Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Surely very offensive to Christians but you can't fault the accuracy.
I personally don't understand why we ever stopped worshiping fertility idols.
After all I would much rather pray to this then to have to deal with that poor masochistic bastard on the cross.
It's curious to me how little the words of Jesus resonate with fundamentalist Christians: forgive, don't judge, love, blessed are the meek, etc. They seem to ignore the entire Jesus Christ (Christian) part of the Holy Bobble, and just take obscure snippets from the old testament (Judaism) to support their bigotry and judgmentalism.
There are, however, many sincere Christians who live genuine, loving, kind-hearted lives. As an atheist, I respect them, and good people of any faith, and recognize it's hurtful and unkind to denigrate what they consider sacred. The teachings of Jesus are don't deserve to be insulted, they seem to point to a life of goodness, not a bad thing.
My sneaky way of saying your reference to Jesus as "that poor masochistic bastard on the cross" seems a little over the top. Intelligent, good-hearted Christians listen to a reasonable argument, but are offended by mean denigrations of their beliefs.
Just a thought. I'd rather have a discussion with intelligent good-hearted people of faith than with judgmental, mean-spirited atheists, forced to choose. You've had some terrific posters here who protested lightly, but I suspect they're long gone.
I once was a person of faith, now I no longer can fit my mind into that tube, but I don't judge those who are still where I was.
Whenever beliefs, which are said to be the truth, are organized into a system, that system is used to keep people in thrall and to benefit the people in power. It can be organized around the fertility goddess, the sun, Jesus or a stick of butter.
Remember the story told by Krishnamurti. The devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, “What did that man pick up?” “He picked up a piece of Truth,” said the devil. “That is a very bad business for you, then,” said his friend. “Oh, not at all,” the devil replied, “I am going to let him organize it."
Like most people I didn't start out an atheist....it was growing up seeing such hypocrisy, even as a teenager it was hard to ignore. The older you get the more you take in and faith is a good thing, starting with yourself. I am a die hard believer in science & the history of religion reads like "How to Brainwash the Masses". I don't care what one you pick but it's all about power & control...which mandates money, esp Catholics. Sorry but the pomp & circumstance and incredible wealth they display while people starve is ridiculous. Human beings were given this awesome gift of life on this incredible planet full of such beauty. This country is a true melting pot with contradictions galore....our history is violent but compassionate and pretty much everything in between. A friend at the dog park was chatting about something he watched on the Travel channel....a reporter in China asking how all this incredible growth was possible and his answer was a simple one. No war in decades....guess where we would be without them.
Even better than that statue (no arms for hugging) are the representations of Diana/Artemis of the Ephesians. The Greeks co-opted the earlier Anatolian mother & fertility goddess Cybele. "Her job was to protect the city and feed its people." Therefore she is shown with 50 BREASTS-enough for everyone.
Her temple at Ephesus was one of THE seven wonders of the world... and the worshipers didn't appreciate Paul's haranguing them for three years. They rioted. Given the choice of a loving nurturing mother deity who has guided the people into prosperity for millennia, or the screeching of a red-haired runt that we are all sinful and ugly and going to die painfully unless we accepted his new god... I would have rioted as well. The only ugliness was inside him.
Off Topic: Morning Joe has Matt Lewis on defending the Palins, and Joe and Mika agree with him.
ReplyDeleteThere is an excellent book on the topic. "When God Was a Woman" discusses the topic.
ReplyDeleteIt's curious to me how little the words of Jesus resonate with fundamentalist Christians: forgive, don't judge, love, blessed are the meek, etc. They seem to ignore the entire Jesus Christ (Christian) part of the Holy Bobble, and just take obscure snippets from the old testament (Judaism) to support their bigotry and judgmentalism.
ReplyDeleteThere are, however, many sincere Christians who live genuine, loving, kind-hearted lives. As an atheist, I respect them, and good people of any faith, and recognize it's hurtful and unkind to denigrate what they consider sacred. The teachings of Jesus are don't deserve to be insulted, they seem to point to a life of goodness, not a bad thing.
My sneaky way of saying your reference to Jesus as "that poor masochistic bastard on the cross" seems a little over the top. Intelligent, good-hearted Christians listen to a reasonable argument, but are offended by mean denigrations of their beliefs.
Just a thought. I'd rather have a discussion with intelligent good-hearted people of faith than with judgmental, mean-spirited atheists, forced to choose. You've had some terrific posters here who protested lightly, but I suspect they're long gone.
I once was a person of faith, now I no longer can fit my mind into that tube, but I don't judge those who are still where I was.
Whenever beliefs, which are said to be the truth, are organized into a system, that system is used to keep people in thrall and to benefit the people in power. It can be organized around the fertility goddess, the sun, Jesus or a stick of butter.
ReplyDeleteRemember the story told by Krishnamurti. The devil and a friend of his were walking down the street, when they saw ahead of them a man stoop down and pick up something from the ground, look at it, and put it away in his pocket. The friend said to the devil, “What did that man pick up?” “He picked up a piece of Truth,” said the devil. “That is a very bad business for you, then,” said his friend. “Oh, not at all,” the devil replied, “I am going to let him organize it."
Like most people I didn't start out an atheist....it was growing up seeing such hypocrisy, even as a teenager it was hard to ignore. The older you get the more you take in and faith is a good thing, starting with yourself. I am a die hard believer in science & the history of religion reads like "How to Brainwash the Masses". I don't care what one you pick but it's all about power & control...which mandates money, esp Catholics. Sorry but the pomp & circumstance and incredible wealth they display while people starve is ridiculous. Human beings were given this awesome gift of life on this incredible planet full of such beauty. This country is a true melting pot with contradictions galore....our history is violent but compassionate and pretty much everything in between. A friend at the dog park was chatting about something he watched on the Travel channel....a reporter in China asking how all this incredible growth was possible and his answer was a simple one. No war in decades....guess where we would be without them.
ReplyDeleteYou must admit that modern day "goddess" Kim Kardashian does kind of resemble the Venus of Willendorf.
ReplyDelete;-)
Thanks for the second photo. Now I know what a thong dress looks like!
ReplyDeleteGryphen,
ReplyDeleteEven better than that statue (no arms for hugging) are the representations of Diana/Artemis of the Ephesians. The Greeks co-opted the earlier Anatolian mother & fertility goddess Cybele. "Her job was to protect the city and feed its people." Therefore she is shown with 50 BREASTS-enough for everyone.
http://0.tqn.com/y/ancienthistory/1/S/V/L/3/Ephesian_Artemis.jpg
Her temple at Ephesus was one of THE seven wonders of the world... and the worshipers didn't appreciate Paul's haranguing them for three years. They rioted. Given the choice of a loving nurturing mother deity who has guided the people into prosperity for millennia, or the screeching of a red-haired runt that we are all sinful and ugly and going to die painfully unless we accepted his new god... I would have rioted as well. The only ugliness was inside him.