Gang Membership -- Christianity As A Gang.

[Llwellyn]

Recently, I watched a documentary about the "Latin Kings" gang, and I saw a lot of similarities to Christianity.  People join the Latin Kings so that they have a community of people they can belong to and interact with.  The Latin Kings has historically been a "values-based" organization that emphasizes "Kingism" and the five points of the crown -- respect, honesty, unity, knowledge and love.  Of course, the Latin Kings is also involved in criminality, and it is connected to drug distribution, violence, murder, and human trafficking.  The Latin Kings are intolerant of other gangs.

 

Christianity is a lot like a street gang and serves a lot of the same purposes.  Neither Christianity nor the Latin Kings are "all bad" or "all good" -- they provide a community of belonging to people, and an outlet or expressing the purposes and desires of humans.  These forms of gang membership sometimes are overlapping, with a person able to belong to multiple different gangs at the same time -- consider a Roman Catholic member of the Latin Kings.  This person could not also be a Muslim, or a member of the Gangster Disciples.  Some people take the approach that Christianity and the Latin Kings cannot coexist:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAOfMv_Lhk

 

I don't think that we should be any more accommodating of Christianity than we would be accommodating of a street gang.  Neither should we be as automatically prejudiced against the social dynamics of street gangs than we would be against the so-called "Great Religions." 

[flockoff]

I guess the GOP could be the phony rappers waving their money around and flashing the gang signs.

[amateur]

Good point, Llwellyn.

 

And the GOP -- 

[florduh]

Very valid comparison, I think.

[Vigile]

I'm not a sociologist, but from my layman observation, gangs are microcosms of much animal behavior.  When I was in India I spent a lot of time on the beach watching the dogs.  Each pack of dogs controlled a certain territory on the beach (roughly 1/4-1/2 a kilometer long).  People were allowed to freely come and go, but if someone brought their pet dog, the dogs would run out from under the beach chairs angrily defending their territory.  Not any different than the Crips or Bloods, who let the cops come and go at will, but get vicious when rival gang members or just strangers enter their territory. 

 

The police and government also exhibit gang-like behavior in many, many different ways. 

[Voice]

It's a good comparison but perhaps extreme since most christian sects do not condone crime or violence.  There are a few extremist, militant christian groups that probably could be considered gangs, like the KKK.  I would think of christianity in general as an exclusive club that protects its own, and to hell with everyone else.

[Llwellyn]

Isn't the Catholic Church to some degree a gang with doctrine , ideology, and casuses?  It encourages and advocates discrimination based on sex and religion.  It advances efforts to deprive individuals of their civil rights.  The Catholic Church is involved in the criminal abuse of children.

 

Also, if you asked leaders of the Latin Kings if they condone crime or violence, they would deny it, instead pointing to their values statements and their radical politics.  Their motto is "Amor de Rey"  -- king's love.  Below is an image of an expression of love written on a hesco bastion at a military base in Iraq:

 

[Voice]

Reciprocating violence is key with gangs and other gangs.  The Catholic church used to be a primary force behind war, but I don't know how true that is any more.

[Lilith666]

I know Xians who use low tactics to try to convert people or keep other Xians in line, but if we treat religion as a gang, then we arrest all its members just for being in the group. Isn't that a bit heavy-handed?

[Llwellyn]

Membership alone in a street gang is no crime in the USA -- only culpable criminal activity is punishable.  It is not a crime to possess a "status" -- e.g. addict, vagrant, drunk, gangster -- legislatures can criminalize only acts.  I think these distinctions are important, as they protect people's freedoms of association, assembly, and speech.  People usually have reasons for wishing to join an organization.  Their membership could be valuable and precious to them.  Normally, we should respect this choice unless there is a good reason not to.  Also, every organization exists on a continuum between being enriching and being destructive, and they change over time.  It is artificial line-drawing to make distinctions between certain organizations and others.

[Galien]

I hate groups, they tend to bring out the inner asshole in a lot of people.

 

This is the closest you will ever get me to a group again.

[Vigile]

Reciprocating violence is key with gangs and other gangs.  The Catholic church used to be a primary force behind war, but I don't know how true that is any more.

 

Not so different.  You'll notice how religious organizations and the military are very closely intertwined.  It's also mostly the religious who are the flag wavers and we as a nation very much combine patriotism with religion as both spring from the same raw gut instinct that needs no logic to motivate. Terrorist organizations do the same, simply using a different religion to motivate the hoi polloi. 

 

The powerful have always used religion as a motivating factor to get men to fight their wars for them against their own interests.  Today is no exception. 

[gall]

 

Recently, I watched a documentary about the "Latin Kings" gang, and I saw a lot of similarities to Christianity.  People join the Latin Kings so that they have a community of people they can belong to and interact with.  The Latin Kings has historically been a "values-based" organization that emphasizes "Kingism" and the five points of the crown -- respect, honesty, unity, knowledge and love.  Of course, the Latin Kings is also involved in criminality, and it is connected to drug distribution, violence, murder, and human trafficking.  The Latin Kings are intolerant of other gangs.

 

Christianity is a lot like a street gang and serves a lot of the same purposes.  Neither Christianity nor the Latin Kings are "all bad" or "all good" -- they provide a community of belonging to people, and an outlet or expressing the purposes and desires of humans.  These forms of gang membership sometimes are overlapping, with a person able to belong to multiple different gangs at the same time -- consider a Roman Catholic member of the Latin Kings.  This person could not also be a Muslim, or a member of the Gangster Disciples.  Some people take the approach that Christianity and the Latin Kings cannot coexist:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JAOfMv_Lhk

 

I don't think that we should be any more accommodating of Christianity than we would be accommodating of a street gang.  Neither should we be as automatically prejudiced against the social dynamics of street gangs than we would be against the so-called "Great Religions." 

 

 

I more or less agree.

 

What I don't understand is why we are more accomidating to christianity over say any other religion in the US. We are suppose to give all of them equal play time for anyone that wants to partake while the state stays the hell in their corner just as religion is suppose to lead inside the walls of churches and homes not out in public spaces and in the goverments decisions for ALL...

 

Oh wait if you elect a bunch of biggots and extreme left or right wing talking boxes all you get is gridlock. Simple. Gridlock. When I was born the goverment was in gridlock parents had a hard time making enough to live even though they were honest and hard working.

 

I see the evengelicals that shout so loud and demand so much for themselves and others...whether the others want it or not as shire lords sitting on high hills. Often they are very wealthy and have a lot of time to ride down and mess with the peasents while keeping some cronies happy and letting them hunt extra dear. The peasents pay for everyone elses day in the sun and get the poo flung at them almost for amusement...

 

I don't personally see how we have changed anything for the most part with the word democracy. It is not for the people. It is a joke and we have let it become that. I want to be governed by people that reflect my ideals and leave god the crap where he belongs in the pages of a fictional novel.