[Jesus sits on a rock, speaking]
A new command I give you:
Love one another
[an angry character talks back to Jesus]
What if they’re something bad like gay, trans, brown, or communist though?
[Jesus is facepalming on his rock]
I don’t want to be a messiah anymore
“Your average Christian” depends on where you live. I have “christians” in my family, in my neighborhood, at work, what one would likely describe as average around here, that have expressed at minimum a denial of the humanity of those who are different from them, seemingly instituted or encouraged by their “Christian” culture. I know this isn’t all christians, but it seems like where I live, the churches that preach inclusivity are few in number and slim in attendance, and although still not a majority, there are more that preach AGAINST inclusivity, and the predominant culture among most christians regardless seems to lean in that direction. In the lead up to the 2024 election, a number of “christians” close to me expressed extremely violent potentialities should Trump not win, pointing directly toward acceptance and secularism as their motivations and justifications.
You have expressed that things would be worse in the world if it would be some other religion. You think a world where any other religion holding a majority would be worse, is that what you’re saying? That is quite an assertion, and I’d like to see you prove that. Imagine if secular humanism were more central in people’s lives… What a world we could have.
Edit: I do live in a pretty shitty place, to be fair, haha
I am starting to get that impression.
What is the threshold for inclusivity, though? For example, my Church does have gay, trans and cohabiting people in the congregation, but we don’t necessarily preach that these things are okay. However, it is worth acknowledging that everyone is sinful, so we cannot cast the first stone (referencing John 8:1-11 here) and that we aren’t saved by being perfect either. Afaik they aren’t even excluded from membership. They are people made in God’s image whom Christ died for also.
I doubt the world would be better off with secular humanism. It is all generally based on opinion.
There are movements like The Manosphere which I feel would have been a lot more influential if it weren’t for Christianity
This by itself is a problem, because people need to be taught aspects of morality, and this is absolutely one of them.
LGBT is an oppressed minority, and not teaching that LGBT is OK, is failing to help LGBT people against bigotry whether it’s from Christians or not. The fact you even mention cohabiting people is astonishing, as if there was any reason whatsoever to be against it!? It is not the bronze age anymore.
This is one of the absolute worst teachings of Christianity, that you are born with sin inherited from previous generations, and you need Jesus Christ to help you with that.
No you are promised to be “saved” by being a faithful mindless sheep.
This is just the ignorance that can be expected from a religious person.
Humanism is based on ethics that evolve with increased knowledge from scientific evidence. For instance the bible teaches us that animals have no soul, and for that reason Christians can conclude it is OK to mistreat animals, because they don’t actually feel anything. ( For instance Descartes)
Scientific evidence on the other hand, show this to be very clearly false. The emotions of many animals are almost exactly similar to our own emotions. And anyone who isn’t a deranged psychopath can see that with their own eyes.
The claim that Humanism isn’t better than the bible is outright deranged.
This is a doctrine of Christianity. The Churches that do what you wish are essentially vaguely spiritualist humanists, populated by old people who still think “christian” is a synonym for “good”
This is where humanism fails. Morality changes, as per the culture and time. In some ways, they can even just be flat out colonialist with trying to force their culture on others. There are examples of times when things which were morally horrific were accepted by the culture. People twisted scripture back then as those “progressivists” are doing now. The fruit comes from the same tree.
The difference is, Christians have a justification about wishing to “save” people whether you agree with it or not.
As for your theological issues, that’s just Christian doctrine, but you massively misrepresented it. Most religions believe in good and evil (such a thing is absent from atheism) and Christianity just makes a point about everyone being evil, and a divine forgiveness. It also takes away the stress and provides comfort to those scared that they’re not “good enough” for heaven
It is my experience again that adherents to the Manosphere and this hyper-masculine rejection of empathy are christians, but as above, I live in a shitty place. You seem like a good person and you’re devoted to the kinder aspects of your religion. You can believe whatever you want to believe, but I’d rather not spend my time in the spaces I’ve described with those people where it can be avoided. I’d rather not base my beliefs on ideas about inherent guilt and blood sacrifice, superstition and unprovable supernatural claims, where differences in interpretation can lead to these seemingly abhorrent separations from one church to another. Instead, and I suppose that you’re correct that this is just an opinion, I think a better world would be found when we remove ourselves from these ancient notions of the world around us. I do hope the best for us all, as I’m sure you do also.
I haven’t found anyone in the Manosphere who is Christian. Maybe some can be found who claim the label. You even had some insanity like Andrew Tate trying to say “Christ is King” when he’s a Muslim - Even the Babylon Bee was making fun of people who embrace Andrew Tate and his teachings
As a matter of fact, I attended a men’s bible-study last night, and of course, the manosphere was mentioned and immediately labelled as unchristian and heresy. I have been to Christian men’s conferences and the same happened there. In fact, it basically comes up during any Christian men’s events, and even has been brought up during Church sermons and studies where the crowd was mixed.
Worth mentioning some of these events were ecumenical as well. I watched the Louis Thereoux documentary on it, and their way of life and attitude of women seemed so Godless. So I believe for young men who do crave tradition and purpose, having them become a Christlike man and looking to Christ is the far better outcome than them using Tate as their rolemodel.
I would disagree. For many, these ancient notions are what fuel a lot of good. They keep people going. I can look at the Manosphere and simply reject it as their teachings are incredibly unbiblical and not in line with Christianity. Same with Nazism, white supremacism, MAGA, etc. Which, for a lot of young men in rural areas, may be their only alternatives. I am of course not speaking of all leftists, as that would be a strawman. But there has been aspects of these movements which have tried to push men away and demean and despise men. Thankfully, I believe leftist movements are becoming more accepting of healthy masculinity and men, but it was still an issue that was perceived by many. There has always been stigma about “straight white male” or “cis men”. I did have former friends demean me for being a “cis man” years ago. For some of these people, if they seek community where they are accepted for being a man, a moderate Church is generally a pretty good option.