I’m a Christian myself, but I swear - zealous or ostentatious Christians are some of the meanest, nasties and most awful people I know.
Coming from deeply catholic region, I know lots of such people. They will judge you for not being like them, they will absolutely try to convert you, and they are definitely the most hateful and straight out ignorant people I ever met.
I don’t blame the religion though, because these people are obviously not following Jesus, but rather the spiteful catholic church.
How so? Jesus has a number of very specific teachings, foremost among them being to love your neighbor as yourself. Calling people out for calling themselves Christians while obviously ignoring the central tenet of his message is no different than calling out someone who calls themself a vegan while obviously eating a bucket of KFC.
The No True Scotsman fallacy is when you declare a label (Scotsman) to be conditional on some unrelated factor (putting sugar in porridge) instead of the actual condition (being from Scotland).
Following the tenets of Jesus is the definitive condition of being a “Christian”. Going to a church every week and singing the songs doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to the farmer’s market and chanting in protests makes you a vegan. It doesn’t matter what you call yourself if you don’t do the thing you’re singing about.
That’s religious people for ya. I know how it seems like a good foundation for morale and philosophy to believers, but really there’s a point where you need to stop believing in Santa Claus and build morale on your own.
It might help you realize how many “sins” are meant to control you and how many other accepted or ignored toxic traits should be condemned.
Very much true, for the most part the religion is used as an utility to control and exploit masses.
The ruleset is very vague in itself and varies from religion to religion. To me, it’s all about being true to yourself. If you truly believe that you’re doing the right thing, you probably are. But that’s probably a massive simplification.
Mind if I ask what denomination? I found the Episcopal church and it genuinely helped me feel like a Christian again. As a gay man (who also posts porn sometimes!), and growing up Baptist, I never felt like I couldn’t be a follower of Jesus, but I also never felt like I could be part of a community of followers of Jesus, and the Episcopal church helped me find that community again for the first time since childhood.
I’m talking particularly about the catholic church, but that is still the case for all the more conservative denominations and sects, like Fundamentalists or Jehova followers.
I myself am an independent Christian, but my wife is catholic and sometimes I have to go to the church with her. The things the priests say during the masses are just horrid, even in the more secular areas.
It’s unbelievable to me that these scum made people believe that their corporation is the only true middleman between the people and the God.
And Protestant. And Mormon. And Muslim. And Buddhist. All religions are capable of that.
And capitalists, who beg for government handouts. And communists, who want strong control by a very unequal authority figure. Every belief system really - anyone who says “not like that”, who doesn’t even see the contradiction.
Like “Doctor” Oz - anyone can turn their back on the precepts they claim to have supported.
I’m a Christian myself, but I swear - zealous or ostentatious Christians are some of the meanest, nasties and most awful people I know.
Coming from deeply catholic region, I know lots of such people. They will judge you for not being like them, they will absolutely try to convert you, and they are definitely the most hateful and straight out ignorant people I ever met.
I don’t blame the religion though, because these people are obviously not following Jesus, but rather the spiteful catholic church.
“There’s no hate like christian love.”
How do you reconcile being a good person, with respecting other people’s beliefs, and not trying to convert people?
By your own system of belief, your inaction allows evil to reign.
I absolutely do blame religion for some the worst behaviours exhibited by believers, as it puts them in an impossible position.
If a genuine believer loves a non-believer, how can they be a good person within their own world view, if they do not try to save them?
But if they do try to save them, they will fail to be good person in the world view of the person they are trying to save.
You can’t do both, and as far as I can tell, most religions work this way.
To treat people with real respect believers universally have to engage in some of the most precarious double-think I can imagine.
It isn’t fair to anyone that you have to “suspend your disbelief” for reality the way we do for fiction, just to come across as a reasonable person.
Proselytization is against Judaism. Someone who follows Judaism properly would be meeting all of those points.
That’s not to say all Jews are following Judaism properly. glares at israel in contempt
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How so? Jesus has a number of very specific teachings, foremost among them being to love your neighbor as yourself. Calling people out for calling themselves Christians while obviously ignoring the central tenet of his message is no different than calling out someone who calls themself a vegan while obviously eating a bucket of KFC.
The No True Scotsman fallacy is when you declare a label (Scotsman) to be conditional on some unrelated factor (putting sugar in porridge) instead of the actual condition (being from Scotland).
Following the tenets of Jesus is the definitive condition of being a “Christian”. Going to a church every week and singing the songs doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to the farmer’s market and chanting in protests makes you a vegan. It doesn’t matter what you call yourself if you don’t do the thing you’re singing about.
That’s religious people for ya. I know how it seems like a good foundation for morale and philosophy to believers, but really there’s a point where you need to stop believing in Santa Claus and build morale on your own.
It might help you realize how many “sins” are meant to control you and how many other accepted or ignored toxic traits should be condemned.
Very much true, for the most part the religion is used as an utility to control and exploit masses.
The ruleset is very vague in itself and varies from religion to religion. To me, it’s all about being true to yourself. If you truly believe that you’re doing the right thing, you probably are. But that’s probably a massive simplification.
Mind if I ask what denomination? I found the Episcopal church and it genuinely helped me feel like a Christian again. As a gay man (who also posts porn sometimes!), and growing up Baptist, I never felt like I couldn’t be a follower of Jesus, but I also never felt like I could be part of a community of followers of Jesus, and the Episcopal church helped me find that community again for the first time since childhood.
I’m talking particularly about the catholic church, but that is still the case for all the more conservative denominations and sects, like Fundamentalists or Jehova followers.
I myself am an independent Christian, but my wife is catholic and sometimes I have to go to the church with her. The things the priests say during the masses are just horrid, even in the more secular areas.
It’s unbelievable to me that these scum made people believe that their corporation is the only true middleman between the people and the God.
And Protestant. And Mormon. And Muslim. And Buddhist. All religions are capable of that.
And capitalists, who beg for government handouts. And communists, who want strong control by a very unequal authority figure. Every belief system really - anyone who says “not like that”, who doesn’t even see the contradiction.
Like “Doctor” Oz - anyone can turn their back on the precepts they claim to have supported.