The Arrogance of Christianity

[Yggdrasil]

As I sat there in church, for the sake of my extended family, I realized what a joke the entire nativity story of Christianity is, and I don't say this pejoratively.

I stared down at the priest, who was giving a sermon about the story, with a bunch of small tots dressed up as ancient goat herders gathered around the altar. I stared at the glaring eyes of those around me, my family included, gulping each and every word as absolute truth professed by the almighty God. Then I realized, this is a joke.

Of course, I never believed the story, and have been an declared atheist for many years now. I had always dismissed the story as mythological trite, but I had never viewed it through the lenses of logic. Let me enlighten you as to my point of view:

Christians believe that, 2009 years ago, the son of God was born in a humble manger in Judea, of a virgin mother. Fine, that's not the point I'm arguing. What I am arguing is the chutzpah of every believing Christian, the fact that you all turned a secondhand account of an event that had happened centuries before and then declared the account(s) as ABSOLUTE TRUTH, and proceeded to establish a religion out of it.

I'm not arguing the logistics of a virgin birth, nor am I arguing the existence of God; I am merely seething at the hubris, the egotism of Christians to proclaim outdated secondhand accounts as the paramount truth and acts of God

[Mwuahaha]

ITT: Confirmation that religion is, always has been and always will be a gigantic farce, shamelessly used to control the ignorant, emotionally unstable masses.

[supperrfreek]

to each his own.
But aside from that, the story was handed down and the earliest accounts (the gospels I think) were written within one or two generations of the death of Christ. I think Mark was the earliest in AD 55, it's not that far away from the death actually (as I said earlier 1 or 2 generations).

Confirmation that religion is, always has been and always will be a gigantic farce, shamelessly used to control the ignorant, emotionally unstable masses.

maybe, maybe not. I'm not entirely sure if this is as true as it was in the middle ages.

[Europa]

I mean, why not? Whats wrong with believing that if you're good in this life you will get to live another in paradise? This has motivated countless people to do countless good deeds, and why not?

And even if Jesus DIDN'T exist then he's just a symbol, a big metaphor just like the rest of the bible. And people need symbols.

[WritingANovel]

I don't think it's arrogance.

It's probably more like having more faith than is warranted.

[Yggdrasil]

Originally Posted by Europa

I mean, why not? Whats wrong with believing that if you're good in this life you will get to live another in paradise? This has motivated countless people to do countless good deeds, and why not?

And even if Jesus DIDN'T exist then he's just a symbol, a big metaphor just like the rest of the bible. And people need symbols.

What's wrong is that that seemingly innocent affects us in several profound ways. That belief in paradise is the very definition of a bigoted, partisan farce. What, those who don't believe get to burn?? O RLY?

As much good as the Christian religion has created, it has been used for extremely dire purposes.

Once the Roman Empire collapsed, the Catholic Church established an absolute stranglehold over European society. ABSOLUTE. For an entire Millennium. The governing authority of Christianity has manipulated the blind faith of the common people to extract money, power, and even their lives.

And if Jesus didn't exist, that's exactly what he is, a symbol. A fucking SYMBOL. I'd love to hear how people need symbols, though. If you intend to argue a lack of secular ethics, please see Zay's thread in My God.

[vazilizaitsev89]

as much as I hate quoting marx, he said it best "religion is the opiate of the masses"

[Yggdrasil]

Originally Posted by vazilizaitsev89

as much as I hate quoting marx, he said it best "religion is the opiate of the masses"

"If the shoe fits...."

[Europa]

Originally Posted by Yggdrasil

What's wrong is that that seemingly innocent affects us in several profound ways. That belief in paradise is the very definition of a bigoted, partisan farce. What, those who don't believe get to burn?? O RLY?

It doesn't matter.

From what you've written, I assume you don't believe there is a heaven or hell. I agree with you. But I consider myself to be unfortunate in this, and can only hope that sometime in my life I'll find something I can believe in, to convince me that an afterlife does exist.

Originally Posted by Yggdrasil

As much good as the Christian religion has created, it has been used for extremely dire purposes.

Power corrupts, and over the course of a few thousand years there is going to be those who will use that power to their own gain...wouldn't you?

I would.

[PastorSehmish]

If it hadn’t become an issue it wouldn’t have been an issue, but now it is…To me the question is simply do we have a perfect copy of the Word of God in our times. If you believe we have a mostly perfect copy or a pretty good copy your answer to the above question is no. My answer to the above is Yes. I happen to believe God has not left us without His word, and that means all His words. I believe the God who gave us His word is able to also preserve His word. I believe in the miracle of inspiration and I believe in the miracle of preservation.

The next question is if we have it where is it ? It can’t be all Bible versions because they are all different, some by little some by much. I believe God has given English speaking people a perfect Word of God in the King James Bible, because of the superior texts it was translated from and because of the superior translation methods that were used. I do not believe that the Wescott and Hort texts are better. They are recent discoveries and I for one do not believe God was waiting 1800 years to give us the true Bible. Nor can I accept that He was hiding this better manuscript in the Vatican ( does something smell fishy here…) and in the deserts of Egypt just waiting for the Laodecian church to find them. We already had the best manuscripts and they are the ones our King James Bible comes from. There are many excellent websites that go into detail about all this and you should visit there if you want to study the details.

Do I believe someone can get saved from another version ? Yes I do, in fact I believe you could get saved from a talking donkey if you told you enough true things. Of course four footed talking donkeys are not all that common…the two footed ones much easier to find. I am glad I did not receive the kind of education that taught me there was no true Word of God in our day…Pity those that did. Blinded by arrogant intellectualism and trapped now by their college loyalties they become evangelists in the cause of persuading others that they too have no reliable Word of God. What a sad situation. Professing themselves to be wise they have become fools…