentially forthcoming allegations to those who think he’s trying to score political points off real believers, the responses to the multi-hyphenate’s latest religious declaration are fascinating.
“I have to admit,” u/IMTrick sarcastically remarked, “I’ve also found Jesus a lot more appealing since he abandoned all that ‘eye of the needle’ and ‘love thy neighbor’ crap and got a little more reasonable about getting rich and fucking over minorities.”
“Christian sheep are easy to fleece,” seethed u/AstroTravellin, a seeming reference to the fervent religious right that supports Trump.
Others still took issue with our original headline calling Musk an “atheist hero” in the first place — though he certainly was revered by that crowd back in the day.
“He was never an atheist hero,” u/Fr1501 declared. “He seemed like a decent guy until he could not keep his mouth shut and people started digging into his past and how he got his money.”
In response to another user who queried Musk’s status as an icon of the secular movement, u/Feinberg offered an excellent explainer.
“He was a kind of futurist, progressive, and environmentally conscious figure,” the user wrote. “Those tend to be atheist-adjacent traits, or at least antithetical to religion.”
To be fair, it’s not clear if Musk ever used the exact word “atheist” to describe his beliefs.
He did, however, criticize the concept of “some superconsciousness watching over our every movement” during a 2013 talk with “The Office” actor Rainn Wilson, and has since made oblique references to believing in science over religion as recently as last year.
“I’m ok with going to hell,” he wrote in 2022, “if that is indeed my destination, since the vast majority of all humans ever born will be there.”
While he now refers to himself as “cultural Christian,” a previous and sadder Musk statement seems to suggest that he may have left that energy behind.
“Atheism left an empty space, secular religion took its place,” the 53-year-old power player wrote in an awkward poem this past September. “But left the people in despair, childless hedonism sans care.”
“Maybe religion’s not so bad,” he continued, “to keep you from being sad.”
Back on Reddit, one r/Atheism user’s commentary stands out among the debates about the sincerity of Musk’s faith.
“Shut the fuck up,” u/Toph-a-Loph posted, “and get us to Mars, Elon.”
More on Musk: Azealia Banks Says She’s Voting for Kamala Harris Because Elon Musk Is an “Overrated Ketamine Addict”
