I used to be like the asshole Reddit atheist back in the day. I’m still an atheist but at the time I thought “look at all the bad stuff religion does” but as time goes on I’m beginning to realize that religion is a tool of politics. So ultimately the idea of getting rid of religion is just medical adhesive strips on a cancer patient.
Yup. Ideology is religion and religion is ideology. We tend to want to be a part of something bigger, but the people in charge of those bigger things can use it to justify hurting people “for the greater good”.
Quite frankly, Christianity can be used as a motivator for left wing philosophies helping the poor. If you actually read what Jesus’ said, it’s pretty good and damning for many self proclaimed american “christians”
Sort of, but you need to remember that his teachings were an individual philosophy and he didn’t want anything to do with government (render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, render unto God that which is God’s).
Jesus taught that you should give all you have to the poor and follow God. Failing that, you should be generous in helping the poor. So I think he would advocate for charities, not taxation, since charitable giving is a choice and he wants people to choose to do the right thing. He would also criticize the very wealthy because they obviously have more than enough to share with the poor.
IMO, just paying your taxes doesn’t make you a good person, giving what’s left does. Ebenezer Scrooge’s big transformation wasn’t adopting progressive policies or anything, but giving abundantly.
Christianity doesn’t say anything about politics, it’s an individual thing.
as time goes on I’m beginning to realize that religion is a tool of politics
Yeah that’s always been the point of religion. They needed some way to control people in the 1400s, so they told them that if they didn’t do what they were told, and incidentally pay the church a lot of money, then the big man in the sky would be unhappy. That was about the level of sophistication that a con required back then.
Even as recently as 200 years ago pastors didn’t really believe in god, it was just a convenient job to do if you were relatively well off but still needed employment, and didn’t want to do any laboring. That’s why a lot of them ended up being scientists, they were rich and bored.
I don’t agree the pastor’s 200 years ago didn’t believe in God, I think it’s more likely they had some weird set of mental gymnastics that made the idea fit their mold. There are as many ideas of God per person as there are sands in the Sahara or stars in the sky.
You can’t get rid of superstitions nor politics. The most important thing that will help is education. A more educated populace is less gullible, but you can’t fix stupid. Stupid will always exist.
I used to be like the asshole Reddit atheist back in the day. I’m still an atheist but at the time I thought “look at all the bad stuff religion does” but as time goes on I’m beginning to realize that religion is a tool of politics. So ultimately the idea of getting rid of religion is just medical adhesive strips on a cancer patient.
Yup. Ideology is religion and religion is ideology. We tend to want to be a part of something bigger, but the people in charge of those bigger things can use it to justify hurting people “for the greater good”.
Quite frankly, Christianity can be used as a motivator for left wing philosophies helping the poor. If you actually read what Jesus’ said, it’s pretty good and damning for many self proclaimed american “christians”
Sort of, but you need to remember that his teachings were an individual philosophy and he didn’t want anything to do with government (render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, render unto God that which is God’s).
Jesus taught that you should give all you have to the poor and follow God. Failing that, you should be generous in helping the poor. So I think he would advocate for charities, not taxation, since charitable giving is a choice and he wants people to choose to do the right thing. He would also criticize the very wealthy because they obviously have more than enough to share with the poor.
Good point, especially with 2 Corinthians 9:7
Thanks.
IMO, just paying your taxes doesn’t make you a good person, giving what’s left does. Ebenezer Scrooge’s big transformation wasn’t adopting progressive policies or anything, but giving abundantly.
Christianity doesn’t say anything about politics, it’s an individual thing.
Heard of Christian Marxism?
Marx generally opposed religion so it sounds like an oxymoron
Without speaking for either the philosophy of capitalisms or the philosophy of Christianity, what a funny mish mash of theology we ended up with.
Yeah that’s always been the point of religion. They needed some way to control people in the 1400s, so they told them that if they didn’t do what they were told, and incidentally pay the church a lot of money, then the big man in the sky would be unhappy. That was about the level of sophistication that a con required back then.
Even as recently as 200 years ago pastors didn’t really believe in god, it was just a convenient job to do if you were relatively well off but still needed employment, and didn’t want to do any laboring. That’s why a lot of them ended up being scientists, they were rich and bored.
I don’t agree the pastor’s 200 years ago didn’t believe in God, I think it’s more likely they had some weird set of mental gymnastics that made the idea fit their mold. There are as many ideas of God per person as there are sands in the Sahara or stars in the sky.
Christianity predates the 1400s
Are you saying that year 0 was a thing?
You can’t get rid of superstitions nor politics. The most important thing that will help is education. A more educated populace is less gullible, but you can’t fix stupid. Stupid will always exist.