Regarding psychotic Jesus freaks

[Cyrano]

Let me preface this by saying I am not talking about Christians who live decent lives predicated on love, tolerance and kindness.

Having said that, why are we letting our county fall into the bloody claws of snake-oil salesmen? Put more plainly, I’m speaking of Republican “religious” hypocrites who preach hatred and intolerance in the name of some creature who resembles a present-day Torquemada.

This so-called “God” they are trying to peddle is evidently one who believes in war, torture, racial and religious divisiveness, and the total destruction of everyone who refuses to buy a sack of rancid crap.

It goes without saying that many of these people are mere opportunists who are interested only in their own personal wealth and power. And their road to achieving it is by whipping up the feeble-minded know nothings by appealing to the worst attributes of human nature.

How is it that we find ourselves in the 21st century in which the majority of us are being bullied by a minority of throwbacks? We know what they are. We know what they’re after. We understand their tactics. And we know that none of them should be allowed to possess any semblance of power. Nonetheless, far too many people view these Republican maniacs as being sane.

I believe it’s past time to become totally intolerant of their intolerance. It’s time for us to call them out for the sewer dwellers they are. It’s time to scream at the tops of our lungs every time they claim to speak for their venomous version of some supreme being of hatred. It’s time to shun these people for the darkness they are bringing down upon the world.

Whether they are friends, acquaintances, family members, or loud-mouthed televangelist hustlers, it’s time to tell them to shut the fuck up, go back to their caves, and leave us alone.

[Swamp Rat]

1. "It's the Inquisition, and it's here to stay!"

cha cha cha!

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. With the evangelicals we have a problem in that they are convinced that they have to go out and

make everyone just like themselves. And of course that they have to get God into the White House somehow. In their cases I think it's just willful ignorance (ergo The USA is a Xian nation) but they refuse to see otherwise. I know. I have tried to tell them the truth. x(

So it all comes down to us having to have more voters than them, which means "converting" them to voting for non-nuts. (Assuming the elections aren't rigged in the first place.) On the upside though, I have heard stories of "moderates" and independents who used to align themselves more with the Repubs throwing their lot in with the Dems on account of being so disgusted by ** and the GOP these days. So maybe at least some of them are reachable after all.

[kestrel91316]

3. I happen to think Christofascism is one of the greatest threats

to ever face our nation. We are in grave danger if they get ANY more power. The Supreme Court hangs by a thread, and with it all our rights.

[LoZoccolo]

4. I'm sure if you tell them that, they'll go do it. n/t

[The Straight Story]

5. Ya know, Jesus said that the church would fall away (ie become corrupted)

He was right :)

[Raejeanowl]

8. But It Took That Turn Centuries Ago

We just get the contemporary and historical opportunity all at once to see all of this up-close and too personal, just how pervasive the rot has been and is still.

Straight, I have long been of the opinion that organized religion-not atheism-is the true enemy of the sincerely faithful.

[GaYellowDawg]

13. More and more, I think that began with Paul.

Anyone who's been around fundamentalists for an extended period of time knows they quote Paul far more than they do Jesus.

[donsu]

20. true

nt

[Ignis]

26. Absolutely spot on! Pauline Christianity is the root cause.

I recommend finding a copy of the April / May 2007 issue of Free Inquiry magazine (Volume 27 Number 3) and reading the following article:

"What Really Happened? The Rise of Primitive Christianity, 30-70 c.e." by Gerd Ludemann
-- http://www.secularhumanism.org/index.php?section=subscribe&page=backissues (#3)

It contains one of the most cogent and clear explanations of the shift from early Christianity to Pauline/Hellenistic Christianity I've seen in an article (rather than a full paper/book).

:hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. I just finished a course in New Testament, and I was surprised to find that

Paul comes off better when you actually read him and weed out the letters that were attributed to him but are probably not by him (based on stylistic criteria--he really does have a distinctive writing style that comes across even in English translation).

I'd heard of Paul as bad guy for so long that his actual words were a pleasant surprise. I don't agree with everything he writes, but most of it is pretty unobjectionable.

[Ignis]

28. True, but that's not the focus of the article above.

It's more a study of how Paul managed to merge the "two Christianities" (Jewish and Hellenistic) of the time into a single group and a single set of beliefs.

Fascinating stuff--especially if you've studied the variations between the focus of different versions of the NT gospels, geared towards different audiences. For example, Jewish Christians in the early Church saw themselves as still bound by the laws of the Torah and Talmud, while obviously Hellenistic Christians did not feel at all compelled to treat Yeshuah of Nazareth as a Rabbi first and a Messiah second.

But I get your point, as a lot of the horribly misogynistic elements of the non-gospel NT writings have been unfairly attributed to Paul.

[sarcasmo]

6. The Flying Spaghetti Monster will bring you peace, love and happiness.

You need give no Money.

[DCKit]

11. But you better buy FSM some "sauce" n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

7. Don't forget these guys as an alternative!

www.cthulhu.org

[sjdnb]

9. All religions have some level of bigotry

It's inherent. Believing in your 'God' or 'Deity', specific to whatever form of mythology/religion y9ou prescribe to, has to result in someone else's 'God/Deity' or non-belief being voided.

It's the inconvenient truth that no one seems willing to acknowledge about faith/religion.

[Chulanowa]

14. Not to all religions

It's really only a feature of monotheistic religions, and even then, tends to only be prevalent to the ones that actually go out to win converts. Polytheistic religions tend to acknowledge and respect outside religions, though they may not worship them themselves (thus the large amount of syncretism). And some monotheistic religions, such as mainstream Judaism, usually have a "live and let live, we believe what we believe, let's not pester them about what they believe" approach.

[Arugula Latte]

22. It's much easier to explain things with polytheistic religions

In creeds with many gods, some are evil, some are good, some are mischievous, etc. In monotheistic cultures, there is one god, and there is untold suffering upon the planet. So, is Mono-God a bastard with a masochistic streak who gets off on inflicting pain, disease, and death, or is he impotent and incapable of stopping such atrocities? It's a bad choice, either way, for those who believe in one Deity.

[Chulanowa]

29. Thus why I think monotheists are weird

It's like they enjoy torturing their psyches trying to figure it out. It's funny that the guys with one god are more confused about it, than the people with thirty-five thousand gods are about any of theirs.

[eridani]

10. Because the throwbacks have formed a strong alliance with the One Percenters

Our informal dictators just want lower taxes and the ability to pollute unchecked, and they find whackjobs who think that the world will end soon and they will rise above it all to be very useful idiots.

[moggie]

12. Partly because of the taboo against criticising religion

You can criticise someone's politics all you want, and this is widely regarded as a healthy thing in a democracy. But when a set of beliefs is labelled "religion", somehow there's an attitude that these beliefs should be exempt from critical examination, even when it's pretty clear that they're harmful. You said it yourself: "it’s past time to become totally intolerant of their intolerance". I believe you're right, but many people won't get past the fact that you're advocating intolerance for "deeply held beliefs".

[seabeyond]

18. being intolerant of intolerance. hm......

one of my greatest gifts years ago was my practicing surrendering. to situations. instead of trying to force or insist on results, i practiced surrending to what was, and found it to be so peaceful and resulting in creating a lot of good. walking away from battle. opened me up to create a life i would dream of but not live. one august morning i surrendered to surrender. and i no longer had to work at it, just was. but it took a lot of time practicing in surrender to get there

clarification: a lot of people think surrender is a bad thing. losing siuation. but ultimately it is winning. people think vulnerable is bad. be vulnerable though, and the word disappears

same with fear. fear is a pain, that isnt a fact. it is a thinking of past, or think a future, but not the actual experience or now.

back to intolerant of the intolerance.

simply makes you intolerant and feeds intolerance, and does not resolve. i personally worked on tolerance, until i realized the one place i was intolerant was with the intolerant. once i became tolerant of the intolerant i was able to communicate in a love and respect that allowed them to see and hear what i was saying and made more people think that they ever did when i was intolerant. not to mention the better person i became.

intolerance doesnt work period.

doesnt mean we accept the intolerant as correct. we can challenge.

[timtom]

15. My particular favorite

is when they use "But Jesus said he brought not peace, but a sword..."

At that point I WILL slap my head and roll my eyes, regardless of their social standing. I can't even bring myself to argue the point.

Mass murder just happens to be a deal-breaker for me.

[seabeyond]

19. he also said turn the other cheek. now what.

[timtom]

23. Precisely!!

(Can we break out the term, "cognitive dissonance" now?)

[seabeyond]

24. lol lol truly, out loud. yup. and that is so much of what i give the christians here

until their head is spinning. at least when they walk away from me, they KNOW that they are making their choices, not cause of bible, but cause it is what THEY want to believe.

[YOY]

16. It's why I call them "Pseudo-Christians" and not "Christians" as they want

Although perhaps that's not a "perfect term" itself to describe them...

They want to appear as Christians but are nothing Christlike...

[seabeyond]

17. i agree, though being the christian of kindness and love, i have learned to do in love

not hitting their energy of hate with hate. that does not work and creates battle. battle is what we are in that we want out of. i do it in love, and though may be harsh, straight forward even aggressive, ..... it is a hell of a lot more productive than hate.

i agree with you absolutely and have been doing it a lot of years. the non believers it is important to understand and distinguish between the hate in the name of the lord and the majority of christians. we need not battle each other, but be one

the christians need to not get angry with atheists because of their anger. we need to understand their anger and we need to be the ones committed to challenging our fellow christians in their hatred. it is ours to speak up. it is our religion to take back. and as long as our religion abuses, it is on my shoulders, regardless if i am a part of the hate or not. i accept

[timtom]

25. Ya know, Seabeyond?

That was a very thoughtful and intelligent post.

Thanks.

[donsu]

21. kick

nt