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Goodbye Jesus

Christianities Biggest Weakness


Wertbag

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I believe that the biggest weakness of the Christian church is the lack of a unified front.  I can't think of a single subject for which Christians all agree.  Everything from food, clothes, movies, world view to how the Bible should be interrupted.

Imagine a world where the 2 billion Christians all said "Right, the correct answer is A, the rules are ABC, the punishment is X".  No doubt, no confusion, no arguments.  It would make the church incredibly strong, and yet after thousands of years of debate they are further apart than ever.

I've talked to Christians who believe in evolution and those who don't, ones who believe in a young earth and those who believe in the scientific dates, those who believe women should be equals in society and those who think they should serve. 

I've recently had people tell me the end of the world is nigh while others have told me the "signs" aren't right. 

 

One example was a young girl at my work.  She went and saw the first Harry Potter movie and was telling us how she quite enjoyed it.  Two days later she came back and said "My pastor says Harry Potter is evil, so now I believe that too".  Obviously no ability to think for herself, but the interesting catch was the Catholic guy I sat beside said "I'm Christian but I have no trouble sorting movie fantasy from reality", the third Christian in the room then chimed in with "I have no problems with the violence or fantasy, but the magic shown is what makes it evil".

The debate raged for some time, with bible quotes to support each view point easily found.  As the only atheist in the room I sat bemused, thinking even such a simple thing as this can cause disagreements, why would anyone think Christianity has any answers?

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Good point.  I like to listen to the religious stations when I drive to pass the time and keep me awake, and so many of the sermons are about how "other" xians aren't believing right or doing the right thing, and even how the people sitting in the pews listening to the sermon are "lukewarm" and are in danger of being sent to hell.

 

It's mind-boggling.

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The problem, as I see it, is that it is only a weakness for those on the outside looking in.  For those on the inside, they can live secure (so to speak) in their paranoia and fortress mentality that sees them refusing to think seriously about anything outside of their own little branch of the cult.  Christianity seems to me to thrive on conflict and division.

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Ha-ha! @ "how the bible should be INTERRUPTED"!

 

Awesome typo. :-D

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Imagine a world where the 2 billion Christians all said "Right, the correct answer is A, the rules are ABC, the punishment is X".  No doubt, no confusion, no arguments.  It would make the church incredibly strong, ...

 

Sounds like radical Islam. Hmmm...maybe if we can just get them arguing over doctrine...

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Robert Ingersoll covered this quite well:

 

"Every sect is a certificate that God has not plainly revealed his will to man. To each reader the Bible conveys a different meaning".

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Guest Furball

 I wondered who in the world these christians were really hearing from. 

 

They were really hearing from their own thoughts. religion is all in the persons head. And yeah i agree that after 2,000 years, you would think there wouldn't be so many denominations, you think they would be unified by now. -what a crock

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The biggest weakness of xianity to me is how the bible is written.  It is a collection of myths, stories, parables, poems, genealogies, pithy sayings, and dreams.  It is written as literature, as art.  It is not written in a concise, clear, informative manner like an instruction manual.  

 

Art is meant to be interpreted by each individual reading, viewing, or experiencing it.  Different people will come up with wildly different meanings from it.

 

Instruction manuals are meant to be used for every individual reading it to come up with the exact same thing.

 

I've often heard xians say that the bible is god's instruction manual for life, but it is not.  If god wrote for IKEA, everybody would end up with their own variations of the same cabinet, very few of which could hold anything and be useful.

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Guest Furball

I have heard that the word bible stands for "believers instructions before leaving earth". All the bible does is throw in some historical locations and an occasional historical figure like john the baptist or herod and people think that makes the entire book 100% true. The movie twilight uses the pacific northwest as a location for it fictional characters too, but that doesn't mean that just because the pacific northwest exists that vampires really exist. 

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If god wrote for IKEA, everybody would end up with their own variations of the same cabinet, very few of which could hold anything and be useful.

 

Awesome quote!

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I think christianities biggest problem is that they are attempting to convince people that ancient myths were actually real historical events. There are more than 30,000 versions of Christianity because myths are open to a wide range of interpretations.

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If god wrote for IKEA, everybody would end up with their own variations of the same cabinet, very few of which could hold anything and be useful.

 

Awesome quote!

 

 

Agree!  Sums it up very, very well!

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To me, it's the choking hypocrisy. There are a few messages in Christianity, although not exclusive to it, that are worthwhile. Peace and love for example. But so many Christians say one thing and do another it makes me want to throw up.

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To me, it's the choking hypocrisy. There are a few messages in Christianity, although not exclusive to it, that are worthwhile. Peace and love for example. But so many Christians say one thing and do another it makes me want to throw up.

 

Yes, isn't that the truth. Self-righteous hypocrites that talk peace and love and yet treat other people badly if they don't agree down the line with what they say. 

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One example was a young girl at my work.  She went and saw the first Harry Potter movie and was telling us how she quite enjoyed it.  Two days later she came back and said "My pastor says Harry Potter is evil, so now I believe that too".  Obviously no ability to think for herself [...]

 

 

I've noticed that a lot of people decide to believe whatever their pastor tells them to believe. The Bible often describes people as sheep needing a shepherd. All the different versions of Christianity show that if you let people decide for themselves, each one will come up with their own worldview. I think I see now why a lot of churches encourage people not to read their Bible until after the pastor has explained what the verses mean to you. Then you read it with that interpretation already in mind to enforce it.

 

I remember one time a friend of my mom's was saying something that her preacher had taught her. And my father said that the Bible doesn't say that. In fact, it says the opposite. He offered to show her in her own Bible. She refused to let him show her the verse they were talking about in the Bible. She says she won't look at it outside of Bible study and church service because her preacher taught her that other people will corrupt the meaning if she lets them try to interpret it for her. Only her preacher knows the correct interpretation, of course. She said if you want to show her something in her Bible go talk to her preacher and show it to him. If he changes his interpretation then she'll listen to him only. She was a good sheep for her shepherd.

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Guest Furball

I think christianities biggest problem is that they are attempting to convince people that ancient myths were actually real historical events. There are more than 30,000 versions of Christianity because myths are open to a wide range of interpretations.

All those myths sound so plausable once the threat of eternal torture is attatched to them. 

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Guest Furball

To me, it's the choking hypocrisy.. Peace and love for example. 

I am not sure where the peace and love are found in the bible. The bible rarely says a word on peace and love. The bible as a whole doesn't support this idea. I think people added those few verses to just make god look better. From what i have read in a history of god by karen armstrong, people in rome and greece when hearing about the god of the bible thought he was petty, and unworthy of worship. -my 2 shekels worth

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