"If those kids could read they would be very upset"
this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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I kind of want to tell him that republicans who don't support trump don't understand their party.
...don't understand the demographics of their party.
It's all about advertising to the racists and to the putin-bots. Trump only is a smelly and horrible means to a very ugly end.
Even before that, it was about protecting the "good" people from the "bad" people. It just has gotten to the point where you no longer get cancelled for racism.
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He wants to be in the Party That Cuts Taxes And Bombs Brown People, but not... you know... the Party That Tweets Rudely.
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Jesus would not recognize modern Christians by almost any measure.
If Jesus returned today, American evangelicals role would be first in line to crucify him a second time
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Maybe ask yourself why your people are so stupid in the first place, Adam.
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Matthew 19:24
And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
They have an excuse for that. It's really fucking stupid.
There are two popular interpretations for the phrase “eye of a needle.” The first theory is that it is a reference to the tiny hole at the top of a sewing needle. Simple enough. The second theory is that it is a reference to a gate with the name “the eye of the needle” that was in first century Jerusalem. The gate was so small that anyone that hoped to get a camel through would have to take all of their baggage off the camel, get it down to its knees, and kind of shimmy the camel through the tiny opening.
You can see why this is important for Bible readers. Either Jesus is saying that it is impossible for a rich man to get into Heaven, or he’s saying that it’s really challenging for a rich man to get into heaven.
https://classictheology.org/2021/10/12/through-the-eye-of-an-actual-needle-the-fake-gate-theory/
Of course, there is zero evidence for such a gate ever existing. Rich Christians just want to excuse their wealth.
Even with that questionable excuse it would mean you have to give up all of your possessions and humbly come to god on your knees. They really just want to ignore their own book.
Oh, but they tithe! So they don't need to give up anything else!
Does willing all of your wealth to your children count as giving up your wealth when you die? Cause that seems to be their plan.
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It's also stupid because it ignores the part right before the camel metaphor
16Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, 19honor your father and mother,’ c and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ d ”
20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
It just says sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Most Christians don't really know the Bible very well. They think Paradise Lost or Dante's Inferno are canon. They do all sorts of mental backflips to justify what they want to do anyway.
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*enter into prison
FTFY
He’s not wrong, but this is honestly the ‘no true Scotsman’ fallacy.
The bible does technically say you should treat your fellows as you would want to be treated and promotes brotherhood, but it also says women and other races are inferior and advocates for truly heinous behaviour. Cherry picking has always been the point, and shitloads of crimes against humanity have been officially sanctioned by the church.
There’s a very good reason the founders these people claim to venerate wanted the church and state to be separate. They were deists, but not overt Christians, and they’d seen what happens when religion mingles with government: horrible, horrible things.
I don't think so. He's not saying they aren't "true" Christians, an undefinable standard of "true. He's saying they don't understand it. Christ flipped the tables and whipped the money changers, these people worship a real estate speculator. Christ's message is one of social welfare and commonwealth, conservative populists literally killed Jesus for blasphemy.
Like, he's right, they don't understand it. I went to Christian Sunday school. There wasn't one lesson about taking health insurance from poor people and charging interest on school lunch debt.
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They're reactionary nationalists; I think they understand their religion just fine.
That's kind of the whole problem with basing one's worldview on magical thinking though: when you have to interpret moral instructions, its only as good as the lens you use. In this case, their religion is filtered through fear, bigotry, and power politics.
I have much more respect for Christians who use humanism as their lens, but they're also picking and choosing what they want to from the Bible Buffet.
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Supply Side Jesus
For those not in the know, Al Franken [D-MN] is a former comedian and senator who resigned from Congress and who created this epic comic critique of the state of modern Christianity in 2003 as part of Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them – A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
The comic is called The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus, and it’s worth reading through.
e: link and formatting
There's a question here of scripture vs religion. I think very clearly people who follow Trump do not understand the Christian scripture/Bible.
But scripture isn't what religion is. Religion is the faith system that develops around that scripture, even if it's contradictory at times. In that sense, evangelicals understand their religion perfectly well.
Yeah. Folks don't understand theology and exegesis in religion. The critics of religion are guilty of the same problem the evangelical right: biblical literalism. Literalism is a modern method of interpretation where texts historically read as "mythos" arr now read as "logos".
Yeah it always annoys me how some outspoken atheists often treat the Bible and other religious texts in the exact same manner the stupidest religious people do (maybe harsh way to say that). When I was still a Christian I was basically immune to atheist critiques of the Bible simply because I didn't recognize the Bible in the literal way they attacked it, and the Christian arguments against Biblical literalism I found to be way stronger than atheist ones that dismissed so much information to function.
I went to a Lutheran University. Entered with some C.S Lewis style views, exited agnostic AF. But it was my religion and philosophy professors with Masters of Divinity that really pushed me in that direction. Despite exiting less religious than I entered, I exited with more respect for religious thought than when I entered.
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I can pick and choose verses as well.
I'm not picking verses though, I'm talking about the overall theme of the gospels.
The narrative consistently has Jesus praising the poor and shunned while condemning the religious and rich. He tells people to lay off a prostitute, interacts face to face with lepers, and talks about how a friendly foreigner is better than indifferent countrymen. And he constantly calls out the hypocritical religious people.
I'm not Christian, but I think Jesus' actions and teachings are worth following in these regards. Helping the poor, telling religious zealots to fuck off, and providing food for everyone. A political party that actually embodies what Jesus does would effectively be a communist + socialist group.
I highly recommend reading through the gospels as literature, if only to throw it back at evangelicals in their face. Remind them how Jesus promised damnation to those who don't help the poor, when they start going on about entitlement programs and policies that hurt the poor.
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He's got an unrealistically high opinion of Christianity.
I've got a high opinion of Christianity and Christians. I have an incredibly low opinion of "Christianity" and "Christians".
I've also heard that no true "Scotsman"....
Edit: no, it's ok guys, I put it in quotes.
It's not a "No True Scotsman" if the definition of being a thing is acting a certain way and you don't do that.
You can tell everyone in the world you're an ultra marathon runner, but if you don't run ultramarathons, you're not an ultramarathons runner.
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If you can believe some old book full of fairy tales is true, then you can believe literally anything.
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Their religion is hate and harm.
That is distinctly different from their scripture, which is the exact opposite of those things. They call themselves “Christian” while spitting in the face of the teachings of the man their “religion” is named after.
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Kinzinger doesn't understand their religion
At this point that has got to be the ONLY quiet part Republicans don't say out loud.
I'm tired of reading headlines that start with Former.. who gives AF. Please start with "Powerless Retiree Joe Schmo Has Said Some Irrelevant Shit That Makes No Difference"
Okay cool.. so dude on Internet has opinions. So I might as well be a former GOP congressman. Got it
I had this exact sentiment when Obama talked about pressuring and dropping support for Israel lol.
Dude would have done the exact same thing as Biden now if he were still president, but because he's retired, he can pretend to care.
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Most of them don't understand the Constitution, either, so....
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