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First of all, I put my words in bold letters to differentiate the two.
You put words inside something that said "Originally Posted by Nozzferrahhtoo" yet I never posted those words. It was a polite request: Please keep your words out of my mouth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lttleldycash
Christianity holds its followers to a higher moral code than society.
Not so sure it does. But that is not what this thread is about. The question is " Is Christianity a psychologically unhealthy belief system?". So the point is about the whole SYSTEM not one attribute you have cherry picked that you personally think is nice.
I do not accept that it holds its followers to a higher moral code than general society.... but even if I did accept that does not address the OPs question. Because the whole system underlying that code is not healthy. Subscribing to unsubstantiated nonsense is not healthy. Self hatred and self pity is not healthy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lttleldycash
If most, yes I said most based off personal observation, of society cannot take responsibility for day to day actions
You are still dodging your original point though. You are now talking about where they are CAPABLE of doing it. That was not your original point. Your original point was that "most" think even the attempt is something unhealthy. It is THAT point I am asking for substantiation or retraction of. You are instead deflecting to a NEW point that differs from the original which you have back tracked to instead.
And, yet as my atheist/Jewish friend says...he loves it because maybe the fear
of hell keeps people from robbing him. So he likes it very much.
With fewer and fewer people believing in hell these days warn your friend he better reevaluate and install an alarm system, Miss Hepburn. Thank you, by the way.
If I had to add any one thing to many of these excellent posts it is the psychological harm being done to little children being raised in strict fundamentalist homes and suffering a form of mental child abuse by parents who read this kind of trash to their children for bedtime stories to "keep them God-fearing Christians, with the emphasis on "fear" ":
Quote:
Look into this little prison. In the middle of it there is a little boy. He is silent; despair is on him . . . His eyes are burning like two burning coals. Two long flames come out of his ears. His breathing is difficult. Sometimes he opens his mouth and breath of blazing fire rolls out of it. But listen! There is a sound just like that of a kettle boiling. Is it really a kettle which is boiling? No; then what is it? Hear what it is. The blood is boiling in the scalding veins of that boy. The brain is boiling and bubbling in his head. The marrow is boiling in his bones. Ask him why he is thus tormented. His answer is that when he was alive, his blood boiled to do very wicked things. Tracts for Spiritual Reading, by Rev. J. Furniss, C.S.S.R.
I do not advocate abandoning Christianity entirely, but there must be someone of morally honest character who will completely rewrite the Bible "under the guidance of the Holy Spirit" and get its doctrines back in line with the simple precepts that Jesus taught about love.
Think of the millions of children over the last 1500 years since Augustine who have been murdered by their parents under the delusion that they were saving their children from a horrible fate in eternal flames. Andrea Yates is the poster child for this kind of insanity but the fault can be laid directly at the feet of church leaders who perpetuate trash like fiery eternal torment.
Last edited by thrillobyte; 01-30-2014 at 10:37 AM..
The part of Christianity that most would consider unhealthy is the Personal Responsibility aspect. You do something that you know is inherently wrong, there are ethereal consequences.
But hmm, Christianity claims that we have to take responsibility for something we DIDN'T do - namely, "original sin." So let me ask you this: Did YOU get a shot at staying in Eden as long as you didn't eat the fruit? Yeah, neither did I. So why are we being punished for "crimes" we did not commit?
Your entire religion is predicated on a concept that is repugnantly immoral and therefore having a belief in it gives no one cause to mount up their high horse in a discussion about morality.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lttleldycash
The part that says you are worth something, your contribution to society has meaning would be psychologically beneficial.
No, it is not beneficial - at least not in the way Christianity doles out worthiness.
Christianity teaches us that we have no intrinsic worth as human beings; we are essentially guilty of wickedness, sentenced to eternal torment for the crime of simply having been born.
BUT ... if you believe in Jesus/God and beg for forgiveness, then all will be forgiven! In other words, our worth is not an objective reality but a subjective opinion made by an egocentric God who demands blind obedience and unquestioning servitude. God will grant you self-worth but only if you join his cult and worship him. Otherwise, you deserve to die right this very instant and you deserve to be tortured forever.
There is nothing beneficial in being granted your self-worth by an external source, one that requires obedience and adoration in order to get it. Oh, and the whole "eternal torment" part is as morally bankrupt as any philosophy out there. It essentially says that no matter what kind of a person I am, I deserve to be tortured forever because I didn't join your cult. That's what it says. Period.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lttleldycash
The part that dictates we forgive, love without question and give to those in need can go either way. It depends on the caliber of people you're trying to be decent to and help. One can become used rather quickly if they try to help the wrong kind of person. It's not ALL constant shaming, that is a gross misconception.
Yes, and it is this paranoia of being "used" that has caused the religious-right to shun help for the poor and disabled beyond what basic charity can provide. I really don't get the impression that Jesus was all that worried about helping "the wrong sort" when we set about performing his miracles. There were no credit checks, background searches, and an uphill battle with Jesus's bureaucracy. The paradigm is "ask and you shall receive," not "ask and I'll give you 300 forms to fill out to make sure you're not pulling a fast one."
Your entire religion is predicated on a concept that is repugnantly immoral and therefore having a belief in it gives no one cause to mount up their high horse in a discussion about morality.
Uh oh. This looks like it's harking back to one of those X-tian trials from the reigns of Trajan, Diocletian or Nero. Better to be like Gallio, an open-minded proconsul of Achaia in the Empire when those X-tians were brought to the judgment seat: 'If it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters'.
- You don't know how to manage your own life. You don't know how to use facts, reason and experience to be a good decision-maker. That's you trying to use "worldly wisdom"; it will ultimately fail you.
- There is an omniscient being who is keeping track of your thoughts and feelings and and will hold them against you. This implies that your thoughts and feelings aren't spontaneously generated, that they are the result of some evil force that takes control of you and that you have to constantly ward off. Such evil thoughts include your natural impulses, things like wanting to bang the hot woman you see wearing a bikini at the beach.
- Your conscious experience on Earth is supposed to be repulsive to you. It's a "fallen world" and you're supposed to long for your departure from it. When you depart from it, you'll be given a new body (Wouldn't that be a motivation to not take care of your health on Earth???) and you'll live only among other believers. Any non-believing friends and family you have -- no matter how much of a good life they and no matter how close of a relationship you have with them -- will be separated from you and tormented eternally.
Would'nt such a belief system would drive a person crazy?
You are confusing Christianity (being a person who wishes to emulate and follow Jesus Christ) with man made rules and religion.
Once you learn the difference, you'll feel much better
The part that dictates we forgive, love without question and give to those in need can go either way. It depends on the caliber of people you're trying to be decent to and help.
Who told you that?
(If it was Jesus I seem to be missing that verse in my Bible.)
You are confusing Christianity (being a person who wishes to emulate and follow Jesus Christ) with man made rules and religion.
Once you learn the difference, you'll feel much better
There is no difference because Jesus was a man too therefore any rules he made up are also "man made rules". So either way it is all "man made rules", and in the end you are simply equivocating over which man or men formed them.
Jesus was, assuming he existed which I do not, a man like any other. There is no reason to think otherwise. Once you learn the difference, you'll feel much better.
No, it is not beneficial - at least not in the way Christianity doles out worthiness.
Christianity teaches us that we have no intrinsic worth as human beings; we are essentially guilty of wickedness, sentenced to eternal torment for the crime of simply having been born.
BUT ... if you believe in Jesus/God and beg for forgiveness, then all will be forgiven! In other words, our worth is not an objective reality but a subjective opinion made by an egocentric God who demands blind obedience and unquestioning servitude. God will grant you self-worth but only if you join his cult and worship him. Otherwise, you deserve to die right this very instant and you deserve to be tortured forever.
Incorrect! Christianity teaches that, even though we are sinful, we are worth dying for!
Incorrect! Christianity teaches that, even though we are sinful, we are worth dying for!
That is the argument out of the right side of the mouth. The opposite is the argument out of the left side of the mouth that tries to justify the evil doctrine of Hell based on our inherent unworthiness deserving such a hellish fate.
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