Using the rhetoric of the First Amendment, a string of US Supreme Court cases has allowed members of some religious groups to limit the freedoms of other Americans.
With even a little historical and cultural knowledge, the context makes the vast majority of it quite clear.
If that was at all true, there wouldn’t be different sects and denominations, and indeed, Christianity as we know it likely wouldn’t exist.
Christianity (and it’s progenitor Judaism) is and always has been interpreted through the lens of culture, and it just so happens that we have at least two subcultures, religious progressives and conservatives, in the United States that insist their interpretation is the most true, correct, and faithful to the text. If I had a dollar for every time a Christian said, “But if you only read it with the proper context…”
What you find clear about the texts of the Bible through your own paradigm, unfortunately, doesn’t agree with the hate preachers and the Revelation-thumpers, who instead choose to emphasize the vengeful Jesus who zealously overturned tables, whipped people, and will one day ride in on a cloud of fire and lightning to exact judgement and vengeance upon humanity.
Your Jesus of love and acceptance and their Jesus of blood and vengeance both exist in your Bible, and which you choose to follow seems to be a largely subjective matter. So again I reiterate: a core problem is the holy texts themselves.
I think it’s admirable that you choose a more humanist path because of what you feel is self-apparent about your god and your religion. I just wish your brethren all felt the same way.
I’m not especially religious. I was raised in that environment - the vengeful hellfire version, no less - and repeatedly found that it did not hold up to even a little scrutiny. And when I challenged the fact that the scripture I was being told to read outright condemned the behavior, teachings, and interpretations that were being foisted on me at home and on Sundays - it was not those vile teachings that were the problem… it was me.
I’m more an adherent of accuracy in all things, and I will call out things I know to be false. My loves how, around Christmas, I repeatedly remind them that Jesus was most likely born in Sept-Oct and that Christmas and all it’s traditions are wildly pagan, and wish them all a Happy Yule.
But yeah, Jesus/Yeshua was a humanist. Even the flipping tables and whipping happened against people who were taking advantage of others. I can imagine him, Carl Sagan, and Siddhartha Gautama getting along famously.
If that was at all true, there wouldn’t be different sects and denominations, and indeed, Christianity as we know it likely wouldn’t exist.
Christianity (and it’s progenitor Judaism) is and always has been interpreted through the lens of culture, and it just so happens that we have at least two subcultures, religious progressives and conservatives, in the United States that insist their interpretation is the most true, correct, and faithful to the text. If I had a dollar for every time a Christian said, “But if you only read it with the proper context…”
What you find clear about the texts of the Bible through your own paradigm, unfortunately, doesn’t agree with the hate preachers and the Revelation-thumpers, who instead choose to emphasize the vengeful Jesus who zealously overturned tables, whipped people, and will one day ride in on a cloud of fire and lightning to exact judgement and vengeance upon humanity.
Your Jesus of love and acceptance and their Jesus of blood and vengeance both exist in your Bible, and which you choose to follow seems to be a largely subjective matter. So again I reiterate: a core problem is the holy texts themselves.
I think it’s admirable that you choose a more humanist path because of what you feel is self-apparent about your god and your religion. I just wish your brethren all felt the same way.
I’m not especially religious. I was raised in that environment - the vengeful hellfire version, no less - and repeatedly found that it did not hold up to even a little scrutiny. And when I challenged the fact that the scripture I was being told to read outright condemned the behavior, teachings, and interpretations that were being foisted on me at home and on Sundays - it was not those vile teachings that were the problem… it was me.
I’m more an adherent of accuracy in all things, and I will call out things I know to be false. My loves how, around Christmas, I repeatedly remind them that Jesus was most likely born in Sept-Oct and that Christmas and all it’s traditions are wildly pagan, and wish them all a Happy Yule.
But yeah, Jesus/Yeshua was a humanist. Even the flipping tables and whipping happened against people who were taking advantage of others. I can imagine him, Carl Sagan, and Siddhartha Gautama getting along famously.
You’re good people. I think we’ve successfully beat this subject to death. I hope you have a lovely week.