Revelations IS far out. That's where the Four Horsemen come from. An eternal city for the righteous descending from Heaven to Earth. A world "that no longer has a sea." (What does that even mean?)Song of Solomon is juicy, Relevation is far out, and John is like, yeah, I kinda get it, man.
Do you have an army backing you? Have you conquered other lands? Then you merely have a cult.This might be it. 😜😜😜
So, serious question, but could we literally do this with any book? Can I just take the count of Monte Cristo and start preaching he was a real man and that his teachings were about how only revenge can make you happy in the end or some other book and if enough people start listening it'll be a religion in the future?
Wow dude. This is horrific. I'm so sad to hear that you went through this.When I was 7, my mother worked away so she left me with an extreme Jehovah's Witness family, because that was the flavor of the day for her. The JW family was robotic and super creepy, like walking mannequins. They forced me to read the Bible. There were several punishments for not remembering phrases or parts of it including
- Being slapped/beaten
- Being starved
- Having my books destroyed
- Put in isolation
- Left outside naked and hosed down at night
- Having literal human shit thrown on me (they used their own shit in a jar with water to catch flies, I would sometimes get this thrown at me)
- Dropped 10-15 kms outside of town and told to walk back
I don't want the Bible within 200ft of me.
Usually from what I hear, it's stupid ass bible belt-style people whipping and chastising their children for not believing, or witnessing racism/misogynism/etc/ in "the name of God."As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
That wasn't your questionI don't proclaim it to be factual and use it to destroy the environment and opress people.
It's not that complicated. People want to believe there's a point to life and a meaning. Some people find it in religion, others in drugs, others in sex, others in creating art. Whatever gets you through to the next day.
When I was 7, my mother worked away so she left me with an extreme Jehovah's Witness family, because that was the flavor of the day for her. The JW family was robotic and super creepy, like walking mannequins. They forced me to read the Bible. There were several punishments for not remembering phrases or parts of it including
- Being slapped/beaten
- Being starved
- Having my books destroyed
- Put in isolation
- Left outside naked and hosed down at night
- Having literal human shit thrown on me (they used their own shit in a jar with water to catch flies, I would sometimes get this thrown at me)
- Dropped 10-15 kms outside of town and told to walk back
I don't want the Bible within 200ft of me.
Wow dude. This is horrific. I'm so sad to hear that you went through this.
Much love to ya <3
As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
I'm 35 now, this happened when I was 7-10 years old so well into my past. It comes to mind every time someone brings up the Bible and it is hard to get out of my head a bit.
Nothing, it's not like Christians pick the Bible from "the marketplace of religions".
They're in it because their parents were in it.
Historically, the Bible probably supplanted various pagan religions because those religions were not very forgiving or kind. Their message was "your life is in the hands of the gods and there's nothing you can do about it". This isn't nearly as appealing as "follow these rules and you will be rewarded eternally."
I like DBZ but I don't think it's real
I understand. Your situation is a typical example of how awful religion can be really. Glad that it didn't destroy your life. Curious, if I may ask, are you religious? I assume no?
Anyone who uses Jesus' name to promote slavery or racism is a stupid, uneducated jerk. This has been a PSA thank you
I'm so sorry for Bible Belters. What you've seen is nowhere near what Jesus intended. So similar to the Jewish People of his own time.
When you actually read it, it's crazy shit. I'd love an HBO retelling of the Bible in the game of thrones style. That shit would be wild
For me, it's when I realized that I'm more empathetic and loving than the God that claims to be loving everyone unconditionally. So I mean if that's a load of bollocks then the rest probably is too.As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.
Yeah! Make a BCU :vWhen you actually read it, it's crazy shit. I'd love an HBO retelling of the Bible in the game of thrones style. That shit would be wild.
Dunno the questions, but I like this video:I read the whole bible and no christians could answer my questions about unsaved indigenous people and slavery being condoned in the Bible
This was a totally foreign concept to me as a northeasterner for a long time, and I didn't understand why anyone could hate a God who professes love and understanding over everything
Book of Proverbs is a great read. So many lessons there. So good they almost took it out of the Bible.Part of the biggest appeal is when you're at your lowest point in life (depression or tragedy or whatever) you can flip open a book and have access to universal truths regarding everything from the beginning of the world to the end of the world.
Personally , I do not blindly take everything the Bible says as literal. Jesus taught in parables, so I view some of the more fantastical parts as parables as well.
Check out the book of Proverbs if you feel like you just want some general life advice. Some parts are actually funny too. "It is better to live in a corner on the roof than to live in a house with an angry wife"
As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
I was raised muslim. Both of my parents devout. But I started to question many things when I was very young. My questions annoyed my parents a lot. Mainly because they couldn't answer them.
I read the Quran myself. And the Bible too. They are very well written, but nothing more. It's clear that both have been written by straight men. These books are very men-focused.
– Biblical masculinity means a man is the spiritual leader of his home (Ephesians 6:4)
– Biblical masculinity means a husband recognizes the differences between he and his wife (1 Peter 3:7).
– It frowns on men who delegate this command to their wives (1 Timothy 2:11-12).
Just a few examples...
As I said, I read both of these books out of curiosity. I will NEVER understand how peole can support these books and take them so seriously...
These books display love, but also encourage hate.
""A woman shall not wear a man's garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God."
"You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination."
FUCK OFF :)
How can anyone support these lines?
I was raised Christian and conservative, but as I grew up, I realized that religion had no answer for many of the questions I had about the world. Plus I've always been drawn to science and trying to understand how the universe worked. I was very curious by nature, and "trust that God has a plan" wasn't cutting it. I was questioning my faith by my early teens and was in that "spiritual, but not religious" phase by my late teens.As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
As often as I see this question posed I'm equally curious about what makes people turn away from religion having grown up with it.
well i don't think many earnestly read it and those that do zero in on very particular passages
like how pseudo intellectuals have a copy of Finnegan's Wake in plain view of their bookshelf while not knowing fuck all what it's about. it's like the entire western world's version of that
I'm just wondering what makes that piece of work so enticing? Is it just because it says it's the word of God and was stuffed down most of humanities throats?
When you actually read it, it's crazy shit. I'd love an HBO retelling of the Bible in the game of thrones style. That shit would be wild.
I just don't get how it's believable by anyone, especially the old testament. Like Giants, dragons, giant turtles that hold the world on its back.
What exactly makes this book believable with its fantastical shit but something like Homer's Odyssey an obvious "work of fiction" . but crazier shit happened in the Bible and that's legit? Not to mention even the awful things it condones like slavery. Etc.
This thread might be perceived as in ill faith by some of the Christians on the site but I'm being serious with my question.
Coming from an outsider perspective I cannot see the "amazing" things this book has to offer. Much less why I should consider it a literal history. And hell I haven't even gotten into the epilogue of the story. That is just absolute craziness from start to finish.
it is.
The Bible is so fucking weird. I was raised Catholic up until I was ten and went to a Christian school my entire childhood and the reverends or whatever would cherry pick what's supposed to be a serious lesson and not. Most of it I was told to ignore because it's outdated or just to be a cool story with no meaning. I'm pretty sure that's why I started doubting religion because they wrote off so much of what they were supposed to be teaching as a joke.
But there is some cool ass shit in there. The guy I was named after in particular was a fucking badass.