And don't think this is an isolated case of a fundamentalist wingnut, I have seen this same point of view coming from people who would consider themselves reasonable, well educated individuals. Certainly not ALL Christians, but a larger percentage than I think many of us realize.
They simply believe that THEIRS is the only path to salvation and that any other religion, philosophy, or spiritual path is the literal work of the devil.
Yeppers.
ReplyDeleteMy mother used to tell me my intellect was "of the devil"
She died recently. Hope all this is getting cleared up for her on the other side. I think Catholic purgatory is really the holding area where your intellect gets to try and figure out how you have been indoctrinated and free yourself. Maybe because of conversations with me she'll get to free herself somewhat faster. People who have no inkling of any other beliefs just hang out in limbo forever waiting for St. Peter and the golden gates lol! .
Could be. Who really knows?
Purgatory is a construct entirely 100% invented by the catholic church to explain what happens to unbaptised children when they die. Telling people their kids were in hell wasn't great PR, and evidently purgatory is slightly less awful. Yet another religious construct invented in order to continue that money making scheme!
DeleteI was in a group called Church Women United for a couple of years. They run the CROP Walk, which raises money for local and global food banks, among other things. I left when I realized that they did not accept Jewish or Muslim members...if you weren't Christian, you weren't 'church' enough for them.
ReplyDeleteIt's not just their rigid belief about religions or spiritual practices.
ReplyDeleteI had a conversation recently with a Catholic member of Opus Dei which was startling.
This person insisted that literally every aspect of my life was useless and even if I acted charitably, helped my neighbors, gave to the poor, or acted in a moral or ethical way, it was all useless.
His viewpoint was that only the Catholics of his sect had any hope of "reward" in the future, or hope of living a good life.
That sounds just like the Mormons, AJ.
DeleteThey too believe only they will sit at the right hand of god, the rest of us gentiles are regulated to the back benches. Not hell, so to speak, just not up close and personal with god.
Personally I don't believe one word of any of them, they all suck.
One more time, for old times' sakes:
DeleteMay God, whoever She may be, protect us from fanatics of all stripes!
fromthediagonal
there's an old saying for people like that - "Everything you believed was true, isn't."
ReplyDeleteWhen people rely on religion as the absolute truth then they will never change nor will they ever learn different. It's ingrained from birth by their parents who learned it from theirs.
We can't condone ignorance forever.
It's time for students to be allowed to study HISTORY and SCIENCE in public schools. Enough of the fluff - get the creationism fairy tale out of the classrooms. Save the supernatural for the church.
Considering they actually believe that he said "No one comes to the father except through me", what's the surprise?
ReplyDeleteIndeed. How convenient that the all-mighty Creator was so powerful He could create EVERYTHING yet wasn't powerful enough to communicate directly with His flock and needed celibate old codgers to 'interpret' His greatness for the assembled masses seeking His Grace.
DeleteIf Dog was truly everywhere, as they claim, and was intimately involved in every believer's life, as they claim, why the need for powerful, interfering intermediaries?
It's never been about Dog. It's always been about Man. And Power and Money and Marketing.
What a racket....
I call bullshit. It's true of the fundies for sure, but it isn't true of all people of faith. Certainly the man-made religious rules (Ie: Catholics) have helped give religion a bad name rather than focusing on the actual teachings of Jesus. Jesus never said that "celibate old codgers" had to interpret his greatness. Man did that. Try to keep it straight.
DeleteThe folks like that whom I've taught are often terrible students. They've been so trained to accept whatever they're told that they can't think for themselves. When industry is crying for better "critical thinking skills" they are doomed to whatever low level jobs aren't being done by robots.
ReplyDeleteI doubt that the USA would be in existence if there were not 'free thinker' back in the late 1700.
ReplyDeleteWhat they really want to say but are afraid to is,
"Don't believe anything you did not here in this church". Amen.
Dark ages. That's what they want. No one will know that they are that dumb! Just accept it, Never asking why? If god made man and women withthe power to use their mind to reason, that is what was ment to be, notthis crap. Tto accept just what the religions and rich and corp tell us to do. That is how man has always gotten into trouble.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting concept that god gave us free will and inquiring minds only so that we could shut off and deny both, as a show of faith and loyalty.
ReplyDeleteThat type of "christianity" is for controlling the masses and getting their money. It has nothing to do with following the teachings of Christ.
ReplyDeleteThe people I know who actually focus on following Christ's teachings--and on thinking for themselves, loving others, and working to improve the world--roll their eyes in disgust at this sort of thing. They are constantly fighting the prejudice and stereotypes many people (including me, based on 14 years of "Christian" education) have toward Christians.
DeleteI have cousins who are Christian missionaries in a developing country. One of the things they've become involved with is fighting the very active sex trafficking there. They're also doing a lot of work with local populations to empower and encourage them to act, and to help provide resources for them to do so. I think that's the sort of thing Christians OUGHT to be doing. If more of them became involved with fighting the genuinely wrong things--rather than freaking out about gay marriage and evolution, whining about being victims because not everyone agrees with them, and funneling money into SuperPACs--the world would be a much better place, AND people would have far more respect for Christians.
@10:49
DeleteI agree. I also seriously doubt that God gives a rat's ass about our politics. It's how we treat others that matters. Pastor Prevo in Alaska is a wonderful example of all that is wrong with the Christo-Nazis.
When I saw that sign this is what I read. Assembly of God. We are a group of people with a collective intelligence equal to a bag of doorknobs.
ReplyDeleteDoorknobs, am I being too generous?
doorknobs can open doors -- yes too generous
DeleteFWIW, I don't think Assemblies of God congregations have ever been regarded by other evangelical Christians as intellectual heavyweights. And I'm pretty sure that's the denomination to which Sarah Palin supposedly belongs...'nuff said right there.
DeletePersonally, I am atheist. I arrived there after many years of "soul searching" and agonizingly antagonistic "discussions" with my grandfather who was a bishop in the Episcopal church. (Not to mention, of course, the violence which was perpetrated upon my person by him and my father.)
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, I have no problem with others believing in god - on one condition. They must keep it to themselves and other like believers.
The trouble is, they don't - and can't.
Let me be perfectly clear here. For the most part I am talking about the three middle eastern monotheistic religions. The vast majority (from what I can see and have studied) of the "evil" in this world is due to these three organized religions. Not the PEOPLE who practice this (for the most part), but the hierarchy is guilty as hell.
Historically, there have been more deaths, more suffering and torture and more agony CAUSED by these three than any other cause until WWII. And even then deaths due to religion were extant. ONE example? 6 million Jews - just because they were Jewish? And the Catholic Church signed an agreement to stay out of it as long as the German Nation left them alone?
Today they would be charged as accomplices in any court.
So keep your faith and your belief in god. Just leave the world alone. I prefer to THINK!!!!!
We don't need critical thinking skills, all we need are common sense, instilled in us through homeschooling, catechism, Bible Camp and unaccredited degrees like you get from Bob Jones University.
ReplyDeleteI may not be a doctor that won't participate in Obamacare to operate on you, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn once.
IGNORANCE IS THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT
ReplyDeleteGOD LOVES ME BECAUSE I'M SHALLOW
GOD HATES EDUCATION - VOTE ROMNEY
GOD HOLDS THOSE AIRPLANES IN THE AIR - NOT ENGINEERS
Wow. Just wow.
ReplyDeleteI really have no other words--this level of ignorance leaves me speechless.
Scary thing...the same ignorant ones will vote for Mitt Romney because they don't like black people and believe our esteemed President to be a closet Muslim. (Of course, not realizing that being a person of the Muslim faith is not actually a bad thing...but that's another discussion for another day.)
Thank you for posting this. As scary as it is, we need to be aware of what is out there.
That is an equally ignorant statement. I am a hispanic, educated by one of the top universities in the country and I am voting for Romney. I am voting for Romney because I truly believe he will make a better president, and maybe my parent's small business will be able to hire more people. Sure, there are dumb people who vote for Romney, but there are also equally dumb people voting for Obama just because he is black. Stop with the hating on someone who has a different viewpoint than you, because last time I checked, that is called intolerance.
DeleteThat is just so fucked-up. I think we all know who the "slaves" are.
ReplyDeleteMissouri Votes to Allow Christians to Discriminate Against Non-Believers
ReplyDelete...Voters overwhelmingly approved the “right to pray” Amendment (Amendment 2), a measure that ensures public meetings, school functions, and educators are beholden to adhere to the whims and mythos of fundamentalist Christianity. The amendment was sponsored by Republican state Rep. Mike McGhee, a Baptist, to allegedly protect the state’s Christians, about 80 percent of the population, who complain they are under siege in the public square. The Christian’s, buoyed by support from the state’s four Catholic bishops, define “under siege” as not being allowed impose their version of Christianity on the rest of the population. In fact, McGhee worked in concert with his preacher, Rev. Terry Hodges of First Baptist Church, who said if the amendment passes, it will “level the playing field” because Christians “enjoyed home-field advantage for the country’s first 150 years, but that’s changed, and now there’s a hostility toward Christians.”
http://www.politicususa.com/missouri-votes-to-allow-christians-to-discriminate-against-non-believers.html
“enjoyed home-field advantage for the country’s first 150 years, but that’s changed, and now there’s a hostility toward Christians.”
DeleteHostility toward Christians, really?
And they think it's the fault of the other religions?
Delusional people banding together to change law and reinforce each-others delusions.
Don't laugh.... These signs are 5-10 PER BLOCK in almost every southern city you can visit. This is an integral part of the on-going indoctrination of southern children from birth to the ways of hate, persuasion and religious guidance - i.e. TOTAL control of people's minds.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the of the many techniques used by the religious nut bags to perpetuate a way of life.... Hard to disrupt this meme with natural attrition when they're replaced faster than time attrition takes them away..
I ask myself that of your readers everyday when they run their mouths with some unintelligable attack or garbage. The liberal blogosphere is basically as closedminded as it gets.you all refuse to admit failure, that you were wrong or juist outright lie like it affects no one. Amoral? Unhappy? Jealous? Sociopathic? Idk but it's sad and I feel sad for you all. The reasons jealousy comes mainly from the left is because they're too busy complaining about things than living their lives fully and acting positive.
ReplyDeleteYou create your own hell and its fiery hot over here and other places.
go to another rightie blog please. you don't fit in here!
DeleteI'll admit it, you're unintelligable, closedminded (whatever that is?), you're a failure, you're wrong, Amoral, Unhappy, Jealous, Sociopathic and sad.
DeleteFeel Better?
Oh my, if your "other places" are fiery hot, you need to see a doctor, just saying!
I knew this was going to be a right-wing religious screed when I saw so many spelling errors.....
DeleteTom, FL
Way to stereotype asshole. That's like saying just because there are democrats who commit heinous amounts of welfare fraud and suck the govt dry, they alll do it.
ReplyDeleteYou are what's wrong with the country just like these people. Its one thing to make a polite argument against specific people. But stereotyping needs to stop. You hate racial profiling. This is identical.
I have worked for a variety of agencies that help clients enroll in social services. Despite their willingness to rely on that "government teat," NONE of the regulars identify as Democrats. The ONLY Dems I've ever directed thru the system were folks who had worked all their lives, were temporarily in bad shakes, and were looking to recover as quickly as possible. The professional Welfare Class--at least 85% of whom are white--all supported Bush. Go figure...
DeleteDoes not compute 10:05.
Delete@anon 10:05 Religious profiling? I love it. Good idea.
ReplyDeleteThey already have something like that, though. It's called an IQ test.
A free thinker is the Devil's slave, it makes perfect sense to non thinking holy fools.
ReplyDeleteCaveat: Before the shitstorm of outrage descends, I'm referring to this particular sect of Christofaschist myopic morons as "holy fools", and not all people of faith of any kind.
I suppose a "Devil" is a necessary "evil", but how are free thinkers, people who exercise their free will, equal to the "devil"?
Exactly! It's the Chrstofaschist, or as I like to call them ChristoNazis, who give all people of faith a bad name. Groups of faith that promote violence and "ministers" who promote greed and hypocrisy are part of it. They seem to be over-shadowing the genuine, unselfish, compassionate work of the others.
ReplyDelete