Evangelical Christian leader Russell Moore revealed this week that many evangelical pastors have become alarmed that their Trump-loving congregants have become so militant that they are even rejecting the teachings of Jesus Christ.In an interview with NPR, Moore said that multiple pastors had told h…

  • SokathHisEyesOpen
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    151 year ago

    I was just talking to my son about this last weekend. We were discussing the merits of organized religion. He said “I don’t need the threat of eternal punishment to act morally”. I said “you’re right, and neither do I, but there seems to be a great many people who do. So although the church is largely an instrument of control, it’s a necessity for a great many people”. It is going to have a profoundly negative impact on our society when these people are completely unleashed.

      • SokathHisEyesOpen
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        61 year ago

        I think you missed the point. The threat of eternal punishment is the only thing holding a lot of people in check.

        • Jackie's Fridge
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          51 year ago

          Can we just swap that for enforceable threats of NOW punishment? We have laws. Let’s start using them.

          • @joel_feila
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            31 year ago

            with out hte church they would replace with the state or any other higher things. They have need to be loyal to something greater then them.

          • @Daft_ish
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            1 year ago

            Agree.

            “The only thing keeping kids from being naughty is Santa Claus.”

            Christians will sit in pews, worship their God, listen to a parabol about feeding the hungry then in unison vote republican. God and the church have no influence here other then maybe incouraging their shit behavior.

    • @[email protected]
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      41 year ago

      I would rather have people act morally because of empathy and even social pressure, versus “master told me to.”

      Granted, if the church and its teachings disappeared today, things may get a bit more rough in the near future. Religion works on some people because they were raised in it and need it to stay normal. But if they weren’t indoctrinated since birth, it would not have such a hold on their morality.

      Also granted, I’m sure there are plenty of people who would still act better with it than without it. Just speaking in general terms here.

      • @[email protected]
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        21 year ago

        I would also prefer if people just acted out of empathy but I believe some people just can’t. Ironically while many claim that autistic can’t they are often more empathetic than others.

        What I really dislike with this kind of Christians is that they have so much text regarding compassion but they still just care about the parts that can be used to judge others. even though they claim to read the Bible literally. Which of course they don’t.

        • @[email protected]
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          21 year ago

          Yeah, I would say that it’s another example of those Christians cherry picking the parts of the Bible that are convenient for what they already believe, but they aren’t even doing that. The majority are just repeating lines they were fed.

          • @[email protected]
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            21 year ago

            Jepp, it’s quite impossible to discuss with them even though I keep on trying. Many of them can’t even admit that their reading of the text is also an interpretation or that interpretations also has been made during the translation of the texts.

            I much prefer the traditional Jewish tradition to argue with the text (and god) for the benefit of human kind. But that takes a deep knowledge and understanding of the texts that most people lack.

    • @QHC
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      31 year ago

      Aw, how sweet that you think a negative impact on society from religion is something that will happen in the future.