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Books are where it's at!
The Christian god eats souls. The more chaste you are during life, the more energy he obtains. That's why he started the religion.
The light you see after death is like an angler fish, guiding you to your consumption.
Books are where it's at!
Christian crusaders and missionaries forced people to adopt Christianity and genocided populations, erasing entire cultures, but now that Christianity is in the majority it's easy to say Christianity has nothing to do with imposing itself on the world. It's already been imposed.
Evangelicals overtly continue the evil legacy of their missionary forebears, but all of Christianity bears that legacy.
That's true, but in fairness all of humanity bears that legacy. The crusaders weren't doing what they did just because of Christianity, it was because they were humans, doing what humans always do.
People in power have always used religion as a tool to further their own ends. It's true throughout history, it's still true today.
Did you maybe stop to think about my words and what I said? Maybe you can infer from my statements that I think all of that activity from ancient times to today was utterly disgusting? Maybe I'm conducting myself in the way Christians should have conducted themselves, rather than falling prey to the call of temporal power? Maybe you shouldn't judge a whole group of people as a monolith, and look at the individuals in front of you, and act accordingly? All I'm asking is to be treated as a human with dignity, like I will treat everyone in front of me.
You are absolutely a human being with dignity. I even have family who are Evangelicals and we get along well enough, though I dip whenever they try to bring up religion.
I was commenting on religion and its legacy. Of course you are not personally responsible for the Christianization of the world, or the cultural genocide of Indigenous people in residential schools.
I just think that the "I'm not like other Christians!" thing always rings a little hollow. You are a part of the religion that is the #1 weapon and driver of colonialist projects (including Canada!). The foundation is rotted.
Books are where it's at!
The Christian god tells his followers to push the religion onto as many as possible and punish those who don't believe.
Source: history and current events.
If god wanted his followers to believe quietly, he'd have written his book differently. I have to assume, since he's perfect and all knowing, that the outcome was the goal. Otherwise he's a HUGE screw up.
Yes yes, free will. But god knows about free will, and still chose to write the book the way he did. So he intended the outcome that exists.
1 Take care not to practice your righteousness in the sight of people, to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
2 So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, so that they will be praised by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your charitable giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
5 And when you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 6 But as for you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you
—Matthew 6:1–6
Very easy to cherry pick when you ignore the book of Joshua and Deuteronomy. Which include genocide, enslavement, ethnic cleansing and other atrocities, all committed by direct order of that deity.
Sure, that's what the book says. But that's not the actions the book produces. And an all knowing God would know the outcome of the words he chose.
There are some rather stark differences between the old and new testament depictions of God. The only two ways to reconcile the differences imo are that either Jesus led a pretty standard major-religion-themed-psychedelic-"love"-cult or that the Gnostics were on to something about this reality being a prison created by a divine abomination and that Jesus was trying to save us from the OT "God".
That’s an old school Gnostic interpretation, and that in part lead to the development of Christian antisemitism. (See Reuther, Faith and Fratricide)
You’re missing out on the hundreds of years of Jewish scholars navigating and interacting with the text. It’s easy to understand the shift as discrete, because Jesus is a clear breaking point, but a lot of that develops from Greek philosophy interacting with Judaism. He was most assuredly influenced by Nazarite thinkers too.
Keep in mind too that Jesus said he brought not peace, but a sword. Jewish understandings of the messiah at the time were seeking a military type leader to lead them against the Romans - that threat is probably what actually got the man crucified. Read Luke 22:36.
Seeing these kinds of r/atheism versus Christian conversations is always a shit show. Everyone is wrong.
Or there is no god and the cunts running this religious sharade benefit from adding as many sheep's under them as possible and are using religion as an excuse
Unfortunately that is how little people interpret the wisdom given. We all make our own version of God, and decide to use our narrow interpretations as the truth, when the reality of God is so vast and incomprehensible to us.
Edit to add that this goes for all of us, I'm not exempting myself from potentially acting in this manner.
Why represent the idea of God as truth if it really all comes down to personal headcanon?
Because if morality is dictated by God, and God is whatever you want, you can justify literally anything.
Why represent the lack of a God as something to aspire for? If it's all headcanon, then what does it matter what I believe, as long as I'm not forcing it down your throat, which I'm not. I'm merely having a conversation about it, just like you are with me.
Easy, because most people do. Be it by indoctrination of their children, justification of atrocities, or by feeling self righteous, it is almost always a tool of coercion.
And people who think they're above of it all, and who think their lukewarm faith is the answer, are disgusting to the creature they claim to serve, as per the Book of Revelation, chapter 3, verses 15-16.
Why's he being downloaded he's the sensible one, probably all the other shitty Christians down voting him lol
This is the thing, we're all supposed to share our life stories with one another, we're a social species, it's hardwired into us.
All of us should have some tact, and not bash each other over the skulls with our beliefs or our fists. Mr. Rogers is a model to aspire to as a person. He was a modern example of what a Christian should be. (He was a Presbyterian minister)
Personally, because I take offense at anyone who proudly worships the creature who killed tons of babies and kids, just for being the firstborn of a culture and not taking in the religion of another group just for being the correct one, imposing rules on a whim and turning those who failed into salt, testing faith by asking someone to kill their child, burning up cities because it disagreed with with how some of the people in it lived, and many other atrocities.
But more to the point, because I think it is disgusting to worship a creature so powerful and stubborn that after so much interference, now allegedly just says "I'm a hands off parent now, I don't care if you poke your eye out, commit Holocaust or poison and kill men, women and children by pretending to be acting in my name, I'll just judge you after you die, k, tks, bye"
You claim to be against the sins that form the basis of your religion, and I respect that, but one can't turn a blind eye to what the scriptures say.
With love, a former seminarian.
Books are where it's at!