Is Christianity Really a Force for Good?
Most everyday one can read of another church or another preacher/priest who claims it is a religious right to hold church services without distancing. There are some who refuse to stop shaking hands of other physical contact as a part of church. Today there is one who takes the cake.
This is a Christian member of the State House of Representatives in Ohio. He refers to Genesis 1:26-27 where it is claimed God made man in his own image. Face masks cover up what God intended for all to see, he says, the face. Thus, government cannot require all to wear face masks and the Representative himself will not wear one.
Readers need not remind me the nut case does not represent all of Christianity. Neither do the preachers insisting they be allowed to hold services that can spread sickness and death. Neither do the snake handlers and those who pass out on the floor during worship.
And, I need not be reminded branches of the faith who claim believing will bring them prosperity represent all of Christianity. Nor do all parts of the faith promise God will for sure answer their prayers or that one fertilized cell is a human being.
Even though perhaps a majority believes it, not all parts of the faith believes literally Jesus was stone dead and deteriorating for three days and then came back to life. Nor does every Christian believe people dead for years walked out of their graves when the earth shook and walked into town.
But when you add together all the people who believe some or all these weird ideas you have the Christian faith. The entire package falls under the brand called Christianity.
The claim more good than bad falls from the phrase "We are a Christian nation" is unsubstantiated.
"When you add together all the people who believe a (ALL THESE)..."
ReplyDeleteNot all the people believe ALL these .
I'm detecting a whiff of conflationary anger and frustration.
Like you, I disagree with some of what you say, but what can you or I do about it? Not a damn thing. Take a pill and get over yourself
Helper "Not all the people believe ALL these....but what can you or I do about it? Not a damn thing."
DeleteThank you for pointing out my mistake. I changed the sentence to read, "some or all" instead of all Christians.
As to what you or I can do about it (not a damn thing), that is incorrect. Everyone, including yourself, can go through the list, find the items you believe which are fantasy and leave them behind. Probably thousands of people do this everyday. Replacing fantasy with realism helps not only individuals but society at large.
So then, what you are saying is, anything you can do is all in your mind, not in the mind of others. Now THAT is fantasy.
DeleteHelper--"So what you are saying is, anything you can do is all in your mind, not in the mind of others."
DeleteYes, that is a principle of freethinking. An individual decides such things based on evidence rather than what authorities, church or government, tell him. To think that what others, especially religious and civil authorities tell you, is true is really fantasy.
Jon,
ReplyDeleteWell, looking in the mirror at my morning face; if that mug is “the image and likeness of God” my skepticism is fully justified and the reflection stands as a complete and absolute refutation of Anselm’s ontological argument.
Looking in a mirror more darkly, I want to quote an inForum.com opinion letter from Joe Richardson published on Apr 27th 2020 @ 2pm titled “We don't need to wear masks”:
“We are North Dakotans. We don’t need to wear masks. If others are stupid enough to get within 6 feet, then the risk is on them. We are libertarian and have no responsibility for others who may contract disease based on our choices. We are North Dakotan Republicans and we insist those libs stay at home without contact with us.”
With the appropriate substitutions from the link in your post, the quote, in my opinion, comes close to the attitude of Nino Vitale, Christian member of Ohio’s House of Representatives and his take on “Judeo-Christian Principles”. Holy crap.
Ardy B --I have the same reservations about my image and likeness of God. When I look in the mirror today I conclude God would want me to get a haircut.
DeleteAs to the published quote from Joe Richardson who scoffed at wearing a mask or, I suppose, any other precaution from the Coronavirus, I'm afraid it is more common than we like to think. If someone asked him, "Are you in favor of abortion rights?" he would probably say, "Oh no. I'm in favor of life." We drive too fast, are over weight, don't exercise and do other risk taking behavior. It is repeated often, "We are a society that believes in life." Simply not true.
I hope that your and Ardy's comments re "image and likeness" are intended to be humorous, not meant literally. If not, they are singularly stupid comments. Image and likeness has nothing to do with physical characteristics: it, rather, refers to the fact that we are creatures possessing intellect/rationality and will. In that sense were are said to be like God. As to the "complete and absolute refutation of Anselm's argument" I would much appreciate Ardy's defense of that dogmatic assertion. I didn't know that he had a PhD in philosophy, thus qualifying him to go about making statements like complete and absolute.
DeleteUnknown "Image and likeness has nothing to do with physical characteristics: it, rather, refers to the fact that intellect/rationality..are said to be like God."
DeleteWhat a relief we have a genius here who is able to imply the phrase that has been used by perhaps millions of Christian/Jewish writers, preachers and people in the pews going back 5,000 years. The phrase is "what this means it..." Anyone can claim to know "what this means." The preacher who thinks it means the face of humans should not be covered with a mask as well as you do as to "what this means."
Unknown May 6, 2020 @ 8:33 AM
DeleteAs to my comment on “image and likeness”, I was being as “singularly stupid” as the the Ohio legislator claiming that a face mask “covers the face, which is the “likeness of God.” That you were able to surmise that we were created in the image and likeness of a god “refers to the fact that we are creatures possessing intellect/rationality and will.” is a credit to your intelligence. As to the ontological argument and contrary to my assertion I would refer you to the works of Charles Hartshorne particularly “Anselm’s Discovery” and “The Logic of Perfection”. You may enjoy both reads by this remarkable philosopher and theist. I offer no defense for my comment. None is needed.
Jon Lindgren May 6, 2020 at 6:54 AM “haircut”
ReplyDeleteFunny you mentioned haircut. Last evening I chopped off the locks hanging in my eyes. Going to need a remedial cut as soon as my barber opens her shop.
In America there is no “happy medium”. As a “boomer” I don’t know if there ever was. Some blame it on “moral decay” due to the waning influence of Judeo-Christian values. In my experience few can decay faster morally than some of the “god-fearing” I have known. What is the value of those values anyway? Can there be a middle ground in religious conviction? What’s a half-Christian? Many people have suffered the political and spiritual righteousness of powerful self-proclaimed whole-Christians. Perhaps a whole-Christian is as impossible as a half-Christian because only some mysterious god-man can walk that walk.
An after thought. I know little of C.H. qua C.H. But I recognize elements of his thought from other contexts (i.e. process theology, Heraclitus's anti-essentialism, and so forth). And as far as I could determine (I looked it up) C.H. did not outrightly debunk Anselm's ontological argument: he developed it. Then there is Jon: ridiculing statements that he does not like and setting up some Ohio legislator as a strawman to knock down. I didn't bother to look up the Ohio fellows quote but, that aside, I do know that Jon really likes strawmen. And he seems to have great talent when it comes to searching them out. Incidentally, maybe Jon would like to read up on C.H's rather problematic philosophy. He might find it challenging.
ReplyDeleteIf everyone was Columbian Alvero, the world would be full of us awful Christians. I can't hold a candle to this kid, now about 38 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bLIL_MAqwE
ReplyDelete