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I'll grind a gear here.
Satanism has something in common with Libertarianism.
Most of the people who say they're one aren't accomplishing what they think they are.
The militant versions most especially.
I should include Atheists here too. Which grinds my gears because as someone who merely believes there is no God, the people who wanna force that view onto others pisses me right the fuck off!
I've known a few people of all three stripes and once you talk to them for a while you find that the real goal is for someone to pay attention to them and being vocally different was the only thing they could come up with.
They also get mad at you when you disengage once you've made this discovery.
Yes, I am aware that blogging is seeking attention by being vocally different... Would you like a black fly with your chardonnay?
This does not mean that:
There are no people who deeply believe in and worship Satan.
There are no people who fervently adhere to the idea of self ownership and the non-aggression principle.
There are no people who simply don't believe in a non-corporeal entity guiding our lives.
There are no people who write on the internet who do so to clear their own minds.
It's just that the people who you KNOW are Satanists/Libertarians/Atheists just don't seem to ever talk about anything else or do much of anything to change the world.
Aside: If you're into freedom and liberty, it's hard to reconcile with the idea that there's a God who is your Master in the same vein as a feudal lord whom you owe birthright fealty. At best. At worst He is Master and you are His slave. I know that this idea pisses Christians off. I've been, repeatedly, told so by angry Christians.
The number one religion for changing the world and getting shit done has been Christianity.
It's a matter of fact.
The number one driver of freedom and liberty was a group of Christians (who cheerfully let a couple of Atheists in their midst while making the rules). These people even warned that what they were doing required a moral people to do it.
Even if there's no imaginary friend, following the Christian moral template doesn't lead you too far wrong in your dealings with other people.
Because of Christianity, those morals are the framework of Western Civ and it's accomplished a lot when allowed to function and we worry more about the morality than the source of the morals.
PS: Aesop, your deleted reply from the other thread is on topic here. Recreate it and it will stand.
People who express their religious or political beliefs are trying to sell you something. -JKing
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian, who actually attended Bible college in the early 1980's. I thought I was going to become a Baptist pastor. I found that I had too many disagreements with Baptist doctrines to follow that route.
ReplyDeleteIn the nearly 40 years since, I have changed. I still am a Christian, but my beliefs are that Christ died for me, as an individual, and that I don't have to do anything to earn God's grace. Baptists will say the same thing, but I actually believe it and mean it.
That doesn't mean that I continually seek to find ways to do bad things, because I can. I found that I was changed inside when I became a Christian at age 9 or so. I have a twin brother who was always in trouble, to this day, and I have basically always done the right thing, as much as is possible, simply due to my own character.
I know that when people came over to America, seeking so called "religious freedom", they found it. Of course, that meant that you were free to worship as you wanted, so long as you worshipped the way that the rest of the group worshipped did. You could start a church, so long as it was the Anglican church.
Try to be a Baptist pastor in that time, they might just bore a hole in your tongue with a red hot iron, so you could not speak. Or if you were a Baptist, you didn't accept infant baptism. So you got baptized after conversion to God. They called those people Anabaptists. The other Christians of the time basically said, if you want to be baptized again, we will help you. The would then lower them down into the water, but forget to let them back up.
Christians are the only group that shoots their wounded. And while we as a group have done some amazing things in the furthering of the world and the knowledge to be found, Christians have also killed those who have gone against their teaching, like astronomers, mathematicians, explorers, etc.
I am always ready and able to tell anyone my tale of how I came to Christ, and just what has shown me in my life that God is real, and some of the things that have happened are pretty amazing. But I never push that on anyone. I have learned that like it is much like the question of the vegan. How do you know if someone is a vegan? Don't worry, they will tell you before you need to ask. And as for Christianity, that turns people off just the same way.
If this post is off topic, I apologize, and ask you to delete it and forgive me. I just felt that many times, Christians think that the whole world wants to hear not just how happy they are, but the entire gospel, with footnotes, when most people want to be left alone, or want someone just to listen to their problems, in a nonjudgmental way. That can help them to understand the truth of God better than a million sermons by the most brilliant preacher you could hope to find. In my life, God is about relationships, with other people, with myself, and even with God Himself. That is hard to explain, but just being a good person and kind is easy.
Sorry if I didn't get your inside joke, but you've fleshed out your position to make the repetition of the deleted post redundant.
ReplyDeleteBut thanks for the invitation. And the clarification.
You original reply got me to realize I'd given no context for anyone to get the joke.
DeleteThe "Jeffersonian Bible" is interesting. Jefferson obviously believed more in the moral teachings than the "magic" parts of religion.
ReplyDeleteI don’t hold with God being a master who controls everything in our lives. I’m more or less a Catholic, but I don’t pray to God the father. I pray to God the Creator. I believe that like a good parent, God said “Alright, there you go. You’ve got a big universe to play in. Make good choices and write when you can.” Otherwise what’s the point of free will?
ReplyDeleteJFM
According to the documentation, that's a free trip to Hell for you if it turns out the Catholics nailed it.
DeleteThat’s why I’m more or less a Catholic. And I think you mean dogma rather than documentation. I realized the difference when when I was a boy.
ReplyDeleteJFM