[Jesus sits on a rock, speaking]
A new command I give you:
Love one another
[an angry character talks back to Jesus]
What if they’re something bad like gay, trans, brown, or communist though?
[Jesus is facepalming on his rock]
I don’t want to be a messiah anymore
“Your average Christian” depends on where you live. I have “christians” in my family, in my neighborhood, at work, what one would likely describe as average around here, that have expressed at minimum a denial of the humanity of those who are different from them, seemingly instituted or encouraged by their “Christian” culture. I know this isn’t all christians, but it seems like where I live, the churches that preach inclusivity are few in number and slim in attendance, and although still not a majority, there are more that preach AGAINST inclusivity, and the predominant culture among most christians regardless seems to lean in that direction. In the lead up to the 2024 election, a number of “christians” close to me expressed extremely violent potentialities should Trump not win, pointing directly toward acceptance and secularism as their motivations and justifications.
You have expressed that things would be worse in the world if it would be some other religion. You think a world where any other religion holding a majority would be worse, is that what you’re saying? That is quite an assertion, and I’d like to see you prove that. Imagine if secular humanism were more central in people’s lives… What a world we could have.
I am starting to get that impression.
What is the threshold for inclusivity, though? For example, my Church does have gay, trans and cohabiting people in the congregation, but we don’t necessarily preach that these things are okay. However, it is worth acknowledging that everyone is sinful, so we cannot cast the first stone (referencing John 8:1-11 here) and that we aren’t saved by being perfect either. Afaik they aren’t even excluded from membership. They are people made in God’s image whom Christ died for also.
I doubt the world would be better off with secular humanism. It is all generally based on opinion.
There are movements like The Manosphere which I feel would have been a lot more influential if it weren’t for Christianity
This by itself is a problem, because people need to be taught aspects of morality, and this is absolutely one of them.
This is one of the absolute worst teachings of Christianity, that you are born with sin inherited from previous generations, and you need Jesus Christ to help you with that.
No you are saved by being a faithful mindless sheep.
This is just the ignorance that can be expected from a religious person.
Humanism is based on ethics that evolve with increased knowledge from scientific evidence. For instance the bible teaches us that animals have no soul, and for that reason Christians can conclude it is OK to mistreat animals, because they don’t actually feel anything. ( For instance Descartes)
Scientific evidence on the other hand, show this to be very clearly false. The emotions of many animals are almost exactly similar to our own emotions. And anyone who isn’t a deranged psychopath can see that with their own eyes.
The claim that Humanism isn’t better than the bible is outright deranged.
It is my experience again that adherents to the Manosphere and this hyper-masculine rejection of empathy are christians, but as above, I live in a shitty place. You seem like a good person and you’re devoted to the kinder aspects of your religion. You can believe whatever you want to believe, but I’d rather not spend my time in the spaces I’ve described with those people where it can be avoided. I’d rather not base my beliefs on ideas about inherent guilt and blood sacrifice, superstition and unprovable supernatural claims, where differences in interpretation can lead to these seemingly abhorrent separations from one church to another. Instead, and I suppose that you’re correct that this is just an opinion, I think a better world would be found when we remove ourselves from these ancient notions of the world around us. I do hope the best for us all, as I’m sure you do also.