alt Hacker NewsThiel apparently gives talks about the Antichrist. He's actually a very thoughtful Christian, following the works of Rene Girard. I think he's just got a rather dark sense of humour.
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Sounds deranged to me. Like, seriously, has had a psychotic break from reality.
> constantly talks about the anti christ and getting rid of democracy
“He’s just got a quirky sense of humour”
Where does this inclination to completely brush off what is pretty clearly exceedingly weird and concerning behaviour come from?
I think that's more about trying to attract christian rubes than it is reflective of his actual humor
I'm not sure you can describe somebody who supports ICE in its current incarnation, who profits from surveillance of vulnerable populations, who believes in revenge (cf Gawker), who abuses wealth (NZ citizenship shenanigans) as "a very thoughtful Christian", unless you do a lot of definitional work on "Christian".
Talking about the antichrist doesn't make you Christian.
>Thiel apparently gives talks about the Antichrist
You forgot to mention the part where Thiel tells, in all seriousness, that the Antichrist is on Earth, now, and may literally be Greta Thunberg [1].
And that's one of the reason Greta Thunberg must be opposed.
> He's actually a very thoughtful Christian
That's one way to upsell "deranged".
Thoughtful he is (as many lunatics are).
As far as religious aspects go, him losing faith in democracy after women and "benefits recipients" got the right to vote[2] doesn't sound very Christian-like to my ears.
Neither does his argument to end affirmative action[3], if you read it carefully, but that's a whole another can of worms.
> following the works of Rene Girard.
Ah yes, the fine fellow who (like Thiel) sees religion as a technology to manage humans by designating sacrificial scapegoats, which is the Girard's final solution to all problems.
In Girard's (and Thiel's) view, scapegoating isn't only an emergent outcome, it is necessary to stave off the end of the world.[3]
Thiel's support of Trump and his influence and backing of the Heritage Foundation / Project 2025 is very consistent with this philosophy.
Trump/Project 2025 make scapegoats out of immigrants, DEI, minorities, trans people, women who don't dedicate their lives to being breeding machines, ... - the list goes on.
So, in Thiel, we have:
- a gay man (who destroyed the paper that outed him out of spite) who thinks women are not just ewww, but are the reason democracy failed and is antithetical to freedom and are to blame for the Great Depression. And one of them (Greta Thunberg) is literally the Antichrist, in all likelihood.
- a white German raised in apartheid South Africa[5], in a city described as "more German than Germany" in 1976 where "Heil Hitler!" salutes were still the norm [6], who thinks that affirmative action has never been a good idea and was utterly unnecessary by the 1990s in the US because, quote [3][7]: “There are almost no real racists . . . in America’s younger generation”, and whose politics have declared "DEI" as an enemy. Here's a reminder that DEI stands for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
- a Christian who sees Christianity as an instrument of "political theology". See, aside from "let's make scapegoats" Girard, he has been heavily influenced by the writing of Carl "Hitler is good for us" Schmitt[8]. Schmitt was not just a Nazi, but a jurist who provided legal (and moral) basis for Hitler's power grab.
- a self-proclaimed "Libertarian" whose primary source of fortune is selling totalitarian surveillance products to governments
We have that person effectively controlling the US policy and executive actions (Thiel has groomed JD Vance into vice presidency[9]).
I don't see any signs that Thiel has a sense of humor at all, dark or otherwise.
But the universe in which he gets to do all that and be called a "very thoughtful Christian" sure does.
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[1] https://theconversation.com/peter-thiel-thinks-greta-thunber...
[2] https://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/04/13/peter-thiel/educatio...
[3] https://stanfordmag.org/contents/the-case-against-affirmativ...
[4] https://thenewinquiry.com/the-scapegoating-machine/
[5] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/26/elon-musk...
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/30/archives/southwest-africa...
[7] https://www.ft.com/content/cfbfa1e8-d8f8-42b9-b74c-dae6cc618...
[8] https://peripateticpastor.com/2025/02/18/a-totalitarian-bent...
[9] https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-libertarian-tech-ti...
A very thoughtful Christian..seems his actions differ a lot from my interoperation of the faith.