The atrocities of Christianity

If you read the whole chapter, it sounds a lot like the same moral message in the story, "The Christmas Carol" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Christmas_Carol
It's a parable about a rich man who didn't care about the poor or the suffering; and when he died, he was left to suffer in the afterlife. If the parable bothers you, then make a donation to the poor or a charity. There are New Yorkers who got hammered by hurricane Sandy. There asking for help. Try sending them a donation through the Salvation Army (or some other charity).

16:19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

16:20
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

16:21
And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

16:22
And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

16:23
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

16:24
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

16:25
But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

16:26
And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.

16:27
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

16:28
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

16:29
Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

16:30
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

16:31
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead

 

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Maybe you are one of the few who will suffer in the afterlife because you didn't understand the message. You didn't understand charity or helping those who are suffering or in need. It's not about which religion or philosophy you choose or not choose. It's about caring about others, it's about charity and love. Even the people who try to be compassionate and charitable go to heaven. But if you're too much of a scrooge in this life, then maybe you do go to hell in the afterlife.

 

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If anything about Christianity is atrocious, it's the constant threat of eternal hell-fire if you don't believe in their unsupported faith.

 

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I have a hard time morally justifying the eternal torture of people who are just stingy. The fact that christianity justifies such an attitude says alot about its ethically inferior nature.

 

Then you're just not getting it. It's the difference between intelligence,... ... and wisdom.

 

Your outrage is focused only on the way some Christians and their doctrines treat outsiders.

Don't forget the way these people treat eachother.
They abort a good portion of their population, beat their wives and children, and back in the day, anyone could denounce anyone, even with fatal repercussions for the denounced; they started off with a brother killing a brother, and then they stood there and watched as who they believed was their exclusive link to God, was tortured and killed.

If Christians would be all lovey-dovey amongst themselves, but hateful only towards outsiders, the situation would be different, and your criticism would be more applicable.

 

You're another one who needs to move beyond logic ...


... into wisdom.

 

Oh yes, a wise god would, in his infinite wisdom, and benevolence, be a helpless subject to his wrath.

 

What if those wars are the real form of it?

What if a combative, militant outlook is the most Christianity can offer, even if under the guise of "love thy neighbor"?

 

You're not getting it. It's not about which religion is right. Go back and read those Bible passages ...

... with wisdom.

Pray to something that is holy to you, and ask for wisdom. Then you will see it.

 

The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way!

 

To tell you the truth, this intellectually constipated path is unbearably difficult. Furthermore, it yields nothing of value. In fact, it incurs a high cost of misery. I hereby renounce the path of intellectual constipation. Atheism and mentalism are a huge waste of time.

 

So much for wisdom...

 

Yet Pascal's wager seems interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal's_Wager

 

That's worse than open warfare and hatred, one of the points put forward by Magical

 

I think Christianity, specifically the teachings of Christ, have been misunderstood by those who lack wisdom. The whole point was to get people to take care of each other, to love each other. When you have wisdom, you can see that Christianity and other religious teachings are saying the same thing. It is men who fail to act with wisdom; and the result is bloodshed and war and harm and hatred and evil.

 

Agreed. But a person can agree with (and learn from and practice) the many teachings of Christ, Buddha, Mohammed etc. without believing in the superstitious hoopla, too. They said wise things that made sense. But so did George Carlin.

 

That's not your call to make.

 

Clearly, it is, since I do not go for that superstitious hoopla.


You, on the other hand, can believe it all you like.

It's irrelevant to whether others believe it- and also to whether they can recognize and admire the wisdom in many religions, even if they do not believe in the superstition and without ignoring the negativity in doctrine as a believer must do.

 

Oh right, we've all got it wrong, and you've got it all figured out. Of course.

In truth, every word attributed to the (probably fictional) Nazarene came from a man who believed the end of the world was imminent. "This generation shall not pass," he said. Love was made compulsory, the absence of it punishable by an eternity in fire. Jesus was trying to create order before the day of judgment, not trying to "fix" humanity so that everyone would live better lives; he bid them to leave their families, to give no thought for tomorrow. If I put a gun to your head and told you to convert to atheism because you'd be better off, and then shot you when you failed to, could I claim to have killed you out of love? Of course not. Yet that's what Jesus did. He held humanity at gunpoint and told them that if they didn't drop what they were doing, throw on some sandals and follow him over the next hill, they'd spend their afterlives burning.

To call this love is to pervert the very concept.

George Carlin is the only one of the men you've listed whose words can be taken in context, in full, without having to explain away some nefarious ulterior motives. Jesus didn't really preach love as you and I think of it. Sure, "do unto others" is quotable, but given what he was trying to accomplish with it, and what he promised to those who did not, it's hard to call what he possessed "wisdom."