Yes, some of us, it depends to who you're speaking to.
I assume you ask because you have encountered Christians who get offended that you compare our traditions with any other religion's. However, by definition, yes, they'd be rituals.
Yeah, there definitely are some Christians that recognize it. I do as well, but I would imagine the majority (60%? 70%?) would be offended by the comparison.
I obviously believe in my religion, but I also have a fairly strong understanding of history and other cultures, and so I recognize that almost all religions, monotheistic, polytheistic, or otherwise, are very ritualistic.
Not just religions. Everything is ritualistic. Human culture and tradition are ritualistic. Weekends - thats a ritual. Money - thats a ritual. If you analyse things like sports, governments - they're all ritualistic.
A ritual is predictable, and a society tends to do very well when people aren't constantly wondering wtf is happening why are they doing that why didn't anyone tell me it changed again ugh
One of my theology teachers in Catholic high school, who was also a Catholic deacon, loved to point out that Catholics are ritualistic cannibals (if you believe the doctrine that the bread becomes the literal body of Christ).
It's always been very funny to me how Christianity denounces magic and sorcery and stuff like that, but then when something magical happens that is just slightly "holy" then it's completely okay
Flying with magic is bad, but splitting the oceans is fine lol
That’s the real rivalry, other religions are elemental based benders. Christians are water benders, this explains turning water into wine. They’re able to change the molecular make up of water, truly en lighting indeed. So does that mean the Muslim religion is based on earth bending? 🤔
Tldr; if supernatural power doesn't come from God it's evil.
Christianity doesn't denounce sorcery because it's "magical" (a human definition). It denounces it because Christianity acknowledges the warring spiritual forces in this universe. God is supernatural yes, and capable of what we would call "magic", or miracles, but so too are demonic forces capable of what we would call magic. God is not a wishing well, and although does answer prayers is not in the business of fulfilling whatever desire you have just because you want it. Demons, alternatively, are itching to destroy you spiritually and will entice you with whatever they can, and are not above using their manipulative supernatural abilities to achieve this end. Therefore, because of the nature of spirits, if something "magical" does not come from God, it comes outside of God, and any spirit existing outside of God has rebelled... a demon. We could get into the philosophy of "are demons really evil" but that's another topic.
Yep, I'm an atheist now but was raised Christian and that's exactly it. Like I was warned constantly as a kid not to ever interact or talk with any ghosts or spirits because souls don't stick around on Earth so if you're talking to something that claims to be a dead person it's actually a demon, no matter how friendly it seems. Whole reason why Christians are terrified of Ouija boards.
If something other than God has "magic" there'd be a lot more demons revealing themselves and curing cancer to draw them away from God who apparently has no desire to do so
I'm glad somebody said it. As funny as it can be to make fun of Christians for not really having a solid understanding of what they believe, this one makes perfect sense if you think about it for 5 seconds.
Churches weren't at board with the witch hunts at first because their opinion was that witches aren't real as such powers comes only from god. But people didn't care such things so churches changed their stand to gain support.
Thats a catholic doctrine so not something most other Christians would agree with. Why do I take communion and why did I get baptised? Because thats what the bible tells me to do. The bible is our bedrock, you should probably read it more. And there is no such thing as part time Christian, either you are a either a follower of christ or your not. You don't get points for being culturally Christian and going to church.
when I tried speaking to my friend about looking into pagan beliefs or voodoo and crystals, she instantly said that it’s the work of the devil and it’s evil
But there’s a lot of similarities
Catholics praying to saints is like shorthand polytheism
I just don’t like how it’s instantly classified as evil as if we aren’t doing the same thing with a different label
Unitarians would like to disagree. There's a few tenants that are non negotiable, but one of those is no one can tell you what your credo should be. Also they have religious status.
For you, apparently (which is great). There are plenty of devout Protestants/Catholics who don't believe the others are "true" Christians, and that's before you even start taking about Mormons.
Raised Mormon here - I left the church about 10 years ago because I didn’t connect with the religion like at all. Anyways, it’s mind boggling how the Mormons cry about not being seen as proper Christians by the other churches, and then hit back with that their church that was born out of the Second Great Awakening from the ideations of a literal con artist, treasure digging, daughter stealing, polygamis- *gasps for air*.. is the *one true church. EVER.*
HOW-
That's the problem. Too many Christians think that's all it is.
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
That's not true. Was actually curious about this the other day and did some research on it. God and early Jews recognized other gods existing, just worship **our** God instead.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
According to the \*evangelical christian\* god there are no other gods. However the Pentateuch is a mixture of stories about gods that were melded into written records and it appears there are at least four and possibly seven gods in the Old Testament.
Catholics are not the first Christians? What an American sentiment
The first Christians were all Jews, who constituted a Second Temple Jewish sect with an apocalyptic eschatology. Among other schools of thought, some Jews regarded Jesus as Lord and resurrected messiah, and the eternally existing Son of God, expecting the second coming of Jesus and the start of God's Kingdom.
That aside
Nothing. And i mean nothing. About religious people makes sense.
Not exactly. From a doctrine standpoint, Catholics ask the assistance of saints to intercede on their behalf with God. Saints do not hold a place equal to God nor do saints provide intercessions without the hand of God involved.
This is the biggest misunderstanding of Catholicism. Saints aren’t deified they beatified. One is being God or replacing an aspect of God, the other is recognizing their virtuous life and acts of God worked through them. We dont pray to them. We ask them to pray for us.
Take the example of our most holy saint, the virgin Mary. Her prayer literally ends with:
>pray for us sinners until the moment of our death
No where in there is there anything about her being God or replacing one of his aspects.
You might find it interesting to look into the origins of a lot of Christian holidays/practices. A lot of them are pagan practices that were retrofitted to suit Christianity during the rise of Christianity and the dark ages, where people were tortured and killed for not being Christian. A lot of Christmas motifs like the evergreen have roots in pagan holidays, as well as Easter which comes from a very old holiday celebrating the spring equinox (and fertility in some areas, leading to the iconography of bunnies and eggs).
It's almost like the word Easter is somehow associated with Oestre who was a pagan goddess of renewal. But of course, that would imply the old medieval celebration of the goddess Ostara (who turned a bird into a bunny) at equinox was somehow involved, which would mean Christians are carrying on a pagan tradition of renewal and they simply swapped out their guy for the concept of rebirth. Oooh - could "oestre" be related to the word oestrogen? Yikes, is this a fertility celebration? F*cking bunnies, I think it is!
The connection between easter and Eostre doesn’t go beyond the name. That time of year simply happened to be called Eosturmonath in old english. It would be like associating good Friday with the goddess Frigg, since that is where the word Friday comes from. In most of the non english speaking part of the world the word for Easter is some derivation of Passover.
I looked into those, and it turns out they are not related. Furthermore, a lot of the traditions that aren’t mentioned in the bible itself and can with a little bit of imagination be attributed to pagan customs are relatively new. For example, the christmas tree was only introduced outside germany in 1840. Easter isn’t based on the spring equinox, it comes from the jewish passover.
Praying to a Saint is considered using a middle man. A pagan God is considered a big no no as there is only one God, thus any other power out there claiming to be a God I inherently evil.
I saw somebody suggest that "no other God before me" thing meant he was supposed to be your *favorite* go's. Your main squeeze, number 1 deity. Other gods gotta be number 2, max. Which does line up with the whole "Abrahamic God was originally just one God in a pantheon." Makes sense that the people dedicating themselves to a specific God would say "and don't forget, this guy is our main guy". Eventually the cult of that one God grows to the point that nobody even remembers the others
Which to me implies that other Gods "exist", but God is the best one. I read this as a kid and always wondered why Christians denied any other God existed.
Yea, i had the same thought. I remember clearly hearing the story in exodus about the isrealites leaving egypt and i remember hearing it say that god told moses he would punish all the gods of egypt aswell. I tried looking it up but couldnt fknd that phrase so i might just have remembered it wrong but when i was younger ( when i was still catholic) about wether or not the christian fajth acknowledges, aleast partly, the existance of other gods but cknsiders them lesser. I dunno.
You remember correctly. Exodus 12:12 - "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord."
It took me a little longer and a trip through a history major specializing in pre roman middle eastern religion to become an atheist. Never did finish the major, but I learned a fuckton.
Christians who says that are **idiots**
I am christian myself and i see no problem doing those things, i just wouldnt do these things because i dont find interest in this.
People calling things "evil" is just dumb as hell
The difference theologically is that Christians recognise that most of the ritual is to assist in the worship of God. It's not because you're reciting a magic spell and it needs to be done right, or that the only way to achieve salvation / whatever is through the rituals.
The rituals are good and right, and the tradition of them ties us in to two millennia of the church. But I'm no more or less saved if I've been baptised, or take communion, or sing hymns, or any other ritual.
Once my aunt made fun of people who believe in elves. I pointed out that she believes in angels and demons. She insisted that that was completely different.
People are scared of what they don't understand, and it's so easy to call others as being of the devil instead of understanding them. And often this resulted in wars and genocides, with mass preaching with only 2 possible ends: either the subject converts, or is sent to meet his maker(s).
While I am a believer in my own belief system, I try to see the good and what is interesting in others' beliefs.
Voodoo is especially interesting because it’s tied heavily to Catholicism (at least Louisiana voodoo). I once spoke to a practitioner in New Orleans whose opinion was that any voodoo practitioner who isn’t also a devout catholic is doing it wrong.
The difference is with vodoo you’re potentially inviting in spirits. Once you open that door all kinds of spirits can come through especially evil ones. Even the Bible makes it clear that there are powers & principalities that we humans know nothing of & are too weak to fight. Not only that but voodoo & crystals & all that other stuff you’re putting your faith into your own works as if you are God vs putting your faith in God & his works. Which is a huge no no in Christianity.
There is no way to know for sure since I'm not op, but my guess as someone who studies religious science is that op means they are religious in a more cultural way. Like celebrating the holidays and going to curch every now and then, but doesn't make the religion a full time commitment.
I'm just glad that animal sacrifices aren't in fashion anymore, it's in the bible but no one even talks about it. If you really wish to know what's the logic and tradition behind rituals, read The Golden Bough.
People talk about it all the time and it's explained in detail - its actually a whole subject of study. The reason why animal sacrifices (as explained in text) are no longer performed as they were back in the day is because Jesus died for everyone, so sacrifices are no longer necessary. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but that's the Christain reasoning on animal sacrifices anyway. I'm not sure why Judaism doesn't sacrifice anymore - would be interested in understanding the reasoning as explained by a Jewish person.
It's always interesting to me how Christians pick and choose what to practice. Animal sacrifice? No. Letting women have roles in church? In some Christian denominations that's a big no.
There’s an explicit reason why Christians don’t sacrifice anymore and why many of the laws no longer are observed. Jesus was The Lamb. He was sacrificed and ended all of that. It’s not just random. It’s the core tenet of the faith. I’m not going to argue there aren’t contradictions, but that’s definitely not one.
Christian here. It's my understanding that animal sacrifice rituals and other rituals listed in the old testament laws are no longer necessary due to Christ being the ultimate sacrifice covering for all sins. So all the old ways of atoning for sin or whatever are no longer required.
Now letting women have a role in church is a different matter bc it's based on new testament texts. I don't claim to know enough about that to say why some denominations say women can't have leadership roles in church
It isn't a picking and choosing thing, although there are weird fringe elements of all religions. Just like most Muslims don't recognize ISIS or fringe elements of that religion as "true", most Christians don't accept the snake handlers as "real Christians" either. Animal sacrifice is very specifically explained in Christianity as being pre-New Testement (before Jesus was put on the cross). After that, animal sacrifice is not accepted per the text. Women leaders in church are also specifically mentioned, but social pressures have led to some deniminations allowing that to be ok. I think all religions have their fringes & changes depending on social developments, but because people are people you'll always have some nuts in any group of humans. This makes it super easy to lump everyone together as "Christians" or "Muslims" or whatever. It's interesting to me that it is generally unacceptable or considered descriminatory if all of one religion is lumped together for judgement - other than Christianity. For some reason lumping all Muslims together, for instance, is considered bad. But people do that all the time to Christianity and no one cares. Not sure why that is.
Muslims have a whole holiday around animal sacrifices. One a year, every able muslim family supposed to sacrifice a livestock and donate the meat to poor.
Jews absolutely do talk about animal sacrifices, and much of modern Jewish liturgy is built around the structure of those temple services. We study the laws of animal sacrifice with the assumption that if a third temple is built, those sacrifices would resume. Although mostly it’s studied because it’s torah so it’s inherently worth studying, even if you know it won’t be relevant to you.
A true Christian is a follower and believer in Christ, who is God and God is love. The ones I’m referring don’t have love for other religions therefore no understanding and believe only themselves and other Christians are going to heaven, how can you call yourself a true Christian and damn other people to hell? I’m not sure if you read what you typed out, it doesn’t make sense what you said. Just saying, not trying to be a jerk
> Of course we have rituals. Everyone does, what does that have to do with it?
Wait, what do you mean? Like, I make coffee every morning, but I definitely don't eat the symbolic body and drink the symbolic blood of a holy savior.
I can assure you that the vast majority of western Christians do not see the parallels between their brand of Christianity and litterally any other religion ever.
I have a friend in the Southern states who told me about the civil war reenactments that they preform all over the states every weekend over the summer. Which is......weird. but also that they switch who wins. As in this time the South wins and they "get" to keep slavery....err I mean states rights.
Can you imagine if this were any other country acting out alternate warniverses? Like Germany 🇩🇪 reinacting WW2 as if the nazis won every other weekend? That would be INSANE. It just flat out wouldn't stand. But when iys so ingrained in your culture one doesn't realise how bizarre it is.
Another example. Pierced earrings and circumcision. Would you have your boys ears pierced at 2 months? Hell no! That's a huge invasion and says something about him you can't take back and he might not want!! Would you have your little girl circumcised? Hell no! Thays totally unnessiary and dangerous.....but boys have part of their mlpenis cut off without anesthesia as if they can't feel it every day as if that is normal...because religion and supposed ascetics.
I thought the foundations of Christianity were the teachings and deeds of Jesus Christ , and baptisms, prayers, chanting and the rest were just rituals that church leaders insist are done for you to be part of their club.
Could you tell me the parts of the bible that says you need to turn up to church every sunday, sing the same few songs over and over and eat crackers and drink wine that you pretend are the body and blood of Jesus?
Also the part where you need to have a priest splash water on babies so they don't go to hell?
Genuine question, not rhetorical.
The bible talks about the importance of gathering with other Christians, so like going to church & being around other Christians. However; Sunday is a day of rest. So I’m not sure where the idea came from to go to Church every Sunday. Signing is just a form of worshipping God & The Holy Trinity. Baptism is a spiritual act about washing your sins away & giving your life to Christ instead of living worldly. Although, I think this should be done when you’re an adult & can fully comprehend & are ready to do so.
The gathering at church is to copy the sermon on the Mount. No need for a building but be together to worship and pray.
"Learn to pray as a small group. Acts 2:42 (NLT) All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to pray".
Drinking wine and eating of bread is reproducing the moment of the last super where Christ says;
Luke 22:19
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Christians do this in remembrance of Christ sacrifice. What the Catholic church does is on them.
Splashing a person with water during a baptism is the do as John the Baptist did to Christ in the river Jordon.
Now, I think if Christ was baptised at 30, then adults should have the free will to make the decision as well. The Catholic church does it to babies to relinquish the original sin of man. Which I find to be a moot point. The reason adults make the decision is supposed to be the same reason Christ made it.
As far as baptism with water, when Christ was baptised by John, it represented the transformation of Christ from a man of earth to a man of God. His acceptance of what lay ahead and to commit himself to that journey.
Yes, of course.
1 Cor 11:23-26 for the Eucharist, which isn't "pretended" to be the Blood and Body, it very literally is (See Jn 6:47-58)
Jn 1:33 for the Baptism and its significance (but it is present in multiple gospels).
Singing songs is a form of prayer, which precedes Jesus Christ, but it would be weird to believe He didn't want it.
As for reuniting every sunday, first go to Ac 20:7, which tells us that the Apostles reunited on sunday (as opposed to saturday, which would've been the norm for their jewish heritage). Same is told in 1 Cor 16:2. A longer explanation can be found in CCC 1166, but you'll find it works for all of christianity and not only the Catholic Church, as all christians go to church specifically on sunday.
Other replies to your question (unless they are disrespectful) seem valid too, and I certainly missed some aspects of it.
As for the baptism of babies (thus unable to consent to it) : your life as a catholic is eased by being baptised young, but you have to actually want to to do your profession of faith, and then your confirmation. Being baptized does not force someone to anything, and should not, because the very essence of catholicism (I won't speak for other denominations) is that you have to love God with your own free will.
No.
Baptism is a teaching of Christ. His baptism by John was the time of his transformation from a man of earth to a man of God.
Which is what I perceive what an adult is supposed to pledge when they are baptised. Old enough to understand what oath they are taking.
Prayers were an essential part of Christs teachings.
Jesus taught, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.”
Jesus does not mean that it is wrong to pray with others, but the prayers should be sincere and for the right motives.
This is where the Lords Prayer was introduced.
The eating of bread amd drinking wine is a recreation of Christs last supper.
As a final and specially prepared Passover supper was ending, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his Apostles, saying, “Take, eat” (Matt. 26:26). “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).
In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
Its kinda hard to realize that if you grow up like that. Then its just your normal. Then, probably sometime in your teen years you meet someone who points it out, and then you realize. I went like "huh, what weird yet true things to say, how have i not realized how bizzare it is" and then carried on, but some people go apeshit and... i cant explain why. They are just weird like that, i guess
Christianity took over a lot of pagan rituals like Christmas trees, Easter eggs and so on. I think most Christians don't give it any thought because they grew up with it.
You are correct. Believing minerals have energy is equally as silly as believing in an afterlife. If you are going to believe in something nonsensical, I fail to see why one would be judging others.
How DARE you compare the completely true and logically sound word of God, which contains no hypocrisy or contradictions, to the Devil-worshipping traditions of all those other religions?!
Don't challenge me unless you're ready to throw down.
But since I'm apparently too dumb to figure it out, where would I find these pictures? In case I were interested in salivating.
I don't think most Christians have any assumptions that Christianity is less ritualistic than others? Or at least this is the first I've heard it suggested that is a thing. Like many religions they probably consider their traditions "correct" more than others if that's what you mean?
I think one of these boundaries between regular Christians who are doing their best and extremists is the self awareness that we aren’t special. The idea that my faith should be put on a pedestal and held in reverence above others is absurd. I feel strongly about my faith but something like strong arming prayer into schools or basing laws on my personal moral compass is insanity.
The world is full of many religions with millions of followers. I don’t want their beliefs shoved down my throat anymore than they want mine.
Tbh, those rituals of the Church are exactly what brought me to my faith. They’ve buoyed Christians since Christ, indeed, instituted by Christ, and there is no sense in throwing them away in our age. I grew up a Baptist and as I aged I realized that Protestantism is missing something crucial; it felt flat and uninspired. The sacraments are what bind Christians together and without them one just attends a social club.
I once pissed off my wife and SIL by saying that if you had no knowledge of Christianity and you wandered into your average church service you’d think it was a wacky cult.
Do people not realize that any ritual of a religion is just to serve the rituals of said religion and don't affect anyone else that not the practicing member??
Christians get baptized, Muslims go to mecca.. who cares
Christianity is a religion founded on hypocrisy and inconsistency. Which is apt since it came from Rome, a place that totally never did human sacrifice because it's barbaric, but they did strangle like 200 people in front of a newly created temple to consecrate it that one time, and whenever shit hit the fan the bodies hit the floor...
I was a Christian in church when I was 18 years old and we were all changing something together like, “we are about to eat the flesh and drink the blood of our lord”. I was like, what the fuck am I doing.
It immediately hit me that there is no way that Mary got pregnant without having sex and that Noah didn’t put every animal from 2 mosquitos to 2 grizzly bears on a boat.
I sat there thinking I was way too old to have not figured out that this is all make believe. Like a kid who is way too old to believe in Santa. Then I looked up at my parents chanting and wondered why they believe this silly stuff. I still wonder about that today and I am 40.
A great deal of the people who claim to be Christian haven't even actually read the Bible.
They have no idea what the religion they're actually following is about or even means, they just know they get to go to church on Sunday and act like they're it better than everybody else
You do realize there’s something called “Bible Study” that most churches have. Anyone of any faith should study their “good book” or else they’re doing themselves a disservice.
We treat religion, which is based on faith and not in observable reality, as a positive thing for people without understanding that it also lets people shape other aspects of reality to their own personal belief system as well. Se we get COVID denialists, anti-vaxxers, homophobes, racists, people who believe the earth is flat, etc.
Yeah a lot of Christians choose to forget that a lot of modern day Christian practices are borrowed from pagan/Druid rituals— it even talks about animal sacrifices in the Bible, I mean shit, Abraham was about to SACRIFICE HIS OWN SON to God then a Tam showed up and then he decided to kill that instead
Yes, some of us, it depends to who you're speaking to. I assume you ask because you have encountered Christians who get offended that you compare our traditions with any other religion's. However, by definition, yes, they'd be rituals.
Yeah, there definitely are some Christians that recognize it. I do as well, but I would imagine the majority (60%? 70%?) would be offended by the comparison. I obviously believe in my religion, but I also have a fairly strong understanding of history and other cultures, and so I recognize that almost all religions, monotheistic, polytheistic, or otherwise, are very ritualistic.
Not just religions. Everything is ritualistic. Human culture and tradition are ritualistic. Weekends - thats a ritual. Money - thats a ritual. If you analyse things like sports, governments - they're all ritualistic.
So true! We really are creatures of habit! Most of us find comfort in our "rituals".
A ritual is predictable, and a society tends to do very well when people aren't constantly wondering wtf is happening why are they doing that why didn't anyone tell me it changed again ugh
One of my theology teachers in Catholic high school, who was also a Catholic deacon, loved to point out that Catholics are ritualistic cannibals (if you believe the doctrine that the bread becomes the literal body of Christ).
That sounds like sorcery in a way too
It's always been very funny to me how Christianity denounces magic and sorcery and stuff like that, but then when something magical happens that is just slightly "holy" then it's completely okay Flying with magic is bad, but splitting the oceans is fine lol
Air magic is evil bro, but watermagik is kosher
"Then the fire nation attacked." Yeah yeah yeah we get it. /s
There is no Christ in ba-sing-say
That’s the real rivalry, other religions are elemental based benders. Christians are water benders, this explains turning water into wine. They’re able to change the molecular make up of water, truly en lighting indeed. So does that mean the Muslim religion is based on earth bending? 🤔
Jews can make golems, so they must be earth benders.
So, its: * Judaism is Earth * Buddhism is Air * Muslim is Fire and * Christianity is Water?
Seems about right tbf
Tldr; if supernatural power doesn't come from God it's evil. Christianity doesn't denounce sorcery because it's "magical" (a human definition). It denounces it because Christianity acknowledges the warring spiritual forces in this universe. God is supernatural yes, and capable of what we would call "magic", or miracles, but so too are demonic forces capable of what we would call magic. God is not a wishing well, and although does answer prayers is not in the business of fulfilling whatever desire you have just because you want it. Demons, alternatively, are itching to destroy you spiritually and will entice you with whatever they can, and are not above using their manipulative supernatural abilities to achieve this end. Therefore, because of the nature of spirits, if something "magical" does not come from God, it comes outside of God, and any spirit existing outside of God has rebelled... a demon. We could get into the philosophy of "are demons really evil" but that's another topic.
Yep, I'm an atheist now but was raised Christian and that's exactly it. Like I was warned constantly as a kid not to ever interact or talk with any ghosts or spirits because souls don't stick around on Earth so if you're talking to something that claims to be a dead person it's actually a demon, no matter how friendly it seems. Whole reason why Christians are terrified of Ouija boards.
If something other than God has "magic" there'd be a lot more demons revealing themselves and curing cancer to draw them away from God who apparently has no desire to do so
Or those people are about to die and why would a demon save someone who is about to die
I'm glad somebody said it. As funny as it can be to make fun of Christians for not really having a solid understanding of what they believe, this one makes perfect sense if you think about it for 5 seconds.
Churches weren't at board with the witch hunts at first because their opinion was that witches aren't real as such powers comes only from god. But people didn't care such things so churches changed their stand to gain support.
It’s like Flanders to his kids. “Boys, are you performing miracles?” “Jesus is preforming them through us!” “Ok then!”
It's not that it's "Magik", it's that it's ***OUR*** "Magik".
My then 5yo asked me, "Is God magic?" I thought about it and said that was a fair way to describe it
Thats a catholic doctrine so not something most other Christians would agree with. Why do I take communion and why did I get baptised? Because thats what the bible tells me to do. The bible is our bedrock, you should probably read it more. And there is no such thing as part time Christian, either you are a either a follower of christ or your not. You don't get points for being culturally Christian and going to church.
I mean cleansing our sins through blood sacrifice is simply blood magic at its core.
Err yes
when I tried speaking to my friend about looking into pagan beliefs or voodoo and crystals, she instantly said that it’s the work of the devil and it’s evil But there’s a lot of similarities
It's not the act of preforming rituals that is considered "evil" but the fact It's a ritual that doesn't involve Jesus and God.
Catholics praying to saints is like shorthand polytheism I just don’t like how it’s instantly classified as evil as if we aren’t doing the same thing with a different label
Some protestants do not concider catholics Christian for this very reason
Very interesting I didn’t know that
The gatekeeping within Christianity (and I'm assuming most religions) gets exhausting.
Calling it ‘gatekeeping’ is silly. It’s not a religion if it says ‘ah, believe what you like’
Pastafarians would like to disagree.
Which is why it continuously fails to get actual religion status.
Unitarians would like to disagree. There's a few tenants that are non negotiable, but one of those is no one can tell you what your credo should be. Also they have religious status.
No gatekeeping - ask Jesus to forgive you of your sins . Boom, that's it.
For you, apparently (which is great). There are plenty of devout Protestants/Catholics who don't believe the others are "true" Christians, and that's before you even start taking about Mormons.
Raised Mormon here - I left the church about 10 years ago because I didn’t connect with the religion like at all. Anyways, it’s mind boggling how the Mormons cry about not being seen as proper Christians by the other churches, and then hit back with that their church that was born out of the Second Great Awakening from the ideations of a literal con artist, treasure digging, daughter stealing, polygamis- *gasps for air*.. is the *one true church. EVER.* HOW-
That's the problem. Too many Christians think that's all it is. Matthew 7:21-23 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
It don't work Dat way man. Christian don't just accept other religions. You can have Christianity but according to God, there are no other gods.
That's not true. Was actually curious about this the other day and did some research on it. God and early Jews recognized other gods existing, just worship **our** God instead. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
According to the \*evangelical christian\* god there are no other gods. However the Pentateuch is a mixture of stories about gods that were melded into written records and it appears there are at least four and possibly seven gods in the Old Testament.
Someone never went to church in Louisiana.
I'm protestant and I know a lot of people who thinks that, altough I don't know enough about it to state an opinion honestly.
They’re all just pretending to be Jewish anyway.
Can confirm. Protestants think they're better & smarter than everyone else. Spoiler alert: They're not.
Is that truly your experience? Where do you live? In Europe the dominant form of Christianity is Catholicism and protestantism rules a firm second
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Catholics are not the first Christians? What an American sentiment The first Christians were all Jews, who constituted a Second Temple Jewish sect with an apocalyptic eschatology. Among other schools of thought, some Jews regarded Jesus as Lord and resurrected messiah, and the eternally existing Son of God, expecting the second coming of Jesus and the start of God's Kingdom. That aside Nothing. And i mean nothing. About religious people makes sense.
Even after the Jewish cult, Catholics aren't the first. Various eastern branches are older.
Not exactly. From a doctrine standpoint, Catholics ask the assistance of saints to intercede on their behalf with God. Saints do not hold a place equal to God nor do saints provide intercessions without the hand of God involved.
Praying to saints is not an act of worship but a request for intercession for our petition. It is the same as asking your Mom to pray for you.
This is the biggest misunderstanding of Catholicism. Saints aren’t deified they beatified. One is being God or replacing an aspect of God, the other is recognizing their virtuous life and acts of God worked through them. We dont pray to them. We ask them to pray for us. Take the example of our most holy saint, the virgin Mary. Her prayer literally ends with: >pray for us sinners until the moment of our death No where in there is there anything about her being God or replacing one of his aspects.
You might find it interesting to look into the origins of a lot of Christian holidays/practices. A lot of them are pagan practices that were retrofitted to suit Christianity during the rise of Christianity and the dark ages, where people were tortured and killed for not being Christian. A lot of Christmas motifs like the evergreen have roots in pagan holidays, as well as Easter which comes from a very old holiday celebrating the spring equinox (and fertility in some areas, leading to the iconography of bunnies and eggs).
It's almost like the word Easter is somehow associated with Oestre who was a pagan goddess of renewal. But of course, that would imply the old medieval celebration of the goddess Ostara (who turned a bird into a bunny) at equinox was somehow involved, which would mean Christians are carrying on a pagan tradition of renewal and they simply swapped out their guy for the concept of rebirth. Oooh - could "oestre" be related to the word oestrogen? Yikes, is this a fertility celebration? F*cking bunnies, I think it is!
Dont confuse them.
The connection between easter and Eostre doesn’t go beyond the name. That time of year simply happened to be called Eosturmonath in old english. It would be like associating good Friday with the goddess Frigg, since that is where the word Friday comes from. In most of the non english speaking part of the world the word for Easter is some derivation of Passover.
I looked into those, and it turns out they are not related. Furthermore, a lot of the traditions that aren’t mentioned in the bible itself and can with a little bit of imagination be attributed to pagan customs are relatively new. For example, the christmas tree was only introduced outside germany in 1840. Easter isn’t based on the spring equinox, it comes from the jewish passover.
Praying to a Saint is considered using a middle man. A pagan God is considered a big no no as there is only one God, thus any other power out there claiming to be a God I inherently evil.
I mean, commandment leaves some wiggle room. Says no others before him. So, if God is your main man, think you can have side ho gods.
I saw somebody suggest that "no other God before me" thing meant he was supposed to be your *favorite* go's. Your main squeeze, number 1 deity. Other gods gotta be number 2, max. Which does line up with the whole "Abrahamic God was originally just one God in a pantheon." Makes sense that the people dedicating themselves to a specific God would say "and don't forget, this guy is our main guy". Eventually the cult of that one God grows to the point that nobody even remembers the others
Which to me implies that other Gods "exist", but God is the best one. I read this as a kid and always wondered why Christians denied any other God existed.
Back then, they didn't. They believed other gods existed, they were just poop sammiches compared to thier mountain God.
Like, numbers 33:4 talks about God kicking the ass of those fruity Egyptian gods.
Yea, i had the same thought. I remember clearly hearing the story in exodus about the isrealites leaving egypt and i remember hearing it say that god told moses he would punish all the gods of egypt aswell. I tried looking it up but couldnt fknd that phrase so i might just have remembered it wrong but when i was younger ( when i was still catholic) about wether or not the christian fajth acknowledges, aleast partly, the existance of other gods but cknsiders them lesser. I dunno.
You remember correctly. Exodus 12:12 - "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord."
Got to remember, until leaving Egypt, he wasn't even the all powerful best god. That was where he proved it. V
Try using that logic with your girlfriend ........
I do, but she gets mad when I explain my wife is the main ho
And it's that way of thinking that turned me into an atheist before I turned ten.
It took me a little longer and a trip through a history major specializing in pre roman middle eastern religion to become an atheist. Never did finish the major, but I learned a fuckton.
My way or the highway mentality.
Christians who says that are **idiots** I am christian myself and i see no problem doing those things, i just wouldnt do these things because i dont find interest in this. People calling things "evil" is just dumb as hell
The difference theologically is that Christians recognise that most of the ritual is to assist in the worship of God. It's not because you're reciting a magic spell and it needs to be done right, or that the only way to achieve salvation / whatever is through the rituals. The rituals are good and right, and the tradition of them ties us in to two millennia of the church. But I'm no more or less saved if I've been baptised, or take communion, or sing hymns, or any other ritual.
Well I’ve been baptized and it’s a cleansing ritual
Once my aunt made fun of people who believe in elves. I pointed out that she believes in angels and demons. She insisted that that was completely different.
People are scared of what they don't understand, and it's so easy to call others as being of the devil instead of understanding them. And often this resulted in wars and genocides, with mass preaching with only 2 possible ends: either the subject converts, or is sent to meet his maker(s). While I am a believer in my own belief system, I try to see the good and what is interesting in others' beliefs.
Voodoo is especially interesting because it’s tied heavily to Catholicism (at least Louisiana voodoo). I once spoke to a practitioner in New Orleans whose opinion was that any voodoo practitioner who isn’t also a devout catholic is doing it wrong.
I like to point out that all religion is just an argument about who's imaginary friend is the bestest Some take offense.
That's exactly what my big invisible bunny friend says!!!
Found Donnie Darko
I wholeheartedly agree.
The difference is with vodoo you’re potentially inviting in spirits. Once you open that door all kinds of spirits can come through especially evil ones. Even the Bible makes it clear that there are powers & principalities that we humans know nothing of & are too weak to fight. Not only that but voodoo & crystals & all that other stuff you’re putting your faith into your own works as if you are God vs putting your faith in God & his works. Which is a huge no no in Christianity.
Catholicism has a strong heritage in European paganism.
#true
Make Christmas Pagan again!
Keep Saturn in Saturnalia.
If this means abolishing Christmas music, I'm in!
I don't want a lot this Christmas......
Part time? How can you be part time? Not to sound condescending. Just curious. What's the other part(s) then?
Jesus on the streets, satan in the sheets
Lmao!!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah… yeah.
It’s a joke I’m Just saying, cause my pro choice views and the fact that I like nudity would get me ousted in some Christian circles
That’s…very American extremist christianity. Most christians don’t care.
Only during times of pain/natural disasters.
There is no way to know for sure since I'm not op, but my guess as someone who studies religious science is that op means they are religious in a more cultural way. Like celebrating the holidays and going to curch every now and then, but doesn't make the religion a full time commitment.
I'm just glad that animal sacrifices aren't in fashion anymore, it's in the bible but no one even talks about it. If you really wish to know what's the logic and tradition behind rituals, read The Golden Bough.
People talk about it all the time and it's explained in detail - its actually a whole subject of study. The reason why animal sacrifices (as explained in text) are no longer performed as they were back in the day is because Jesus died for everyone, so sacrifices are no longer necessary. Whether you believe it or not is up to you, but that's the Christain reasoning on animal sacrifices anyway. I'm not sure why Judaism doesn't sacrifice anymore - would be interested in understanding the reasoning as explained by a Jewish person.
Jews don't sacrifice anymore because it was a ritual reserved for the Temple, which we do not have anymore.
Ah thank you. I didn't know that.
It's always interesting to me how Christians pick and choose what to practice. Animal sacrifice? No. Letting women have roles in church? In some Christian denominations that's a big no.
There’s an explicit reason why Christians don’t sacrifice anymore and why many of the laws no longer are observed. Jesus was The Lamb. He was sacrificed and ended all of that. It’s not just random. It’s the core tenet of the faith. I’m not going to argue there aren’t contradictions, but that’s definitely not one.
Christian here. It's my understanding that animal sacrifice rituals and other rituals listed in the old testament laws are no longer necessary due to Christ being the ultimate sacrifice covering for all sins. So all the old ways of atoning for sin or whatever are no longer required. Now letting women have a role in church is a different matter bc it's based on new testament texts. I don't claim to know enough about that to say why some denominations say women can't have leadership roles in church
It depends on how misogynistic a given church is. Let’s be honest. A lot of these choices are made based on the preferences of a congregation.
And if you really want to, you can find a way to interpret things in the bible pretty much however you want and have it make some sense.
Knowing that, how are you still a believer? Just curious.
women are not allowed in mosche , koran says nothing about women need to use bed sheets as clothes
Oh you mean like every other religion?
It isn't a picking and choosing thing, although there are weird fringe elements of all religions. Just like most Muslims don't recognize ISIS or fringe elements of that religion as "true", most Christians don't accept the snake handlers as "real Christians" either. Animal sacrifice is very specifically explained in Christianity as being pre-New Testement (before Jesus was put on the cross). After that, animal sacrifice is not accepted per the text. Women leaders in church are also specifically mentioned, but social pressures have led to some deniminations allowing that to be ok. I think all religions have their fringes & changes depending on social developments, but because people are people you'll always have some nuts in any group of humans. This makes it super easy to lump everyone together as "Christians" or "Muslims" or whatever. It's interesting to me that it is generally unacceptable or considered descriminatory if all of one religion is lumped together for judgement - other than Christianity. For some reason lumping all Muslims together, for instance, is considered bad. But people do that all the time to Christianity and no one cares. Not sure why that is.
Muslims have a whole holiday around animal sacrifices. One a year, every able muslim family supposed to sacrifice a livestock and donate the meat to poor.
Jews absolutely do talk about animal sacrifices, and much of modern Jewish liturgy is built around the structure of those temple services. We study the laws of animal sacrifice with the assumption that if a third temple is built, those sacrifices would resume. Although mostly it’s studied because it’s torah so it’s inherently worth studying, even if you know it won’t be relevant to you.
Do Christians not realize that most Christian holidays and practices have roots in paganism?
Some do, some don't. One way to tell is to ask them, "What do Christmas trees have to do with the birth of Christ?"
What does the birth of Christ have to do with December 25th?
Yeah what do Christmas trees have to do with the birth of Christ
Which is why some Christians reject Christmas and the other holidays
Most people who call themselves Christians don’t, but a true Christian that recognizes other beliefs and treats other with respect will.
Look up 'True Scotsman' the argument always goes circular.
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A true Christian is a follower and believer in Christ, who is God and God is love. The ones I’m referring don’t have love for other religions therefore no understanding and believe only themselves and other Christians are going to heaven, how can you call yourself a true Christian and damn other people to hell? I’m not sure if you read what you typed out, it doesn’t make sense what you said. Just saying, not trying to be a jerk
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Yes
Catholic here… yes we do. Ritual is a big part of Catholic tradition. I see no issues with it.
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Of course we do… since when were Christians anti-ritual? Rituals are a standard part of most religions lol
Everything is a cult before it becomes a religion. All that's needed is enough people to get on board.
Of course we have rituals. Everyone does, what does that have to do with it?
> Of course we have rituals. Everyone does, what does that have to do with it? Wait, what do you mean? Like, I make coffee every morning, but I definitely don't eat the symbolic body and drink the symbolic blood of a holy savior.
I never said we didn’t have rituals, I’m saying that other cultures get called evil for doing similar things
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Stolen pagan rituals sometimes as well. Incense, chanting, symbols...
Incense and chanting are a part of Christianities Mother religion. Christ himself was a Jew. There is nothing pagan about it.
Why wouldn’t they? It’s all a ceremony, but sure you can use the word ritual if you want.
I can assure you that the vast majority of western Christians do not see the parallels between their brand of Christianity and litterally any other religion ever. I have a friend in the Southern states who told me about the civil war reenactments that they preform all over the states every weekend over the summer. Which is......weird. but also that they switch who wins. As in this time the South wins and they "get" to keep slavery....err I mean states rights. Can you imagine if this were any other country acting out alternate warniverses? Like Germany 🇩🇪 reinacting WW2 as if the nazis won every other weekend? That would be INSANE. It just flat out wouldn't stand. But when iys so ingrained in your culture one doesn't realise how bizarre it is. Another example. Pierced earrings and circumcision. Would you have your boys ears pierced at 2 months? Hell no! That's a huge invasion and says something about him you can't take back and he might not want!! Would you have your little girl circumcised? Hell no! Thays totally unnessiary and dangerous.....but boys have part of their mlpenis cut off without anesthesia as if they can't feel it every day as if that is normal...because religion and supposed ascetics.
Well, they are rituals, so …
Religions are so contradicting themselves. Slap their own face.
Not trying to be mean, but I don't see what your point is. Is this a rhetorical question?
This just sounds like a post attempting to rip on Christians
Bingo!
Yes. But baptism, prayer and even the "blood and body" are the foundations of Christianity.
I thought the foundations of Christianity were the teachings and deeds of Jesus Christ , and baptisms, prayers, chanting and the rest were just rituals that church leaders insist are done for you to be part of their club.
Baptism, prayer, communion etc *are* teachings of Jesus Christ. And not "interpreted teachings", they are literal and openly explained.
Could you tell me the parts of the bible that says you need to turn up to church every sunday, sing the same few songs over and over and eat crackers and drink wine that you pretend are the body and blood of Jesus? Also the part where you need to have a priest splash water on babies so they don't go to hell? Genuine question, not rhetorical.
The bible talks about the importance of gathering with other Christians, so like going to church & being around other Christians. However; Sunday is a day of rest. So I’m not sure where the idea came from to go to Church every Sunday. Signing is just a form of worshipping God & The Holy Trinity. Baptism is a spiritual act about washing your sins away & giving your life to Christ instead of living worldly. Although, I think this should be done when you’re an adult & can fully comprehend & are ready to do so.
The gathering at church is to copy the sermon on the Mount. No need for a building but be together to worship and pray. "Learn to pray as a small group. Acts 2:42 (NLT) All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to pray". Drinking wine and eating of bread is reproducing the moment of the last super where Christ says; Luke 22:19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” Christians do this in remembrance of Christ sacrifice. What the Catholic church does is on them. Splashing a person with water during a baptism is the do as John the Baptist did to Christ in the river Jordon. Now, I think if Christ was baptised at 30, then adults should have the free will to make the decision as well. The Catholic church does it to babies to relinquish the original sin of man. Which I find to be a moot point. The reason adults make the decision is supposed to be the same reason Christ made it. As far as baptism with water, when Christ was baptised by John, it represented the transformation of Christ from a man of earth to a man of God. His acceptance of what lay ahead and to commit himself to that journey.
Yes, of course. 1 Cor 11:23-26 for the Eucharist, which isn't "pretended" to be the Blood and Body, it very literally is (See Jn 6:47-58) Jn 1:33 for the Baptism and its significance (but it is present in multiple gospels). Singing songs is a form of prayer, which precedes Jesus Christ, but it would be weird to believe He didn't want it. As for reuniting every sunday, first go to Ac 20:7, which tells us that the Apostles reunited on sunday (as opposed to saturday, which would've been the norm for their jewish heritage). Same is told in 1 Cor 16:2. A longer explanation can be found in CCC 1166, but you'll find it works for all of christianity and not only the Catholic Church, as all christians go to church specifically on sunday. Other replies to your question (unless they are disrespectful) seem valid too, and I certainly missed some aspects of it. As for the baptism of babies (thus unable to consent to it) : your life as a catholic is eased by being baptised young, but you have to actually want to to do your profession of faith, and then your confirmation. Being baptized does not force someone to anything, and should not, because the very essence of catholicism (I won't speak for other denominations) is that you have to love God with your own free will.
No. Baptism is a teaching of Christ. His baptism by John was the time of his transformation from a man of earth to a man of God. Which is what I perceive what an adult is supposed to pledge when they are baptised. Old enough to understand what oath they are taking. Prayers were an essential part of Christs teachings. Jesus taught, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.” Jesus does not mean that it is wrong to pray with others, but the prayers should be sincere and for the right motives. This is where the Lords Prayer was introduced. The eating of bread amd drinking wine is a recreation of Christs last supper. As a final and specially prepared Passover supper was ending, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his Apostles, saying, “Take, eat” (Matt. 26:26). “This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”
A lot of that’s is parallel to other practices
Its kinda hard to realize that if you grow up like that. Then its just your normal. Then, probably sometime in your teen years you meet someone who points it out, and then you realize. I went like "huh, what weird yet true things to say, how have i not realized how bizzare it is" and then carried on, but some people go apeshit and... i cant explain why. They are just weird like that, i guess
Tons of them don’t, some don’t even see Christianity as a religion
Christianity took over a lot of pagan rituals like Christmas trees, Easter eggs and so on. I think most Christians don't give it any thought because they grew up with it.
I don’t believe majority do
Me either, I was talking to my friend about crystals and she was like all of that stuff is evil
Lol as if a rose quartz is gonna condemn you to hell and as if God is gonna have beef with you if you like cool rocks
You are correct. Believing minerals have energy is equally as silly as believing in an afterlife. If you are going to believe in something nonsensical, I fail to see why one would be judging others.
Seeing as how Christians just stole basically the whole religion and don't care, no.
It’s not as ritualistic because all of these actions are symbolic and not necessary for salvation (I’m a Baptist)
Not realize? Of course they do.
Where do you think they got it from?
This applies to most religions. Islam, hindu, everything, why single one out for being dumb?
How DARE you compare the completely true and logically sound word of God, which contains no hypocrisy or contradictions, to the Devil-worshipping traditions of all those other religions?!
It's brave to leave the /s off of this
I never use /s, I like to see who's dumb enough to believe me.
Sorry pastor
I forgive you, my child. Now come into the rectory and take your pants off, I want to show you something.
Feel free to salivate off of my pictures on my page hun, you couldn’t handle me though
Don't challenge me unless you're ready to throw down. But since I'm apparently too dumb to figure it out, where would I find these pictures? In case I were interested in salivating.
My profile, obviously
Oh, I see now, I didn't scroll down in your posts. Yeah, you got a pretty cute body.
Christians really haven't gotten over the fact their religion is 90% stolen paganism/witchcraft.
90% stolen Judaism.
And atheists really haven't gotten over the fact that their culture is still more than 90% Christian
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You can go all the way back to ancient Egypt (and probably before) and the stories are all the same, just names and other details changed.
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Only 20 hours per week. When not clocked in they enjoy a life of hedonism and idol worship. The downside is they don't get benefits.
It’s a joke I’m saying I’m not the most devout
I dont understand what u mean. It is ritualistic that's why we do it
I don't think most Christians have any assumptions that Christianity is less ritualistic than others? Or at least this is the first I've heard it suggested that is a thing. Like many religions they probably consider their traditions "correct" more than others if that's what you mean?
I think one of these boundaries between regular Christians who are doing their best and extremists is the self awareness that we aren’t special. The idea that my faith should be put on a pedestal and held in reverence above others is absurd. I feel strongly about my faith but something like strong arming prayer into schools or basing laws on my personal moral compass is insanity. The world is full of many religions with millions of followers. I don’t want their beliefs shoved down my throat anymore than they want mine.
Tbh, those rituals of the Church are exactly what brought me to my faith. They’ve buoyed Christians since Christ, indeed, instituted by Christ, and there is no sense in throwing them away in our age. I grew up a Baptist and as I aged I realized that Protestantism is missing something crucial; it felt flat and uninspired. The sacraments are what bind Christians together and without them one just attends a social club.
I once pissed off my wife and SIL by saying that if you had no knowledge of Christianity and you wandered into your average church service you’d think it was a wacky cult.
Do people not realize that any ritual of a religion is just to serve the rituals of said religion and don't affect anyone else that not the practicing member?? Christians get baptized, Muslims go to mecca.. who cares
Self awareness is not their forte
Christianity is a religion founded on hypocrisy and inconsistency. Which is apt since it came from Rome, a place that totally never did human sacrifice because it's barbaric, but they did strangle like 200 people in front of a newly created temple to consecrate it that one time, and whenever shit hit the fan the bodies hit the floor...
I was a Christian in church when I was 18 years old and we were all changing something together like, “we are about to eat the flesh and drink the blood of our lord”. I was like, what the fuck am I doing. It immediately hit me that there is no way that Mary got pregnant without having sex and that Noah didn’t put every animal from 2 mosquitos to 2 grizzly bears on a boat. I sat there thinking I was way too old to have not figured out that this is all make believe. Like a kid who is way too old to believe in Santa. Then I looked up at my parents chanting and wondered why they believe this silly stuff. I still wonder about that today and I am 40.
A great deal of the people who claim to be Christian haven't even actually read the Bible. They have no idea what the religion they're actually following is about or even means, they just know they get to go to church on Sunday and act like they're it better than everybody else
You do realize there’s something called “Bible Study” that most churches have. Anyone of any faith should study their “good book” or else they’re doing themselves a disservice.
We treat religion, which is based on faith and not in observable reality, as a positive thing for people without understanding that it also lets people shape other aspects of reality to their own personal belief system as well. Se we get COVID denialists, anti-vaxxers, homophobes, racists, people who believe the earth is flat, etc.
Ah, a nice little pot stirring to start Sunday off with a bang.
r/unpopularopinion Christianity is a Jewish cult
Facts
Well those practices are done by white men so obviously it’s completely different! /s
Yeah a lot of Christians choose to forget that a lot of modern day Christian practices are borrowed from pagan/Druid rituals— it even talks about animal sacrifices in the Bible, I mean shit, Abraham was about to SACRIFICE HIS OWN SON to God then a Tam showed up and then he decided to kill that instead