jackbauer Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Which denominations of Christianity are the most harmful? It can be harmful to one's psyche or just harmful to society in general. I've narrowed it down to 2 myself. 1. Calvinism: Humans are evil, incapible of no good, and deserve hell. Hell is horrifying and nightmarish enough. Believing in that is enough to create terror and insanity, but believing everyone deserves it? Wow... And of course they will deny this and claim that any psychologally pointing to how unhealthy this belief is are just worthless humans who need to rely on the Bible and not other humans. Even though it's the stupid bible that is causing the harm in the first place!!! 2. Pentecostalism: Calvinism creates misanthropism while pentecostalism creates paranoia and insanity by teaching spiritual warefare. I've heard stories of people who were suffering from actual mental dissorders and instead of seeking help were encouraged to rely on the church, the same people who are exacerbating the problems! All this is doing is putting gasoline on an already burning fire! Of course this is just my observations from reading a few blogs, but it sounds like a pretty accuate description of those denominations. 1
ConureDelSol Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Christian Scientists: Refuse medical care in favor of healing by God. They often make this type of decision for their children. There are cases where children have died because their parents wouldn't take them to a doctor. 3
Chikirin Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Word of Faith - send in your $500 "seed offering" in the next hour and God will move in your life! Eastern Orthodox - you have to kiss the priest's ring Baptist - molestation, racism, obesity Assemblies of God - serenity now, insanity later. 4
mymistake Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Which denominations of Christianity are the most harmful? It can be harmful to one's psyche or just harmful to society in general. I've narrowed it down to 2 myself. 1. Calvinism: Humans are evil, incapible of no good, and deserve hell. Hell is horrifying and nightmarish enough. Believing in that is enough to create terror and insanity, but believing everyone deserves it? Wow... And of course they will deny this and claim that any psychologally pointing to how unhealthy this belief is are just worthless humans who need to rely on the Bible and not other humans. Even though it's the stupid bible that is causing the harm in the first place!!! 2. Pentecostalism: Calvinism creates misanthropism while pentecostalism creates paranoia and insanity by teaching spiritual warefare. I've heard stories of people who were suffering from actual mental dissorders and instead of seeking help were encouraged to rely on the church, the same people who are exacerbating the problems! All this is doing is putting gasoline on an already burning fire! Of course this is just my observations from reading a few blogs, but it sounds like a pretty accuate description of those denominations. Right now the worse harm is the large scale murder of gays in Africa. Any denomination that has openly stated that homosexuality is a sin has contributed to this loss of life. The second worse harm is the Catholic opposition to birth control. The entire world suffers from that. Perhaps I have them backwards and the slaughter in Africa comes in second. 3
BrotherJosh Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I'll agree that all of the above denominations, especially the extreme ones, are indeed dangerous. I will say though that there is one out there that is subtly more dangerous. By that I mean the mainstream watered down denominations like non-denominational's, Bible churches, quasi-Baptist churches etc...They're not really "liberal" in the Unitarian sense, nor are they conservative in the Jerry Falwell sense either. And in that, I see some troubling things. Here's a good example: my mother. She's kind, loving, giving, and all around a good human being. She is of the, "it's not about religion, just Jesus" crowd. But beneath that way of thinking, there's still an undercurrent of conformity of opinion that is instilled by her church. She's for many of the same opinions as the Jerry Falwell's in the world, but it's hidden behind a veneer of love acceptance. In that, I see a great danger because of the whole, "wolf in sheep's clothing" aspect. 2
Vigile Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Eastern Orthodox - you have to kiss the priest's ring It seems pretty innocuous here in Russia. I don't know anyone who treats it like anything but a mild superstition. Even in the US it seems pretty harmless. I was roped into become the godfather for one of my Russian relatives in PA and I told the priest I was an atheist during the pre ceremony conference. He was totally cool with it. As for the OP, my worst experiences were with the Baptists, but they're all nuckin' futs. 1
Zephie Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Non-denominationals, A of G (simply b/c I go to one), and Baptist...got called a witch as a child because I attended a baptist school and had been indoctrinated with glossolalia...too funny now that I'm kinda pagan-ish
JoeCoastie Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Though most Catholics are harmless lax-Catholics the Church itself is guilty of molestation, keeping birth control out of the hands of poor people in AIDS afflicted areas, and Rick Santorum. 2
lunaticheathen Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I'm pretty biased against Southern Baptists myself, but that's because I was personally harmed so very much by them. But they all pretty much suck. I've seen the craziest people, myself, come out of very conservative Southern/"Freewill" Baptist churches, or Pentecostal batshit brands of churches. It's probably the area I live in though.
Zephie Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 It is sad that the Catholic church won't rectify the wrongs that it has allowed to be done. Being from Louisiana, I know plenty of Catholics that are wonderful people and it pisses me off that Protestants can't see past their own nose to know that Catholics are Christians too. 3
Zephie Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @ Luna I don't know if you've heard of the Brownsville revival or not but I participated in it when I was in my teens and I've gotta say some of things going on where batshit and down right lies.
Positivist Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Word of Faith: Empty promises and inevitible disillusionment and heartbreak. People suffer greatly and die for "lack of faith". I agree with the "Catholics and contraception" comments also. 1
ConureDelSol Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Colbert taught me why Catholics are against contraception actually. LOL http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/408347/february-14-2012/contraception-crusade
London Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I used to think that one was worse than the other, but the reality is they all do something horrible to society. And anyone can take it too far. I have decided that they all are cancer on society. Bible thumping against others, or passive allowing your religion to become out of control without standing up to the craziness, are equally bad. I have studied many religions. And the one thing that I see too often is people who belong to a religion (judeo-xian, pagan, buddhist), get this attitude that "their" way is the better thought process. It becomes about a "we" vs. "them" thing. When you drop that attitude, you have no need for religion. It's all about life in general. I just think that religion is harmful.
florduh Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 They're all harmful in that they contribute to the illusion that this is a "Christian Nation." As a bloc, they influence the institution of repressive laws and blur the line of separation between church and state. They are a burden on the tax base. Churches perpetuate superstition and false hope that a god will fix things we need to fix. Obviously, certain sects and individual leaders promote more immediate problems than others do, but all contribute to the malaise that is Christianity.
jdog Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Colbert taught me why Catholics are against contraception actually. LOL http://www.colbertna...ception-crusade This is a funny video. Cock blocking the Almighty!...LOL
London Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 They're all harmful in that they contribute to the illusion that this is a "Christian Nation." As a bloc, they influence the institution of repressive laws and blur the line of separation between church and state. They are a burden on the tax base. Churches perpetuate superstition and false hope that a god will fix things we need to fix. Obviously, certain sects and individual leaders promote more immediate problems than others do, but all contribute to the malaise that is Christianity. And really this goes beyond our borders. It all becomes drones from all religions. Robots made to comply. Are the Borg really from Star Trek? Or have they been here the whole time. All religions do this.
jackbauer Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 Yeah, I was thinking of putting the Catholics in second place just because they have the most power in the world. Their idiocy toward birth control and overall prudishness regarding sex is extremely harmful to society. Over population is a concern, but these dumbshit Catholics care more about following some stupid rules than thinking about the consequences. All while they complain about how irresponsible people are with sex! (then again, that says a lot about Christianity as a whole). I remember the outrage over Obama passing that law that would require insurence to cover birth control. You'd think Obama had forced them to sign a deal with the devil. All he did was mandate that birth control would be covered by workers insurence (which would be paid for by the insurence companies!), not forcing people to take birth control! They are a bunch of over sensitive and irrational twats!!! I also agree that those who advocate for the murder of homosexuals (or anyone for that matter) are extremely dangerous. They should just leave the gays alone and stop acting like they are such a threat to their stupid beliefs. Fucking Christians, their beliefs make people so miserable, yet when anyone dares challenge them, they think they are being persecuted. Gag me!
CatholiKitty Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Colbert taught me why Catholics are against contraception actually. LOL http://www.colbertna...ception-crusade The terrible irony is that the typical lay Catholic, even some of the real believers, approve of real contraceptives, though never too loudly. You always hear about the what the bishops are getting mad about because only the bishops care, and only the bishops have enough voice to get media attention.
JoeCoastie Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Colbert taught me why Catholics are against contraception actually. LOL http://www.colbertna...ception-crusade The terrible irony is that the typical lay Catholic, even some of the real believers, approve of real contraceptives, though never too loudly. You always hear about the what the bishops are getting mad about because only the bishops care, and only the bishops have enough voice to get media attention. That's the stupid thing. Go to any Catholic Church in the States and Western Europe and you'll see most families have 1 or 2 kids. My parents used birth control. They know that their parishioners don't care about that rule yet they still make a big stink over laws like that. The Catholic Church is most dangerous in the developing world where parishioners are less educated and less likely to question the Church's stupid mandates or they're too poor to get birth control. In Africa they approach the AIDS epidemic with talk about abstinence.
par4dcourse Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Like picking the worst stomach virus. None are worth the shit they cause. 4
ShackledNoMore Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 All the elements are there, but the degree of harm is realized more within some denominations, and during some time periods. A few hundred years ago the christians were doing inquisitions while the muslims were relative bastions of sanity. I cannot concede that an episcopalian on the religious left is as harmful to himself, his immediate family and peers, and society as a rabid fundygelical activist, but the virus lives on in the religious liberals and moderates, and through cultures and eras of relative enlightenment. 1
Legion Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 If these people are for real, then they are the worst denomination.... http://www.vhemt.org/
oddbird1963 Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 Though most Catholics are harmless lax-Catholics the Church itself is guilty of molestation, keeping birth control out of the hands of poor people in AIDS afflicted areas, and Rick Santorum. I'm on the verge of Godwin's law territory concerning Rick Santorum. He's a religious nut job who wants to rule everyone's most private thoughts and behaviors using government power but won't use any government authority to relieve human poverty and suffering. I can't but help picturing him in my mind with a toothbrush mustache. 1
Vigile Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 Though most Catholics are harmless lax-Catholics the Church itself is guilty of molestation, keeping birth control out of the hands of poor people in AIDS afflicted areas, and Rick Santorum. I'm on the verge of Godwin's law territory concerning Rick Santorum. He's a religious nut job who wants to rule everyone's most private thoughts and behaviors using government power but won't use any government authority to relieve human poverty and suffering. I can't but help picturing him in my mind with a toothbrush mustache. He's a good example which shows that Florduh is ultimately correct when he says even the seemingly harmless sects can harm society. My parents are pretty harmless in their beliefs. They know I'm an atheist, but don't reject me for it or even bug me about it in any way. They are generally good people and that good expresses itself in their beliefs as well, which are centered in love. Nevertheless, they'll vote for Santorum if he wins the nod and they don't understand my gripes with him when I tell them my biggest trouble with him is that he would attempt to force his beliefs on others through force of law. In their minds, this is how god would want it.
Recommended Posts