Submitted 2 weeks ago by Grimreaper@sopuli.xyz to showerthoughts@lemmy.world
When I was a teenager, I went to church, and almost every ‘Christian’ there was a complete asshole. What makes it worse is that they try to justify it. This honestly made me think that if God and Satan were real, I’d want to know Lucifer’s story. Maybe he’s not actually ‘evil.’
I think if a being like lucifer exist and is truly evil then it has tricked these ‘christians’ in to worshiping it instead of the god.
Being Christian or going to church doesn’t make you a good person any more than a speed limit sign prevents people from speeding.
I like the approach of - there is no tue good or evil, but acts of nature. Life feeds on life.
A head monk asks his disciples to describe a pitcher of water without calling it a pitcher of water. Some monks say what it isn’t. Some monks describe what it can do at length. One monk says nothing, instead, he simply kicks the pitcher over with his foot; he is declared the winner.
What a koanvoluted way of gatekeeping, don’t you think? ;)
And on death and decay.
The concept of good and evil is actually very limiting and tends to raise people with twisted worldviews. Most intelligent people learn that morality is complex, reality is not black and white, and to wish harm upon others to ensure personal bliss is rather sociopathic and fucked up.
Christianity faces a major foundational dissonance. Early tribalist (in group, out group thinking) values that have to coexist with radical empathic universalism. They usually ignore the development of Jewish traditions, and it took priests centuries of dissertation to mesh both views together. But they are incompatible. To believe in clearcut good and evil, and also things like a reward heaven (an idea also eradicated in most Jewish tradition). One must learn to suspend empathy for the fellow human being. To be happy while knowing others are harshly suffering (aka “they deserve it”). To think that one’s own cruelty will be forgiven just by saying a magical incantation is also fucked up.
Now, the solution given to it is not widely accepted, and is the source of schisms in different Christian cults. Jesus’s message is that of universal forgiveness with radical empathy. The abolition of heaven and hell. But many intermediate concepts had to be inserted to make it make sense with organized religion. Like sin forgivenes through repentance, second coming prophecies to delay the forgivines, apocalyptic prophecies to delay the abolition of hell and other exceptionalist interpretations.
Anyways, I started rambling, but Christianity is incapable to be internally consistent as it is. And some dogmatic views require people to be actively assholes by definition.
Good chance what we call the Satan at some point we’re originally a god from a pagan religion, like Beelzebub for example. If they were good that depends if they were replaced in the first place perhaps that old religion was also worst compared to what predates Christianity. Then there is also they got replaced because were forced to by the invaders.
I think about this all the time. He probably just believes in science and kindness.
You should read Revolt of the Angels.
Dat Demiurge be at it again
Have you ever read Paradise Lost?
Since he’s the one driving them, you can’t wonder too much
“some”?
watson387@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
I will choose the path that’s clear.
kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Such a lovely poem to that one, and it is perhaps more important now than ever before.