I have thought for a long time that many, not all, who claim to be Christians are the worst towards fellow humans, MTG is an obvious example, and l think that maybe their religion is their get-out which will forgive all their despicable behaviour. This may be why the GOP/Fascists are the party of god botherers as well as scumbags.
Thus the notion of Purgatory, which is the purgation of sins before entrance into Eternal Life. It’s not: “Hey, let’s watch a clip of everything you’ve done wrong in your life.” It’s, let’s focus on the grace we give and the grace we receive before entering the Kingdom of God.
This makes so much more sense to me than what I was taught as a child in a Southern Baptist church. I knew before I was 10 that it was a scare tactic that forced us to listen to 873 repeats of “Just As I Am” waiting for some sinner to come forward before we could leave. 🙄
I think I’ve always seen God as Creator, and what creator would send their creations to something like Hell? I think that just satisfies the vengeful part of humans.
Sadly I did end up buying into too much of the garbage too, and deconstructing has brought a massive sense of relief.
I love when you read the Bible from the original. It’s too easy to miss nuance otherwise.
Thanks Wendy. I should have said I rejected the church rather than i'd fallen. I feel no guilt over my withdrawal from the cult. When it seemed hypocritical to me that our priest cared more about my attire rather than my love of God that was a breaking point. When our neighbor couldn't receive communion but could give her money to the church (she had strong words about that), when we were being told in religion class that the church discouraged birth control because it cared more about bodies, not children, these were wake up calls to me.
Great work, Wendy. Explains a lot. As for the current crop of “Christians,” Evangelical, and otherwise, I don’t think they will come around to this way of looking at it. They are comfortable in they’re fear based ignorance. Just my two cents. 😎
Dang Wendy! You're good! I always learn a lot from you. As a fallen Catholic, I gave up concepts of Satan and hell a long time ago (although I'm sorry that there isn't a special hell for the devil in the Whitehouse and his many ass-lickers). Keep up the great messaging!
Another great commentary from Wendy. I like how it explains why conservatives do what they do. It also points out how so much religion was invented to control people and why I ran away from it many years ago.
The theological concept of hell came out of the Babaloynian exile. Before then, Jews just spoke of death as death The concept of hell is actually a Zoroastrianism mythological construction based on Egyptian death ritual where the ideas of reincarnation were used as help understanding death in exile
Makes perfect sense to me. *Which all my previous religious background never did. I mean, I had to run with the “faith” concept, bc I couldn’t get the “law” part of religion to make sense. Thank you!
I think Jim Jefferies said it best. I'm not afraid of death because I know I'm just going to rot in the ground like everyone else does. I won't even know I'm dead. You know why? Cuz I'll be fucking dead. 😂
It’s my firm belief that Christianity is the greatest example of cultural appropriation in history. The Romans took a religion they admired but didn’t understand and ran with it, piling Greek and Roman philosophies on top without regard for what the core texts said. And by core texts, I mean the Tanakh. The Romans loved themselves some hierarchies, and woo boy did they hate women. And we’ve been benefiting ever since.
I stopped being a Christian because I found myself struggling with being able sincerely to say I believed. I felt like I was having to excuse or headcanon too much of it. Ultimately I decided it was better to be a sincere unbeliever than a believer who struggled with minor details like the resurrection. And for whatever reason I’ve found I have a much easier time believing in pagan gods.
I stopped being Catholic at 9yo when I realized the lesson they were teaching was “do as I say not as I do.” Becoming a kind, empathetic, compassionate, sympathetic, moral and happy human being required the removal of religious dogma from my life, and the realization/actualization of my own intelligence and innate talents. It worked for me!
“They become paralyzed by the thought that any mistake might damn them to hell”
Growing up Roman Catholic, we were taught that every thought, desire, fantasy is a sin. Even not acted upon they must be confessed and penance done
They can never be cleansed as long as they are living, thinking human beings. Imagine that living torture⚫️
Signed, a Freethinker
I have thought for a long time that many, not all, who claim to be Christians are the worst towards fellow humans, MTG is an obvious example, and l think that maybe their religion is their get-out which will forgive all their despicable behaviour. This may be why the GOP/Fascists are the party of god botherers as well as scumbags.
Well, as a Jewish person, I have a guilty pleasure in consigning MAGAts to a hell I myself, do not believe in.
With you 10000% as you can read
Thus the notion of Purgatory, which is the purgation of sins before entrance into Eternal Life. It’s not: “Hey, let’s watch a clip of everything you’ve done wrong in your life.” It’s, let’s focus on the grace we give and the grace we receive before entering the Kingdom of God.
Thanks for pulling this together. I never thought of the political control side of hell/fire religion.
Yeppers happy to
Thank goddess you do Wendy, thanks!
Wasn't it Napoleon who said something to the effect that religion was the reason the poor didn't murder the rich? Oh, the wonders of storytelling....
This makes so much more sense to me than what I was taught as a child in a Southern Baptist church. I knew before I was 10 that it was a scare tactic that forced us to listen to 873 repeats of “Just As I Am” waiting for some sinner to come forward before we could leave. 🙄
I think I’ve always seen God as Creator, and what creator would send their creations to something like Hell? I think that just satisfies the vengeful part of humans.
Sadly I did end up buying into too much of the garbage too, and deconstructing has brought a massive sense of relief.
I love when you read the Bible from the original. It’s too easy to miss nuance otherwise.
So many people share your experience, myself included. I never thought I’d be an atheist.
It’s a big club alright.
I have my own relationship with faith still—just not religion. 😡
Thanks Wendy. I should have said I rejected the church rather than i'd fallen. I feel no guilt over my withdrawal from the cult. When it seemed hypocritical to me that our priest cared more about my attire rather than my love of God that was a breaking point. When our neighbor couldn't receive communion but could give her money to the church (she had strong words about that), when we were being told in religion class that the church discouraged birth control because it cared more about bodies, not children, these were wake up calls to me.
Spot on!
Great work, Wendy. Explains a lot. As for the current crop of “Christians,” Evangelical, and otherwise, I don’t think they will come around to this way of looking at it. They are comfortable in they’re fear based ignorance. Just my two cents. 😎
Dang Wendy! You're good! I always learn a lot from you. As a fallen Catholic, I gave up concepts of Satan and hell a long time ago (although I'm sorry that there isn't a special hell for the devil in the Whitehouse and his many ass-lickers). Keep up the great messaging!
You arent a fallen anything. You cant fall from something that was built on a lie, and not interpreted correctly, and was used to control you.
Another great commentary from Wendy. I like how it explains why conservatives do what they do. It also points out how so much religion was invented to control people and why I ran away from it many years ago.
Weaponized religion is complete and total bullshit.
The theological concept of hell came out of the Babaloynian exile. Before then, Jews just spoke of death as death The concept of hell is actually a Zoroastrianism mythological construction based on Egyptian death ritual where the ideas of reincarnation were used as help understanding death in exile
Makes perfect sense to me. *Which all my previous religious background never did. I mean, I had to run with the “faith” concept, bc I couldn’t get the “law” part of religion to make sense. Thank you!
I think Jim Jefferies said it best. I'm not afraid of death because I know I'm just going to rot in the ground like everyone else does. I won't even know I'm dead. You know why? Cuz I'll be fucking dead. 😂
Bingo
It’s my firm belief that Christianity is the greatest example of cultural appropriation in history. The Romans took a religion they admired but didn’t understand and ran with it, piling Greek and Roman philosophies on top without regard for what the core texts said. And by core texts, I mean the Tanakh. The Romans loved themselves some hierarchies, and woo boy did they hate women. And we’ve been benefiting ever since.
Exactly.
I do think it’s funny that the most authentic way to be a Christian is to stop being a Christian. And I think Jesus would agree.
I recently gave up religion to be more spiritually Christian.
I stopped being a Christian because I found myself struggling with being able sincerely to say I believed. I felt like I was having to excuse or headcanon too much of it. Ultimately I decided it was better to be a sincere unbeliever than a believer who struggled with minor details like the resurrection. And for whatever reason I’ve found I have a much easier time believing in pagan gods.
I stopped being Catholic at 9yo when I realized the lesson they were teaching was “do as I say not as I do.” Becoming a kind, empathetic, compassionate, sympathetic, moral and happy human being required the removal of religious dogma from my life, and the realization/actualization of my own intelligence and innate talents. It worked for me!
This is clearly true.