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Some people would tell you it is a sin or at least highly suspicious if you are appreciated and approved of by anyone outside the faith and maybe even by people within it. That is, of course, nonsense. It is just religious mind-control and/or old fashioned asceticism. The material world is not evil, it just is. The supernatural world is not good, it is pure speculation. You cannot escape from the former by making up the latter.
Some people would tell you it is a sin or at least highly suspicious if you are appreciated and approved of by anyone outside the faith and maybe even by people within it. That is, of course, nonsense. It is just religious mind-control and/or old fashioned asceticism. The material world is not evil, it just is. The supernatural world is not good, it is pure speculation. You cannot escape from the former by making up the latter.
(you must spread some reputation around before giving it to mordant again)
Hey, I tried
I think you are right. So many religions here in America teach and practice such a Narrow (as in straight and narrow) philosophy that includes, sadly, isolationism which would include public acceptance.
This shallow theology does not appeal to everyone, but it does prey on the weaker elements by discouraging success or happiness in this life, opting instead for the supposed "afterworld"
I have had so many people within the religious body here in America try to tell me that "THis life does not matter one bit, only the afterlife is important" I openly reject this philosophy, as mordant says , it is only speculation or even wishful thinking, because the reality of this world IS all we have and all we know for certain to be substantial.
The end result of the practices mentioned by the OP is social loafing and apathy, neither of which are healthy in any way.
Also do you have to be one of the most hated and despised people on Earth to get to Heaven?
I feel it is our purpose to glorify God here and if we can be considered respectful in the eyes of others in doing that, then it is not sinful. The focus should be on God and the work He wants to do through us and not ourselves. I feel it might be that others may hate and despise someone like this, but it is not of a necessity; for one to hate and despise someone who is always putting God and others before themselves is something difficult to understand, yet it appears that it happens.
One of the best things in the world and perhaps hopefully a way to glorify God is when someone compliments you on your work or character-- and then to urge them to honor God for it for it is His work through you that you are accomplishing.
I feel perhaps that the focus might be too much on ourselves and how others think of us; focus on God and the work He would have you do onto others. Self-sacrifice and a giving of ourselves to others is a thing which I can't understand how it can be despised, yet I feel that perhaps it is something which can be misunderstood. That is all the thoughts I have on the topic now and what I have gathered so far in my own study of the Scriptures as well as hearing the word of God taught.
I have had so many people within the religious body here in America try to tell me that "THis life does not matter one bit, only the afterlife is important" I openly reject this philosophy, as mordant says , it is only speculation or even wishful thinking, because the reality of this world IS all we have and all we know for certain to be substantial.
I am currently reading The Religion Virus: Why We Believe in God and it points out quite nicely the following progression in religions:
1) Animism: zillions of spirits attached to places, things, animals. This is inherently egalitarian and inclusive; there is nothing "right" or "wrong" about worshipping or appeasing the cloud spirit vs the bear spirit or the lake spirit or the mountain spirit. They are for particular things and you need them all. Further, they are regarded almost as peers rather than superiors.
2) Polytheism: the spirits become less specialized and more powerful so that they are full fledged gods. Still, there is not exclusivity; you visit someone else's house and it's simply polite to pray to or offer something to the gods of that household, and perhaps the gods of the city they live in as well. In addition, gods are as fallible and fickle as humans.
3) Monotheism: this is where various sub-memes are required to pull it off. For there to be one, all-powerful god, that god, unlike the capricious Greek gods for instance, must be beyond reproach, infallible, and inherently all other gods must be false. All morality must issue from this god (which explains why there is so much carrying on by theists about morality being somehow useless and invalid and unenforceable if it is not externally given from on high). So we have the One True God meme, the All Morality Comes From God meme, the God is Perfect meme and others that come together to produce the God Almighty, Ruler of Heaven and Earth "memeplex". This is how the Hebrew war-god mutated into the current Christian tri-omni creator god.
The "narrowness" you speak of comes, I think, from this set of self-replicating ideations that people find so compelling. The uber-meme, if I may coin a phrase, is that there is, if only we can find it and latch onto it, an "absolute Truth" with a capital T which includes as its basis the idea of a One True God, the true Word of God, and the correct interpretation of it all.
The problem is that putting all one's intellectual eggs in one basket cuts both ways. It simplifies one's metaphysics, but also blatantly exposes every logical inconsistency for all to see. There are so many places where the abstraction leaks that it's obvious to all that the benefits promised believers are never going to happen. Life is too short and mean. Therefore, a linear afterlife is required so that one's existence can be extended out indefinitely.
"Pie in the sky by and by" is the only refuge that the Abrahamic religions have to provide a fig leaf over the painfully obvious fact that the righteous do not prosper any more than the unrighteous, that god does not answer prayer in any meaningful way, and so forth.
Guess it depends on one's interpretation. Like that selection from the Bible, "a rich man can't get into heaven". Could mean different things depending how you interpret... 1) NO ONE with any money/riches gets into heaven period! or... 2) share some of that wealth with the needy, poor and by that act of charity insures your place in the hereafter.
Just like a painting or poem... we all see/interpret things differently
Guess it depends on one's interpretation. Like that selection from the Bible, "a rich man can't get into heaven". Could mean different things depending how you interpret... 1) NO ONE with any money/riches gets into heaven period! or... 2) share some of that wealth with the needy, poor and by that act of charity insures your place in the hereafter.
Just like a painting or poem... we all see/interpret things differently
Well that is just part of the quote, it is saying that some with great wealth sees this as their god, this is what they live for. One could not give up their possessions to follow God, they are of the Earth where there are no aspirations of Heaven, so it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to attain the Kingdom of Heaven.
So what does a man gain by having all of the wealth and friends in the world but to lose his own soul.
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