Eww. I grew up fundamentalist/dominionist christian in the south with a preacher dad, so I realize my view of christianity is like the darkest, evilest view possible lol. But to me the whole thing is just trash. Curious what christian thinkers, writers etc you are into? And really just a general question of why tie yourself to a religion with such a shit history of death and destruction?
Well, Jesus didn’t say kill people. It was the Church that got corrupted beyond recognition. They sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. So that’s why I’m not a Catholic. Really sorry you had to go through that. It’s an ugly truth, but Jesus didn’t say that.
well the protestants are the ones that gave us capitalism in the first place by legitimizing it.
the problem is organized christian worship.
Well I don’t think that jesus, as portrayed in the new testament, is a real historical figure in any substantive way. What a supposed jesus actually said is unknown. All we have is the church. And the church, whether protestant or catholic has more or less been a tool of state (and psychic) repression for 1000 plus years. There is also the old testament, which ohh boy if you are new to christianity, has quite a few problematic takes to put it lightly. Good for you if the church gives you something positive tho.
I believe Jesus existed, but you know, Christianity spread kind of like paganism: Orally and then compiled into texts. I believe the gospels in the Bible to be truthful, but still have to be taken with a pinch of salt.
Not that I disagree, but it’s maybe worth pointing out that a liberation theology streak does exist within the Church, especially in Latin America. Certainly the leadership is deeply conservative, but at the lower levels especially it’s hardly an ideological monolith. And the Vatican is significantly friendlier towards liberation theology nowadays under Francis than it was under Benedict or John-Paul.
Most reactionary scriptures are either misinterpreted, fabricated or obsolete (because they’re in the Old Testament, and are obsolete in modern life). Because I don’t have the exact verses you’re quoting from I don’t know which of them all is it. Most of them can be solved by searching in the right places (not google because reactionaries)
Do you believe in free will?
That you have the opportunity to choose your actions without God controlling that choice
Yes, I do believe in that, although miracles serve to give authority to Jesus, instead of him being a hobo yelling about how the end is near. Miracles are important, but His teachings are more important than even miracles. Those miracles give a reason to believe that Jesus is anything more than a madman, as some people think to this day.