The only thing that has really kept religion in check in this country is, ironically, their enmity toward each other due, ostensibly, to differences in eschatology. That has melted away as they have come to the realization that they are in danger of becoming irrelevant. Fortunately, the laity is extremely stupid and easy to manipulate (religion will do that to you) and have no idea what they really believe or what the differences are, so they are being led as if they are more monolithic by focusing their worship on what they all agree they love: money. They are also too stupid to realize that this is ironic.

A theocracy that only believes in Supply Side Jesus and ignores the real teachings of Jesus. The GOP would look a lot different if their religion wasn't just a tool to manipulate their Christian base.

Yeah. I am Chicano but identify more with my indigenous side and am friends with plenty of Native Americans. I've always personally blamed Judeo-Christian thinking. The whole manifest destiny mindset is insane.

I mean read just a piece of how different things were before those religions came to this land.

A second, related factor was the absence of large domestic animals in North America, which meant that instead of the 'intensive', ploughing-and-manuring agriculture practised in Europe, Native American farmers used 'extensive' techniques, cultivating an area for a few years and then moving on to let the soil recover. Most groups - hunters and plant-gatherers as well as agriculturists - viewed land as a common resource rather than a commodity that could be owned. Tribes and families had the right to hunt, fish or grow crops in defined places, but the concept of a fenced-off parcel of land being the exclusive property of an individual would have been utterly alien to most, if not all, Native Americans. The Indian attitude towards land was part of a broader, more fundamental understanding of reality which underpinned the whole of native life. Although, again, there were enormous local variations in mythology and ritual, some of the essentials of this world-view were shared by many, if not most, cultures. Perhaps the most basic element was the belief in sacred power: the idea that everything in the universe was interconnected and possessed a spiritual force or energy that could affect the lives of 'the people' and of all other living things. Gaining power and the aid of powerful beings was absolutely vital: for success in hunting, plentiful crops, good health, thriving children and victory in battle. But power was also dangerous.

Source: Chapter 2 of The Earth Shall Weep by James Wilson.

The fact that weʻve seen a few MAGA pastors openly say stuff like "Well, Jesusʻ teachings were more applicable in the first century and we have to adapt now" is proof enough that itʻs not Jesus they believe in. I want to see this pushed more and more to get them to finally admit that theyʻre not actually Christians, but are actually like Cartman in the South Park episode where he starts a Christian band ("You donʻt know the first thing about Christianity!" "I know enough to exploit it.")

Not really. Pastors are being pushed out for being too woke and replaced by a more right wing figure. The congregation gets what the congregation wants. They've gone supply-side Jesus.

This. I went through a similar thing, but wound up in a different place (grew up in fundie-leaning Southern Baptist world with a pastor that turned out to be a sexual predator and abused people I am close to; decided to revisit the Bible and all that and wound up a priest in the Episcopal Church). Regardless of how folks end up, breaking people free from their control is paramount. If a meme manages to dent the armor, so be it. And if it annoys OP, they can always just mute it and move on. I do it a lot with posts that are openly hostile to my beliefs.

Pretty much any famous person from the past wouldn't matter one bit if they lived today.

That’s nah that’s some Old Testament stuff. Jesus specifically calls for the ending of old Jewish traditions. Thats why Jews don’t hold him in high regard. Most traditions of the Old Testament Jesus would have told people to do something else.

On the topic of the op Jesus would have been a straight socialist. He believed in giving to the state what belonged to the state but also believed that the rich had an obligation of helping the poor.

Are you sure you're not thinking of the dirt of the tabernacle ritual?

I bet Jesus was hung AF 🍆

Did you even read the Bible? Jesus had a dad bod, like me!

Wtf don't ever belittle the greatest and wisest shit in history. Now stand out of my sun.

Early Christianity was nothing anyone would recognize today. It might have been more like if Diogenes was blissfully happy instead of being a little shit.

we can't really understand the social influences that shaped individual experience and personality in an age with such low literacy. whatever we know is a pixel in a 4k video.

“Yet you participate in society”

Jesus lives rent free in their big, empty head.

I think you misunderstood what the meme says nobody "cares" about. It says that nobody cares which side of a specific poilitcal argument a 2000-year-dead apocalypse predictor would have taken if magic were real. It is saying that everybody wishes they would shut up about that. I am not required to care which one of the two bumblefucks is "correct" to want them to STFU, nor to talk to others about how we would all like those two idiots to STFU.

Mate, the meme literally says to shut the fuck up. Yet you fucking Yanks keep mass spamming comments on the topic we want you not to voice.

Mostly religion, though.

Have you welcomed Linux into your life as our Lord and Savior?

Not really, no. America is unique among wealthy and powerful countires, it's the only theocracy on the "west", and it's almost the only one where christians are majority. Except Vatican maybe.

change my mind

https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/resources/roman-history-and-jesus-existence-extra-biblical-proof-that-jesus-was-real/

https://www.history.com/articles/was-jesus-real-historical-evidence

https://youtu.be/8NYnhoJ-RMM

So part of the reason to believe he was a real figure was that, crucifixion was a humiliating punishment at the time. The fact that people were worshipping a guy who was crucified was ridiculous at the time. Lots of people were talking about a guy Jesus who got crucified, and they weren't friends of Christians.

You had early Christians talking about Jesus, and early enemies of Christianity talking about some charlatan who got humiliated by being crucified and then for some reason people still worshipped him, which would have been ridiculous.

The guy probably existed as a historical figure.

I'm not religious anymore and I'm not making a defense of Christianity, but before all of this the Bible explains that when Jesus comes and starts teaching, he's going to teach in parable (metaphor) so most of his teaching needs to be seen through that lens. So this should more properly be seen as a teaching saying to take your gifts (compassion, love, wisdom) out into the world and use them to become a better person. There's also some deeper meaning here that usury was frowned upon at the time so this would have been a very provocative thing to use as a metaphor.

Of course the main way that people corrupt Christianity is by taking things literally, and if you do that you can take any meaning away you want. That's how you get a branch that literally only exists to promote the institution of chattel slavery (Southern Baptist) along with pacifist, community-centric, anti-slavery Quakers. And how people are OK with driving BMWs to church and engaging in the crusades and thinking Trump was sent by God. It's all in there if you want it to be, which makes it easy to exploit.

Oh also if you haven't read The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler, I highly recommend those

For it will be like

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/analogy

And he was racist.