richh
Matt MayIf you told me in 1990 that a coalition of Opus Dei and Italian fascists were going to platform a gay billionaire Republican to challenge the pope on end-times doctrine, I would conclude that one if not both of us was having a stroke
annaecook
Jon
I am Jack's Found 404
Gwyn Ciesla
0xDECAFBAD@mattmay Didn’t Francis already reign in Opus Dei? Maybe that’s why they’re mad.
bupig
Galder Gonzalez 
Zebadiah Carter@mattmay I was wondering when the Itialian far-right was going to make the play that the new American Pope wasn't Pope-y enough. Thiel is... a choice... for that foil though 🤣
Bongolian@mattmay Thiel had a warm-up lecture series in San Francisco on this topic last year, hoping to attract supportive techbros. The lectures were characterized by one critic as "meandering musings". He though Greta Thunberg or Eliezer Yudkowsky might be the antichrist (!), yet the characteristics for the antichrist that he gave sounded more like himself: "They can do it if they're young – or – get rich young, since 'money has this remarkable velocity.'"
#thiel #antichrist
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/10/peter-thiel-lectures-antichrist
axel.@Bongolian @mattmay One of the main concepts of the totalitarian state is the all-encompassing database. Ideology and technology-wise he is working straight towards what he purports to defend against. So much money, so little understanding. It is embarrassing.
@axeln @mattmay Regarding billionaires such as Thiel, historian Timothy Snyder had a very interesting essay in January of this year about a lecture to schoolchildren that J. R. R. Tolkien gave in 1938, in which Tolkien compared the very wealthy to dragons. The lecture was in part an explanation of Tolkien's thought process behind his 1937 book, The Hobbit.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/tolkiens-dragons-and-ours
https://snyder.substack.com/p/tolkiens-dragons-and-ours
Leeloo@Bongolian @axeln @mattmay
Now that you mention it, the comparison does seem like it should have been obvious.
Now that you mention it, the comparison does seem like it should have been obvious.
Megan Lynch (she/her)@axeln @Bongolian @mattmay Thiel is well aware of what he is doing. It does not come out of ignorance. He is on record saying he thinks of democracy as antithetical to freedom. He *wants* authoritarianism, he donates to back it, he cultivates people like Trump and Vance to implement it. #Fascism
@meganL @Bongolian @mattmay I am fully aware of that. What really stumps me is the fact that he honestly seems to believe in this Antichrist stick, and sees himself as the „good“ defender. Scary stuff.
@axeln Pardon me for taking the comment at face value, then. I apologize.
However, I do think it's important to publicly state wherever possible that this stuff they do doesn't come out of ignorance. Too many ppl think that mere education would change these ppl. That they're simply misguided.
And it's possible others reading the replies would have thought that as a result, so I chimed in.
@axeln @meganL @mattmay #Thiel knows what he's doing alright, but on some level he doesn't understand what he's doing: he named his company Palantir after #Palantír, the crystal ball in the Lord of the Rings books. In the books the Palantírs were accurate in foretelling the future but unreliable for showing guides to action.
@Bongolian @meganL @mattmay All this Palantir, Anduril and „do not meddle in the affairs of wizards“ is just posturing and name dropping. They don’t even realize that they are fighting on the orc side of things (or they do, refer to „the last Ringbearer“).
Szymon Sokół 🇵🇱🇪🇺🇺🇦@Bongolian @mattmay "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves."
keith
benny
lain, author of the quixote@mattmay
> massimo faggioli
> massimo faggioli
David Snyder@mattmay Whether its prohibiting harm being done to others by regulation or insinuating people have a obligation to society and the planet these type of people take my breath away with how disgusting they are.
I remember having a conversation with a tech bro 'anarcho capitalist' type that held the position that any form of taxation was the same as slavery.
🤢🤮
@mxenbionix That’s the “if guns were outlawed, only outlaws would have guns” of clever-boy libertarianism
Floon
jon saenz
Chuckles
Martijn VosThiel is desperately trying to paint someone other than himself as the Antichrist. He's one of the main forces trying to set up a global surveillance state.
D.EJE.D
Mx. Chara Aznable (they/them) of Pnictogen@mattmay From what I've seen, Peter Thiel is not a good lecturer. What does he hope to accomplish against the Pope?
Hugs4friends ♾🇺🇦 🇵🇸😷@mattmay Thiel's hubris knows no bounds.
bituur esztreym@mattmay
hopefully i drank my (1st) coffee before reading this..
"challenge the pope": .. my pc would be soaked in coffee and me histerically laugh-gasping for air..
poor Peter is really lost in himself, and for humanity.
the rest of the article remains cringely fearful nevertheless
hopefully i drank my (1st) coffee before reading this..
"challenge the pope": .. my pc would be soaked in coffee and me histerically laugh-gasping for air..
poor Peter is really lost in himself, and for humanity.
the rest of the article remains cringely fearful nevertheless
Kim
JimmyB (he/him)@mattmay I don't think Thiel is concerned about a 'one-world, totalitarian state' coming into being: the authour has not done her homework.
Peter Thiel is concerned only that he controls the one-world, totalitarian state when he creates it.
Folks really should read and listen to what he actually says. This is a man who believes the world needs to be depopulated and is creating a massive autonomous weapons factory in the US to help achieve this.
Imagine being on the receiving end of that...
Nuwagaba Gift@JimmyB
Which kind of people is working to eliminate and depopulate the world?
Which kind of people is working to eliminate and depopulate the world?
@nuwagaba2 Tech-bro fascist kinds
@JimmyB
Would the world be better if they never existed?
Would the world be better if they never existed?
@nuwagaba2 for sure
@JimmyB
It's about fighting hunger in my community, I work with 12 young volunteer farmers to make this a reality by growing food for the needy, educate local farmers with advanced agricultural skills to help them improve on their production as well equip beginner farmers with required tools like seeds , fertilisers and organic pestcides to help them produce the best out of their gardens as well combat climate change through tree planting. Would you like some updates about it?
It's about fighting hunger in my community, I work with 12 young volunteer farmers to make this a reality by growing food for the needy, educate local farmers with advanced agricultural skills to help them improve on their production as well equip beginner farmers with required tools like seeds , fertilisers and organic pestcides to help them produce the best out of their gardens as well combat climate change through tree planting. Would you like some updates about it?
notsoloud
sonja dolinsek@mattmay Could you please add a date to that screenshot? Knowing where things come from is improtzin the age of fake news
Kalle Kniivilä@sonjdol @mattmay Here is one more source.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/16/europe/peter-thiel-antichrist-lectures-rome-intl
𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐄 🌼
Tor Lillqvist
βrυɲϋs@mattmay Totaly wrong... Leo XIV is not the first "american pontiff"... Pope François was from Argentina.
Roy -- the dull one
Sheogorath@mattmay Who can beat first hand experience?
@sheogorath Playing Voldemort really helped him grow into the role imo
Stoneface Vimes@mattmay I'd have thought I'd accidentally ingested some kind of psychotropic drug. Mansplain doesn't even begin to cover it.
Meneer de Bruin 🚂🍉🔻@mattmay My guess: Thiel is coming out as the anti-christ.