Some Christians are just nuts ...
May. 12th, 2007 12:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scottishlassThis is a highly biased post! If you are from the religious right/left/middle whatever you might feel offended. If that is so, then I apologise that I might voice opinions that go against your belief. I'm non-religious which is a fact but no excuse.
WTF?
I'm not touching the Evolution vs. Creation issue some preachers seem to strut around with but I want to address this new trend of Prosperity Christianity that seems to crop up in the US.
As we all know, in former years several TV preachers preached humility (for themselves as well as their followers) and most had questionable morals and were money grabbers, taking money from their congregation to live a life in luxury and style.
Nowadays it seems the preachers fight back by openly push for prosperity/money/riches in order to be a good Christian. The idea to be successful in itself isn't bad, hey, I wish every one single individual on Earth should lead a prosperous life, then perhaps things like wars, terrorism and other insanity could be stopped, but this is unfortunately not some unrealistic utopia we are talking about but Earth in its globalisation frenzy with increasing gaps between rich and poor.
Now to claim that in order to be a good Christian (or a Christian per se) is to be successful and that God wants us to be rich, is a bit callous IMHO. What about those millions upon millions of poor Christians all over the world who struggle in their daily lives and whose faith in God might give them consolation but definitely not a couple of thousand bucks in their bank accounts (if they own a bank account that is). I know I'm putting this too simplistic, but this new Prosperity Christianity is doing the same and I am already seeing first signs of and even bigger divide between rich and poor than we already have nowadays. There is only a small step from saying: "I'm a Christian and my God wants me to be prosperous" to "You are not a good Christian because if you were, you weren't so freaking poor, so you must be doing something wrong."
I can't actually believe that ppl would fall for this kind of stuff, but as Marx already said once: Religion is drugs for the masses. I mean, why do ppl depend on things like religion? What will it make better in our lives? Do we have proof that it makes it better? Or that there is an afterlife where we either go to Heaven or to Hell? Or is religion nothing more than a mental crutch so we can keep on living a life of hardship? Perhaps I'm too much of a scientist and too disillusioned that I need proof before I believe anything - a constant struggle for me throughout my life and hence making my decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church at 16 all so much easier - but seriously, as long as no one comes back from the dead telling me first hand that there is something like Hell, or Heaven, I will remain highly doubtful of any concept of religion, esp. where multi-million Dollars are involved (Christianity seems to be the most religion interested in money).
Why do you actually need some sanctioned, organized religion anyway? Isn't it enough to know that for this part of the universe we as a human race are pretty much unique and that we should live our lives to the fullest because to be frank we are just a blib on the universe's over all set-up?! Why restrict ourselves? Okay, I give, religions seem to give us morals and ethics but I don't think these seem to be exclusively religious but universal if we want to live in a funtional society and which differentiates us from non-sentinent creatures. Why all the hype? And why all this good vs. evil? Not only between different religions but among the same religious beliefs (Christianity: Protestants vs. Catholics; Islam: Sunnites vs. Shiites) as well. I think it is highly ridiculous to get into a quarrel/war about something that is so questionable, I mean we do not have 100% proof that God exists! And yet there are all these stupid struggles for supremacy among religions and religious movements. Lots of My God is better than yours. Get a freaking grip!! Do we really need to play the game of some pigs are better than other pigs a la Animal Farm?
All religions seem to have accomplished so far are to restrict their members, but esp. women, throughout their history. Religions, mind you, that seem to be run by a bunch of mysogynistic old men. Additionally, I think religions are the root of all evil. With their struggle for supremacy they seem to be at the very core of prejudice, intolerance and inequality.
But I digress. This was supposed to be a post about Prosperity Christianity, a new trend in the US and not some half-assed rant against religions in general.
What will those self-proclaimed prosperous Christians do when faced with successful Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists? Isn't that in itself a negation of what they believe in? How can members of other religions be successful and prosperous if only their own God wants them to be successful and prosperous? Oh, the agony and I can already see all those preachers scrambling to come up with a proper excuse. Probably some half-assed explanation of how God loves all humans and that he makes them successful DESPITE them being led astray by the wrong religion. Yeah right. And thousands will gobble it up like gospel. *sigh*
What do I know anyway, as I'm a self-proclaimed Heathen who will burn in Hell ... or just die quietly with no afterlife whatsoever. Another blib in the universe who thinks that equality in social issues are more important than whose God is better than the other. Someone who gives not a damn about whether another person is Christian, Muslim or a believer of the Church of Pink Panther for all I care as long as these ppl don't happen to be puppy kickers, mass murderers or child molesters. Now THAT is what I think is important, to live a life in peace, equality and dignity ... and if you hear me singing Anything You Can Do that is but only an illusion ...
WTF?
I'm not touching the Evolution vs. Creation issue some preachers seem to strut around with but I want to address this new trend of Prosperity Christianity that seems to crop up in the US.
As we all know, in former years several TV preachers preached humility (for themselves as well as their followers) and most had questionable morals and were money grabbers, taking money from their congregation to live a life in luxury and style.
Nowadays it seems the preachers fight back by openly push for prosperity/money/riches in order to be a good Christian. The idea to be successful in itself isn't bad, hey, I wish every one single individual on Earth should lead a prosperous life, then perhaps things like wars, terrorism and other insanity could be stopped, but this is unfortunately not some unrealistic utopia we are talking about but Earth in its globalisation frenzy with increasing gaps between rich and poor.
Now to claim that in order to be a good Christian (or a Christian per se) is to be successful and that God wants us to be rich, is a bit callous IMHO. What about those millions upon millions of poor Christians all over the world who struggle in their daily lives and whose faith in God might give them consolation but definitely not a couple of thousand bucks in their bank accounts (if they own a bank account that is). I know I'm putting this too simplistic, but this new Prosperity Christianity is doing the same and I am already seeing first signs of and even bigger divide between rich and poor than we already have nowadays. There is only a small step from saying: "I'm a Christian and my God wants me to be prosperous" to "You are not a good Christian because if you were, you weren't so freaking poor, so you must be doing something wrong."
I can't actually believe that ppl would fall for this kind of stuff, but as Marx already said once: Religion is drugs for the masses. I mean, why do ppl depend on things like religion? What will it make better in our lives? Do we have proof that it makes it better? Or that there is an afterlife where we either go to Heaven or to Hell? Or is religion nothing more than a mental crutch so we can keep on living a life of hardship? Perhaps I'm too much of a scientist and too disillusioned that I need proof before I believe anything - a constant struggle for me throughout my life and hence making my decision to leave the Roman Catholic Church at 16 all so much easier - but seriously, as long as no one comes back from the dead telling me first hand that there is something like Hell, or Heaven, I will remain highly doubtful of any concept of religion, esp. where multi-million Dollars are involved (Christianity seems to be the most religion interested in money).
Why do you actually need some sanctioned, organized religion anyway? Isn't it enough to know that for this part of the universe we as a human race are pretty much unique and that we should live our lives to the fullest because to be frank we are just a blib on the universe's over all set-up?! Why restrict ourselves? Okay, I give, religions seem to give us morals and ethics but I don't think these seem to be exclusively religious but universal if we want to live in a funtional society and which differentiates us from non-sentinent creatures. Why all the hype? And why all this good vs. evil? Not only between different religions but among the same religious beliefs (Christianity: Protestants vs. Catholics; Islam: Sunnites vs. Shiites) as well. I think it is highly ridiculous to get into a quarrel/war about something that is so questionable, I mean we do not have 100% proof that God exists! And yet there are all these stupid struggles for supremacy among religions and religious movements. Lots of My God is better than yours. Get a freaking grip!! Do we really need to play the game of some pigs are better than other pigs a la Animal Farm?
All religions seem to have accomplished so far are to restrict their members, but esp. women, throughout their history. Religions, mind you, that seem to be run by a bunch of mysogynistic old men. Additionally, I think religions are the root of all evil. With their struggle for supremacy they seem to be at the very core of prejudice, intolerance and inequality.
But I digress. This was supposed to be a post about Prosperity Christianity, a new trend in the US and not some half-assed rant against religions in general.
What will those self-proclaimed prosperous Christians do when faced with successful Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists? Isn't that in itself a negation of what they believe in? How can members of other religions be successful and prosperous if only their own God wants them to be successful and prosperous? Oh, the agony and I can already see all those preachers scrambling to come up with a proper excuse. Probably some half-assed explanation of how God loves all humans and that he makes them successful DESPITE them being led astray by the wrong religion. Yeah right. And thousands will gobble it up like gospel. *sigh*
What do I know anyway, as I'm a self-proclaimed Heathen who will burn in Hell ... or just die quietly with no afterlife whatsoever. Another blib in the universe who thinks that equality in social issues are more important than whose God is better than the other. Someone who gives not a damn about whether another person is Christian, Muslim or a believer of the Church of Pink Panther for all I care as long as these ppl don't happen to be puppy kickers, mass murderers or child molesters. Now THAT is what I think is important, to live a life in peace, equality and dignity ... and if you hear me singing Anything You Can Do that is but only an illusion ...
