They have no idea that Christianity was militant until WW2. European history is 2000 years of Christians slaughtering other Christians and non-Christians.
This thing called "Christianity" has track record of covering up their depravity with the perversion of truth, logic, ethics and human rights, making an abomination of them. Religion seems to be a cancer for any society that aspires to be a liberal democracy.
Interesting history compilation. I am a Christian, but your history lesson is exactly WHY church and state need to remain separate. It’s why the “Founders” didn’t want a state church. Hundreds of years of war over who was worshipping God correctly! I stood on a tower in France that over a thousand Huguenots were thrown to their deaths because they denied that a priest had to talk to God for them. I have had a Near Death Experience and seen Heaven. There is a life after this one - but I just felt love and acceptance. There is no hate. There is no “forced religion”. What the “Christian Nationals” propose is wrong. People who commit horrendous acts in the name of “their” faith are following false prophets and false teachers. Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s and onto God what is God’s. Your faith is between you and God. Keep the “state” out of it.
“Lord, save me from your followers”. I love this newsletter (just started reading it), even though I consider myself a Christian, or at least a follower of his teachings. I also love reading Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, as atheists tend to make so much more sense than most believers. Everything you’ve presented is true, but I didn’t know about Martin Luther… yikes!
I am an atheist now but until Trump was elected I was a member of a church for most of my life. I’m learning way too much about it now that I wished I had known earlier. Can you recommend me a book by Harris or Hitchins?
I’ve read Letter to a Christian Nation or The End of Faith by Sam Harris and God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. They’re probably some newer books, as I read them a long time ago. And there may be more, but these are on my bookshelf and came to mind quickly. Hitchens died in 2011.
Also, read Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, the story that most challenged my faith and still does:
“A God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave His angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice, and invented hell–mouths mercy, and invented hell–mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people, and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites his poor abused slave to worship him!”
What's Christian about the Republicans that claim they're Christian and want to turn the USA into a ‘Christian’ nation? The separation of state and church is a really important principle that the ‘founding fathers’ had the wisdom and foresight to recognize. There's so much evil done in the name of religion, so many conflicts purely about who's got the ‘right’ way of practising. It's such utter BS, we may just as well start fighting over who has the right favourite colou:. mine's blue: death to the reds, greens, yellows, purples, oranges, lilacs, turquoises, pinks, greys (they're the worst), violets, browns, limes, beiges, cyans (don't get me started! Pretending they're one of us), magentas, cerises, indigos, teals…! But let's be clear, it's actually ultramarine, so first we need to get rid of the navy blues, sky blues, azures, lapis lazulis, cyans, ceruleans, royals…
Yeah, but at least they have that one less fallabilty. And that line of thinking comes with a good dose of proper reasoning, reducing the chance of failed thinking in other aspects of their humanity.
People forget that Martin Luther was a vicious anti-Semite.
Virtually every piece of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda was recycled material. The only thing that was new was linking it to Communism, and even that was not original, as it had been done almost as soon as Bolshevism got organized.
THANK YOU. I get agitated when people use the term Christo-facist because it is redundant. Just say Christian. The church and state realized they had more control over the population together when Charlemagne became The Holy Roman Emperor, and the very basis of Christianity depends on spreading the gospel, i.e. conversion, and often that means forced conversion. These pedophilic men are now the driving force, and money, behind the assault on reproductive rights in this country. Down with the lot of them.
I don’t know why I thought the Nazis were godless. How did I miss them? They were just another form of Warmongers cloaked in the fakery of the Christian Religion! Has there ever been a time when the Christian religion was true to Jesus’s teaching?
No. Even Jesus lamented that his apostles still were missing the point.
WWJD, as hokie as it became, is the standard by which all christians (and according to them, ALL humanity) will be judged (if you believe in a judgy higher power). Our hearts will be judged, and our actions are evidence as to what is in our hearts.
Frequently, it comes down to persons are pretty decent, but people are shit. Our desire to belong "trumps" our desire to be good, unless we are very careful. If we aren't, then we decent persons get warped into shitty people.
Many good examples of how christians have misinterpreted, failed to follow, or bent Jesus' life and message for their own selfish gain. These MAGA christians are more like the Pharisees than they are like Jesus. "Christian" means little christ... if they all copied Jesus, then they would be a different lot.
I appreciate the detailed history that you give here...I guess the Crusaders can at least say, " Well, at least we weren't slaughtering other Christians!"🤯😜
I don't know enough history to be certain, but my impression was that the Crusades were mostly aimed at followers of Mohammed, the Muslims.
You are quite correct. They were actually about reconquering Jerusalem (which had been conquered by the Muslims). I think they weren't really specifically aimed at Islam, just that the Muslims were the people who happened to have conquered Jerusalem. If it had been the followers of another faith the crusaders would have been aimed at them (and history would have been very different: eg no Isis?). The most famous & successful of the Muslim leaders was Saladin, during the third crusade.
I’m also left-handed with Rh negative blood, born with blue-green eyes. Thus, I do not belong on this earth except as an outlier. I would suggest we outliers need to stick together but, as I said outlier so not many of us. I forgot to mention, atheist so life in danger. Oh well, or is that Orwell?
It was a family feud. The worst kind, when one side of the family turns against the other side. Sure, they were all „Christians“ to outsiders, but each group saw itself as „the true Christians“ and the other side as „Godless Heretics!!!1!11!“. It works that way with most religions. Same as the Sunnis and Shiites, or the Mormons and the Shakers. The goal is the eradication of the Enemy, or a very hostile coexistence until the time arrives to finish the job.
This thing called "Christianity" has track record of covering up their depravity with the perversion of truth, logic, ethics and human rights, making an abomination of them. Religion seems to be a cancer for any society that aspires to be a liberal democracy.
More pisful than peaceful
Interesting history compilation. I am a Christian, but your history lesson is exactly WHY church and state need to remain separate. It’s why the “Founders” didn’t want a state church. Hundreds of years of war over who was worshipping God correctly! I stood on a tower in France that over a thousand Huguenots were thrown to their deaths because they denied that a priest had to talk to God for them. I have had a Near Death Experience and seen Heaven. There is a life after this one - but I just felt love and acceptance. There is no hate. There is no “forced religion”. What the “Christian Nationals” propose is wrong. People who commit horrendous acts in the name of “their” faith are following false prophets and false teachers. Render onto Caesar what is Caesar’s and onto God what is God’s. Your faith is between you and God. Keep the “state” out of it.
That life after death thing. Just a struggling brain's orgasm. There's nothing after your lights go out.
“Lord, save me from your followers”. I love this newsletter (just started reading it), even though I consider myself a Christian, or at least a follower of his teachings. I also love reading Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris, as atheists tend to make so much more sense than most believers. Everything you’ve presented is true, but I didn’t know about Martin Luther… yikes!
Hi Sally! I'm glad you like this newsletter! Welcome!
I am an atheist now but until Trump was elected I was a member of a church for most of my life. I’m learning way too much about it now that I wished I had known earlier. Can you recommend me a book by Harris or Hitchins?
I’ve read Letter to a Christian Nation or The End of Faith by Sam Harris and God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. They’re probably some newer books, as I read them a long time ago. And there may be more, but these are on my bookshelf and came to mind quickly. Hitchens died in 2011.
Also, read Mark Twain’s The Mysterious Stranger, the story that most challenged my faith and still does:
“A God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave His angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice, and invented hell–mouths mercy, and invented hell–mouths Golden Rules and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people, and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man’s acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites his poor abused slave to worship him!”
Oh, those fun loving Nazis! What a way to celebrate Christian love than with a good old fashioned slaughter.
So... what was christian about them?
Exactly zilch
What's Christian about the Republicans that claim they're Christian and want to turn the USA into a ‘Christian’ nation? The separation of state and church is a really important principle that the ‘founding fathers’ had the wisdom and foresight to recognize. There's so much evil done in the name of religion, so many conflicts purely about who's got the ‘right’ way of practising. It's such utter BS, we may just as well start fighting over who has the right favourite colou:. mine's blue: death to the reds, greens, yellows, purples, oranges, lilacs, turquoises, pinks, greys (they're the worst), violets, browns, limes, beiges, cyans (don't get me started! Pretending they're one of us), magentas, cerises, indigos, teals…! But let's be clear, it's actually ultramarine, so first we need to get rid of the navy blues, sky blues, azures, lapis lazulis, cyans, ceruleans, royals…
Religion is such a powerful opiate, as Marx claimed, that make people numb to the worst atrocities and provide a rationale for them.
And atheists are just as fallible.
Religion is a mass delusion. Atheism is the rejection of that mass delusion.
But I do not have a societal structure that reinforces my delusion, whereas religion does.
Yeah, but at least they have that one less fallabilty. And that line of thinking comes with a good dose of proper reasoning, reducing the chance of failed thinking in other aspects of their humanity.
People forget that Martin Luther was a vicious anti-Semite.
Virtually every piece of Nazi anti-Semitic propaganda was recycled material. The only thing that was new was linking it to Communism, and even that was not original, as it had been done almost as soon as Bolshevism got organized.
THANK YOU. I get agitated when people use the term Christo-facist because it is redundant. Just say Christian. The church and state realized they had more control over the population together when Charlemagne became The Holy Roman Emperor, and the very basis of Christianity depends on spreading the gospel, i.e. conversion, and often that means forced conversion. These pedophilic men are now the driving force, and money, behind the assault on reproductive rights in this country. Down with the lot of them.
Yeah, they think they are GOAT Christians. They are more like demons.
“Real Christians” don’t worship idols like The Golden Pig.
I don’t know why I thought the Nazis were godless. How did I miss them? They were just another form of Warmongers cloaked in the fakery of the Christian Religion! Has there ever been a time when the Christian religion was true to Jesus’s teaching?
No. Even Jesus lamented that his apostles still were missing the point.
WWJD, as hokie as it became, is the standard by which all christians (and according to them, ALL humanity) will be judged (if you believe in a judgy higher power). Our hearts will be judged, and our actions are evidence as to what is in our hearts.
Frequently, it comes down to persons are pretty decent, but people are shit. Our desire to belong "trumps" our desire to be good, unless we are very careful. If we aren't, then we decent persons get warped into shitty people.
Yes.
Everyday.
In all the right ways.
But no one reports it because it's not good copy.
Religion, racism, resources and revenge are the favorite tools of demagogues.
There’s no hate like Christian love.
Many good examples of how christians have misinterpreted, failed to follow, or bent Jesus' life and message for their own selfish gain. These MAGA christians are more like the Pharisees than they are like Jesus. "Christian" means little christ... if they all copied Jesus, then they would be a different lot.
Or it means christ-like (same)
I appreciate the detailed history that you give here...I guess the Crusaders can at least say, " Well, at least we weren't slaughtering other Christians!"🤯😜
I don't know enough history to be certain, but my impression was that the Crusades were mostly aimed at followers of Mohammed, the Muslims.
You are quite correct. They were actually about reconquering Jerusalem (which had been conquered by the Muslims). I think they weren't really specifically aimed at Islam, just that the Muslims were the people who happened to have conquered Jerusalem. If it had been the followers of another faith the crusaders would have been aimed at them (and history would have been very different: eg no Isis?). The most famous & successful of the Muslim leaders was Saladin, during the third crusade.
They are so insecure and just have to project
They learn from
The trumpette
I’m also left-handed with Rh negative blood, born with blue-green eyes. Thus, I do not belong on this earth except as an outlier. I would suggest we outliers need to stick together but, as I said outlier so not many of us. I forgot to mention, atheist so life in danger. Oh well, or is that Orwell?
Didn’t the 30 years war result in the killing, slaughter, of approximately 1/3 of Europeans? Such a wonderful history to demonstrate god’s love.
It was a family feud. The worst kind, when one side of the family turns against the other side. Sure, they were all „Christians“ to outsiders, but each group saw itself as „the true Christians“ and the other side as „Godless Heretics!!!1!11!“. It works that way with most religions. Same as the Sunnis and Shiites, or the Mormons and the Shakers. The goal is the eradication of the Enemy, or a very hostile coexistence until the time arrives to finish the job.