What The Bible Says...

Exactly Toker...... They are being controlled buddy!

Religon is BS made to control people..... God is beautiful. Religon is made up BS for control....

 

He had a Kangaroo court. Pontius Pilate was notorious for not suffering trouble makers lightly.

 

You're way overgeneralizing, going on the basis of the right wing evangelicals and fundies who get all the press. Blanket judgments of an entire racial or religious category on the basis of the actions of part of the category is bigotry. There are approximately 45,000 different Christian denominations in the world today--some very different from one another.. The more progressive or liberal ones would include the United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church USA, the Episcopal Church, etc. These are characterized by devotion to the social gospel, emphasis on social justice, acceptance of diversity, help for the poor and marginalized members of society, critical examination of scripture and doctrines, acceptance of science and environmental stewardship. The Catholic Church , of course, is constrained by tradition and dogma, but has also been active in social justice movements. I'm sure its anti-abortion stance will never change, but we can at least acknowledge some bright spots. The late Pope Francis and the present Pope Leo deserve honorable mention in this regard.

My own United Methodist Church includes a diversity of thinking under the same roof. The Sunday School class I attend on Sunday Morning and the one I teach in the afternoon are downright radical, while the classes that meet in the room next door are conservative. These progressive churches, along with some of the more conservative ones, play a useful role in organized altruism, which plays a larger role than "control". Religion is a complex phenomenon--serving important psychological needs of individuals for meaning and purpose, society for order, and elites for legitimacy. I attend mainly to be with friends who share my beliefs and values and to critically discuss the Bible and other religious documents. Last week, it was the Nicene Creed, which my Sunday Schools have many problems with.

There are, of course, other valid paths to meaning. I take monthly fellowship with a group of atheists and agnostics, who mostly are victims of toxic religion, or are turned off by it.. One states on his web page: " 'Atheist' tells you what I don't believe, 'humanist' tells you what I do believe." I see little difference between them and my churchgoing friends.

I should probably admit that my own concepts of God and Jesus are so unorthodox that some would consider it atheism, but it's consistent with the views leading Christian theologians like the late Marcus Borg and Bishop Spong.

 

I don't think the world has to be Christian in order to achieve that Utopia. It just has to follow the teachings and example of Jesus or the other great prophets whom the various peoples of the world claim to revere..

Of course it does. They co-exist in our own brains. That's the point of much of the Bible, starting with Gen.3. Two people in paradise, and they can't get their minds off what they don't have. Buddhists call it Taṇhā: grasping or craving. Evolutionary biologist E.O Wilson thinks it pre-dated modern humans, and resulted from a modular division in the brain between self-interest and the social interests that are essential for human survival. Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker The Blank Slate tells us that the models closest to capturing this reality are Freudian psychology and Judeo-Christian theory of human nature--the struggle between the guy in the white robe and the one in the red suit) comes closest to the modularized basis of human nature. I doubt that we'll ever achieve Utopia, but something to aim for. Every step in that direction is a step forward. Muslims recognize the Jihad al-Akbar, the greatest jihad, as the conquest of self. God, please grant me that power!