The Decline Of Influence Of Christianity in USA

[Tom Sawyer]

Being blind is not a sin.

What if you’re blind from diabetes because you were too gluttonous and also too slothful to get up off the couch to see a doctor?

 

[Lion IRC]

I didn't really expect to make any headway with the remark, but made it anyway, perhaps there was an element of hope at work......

Of course it didn't make any headway.
I don't defend Christian Particularism. I'm NOT just an atheist who believes in zero gods +1
Every time folks ask me if I believe in Thor or Ra or Zeus I monotonously post a picture of blind men feeling different parts of an elephant.

I didn't say that you were an atheist who believes in zero gods +1. I said that you are a theist who has no belief in the gods that others believe exist, only your own.

Well you would still be wrong.
I don't say the blind men feeling the different parts of an elephant are imagining what they only partially grasp.

 

[DBT]

I didn't say that you were an atheist who believes in zero gods +1. I said that you are a theist who has no belief in the gods that others believe exist, only your own.

Well you would still be wrong.
I don't say the blind men feeling the different parts of an elephant are imagining what they only partially grasp.

So you believe that the gods of Hinduism are compatible with Christianity, which is compatible with Allah of Islam, which is compatible with Judaism, which is compatible the Greek gods, the Norse gods, etc, etc, all of which were believed to exist and worshiped by the people who held these beliefs?

That these are all aspects of the One True God?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Humans are storytellers. The christian story has been popular for a while like many similar stories have been, and it is losing its popularity. Those with an adventurous and scientific curiosity never needed the christian story or anything similar. Those stories are the future, owing to the rise of science and knowledge and information sharing, all things who's lacking enabled the christian story to flourish.

Our cultures will be tested with rising seas brought about by drastic climate change, and humans are headed out into space. It will be difficult to find meaningful time to pretend in ancestral childhood fantasies while those things are happening.

 

[funinspace]

Sometimes that's good. A lot of Christian churches don't go on & on about hell and the gnashing of teeth like the Prince o' Peace did. (Y'know, if you leave out the Helter Skelter business, Charlie Manson had some wisdom to impart on recycling, dumpster diving, and getting back to nature.) Know when to edit your guru.

I am guessing that Gandhi's comment was more about what Jesus said (or written in his name) regarding how to behave than about the notions that Jesus was part of The God head.

Anywho, I can't quite recall Jesus saying blessed are the snarky and the cagey...

 

[Keith&Co.]

Anywho, I can't quite recall Jesus saying blessed are the snarky and the cagey...

Jesus' sarcastic riff on the moneylenders was too subtle in the first edition, so Mark changed it to more direct, physical humor.

 

[Sarpedon]

I was reviewing some old posts of mine in the archives, and was struck by how different things seemed during the W Bush administration. I didn't think then that I'd see the shift that we did in fact see. Even with the Republicans back in charge, there's nothing like the all pervading feel of religious tyranny that we saw then. Now the religious people seem frightened, despite their being nominally in charge.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Well, you'd be frightened too, if all it took was a strategic gust of wind on Trump's comb-over to reveal a 999. (i.e., because that's how Huckabee Slanders would spin it.)

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Well, you'd be frightened too, if all it took was a strategic gust of wind on Trump's comb-over to reveal a 999. (i.e., because that's how Huckabee Slanders would spin it.)

Christians want christianity to be true because they are fascinated by it.

At a behavioral level they are essentially collectors of christian memorabilia, and very gullible collectors at that. It's not that they don't have doubts about the stories and claims they hear, but because of the perceived potential payoffs they can compartmentalize these doubts and questions.

We secularists, btw, can fall prey to the same trap. Fortunately we have science and rational thought on our side so our emotional attachments can be tested against actual objective information.

We know people can't fly around like superman. Christians, however, desperately want these fantastic stories to be true so they pretend as much and literally give their money to make it so.