Thoughts and Prayers: The Religion Thread

Cyrus, I am sending for you by name.

 

The point of Paul’s words were to convert gentiles to his belief system. Couching them as divinely inspired is the same as Jim Bakker saying god wants you to donate to the PTL Club to build a Christian Water Park. Paul allegedly said Jesus fulfilled he law therefore the law is no longer applicable. Which is not what Jesus allegedly preached. Christian is Paulian not of Jesus.

 

Got it.

It's often termed Pauline, BTW, your theory.

 

Not my theory, per se. But one I subscribe to. Jesus was the perfect symbol of a splinter religion. A martyr who could no longer contradict, interfere or distract from Paul’s political and religious movement. At worst, both Paul and Jesus were dupes of a splinter religion that took hold after the destruction of the Temple in 72 CE. Christianity has mouthed the words of Christ but has never attempted to live his social commandments. But the message of: Believe in the divinity of Christ and you will go to heaven and obey your church and government in this world, is perfect for authoritarianism. Do unto others is the central tenant of Jesus message but it is not central to Christianity. Obedience to the church and surrender in this world for riches in the next allows for a weak populace of cheap labor

 

The whole point is those are a human being's words regardless of who inspired them.

 

So they beatify him and make him a Demi-god whose utterances become, retroactively, divinely inspired.

 

I understand evangelical Christians' interest in abortion. Although I find it laughable, I understand their contempt of science.
I do not understand why they are so obsessed with gun rights. Where in the gospels does Jesus instruct his disciples to fashion bows and arrows and slingshots so he can take target practice? When does he list weaponry as a benefit that God gives us?

 

Many evangelical Christians - I’m one - aren’t at all interested in the kinds of gun right the NRA fights for. Or the right. Or whomever.

The generations younger than I care even less so. They’re pretty actively anti-gun, in fact.

 

Perhaps I should rephrase. Why are self-described evangelical Christians more likely to care about guns than others?

Packing in the Pews: The Connection Between God and Guns

According to 2017 Pew Research Center dataanalyzed for CT, white evangelicals are more likely than members of other faith groups or the average citizen to own a gun; 41 percent do, compared to 30 percent of Americans overall.

A majority of white evangelicals who own a handgun carry it with them (65%, vs. 57% of all gun owners); because they view it as a safety precaution, white evangelicals are more likely to believe most places should allow citizens to carry guns (46%, vs. 35% of all gun owners).

 

MAN #1: I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers.'

MRS. GREGORY: Ahh, what's so special about the cheesemakers?

GREGORY: Well, obviously, this is not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturers of dairy products.

 

They can turn the other cheek and shoot their neighbor in the back. That’s the evangelical way

 

Because adopting a right-wing politics platform has become normalized over years of Christians and Republican coupling.

It’s a deeply regrettable thing. It hasn’t helped the Christian testimony.