I hear these comments for not wanting to help people, and it feels like we’re worshipping individuality to the detriment of community, which is necessary for survival.
- “I don’t want my money going to ___ .”
- “This is not a democracy, it’s a constitutional republic!”
- “You don’t have any freedoms under socialism/communism.”
- “They’re just looking for a handout because they’re lazy.”
- “I’m a self-made man. I didn’t need anyone’s help.”
- “Empathy is not a virtue.”
- “I don’t see how that’s my problem.”
Of course you do, you were made that way, we all were! Religion/belief in a set of principles in an axiomatic, non debatable way just provide good guidance, a handrail in case your eyes get too big and, idk, you end up president of the free world and Raytheon wants to bribe you and you want a new yacht so you push for war in a far away land. Our nature can only go so far, for the rest of the time you will need a code and something to keep you accountable to it that’s bigger and outside of yourself, and Abrahamic monotheism helps us do that.
You’re right, only nonreligious people have done bad things. Do you really want to go down that route? Religion is responsible for more death and destruction than any other force in human history. Tell me about how it wasn’t used to justify chattal slavery. Tell me how countless religious leaders have been systematically raping children since at least the middle ages.
Shitty people are shitty people.
Further, I actually find it kind of offensive what you’re implying here about my morality.
Were the words of the prophets used to justify chattle slavery? How? Or do you mean they say “oh btw God wants us to murder and pillage over there so we’re just gonna do that” regardless of any religious moral teaching already put in place? “Thou shall not kill” is pretty simple and straightforward, ngl. And raping kids when you’re not even supposed to lust over women besides your wife? And we haven’t even gotten to Jesus, nvm Muhammad! And the one European religious American (meaning they actually read their book and internalised it), cause there’s always one just to prove to their community that there’s a better way forward even if they don’t listen to him, was judged and executed by his peers because he opposed all of that shit. He wasn’t a rebranded pagan like what we’ve had in the West since the beginning of Roman Catholicism but an actual follower of Jesus, his name was John Brown!
Yes, shitty people are shitty people, and they’ll use whatever excuse to justify themselves and trick others. But righteous monotheists/otherwise religious (?) wouldn’t, they’d be shitty for a moment in lapse in judgement and then feel like shit cause they actually care about not being villains and about the destiny of their souls. Just because many so-called religious figures, specially in the West but worldwide ofc, committed atrocities and then blatantly lied about their beliefs doesn’t mean the actual beliefs they didn’t hold are invalid! That just means that once again, because you will judge people on their words (and the natives knew some of y’all are forked tongued individuals, so how don’t you know that about your own community?!) and not their deeds (“by their fruits you will recognise them”), you got swindled. Do you believe Trump when he says he wants to help his fellow Americans or mentions God here and there? Lol
Are you for real? I honestly stopped reading here. You REALLY need to read up on your own religion. Wow.