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I don't think we are allowed to discuss that without risking repercussions from the moderators, as this would fall under "General Apologetics" and/or could get us reported for "insulting or belittling Christianity".I don't understand which part of our religion [i.e. Christianity] you find evil.
Do some research I have and it is said Gardner had many visits with Crowley, there are alot of Crowley frases and quotes in the book. (Google search)
The Christian God is a loving and merciful God, I don't understand which part of our religion you find evil. Is it the part where we should love our neighbors, or thy shall not judge, thy shall not murder, thy shall not lie (false testimony)
Im sorry if you find what I wrote about pagans insulting, but I am speaking from personal experience I had with Wicca, the use of magik imo is evil!
The Christian God IS loving and merciful. It's my belief based upon experience that Jesus Christ and the religion called Christianity are two distinct things that only occasionally cross the same path. There was bumper sticker I'd see every now and than that went like this: "Oh Lord, please save me from your Followers". I know in my own life, that's been pretty much what I've experienced. So it may be something about the people of Christianity who are not loving and merciful in what they bring to the world around them. And others will react to what they see and experience.The Christian God is a loving and merciful God, I don't understand which part of our religion you find evil.
The Christian God is a loving and merciful God, I don't understand which part of our religion you find evil. Is it the part where we should love our neighbors, or thy shall not judge, thy shall not murder, thy shall not lie (false testimony)
Others might not be willing to answer, but I'll tell you my thoughts on it.
I find the idea that life is a cosmic game of "guess the right path" where you have to pick the Jesus path in order not to burn forever in torture to be pretty evil overall. All the things you put there about judging and loving don't matter in the end because what matters is belief in Jesus.
To many Christians I've spoken to, if Hitler had a change of heart at the last second and confessed his sins to Jesus and became a Christian, he's in Heaven right now. His victims, had they remained loyal to their Jewish faith, are in Hell.
If that is true and that is Christian theology, I welcome the idea of eternal separation from a being that would think that was ok.
I agree with LoAmmi, he said it better than I ever could.
Whos to say the earth isn't 6000 years old? Theoretical Science is always proving itself wrong. It's debatable. You know scientific theory is just that, a theory.
To many Christians I've spoken to, if Hitler had a change of heart at the last second and confessed his sins to Jesus and became a Christian, he's in Heaven right now. His victims, had they remained loyal to their Jewish faith, are in Hell.
I believe that images of Hell, Sin and of a Judgmental God has done more harm to humanity than any other theology out there. It's a theology that is not limited to Christianity. In the way it has/is historically played out over time has been pretty evil, IMO.But yeah, eternal hell and a conception of salvation that hinges solely on belonging to the right party are pretty evil concepts, IMO.
Okay, since lots of differentiation is going on here, here's my take on a more benign interpretation of the Abrahamaics and their conception of divinity:
Although the Biblical myths contain lots and lots of needless cruelty on the part of the deity depicted therein, that is NOT what sets them apart from other theological conceptions of their day and age: most ancient gods were VICIOUS, reflecting the seemingly capricious threat of natural forces that were beyond people's understanding or control. People would randomly die of a fever, or an inflamed appendix, or worms, or a wild animal attack - and people would attribute this to fickle deities who needed to be appeased.
So, when YHVH commands Abraham to cut the throat of his firstborn son, that's not all that unusual - it's what the ancients would have expected from a deity. The unusual twist only comes when God commands his follower to stay the blade, and REJECTS human sacrifices.
It's kindness that sets YHVH apart, even if his depictions still reflect a rather crude understanding of deity that often portrays him in terms of a volatile middle eastern tyrant king of old.
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That'd be an understanding of myth akin to what was going on during the Enlightenment - and a misconception of what myth is all about. It's not about getting hard facts across; it's about transporting meaning - literally making sense of things.The way you put it makes it sounds like the Abrahamaic religions were just fairy tales like other false religions.
I believe that images of Hell, Sin and of a Judgmental God has done more harm to humanity than any other theology out there. It's a theology that is not limited to Christianity. In the way it has/is historically played out over time has been pretty evil, IMO.
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How many religions outside of Christianity teach about an eternal hell?Yeah, I know the concept of hell messed me up when I was younger. It wasn't until I escaped the clutches of religion and the idea of hell that I was able to properly begin to love other people.
When you're taught that your enemies are destined to hell and that such a thing is justifiable, you're ability to look at people as less than human is more easily achievable.
These are just my thoughts at least, I know other Christians will probably have had a different experience than me.
That'd be an understanding of myth akin to what was going on during the Enlightenment - and a misconception of what myth is all about. It's not about getting hard facts across; it's about transporting meaning - literally making sense of things.
Most religions of this world, including those that are denounced as "false" by exclusivist world views, are a part of our collective quest for meaning, a broader understanding of ourselves and our place in relation to all the rest. The natural science and the humanities are just as much of an outgrowth of that ever-expanding tree as the most "backwards" shaman sitting in some hovel in the jungle and delving into his own subconscious via hallucinogenic substances.
The Christian God is a loving and merciful God, I don't understand which part of our religion you find evil. Is it the part where we should love our neighbors, or thy shall not judge, thy shall not murder, thy shall not lie (false testimony)
Im sorry if you find what I wrote about pagans insulting, but I am speaking from personal experience I had with Wicca, the use of magik imo is evil!
Or other, more dominant religions, for that matter:
three out of the four schizophrenics I've personally met were EXTREMELY devout Christians, to the point of fanaticism.
One of them started to see Satanists everywhere when she went off her meds.
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