We Are Only Hurting Ourselves

[angrychair]

I constantly see a lot of heavy religious influence in politics. It's everywhere. From our money to opening political meetings with a prayer. To a politicians invoking a god's blessing at the end of a speech.
The problems with this are many. The one I want to focus on here is how it influences our treatment of women. From healthcare to voting, women have had to fight for every inch of ground and it has never been easy. To be completely blunt we all know it has everything to do with religion. Despite everything Black folk went through, even Black men got the right to vote, at least on paper, before Black women. If we are being blunt here, the root of discrimination, in all its forms, is in religion.

If it's the US or Afghanistan or any religiously fundamentalist country (Christian or Islam or Jewish), I've never understood where so much hate for women comes from. If a religion teaches you that a woman is lesser that you. Subservient to you. Weak. Stupid. Inferior. That they have less rights than you as a man. That religion is poison. It is antithetical to the survival of the human race. We are equal. If we are to survive. To thrive. We must set aside this nonsense. This poison. We must.

[Funtatlaguy]

1. Separation of church/state is a myth.

Other democratic countries laugh at us over this and the amount of time and amount of money spent on our elections.

[angrychair]

2. Exactly

I mean here in the US we literally have "In God We Trust" printed on our money. Our fucking money.
As most atheist know the Bible better than most Christians, I would point them to 1Timothy 6:10 "The love of money is the root of all evil" but we put that Christian god on money.

[BlueKota]

10. There was a young deacon assigned to the parrish

I grew up in. He often spoke up that priests and nuns should not live in cushy rectorys or convents, but live in and serve lower income communities. He said Jesus spoke out against the hoarding of wealth, more than any other sin. They almost weren't going to ordain him. There was an outcry from the parishioners who loved him and the Bishop gave in.

He eventually left because of the churches hypocrisy not only on wealth but because he believed woman should be able to become priests, and that Jesus would not have approved of their shunning gay people. He actually opened his own church in a larger city. He has stepped back from running it, but he turned over the reins to a woman priest.

In my mind his behavior represents what I thought the gospels meant, more than the Pope and all the Bishops put together.

[Funtatlaguy]

13. 2 Corinthians - Trumps favorite.

My favorite Bible quote: “Jesus wept”. That’s what happened in November 2016.

[soandso]

15. What makes you think the god on money

has anything to do with any particular religion, most of all "Christian"?

[Blue Full Moon]

16. I thought money was their god.

[soandso]

17. Who is "their"?

Also, are you saying the actual money is the god referred to in In God We Trust? lol, I like that idea but I don't think it's correct. May as well be, though.

[Blue Full Moon]

18. Republicans

They love money and are in servitude to it. I also think that they figure maximum profits at any cost.
9IN song Head Like A Hole is their anthem

[soandso]

20. The love of money predates them

and political parties and even countries.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

3. Organized religion ultimately about control, & hatred of others is powerful tool 'priests' & politicians love. . . .nt

[bdamomma]

4. Apparently

they want to combine church and state together, which in history had bad consequences.

For me, religion is a personal matter, and people of all faiths have their own beliefs and worshipping practices. For me: it's Governor Walz saying. "Mind your own (damn) business!!!!!!

[Blue Full Moon]

14. The last time they did that people got burned

[rockbluff botanist]

5. Every year there are less of them

[rockbluff botanist]

6. Every year there are less of them

Young people are not superstitious, aka, religious. No Sky Daddy mythos for them (or me either).

I always wondered why African Americans bought into white Christian beliefs. White people thought It made slaves more tractable.

[angrychair]

7. Got to remember

For historical accuracy, Christianity existed on the continent of Africa hundreds of years before it made it's way to Europe proper. I mean it started in Northern Africa. It went from Jerusalem to Alexandria to Ethiopia.
I mean by the time of the time of the first Christian Crusade from Europe into Northern Africa in 1095, Christianity had been the official religion of Ethiopia for over 750 years.
All that to say I do absolutely agree with you to a certain degree but it's also possible that at least some slaves taken from the continent of Africa were already Christian.

[Elessar Zappa]

11. Black Christians aren't really very similar to white Protestants.

Different vibes , different focuses, etc.

[alarimer]

8. I am a militant atheist.

I believe religion is the root of all evil in the world, basically. Every single major religion is misogynistic to the core.

I take comfort in the fact that the "nones" are growing faster as a group than any religion.

[StarryNite]

9. Religion makes a great excuse for some to treat others as inferior beings.

Man came before religion. Religion was created by man to support his agenda to control others. Most of it is control through fear. Fear of punishment. Fear of death. Fear of going to hell.

[IzzaNuDay]

12. I wish I could recommend more than once!

Yes, absolutely yes! I had my doubts about religion when I was a kid (the JFK assassination was the trigger). But I could not "question g-d" or question anything that my child mind would trigger.

Having gone through all the religious motions (because I lived among people who demanded I go to church with them), I started my separation when I was physically away from them.

I recognized, through therapy, that religion is a control paradigm. That women were second class, after all they evolved from Eve, who created the first sin, right?

However, I remain closeted in my beliefs, but I will continue to stand up for women, it's the right thing to do!

[malaise]

19. Great OP

Rec

[milestogo]

21. You are painting with a very broad brush, making no distinctions.

Religion can be oppressive, and/or it can be liberating. There is a range of views within every religion. Much of the time its not the teachings, but the interpretations which are foul.

Religion isn't going away any time soon.

[angrychair]

22. While

I absolutely think that religion, all religions, are vile and needs to be completely erased from human society, what I only ask, one small thing, is that they mind their own damn business. Stay off our money and off the tongues of our politicians, out of our laws and out of the lives of those that don't believe as they do. Nothing more and nothing less.