Is Christianity the bane of modern human society?

Post Reply New Topic

*Disclaimer: The following thread was made purely for speculative purposes. If you are offended by the nature of this thread, please turn away to another thread.*

This was one of the earliest threads I made on Yahoo Answers. And boy oh boy did I get a lot of responses from aethiests!

Here's the link to it if you're interested in the details: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/inde ... 426AAB9p5Z

Of course there's another question I had in there as well, but I'd rather leave that one for another thread of its own.

On with the topic:

Oh Christianity... When will you ever be united as one in a country called "the United States of America"?

It seems that all kinds of horrors are linked to this supposedly "peaceful" religion. Allow me to explain

Christianity is held account for:
-mass murders
-segregation
-war
-stupidity
-slowing technological and societal progress (everything that sparks a change is always linked to the devil )
-domestic and sexual abuse
-gender inequality
-suffering
-creating a cult that centers around racism (*cough* Ku-klux clan *cough*)

And a million other horrors that I'd be talking all day about.

While the "Devil worshipers" are held accountable for:
-reciting a few rituals, perhaps killing a person or two.
-worshiping a deity that, according to them, promotes change, Independence and manipulation (Y'know, stuff the U.S.A. is used to doing!)

And not much else since they are most likely a minority

Will humanity be closer to world peace should Christianity influence fades from existence or am I missing something here?

Also, Am I the only one finds it baffling that a single being created an entire world when, for the most part, it takes the efforts of many individuals to even do such a monumental task?

Saying that a single god created the universe is like saying George Washington created the United States when, in reality, it was created by the combined efforts of colonist who left Europe!

I'd probably have better luck believing that the Greek gods created the world rather than a single, supposedly "all powerful" god.

I'm an atheist myself, but I don't believe that Christianity or any other religion is intrinsically evil.

The world's conflicts are driven by people who want power, territory and resources - if the powerful feel that they can use religion as a way to justify their actions, or to create an atmosphere of "us and them" to divide and conquer, then they will. In the absence of religion, they would surely find some other means to draw people in.

What some people might see as the "corruption" of Biblical teachings (e.g. the massive wealth of some churches when their flock are impoverished, the legalisation of usury), largely began when the Romans adopted Christianity as their state religion - and many changes to Christianity since its early, pacifist, beginnings were driven by rivalries between kingdoms as much as by ecclesiastic dogma.

And there was plenty of warfare and strife in Europe long before Christianity became the dominant religion there. For example, the Roman legions included people who believed in all manner of different gods, as the Romans didn't really care who or what conquered people prayed to as long as they paid their taxes and served in the armed forces when required.

Christianity is being blamed for too many things , movies and music push a hedonistic lifestyle which is worse for society

No worries - I didn't take your post as offensive at all. It's a very interesting debate, and I think your post showed that you are open to arguments from either side.

No, modern western society exists because of it. The idea that America started in a secular vacuum and Christianity slowly corrupted it is a joke. Idiots and barbarians are the bane of society and they're ingrained in all cultures.
Don't ask westerners who still believe in the actual faith and not insane modern copycats to give up their 1,800 year old cultural heritage so easily.

-Mass Murders
Many people of different religions have used religion as an excuse for murders. IS call themselves Muslims and use their religion as an excuse to kill people. In the past, the Catholic Church used their religion as an excuse to kill Jews, Muslims, Protestants... anyone who wasn't Catholic. But you can't look at IS and say that all Muslims are terrorists and you can't look at the Spanish Inquisition and say that all Christians are terrorists. It isn't the fault of the religion. It's the fault of the person.

-Segregation/Racism
I'm going to put this answer into one post because my answer correlates with each other.
Segregation and racism is more complex than that. Racism occurred when Europeans began to believe that they were better than others and therefore deserve more power than other countries. Since Christianity is the most popular religion in Europe and now the world, when Europeans began colonization they made others to convert to their religion because they thought they were better than them. Christianity itself is not responsible for racism because racism became the mindset of Europeans that many white people and even people of color are still trying to unlearn. There are Christians who are people of color and aren't racist. Besides, the Bible even takes place mostly in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. It wasn't originally a "white people's religion". It was an everyone religion, and it started in the Middle East. Again, people use religion as an excuse for bigotry.

-War
There were wars initiated in the name of Christianity. There were also wars initiated in the name of other religions too.

-Stupidity
There are a lot of people who are Christian who reject views on science such as evolution and are creationists. There are a lot of Christians who are evolutionists. Honestly, I can't care less how you personally think the world was created as long as you aren't going to force other people to believe the same. Then it harms people.

-Slowing technological and societal progress
Many scientists who proposed theories that the Catholic Church rejected were still Christian and often Catholic themselves. This was the fault of the Catholic institution at the time, not of the religion itself.

-Domestic and sexual abuse
It's true some people believe it's their duty as a Christian to "control their household" by abusing their children or wife. But Christians aren't the only people to commit domestic or sexual abuse, and often it is influenced by a greater reason besides just the fact they are a Christian. Most Christians realize that abuse is awful and point to the fact the Bible says to "turn the other cheek" and to treat others the way they want to be treated.

-Gender inequality
Gender inequality is seen worldwide in multiple religions.

-Suffering
Again, events such as the Spanish Inquisition were inspired by Christianity and caused suffering. But people of all religions and people who lacked religion caused suffering too. There are many reasons for suffering to happen besides religion.

I'm going to go on to say that yes, Christianity does say many things in the Bible that we now see as being intolerant and not up to par to modern information. For example, as someone who is pansexual, I will say that it is true that the Bible has said things that made some Christians decide that not being straight and cisgender is a sin. But a lot of Christians disagree. Some argue that they have interpreted the passage wrong while others just outright deny the passage. What it goes down to is here is the religion you want to believe. Are you going to find a way to let it corrupt you or are you going to take the wisdom you can find in it and use it to better yourself as a person? For me, I don't know what religion I am and don't find comfort in it due to concepts such as hell that, though there are Christians who reject it, still bugs me too much to accept the religion. But if you are a Christian because believing in heaven brings you peace in life and you love Jesus' teaching about love then all power to you! Again, just don't use the religion as an excuse for bigotry or ignorance.

What rocococat said. The problem isn't Christianity itself, since you can be a Christian and a perfectly decent person. The problem is people who use Christianity to justify their bigotry.

Wow, nothing like painting with a broad brush.

The problem with ALL religions is a problem that develops with all civilization constructs - they get hijacked by people/s that use them to justify supposed supremacy. EVERY FREAKING RELIGION has this problem. All throughout history there have been people that have assumed that they are superior to others. Sometimes religion is twisted to justify that assumption, sometimes another construct is used - philosophy, science, laws, etc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please read history.

For instance, SCIENCE was very much behind the German High Command's attitudes during WWI.

Here is a quote from the Wikipedia page for Vernon Lyman Kellogg (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Lyman_Kellogg)

"His academic career was interrupted by two years (1915 and 1916) spent in Brussels as director of Hoover's humanitarian American Commission for Relief in Belgium. Initially a pacifist, Kellogg dined with the officers of the German Supreme Command. He became shocked by the grotesque Social Darwinist motivation for the German war machine - the creed of survival of the fittest based on violent and fatal competitive struggle is the Gospel of the German intellectuals.[1]"

1. ^ Headquarters nights; a record of conversations and experiences at the headquarters of the German army in France and Belgium (Atlantic Monthly Press, Boston, v. 1917)

To respond to the title, I believe not so much. I believe it slows down human progress though. You should read into the "Age of Enlightenment". There's so much material as it's a broad subject but it's interesting nonetheless.

Pretty much us humans have been around for a while, but the moment the scientific revolution started and church and state separated our living standards went way up. Personally I believe science is just another stage. We're starting to move on from religion (agonizingly slowly, but either way) and we're currently experimenting with science. Eventually we'll reach a point where there's nothing new for us to learn (which may not even take that long anymore). And then we'll move on to something else if history repeats itself. I have no idea what that would be, and for all I know science might kill us all through a nuclear war or the spawning of a black hole long before that happens. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, honestly.

No.

Ot's not christianity per se, but rather the "grand narrative", as Lyotard called it.

A grand narrative is a religious or quasi religious story of mankind that places us in a bigger story of a fight of good against evil. Christianity has one, communism has one, capitalism has one, the american dream is one, and the nazis had one, too.
At some point, however, these grand narratives fail to explain reality, and in the face of glaring inconsistencies, they raise the question of " either you're with us, or against us". Trump is an example of this state, his narrative being the american dream.

Loss of grand narratives is a hallmark of the postmodern condition, a state in which we don't really belong to any side and feel a bit lost in the world.
Thankfully, there's commodities to fill the void, and so much star wars merchandise to collect.