White evangelicals’ fascination with Trump won’t be the last time a large subset of the American public becomes enthralled by an authoritarian and incompetent politician.
Here’s the problem: Christians have no self-monitoring going on. Anyone can claim to be “Christian” and it’s killing them. It’s just a useless label anyone can apply to themselves or others. There’s no certification, vetting, or sponsorship to revoke. It’s a Jesus mask that so many can just strap onto their face with some rubber bands and do the same evil they have always done. This was one of the reasons against idolatry in the Ten Commandments: any fool can claim they represent God. “You shall have no other Gods before me,” means “I am the only God,” then goes on to say, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” which is building on the same premise. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” is trying to cover all bases. But people break these all the time.
Christians need to unite on a common ground and make a stance of what they universally believe in. But yes, I hear you laughing, and you’re probably right, that’s never gonna happen. You’re going to have factions like the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 claiming the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912 are heretical scum, and push people off bridges. I mean, this is not a new problem, either. Look at the Crusades. Witch Burnings. The Spanish Inquisition. The list goes on and on.
In the end, it’s all about people wanting power. Whether they have a Jesus mask or not, some people are facist assholes, want to be in charge, and they don’t care who they hurt or what they destroy to get there.
Yup. It’s too easy to be “Christian” these days, which breeds complacency and corruption in a hierarchical religious system (which, by dint of its hierarchical structure and opportunity for abuse of religious ideals, already breeds complacency and corruption).
When you legislate (bastardizations of) your religious precepts into law, at no point do you have to consciously “choose” to be Christian, at no point do you have to make the hard choice between, say, holding to your faith or having an abortion because you’re really, really not ready for a kid. It’s just not an option, and you’re forced to do what your Church says, which seems…un-Christian.
Idk. I’ve been trying to workshop this thought—that living in a religious society results in half-baked, hypocritically-“religious” abominations that end up in office—rather than thoughtful, intentional participants in a diverse and thriving society that understand why they choose to live in one way and listen to their neighbors explain why they choose to live in another.
The goal would be to use that approach to get Christians voting for legitimate freedom of choice, but idk if it’s even worth it at this point, it seems pretty impossible to sway them at times.
Looking back at the early days of persecuted Christianity (Roman times) it seems like people were legitimately drawn to these communities because they looked out for each other in a way that others didn’t. Christians have come a long way from that, in a bad sense, and I wonder if the lack of (actual) persecution plays a part in that.
Most other countries have a pretty good handle on it actually. It’s the US that’s industrialised the kool-aid. Mind you, it’s built right into the entire nation at the ground level
I’m glad that at the end you come to your senses and see the truth. If someone identifies as Christian, they should be viewed as high risk elements in society. A life based on lies with a desire to oust others. That is vile and despicable.
Do.not.trust.christians.
In fact, any religion is to be distrusted vehemently.
Here’s the problem: Christians have no self-monitoring going on. Anyone can claim to be “Christian” and it’s killing them. It’s just a useless label anyone can apply to themselves or others. There’s no certification, vetting, or sponsorship to revoke. It’s a Jesus mask that so many can just strap onto their face with some rubber bands and do the same evil they have always done. This was one of the reasons against idolatry in the Ten Commandments: any fool can claim they represent God. “You shall have no other Gods before me,” means “I am the only God,” then goes on to say, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images.” which is building on the same premise. “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” is trying to cover all bases. But people break these all the time.
Christians need to unite on a common ground and make a stance of what they universally believe in. But yes, I hear you laughing, and you’re probably right, that’s never gonna happen. You’re going to have factions like the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879 claiming the Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912 are heretical scum, and push people off bridges. I mean, this is not a new problem, either. Look at the Crusades. Witch Burnings. The Spanish Inquisition. The list goes on and on.
In the end, it’s all about people wanting power. Whether they have a Jesus mask or not, some people are facist assholes, want to be in charge, and they don’t care who they hurt or what they destroy to get there.
Yup. It’s too easy to be “Christian” these days, which breeds complacency and corruption in a hierarchical religious system (which, by dint of its hierarchical structure and opportunity for abuse of religious ideals, already breeds complacency and corruption).
When you legislate (bastardizations of) your religious precepts into law, at no point do you have to consciously “choose” to be Christian, at no point do you have to make the hard choice between, say, holding to your faith or having an abortion because you’re really, really not ready for a kid. It’s just not an option, and you’re forced to do what your Church says, which seems…un-Christian.
Idk. I’ve been trying to workshop this thought—that living in a religious society results in half-baked, hypocritically-“religious” abominations that end up in office—rather than thoughtful, intentional participants in a diverse and thriving society that understand why they choose to live in one way and listen to their neighbors explain why they choose to live in another.
The goal would be to use that approach to get Christians voting for legitimate freedom of choice, but idk if it’s even worth it at this point, it seems pretty impossible to sway them at times.
Looking back at the early days of persecuted Christianity (Roman times) it seems like people were legitimately drawn to these communities because they looked out for each other in a way that others didn’t. Christians have come a long way from that, in a bad sense, and I wonder if the lack of (actual) persecution plays a part in that.
Most other countries have a pretty good handle on it actually. It’s the US that’s industrialised the kool-aid. Mind you, it’s built right into the entire nation at the ground level
I’m glad that at the end you come to your senses and see the truth. If someone identifies as Christian, they should be viewed as high risk elements in society. A life based on lies with a desire to oust others. That is vile and despicable.
Do.not.trust.christians.
In fact, any religion is to be distrusted vehemently.