Tim-the-Hermit wrote:Keep The Reason wrote:Wouldn't it be grerat if there were a lot more Christians selling this POV? It would not make it any more right, but the hellfire and damnation brigade would lessen in number.
I have a theory about some of these hell-fire preachers. If you are both reasonably clever and a bully you are in a dilemma because you will recognise that bullying is not acceptable and that most people see this. Because bullies enjoy inflicting pain on others, they might try to get around this ‘problem’ by using religion as a vehicle for their bullying. They exempt themselves from responsibility for their behaviour by saying things like ‘it’s true because that is what the bible says’ and ‘it’s not me who is revealing these truths about hell, but god.’ They get to be bad guys while falsely believing they are a good guys.
These preachers often seem to be really enjoying themselves and my theory could explain why. Another bad habit.
I think it could also be fairly argued that such persons defame the character of the very god they claim to worship.
Well, this is a sort of longer version of, "It's not the ideology that's bad, it's people who corrupt it that are bad". Certainly there are bad and corrupt people, but you have ideologies that repel sch thinking or excuses for bad behavior, and then you have ideologies that promote it.
Christianity happens to do both, which is probably why it is the biggest gun religion historically. You could argue the case for forcing conversion (out of "love" for the disposition of the pagans immortal soul) or you could temper your dealings with people with kindness. Judaism doesn't prosyletize; instead it's the "We're the chosen people" dynamic and they see it more like keeping people
out, rather than trying to convert them in, and Islam speaks of forced conversion on almost every fifth page n the Quran. I consider Islam easily to be the worst of the Abrahamic religions and frankly see it clashing with Christianity in some huge conflagration in the next few decades.
I don't think you
can defame the character of god as he's written n the bible any more than he already is, being the immoral, or perhaps amoral, monster he behaves like in the stories. He drowns the worlds population in the first half of the book, and burns it to a cinder in the second half. He's a HORRBLE role model, and yes, a massve bully, so I'm not surprised bullies are drawn to his example. But hell, this doesn't excuse the ideology being as bad as it is.
Bad habits are promulgated by bad ideologies. In my view, responsible people judge both appropriately, and reject both in the same manner, without offering apologetics to allow the bad ideology to stand unchallenged.
