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I was raised Catholic and found early on religious organizations aren't my thing. With that said it does not mean I do not believe in God.
You sound like me. I don't need a building to go to or some man who became a priest preaching to me. If you believe in God then you know he's everywhere. Going to church is just not a big deal to many of us.
You don't know that, not one knows that; last I checked Donald Trump is just a man, who was elected to do a job. But just so you know I associated Donald Trump with the Beast and Pence as his side kick.
Now throw in the decline in Church attendance --- and we have them disappearing in the twinkle of eye, as that is about the length it takes for a person to change their minds.
But just so you know, Tribulations is an interpretation of the events John described in Revelations as he wrote of the goings on of Rome --- end times? Can be anything you want it to be --- just as our future can be anything we want it to be --- Choose wisely.
The final book of the Bible is Revelation. Not "Revelations". A common mistake.
You don't know that, not one knows that; last I checked Donald Trump is just a man, who was elected to do a job. But just so you know I associated Donald Trump with the Beast and Pence as his side kick.
Now throw in the decline in Church attendance --- and we have them disappearing in the twinkle of eye, as that is about the length it takes for a person to change their minds.
But just so you know, Tribulations is an interpretation of the events John described in Revelations as he wrote of the goings on of Rome --- end times? Can be anything you want it to be --- just as our future can be anything we want it to be --- Choose wisely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by r small
The final book of the Bible is Revelation. Not "Revelations". A common mistake.
Writing a book about corruption in a government never is --- reality usually escapes even the cleverest of minds.
This is in no way to suggest I don’t believe in God, but you do realize Christianity was one of the greatest scams of all time to manipulate and control the masses in the name of religion, right? Almost every story and holiday based on it was stolen from earlier religions. It’s quite nice seeing people free themselves of a religion that has caused so much hatred and so many Atrocities. It’s perfectly fine to be spiritual without being religious.
This is in no way to suggest I don’t believe in God, but you do realize Christianity was one of the greatest scams of all time to manipulate and control the masses in the name of religion, right?
This was why the reformation happened. That fact became nakedly obvious to enough of the church body that they rebelled against the ecclesiastical corruption meant to control them.
This is in no way to suggest I don’t believe in God, but you do realize Christianity was one of the greatest scams of all time to manipulate and control the masses in the name of religion, right? Almost every story and holiday based on it was stolen from earlier religions. It’s quite nice seeing people free themselves of a religion that has caused so much hatred and so many Atrocities. It’s perfectly fine to be spiritual without being religious.
Beware: Non believers are judged immediately upon death, and find themselves in a state of separation from God and condemnation/punishment from which there will be no escape, either temporally or at the close of the age in eternity....
If non-believers are judged upon death, then so be it. Those condemning non-believers in this life leave it up to the Almighty in the next and spend their time and resources in helping the poor and children? There are plenty of old people who are lonely, need yard help, help cleaning their homes, help getting to the store. Help them.
This is in no way to suggest I don’t believe in God, but you do realize Christianity was one of the greatest scams of all time to manipulate and control the masses in the name of religion, right? Almost every story and holiday based on it was stolen from earlier religions. It’s quite nice seeing people free themselves of a religion that has caused so much hatred and so many Atrocities. It’s perfectly fine to be spiritual without being religious.
1) Let us differentiate between "religion" and "the church". If you read the New Testament with an open mind, you would realize that Christianity is the opposite of what you think it is.
2) Holidays have little to do with Christianity. For instance, Christmas is said to be Jesus' birthday, but no one actually has any clue when Jesus was born. Not only do they not know what day Jesus was born, they don't know what year he was born. Christmas was created literally hundreds of years later because they wanted to have a day of celebration, and they chose late December because it overlapped with other similar holidays, especially of the pagans who they were trying to convert.
3) There are different types of stories in the bible. Literal accounts, divine symbolism, and parables. As I said before, very little is actually known about Jesus' early life. Most specific accounts are likely fabrications. A kind of fill-in-the-blank tale since Jesus was long dead and never wrote an autobiography. These tales often overlapped with other similar stories, and were meant to be symbolic, but generally unimportant. For instance, Thomas Jefferson created a new bible called "Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth", which was the gospels minus the miracles. The miracles themselves have nothing to do with morality, they're there to make Jesus seem more important. To emphasize his divinity.
4) The literal accounts in the New Testament, especially in the gospels, are not analogous to other religions. And even when they are, they are typical of the time. For instance, Jesus was a traveling preacher, but so was his mentor, John the Baptist, and literally hundreds of other people around the same time. The existence of other traveling preachers doesn't disprove the existence of Jesus. Even the fact that they were often preaching similar things doesn't either. Jesus lived in a time of great upheaval in Judea. The Romans had conquered it, and the Jews weren't happy about being ruled. Which is why a lot of the story about Jesus has to do with the Romans, and whether the Jews should pay their taxes and obey the laws, etc. About a hundred years after Jesus, the Jews finally rose up against Rome in the Bar Kokhba revolt. They killed or forced out every Roman from Judea. But then Hadrian showed up with twelve legions and completely wiped Judea off the map.
5) Jesus hated the government, and the merchants for that matter, which is why Christians were heavily persecuted for much of their early history. This persecution didn't stop until Paul wrote a letter to the Romans promising him that Christians would obey because "god placed the governments of the world in power for the benefit of men", which ultimately became the doctrine of "Divine right of Kings"(IE the King was put in power by god, and so to obey the King is to obey god).
6) When you say that Christianity intends to "control the masses", I agree that it does do that, likewise all other belief systems. Which is why governments promoted it. But control them in what way? And for what purpose? You seem to be implying that the purpose was to "commit atrocities". But if that was the case, why are so many Christians pacifists? And wasn't Jesus himself a pacifist? What atrocities are the Amish committing?
The purpose of Christianity was actually to pacify the people. To keep them docile and meek, like sheep. Which is why they were so eager to convert the slaves to Christianity. Just like they did the serfs. Nietzsche called Christianity the "religion of slaves", or "Sklavenmoral".
7) The primary corruption of the church came in the last few-hundred years by what a lot of people call the "prosperity gospel". It sprung up alongside the rise of Capitalism and basically tells its congregants that god wants them to be rich. Christianity began as the rejection of worldliness. The rejection of money and power, of materialism, and hedonism. But it came to embrace them. It is now merely a pragmatic and utilitarian faith, a means to an end. The church now lives and dies from money. The Church needs money more than it needs god. All of its policies, its practices, and its traditions have been transformed to yield more profits.
8) You might throw off the chains of religion, but you'll never be free. There must be chains. Society cannot exist without them. The only debate is which chains are better, the church, or the state. All you've done by destroying religion, is expand the state. If we could abolish religion entirely, the state would merely fill the vacuum.
"As high as mind stands above nature, so high does the state stand above physical life. Man must therefore venerate the state as a secular deity. The march of God in the world, that is what the State is." - Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
You might say that the state is preferable. Probably because you believe that you control the state. Thus your chains will be of your own choosing. But do you? And more importantly, can you legislate morality? Aren't all laws in essence moral laws?
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