freediver wrote on Mar 26
th, 2018 at 9:28pm:
issuevoter wrote on Mar 26
th, 2018 at 12:28pm:
The subject of religion tends to get lumped in with the belief in God. ( I have never seen a description of God that was not pathetic.) However, "religion" means way of life, the natives of Rapa Nui had a religion even without those stone images, so its important to make that distinction.
The big three religions, that are said to originate with someone named Abraham, have a conceited claim that one of these Gods is a better idea than the several they replaced. Of course you cannot use math or logic to support this notion, but for the average person's use, it probably seemed more convenient to have the Cosmos run by a king than a committee, back when Abraham assured his surrounding tribe that he alone was on intimate terms with this "King." Fortunately, for us all, social progress and public education have led to the spread of critical-thinking, so on average, people are not as easily convinced as they once were.
The two main types of Abrahmic God proponents are the "lay down the law" by what previous zealots wrote, and the glassy-eyed self-appointed representatives of God on Earth.
The human psyche, as exhibited so far, seems to have a penchant this second type of "God" fixation. To the average, rather uncomplicated person, these people seem charismatic, and I would guess they include Abraham, Jesus, Mohamed, Joseph"Mormon" Smith, and Jim "Kool-Aid" Jones.
Another parallel theme in the Big Three is that you cannot be a "good" or moral person unless you agree with them. That demand is used by all the Zealots, Prophets and assorted Holy men. Just how they pursue that claim is where Christianity and Mohammedanism diverge, and without making this comparison anymore long-winded, the differences are cultural. Its like real estate, its location, location, location. The tribes of the Islamic world are primitive and avoid progress. Christians, for what they have become, are heavily influence by 500 years of evolving Western social progress and attitudes.
Do you think Christianity itself may have influenced that "500 years of evolving Western social progress and attitudes"?
Do you think it was progressive 2000 years ago?
First question: I have to generalise with such a big subject. Yes, I would say there are Christian influences on Western social progress, but in my view of history, the narrow-mindedness of Christians, and its negative influence, cannot be discounted.
However, it was Christianity that led to the end of canabalism in the South Pacific. It was Christians who first clamoured for the end of the
WEST African slave trade. One hundred years later the East Atrican slave trade out of Zanzibar was still going well for the Muzlims. They believe Africans were fair game, because (you guessed it) they were infidels. The trade was carried on until the first world war, and still exists today in Muzlim Africa.
Second Question: Was Christianity progressive 2000 years ago? That would be Christs time, and I would have to say, "No". But it may have later, although life remained pretty grim and getting large populations under control is what Christianity was used for.
So it ends up being a mixed bag. Too many people think of Christianity as it appears in cosy BBC vicarage dramas. I don't. When Christ died, they had to come up with something fast to keep it going. I also don't believe Christ would condone much of it. The spread of Christianity was a convenient medium for the powerful to gain control of vast territories and wealth. To them, the love thigh neighbour stuff was the sugar coating. There were a number of ways to get people to swallow it. The threat of pain, self-interest, and here's a real doozie: Guilt. You are responsible for the death of the son of God. Everything about you is evil, from your disgusting body to your inner-most thoughts. This is how the assertion Christianity came from God was enforced: from death at the stake for the unbeliever, right down to the sanctimonious schoolmaster with his cane. So, I don't believe Christians can claim too much in the way of Western social progress. What it did, has been paid for time and time again, in blood, sweat and tears.