The New "Tolerance"

[Flint]

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

And it isn't supposed to be "Magic". "Magic" is deemed evil by the Bible.

Originally Posted by wolf

Not so ... of the 16 mentions of magic (or magician), none of them describe magic as evil.

Case in point: "religious" people follow entrenched dogmas that have no relation whatsoever to the message they claim to follow. Magic is evil. Says who? Not Jesus. Not even the book about Jesus. But any "good Christian" will tell you magic is evil. Harry Potter is EVIL!!!

But why? It's got nothing to do with Jesus - so I ask you this: why tack Jesus' name on this poppycock? To legitimize your own bias? Or is it just out of blindly following along with whatever you are told, not questioning the origin of whatever wacky idea you hear in "church" - beause "church" is a place where everything you hear is true, and if you question it, you're burning in hell for all eternity!

I can't respect that. What is the purpose of calling yourself a "Christian" if you use you "Christianity" as a cheap crutch for your own half-baked ideas? That is sickeningly disrespectful to Jesus, wouldn't you think? Using his name to push your personal bullshit ideas? using his name to promote shit he has nothing to do with? How could you live with yourself if you claimed to worship this guy, but then you turn around and shit all over him and everything he stood for? Is it just pure fucking stupidity that this isn't glaringly obvious to anybody who has ever read the things that Jesus actually tried to teach us?

I maintain that calling yourself a "Christian" is a useless gesture that is actually harmful to the teachings of Jesus. Why do it? Why join that "special club"? Because it makes you feel good to belong to a group of "better" people? What exactly is the purpose of identifying yourself as a "Christian"? I really wish somebody would explain that.

[Pie]

Originally Posted by Flint

What exactly is the purpose of identifying yourself as a "Christian"? I really wish somebody would explain that.

So you can get that "faith-based initiative" moolah. Duh.

Great synopsis of the problems of religions, BTW. Philosophy is fine; religion sucks. Christian or otherwise.

[PizzaMonkey]

Er-Hum.

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

That's been pretty much abandoned after Christ, because he was sort of "out with the old, in with the new" with laws, and stuff like that. However if you are a pre-Christ Wiccan amongst Jews, watch your back.

[PizzaMonkey]

...beause "church" is a place where everything you hear is true, and if you question it, you're burning in hell for all eternity!

Any real Christian church will make you follow only one rule under threat of hell - follow Christ. And most churches I've seen encourage questioning. Questioning disproves - or proves - objections you may have had of any given religion or belief system. So if you come back to said religion, you come back with a stronger faith. The general attitude to "doubters" is "Oh, he'll come around," not "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!".

[Flint]

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

What's a "witch"? What word did they translate that form? Aren't we attaching a contemporary definition to a translation of a word the meaning of which we have no idea of? By "witch" did they mean a green lady with a pointy hat? Does this refer to all women with a wart on their nose, or do they have to fly on a broomstick, too?

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

Any real Christian church will make you follow only one rule under threat of hell - follow Christ.

I agree. Any "real" church theoretically would follow that rule. When you find a "real Christian church" that doesn't attach any garbled dogmatic baggage to the simple message of Jesus, please let me know. I've never seen or heard of one in my entire life.

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

most churches I've seen encourage questioning

Again, please tell me where this wonderful imaginary church is, where Pastors love it when you argue with them about how to interpret the Bible. That's not how it works. Every church has a fixed outlook, and churchgoers "shop around" to find a church that they "fit in" with.

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

The general attitude to "doubters" is "Oh, he'll come around," not "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL!".

100% wrong. If you question the interpretation of the Bible embraced at your church, then you are not on the right path. You are on the path headed to Hell.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by PizzaMonkey

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

Obviously I have a problem with that one ...

But I have seen a lot of commentaries that indicate that the original wording of that particular text should be translated "Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live."

Also, the definition of "witch" is somewhat broader now than in the original setting.

The group that I can't figure out are the folks that call themselves Christian Witches. Always seems like they want to be trendy but can't bring themselves to break away from the faith of their parents.

I do know one guy who was an apprentice of a Native American Shaman who was a devout (but unusual) Christian ... he did not call upon that tradition's Gods, he worked with Jesus exclusively. He was probably her best student, over many years of teaching.

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by wolf

... he did not call upon that tradition's Gods, he worked with Jesus exclusively.

Jesus is just charismatic as all get out. There's no denying that he had moxie and chutzpah in spades, baby, in spades. He probably has his own religion.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by Flint

What exactly is the purpose of identifying yourself as a "Christian"?