this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2024
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That's a pretty bad misreading. These are about how material accretion is not to be valued too much, especially in comparison to kindness and serving God. (The latter story also says "If you wish to be perfect", not "you must do this to get there".)
That's sad to hear. Even as an agnostic, I know nicer Christian sects.
Most people of faith aren't those radical maniacs you see on ye olde telly. Radical [blank]s exist in nearly every field you can imagine, and since they're radical, they're gonna be vocal and take over all your anger-driven feed. To assert that all religions fester and allow hate simply isn't true. Radicals will turn to everything they can find to justify their stupid beliefs.
It's not a misreading at all. In many fundamentalist sects (such as the one I left) that's the dogmatic truth of those verses.
Everything material is sinful and holding you back.
I have lived with and continue to love many religious people - that does not make them rational. That does not make their religious beliefs OK. With all the love in their hearts they still participate in evil and coercive control of others. They are particularly dangerous in that they believe in their heart of hearts that they are doing the right thing.
This is the reality of religion: it is dangerous, coercive, self propagating brain washing that forces people into shape. It creates panopticons. Window twitching neighbors that snitch and shun.
This is true of all religion. In Christianity it's true of southern baptist and Lutheran's and Christian scientists and episcopalians and Jehovah's Witnesses and 7th day Adventists and Mormons and Catholics and Orthodox and ...
I am truly horrified by what you had to endure. I understand, or at least think I may understand, why you feel this way. However, your experience is not universal to all people of faith.
Religion is very much compatible with day-to-day rationality, and most religions do not believe that one has to forsake everything; in fact, that fundamentalist sect still owns things, and they're just making up an excuse to steal. Propagating beliefs themselves is not coercive control; coercive control is coercive control.
It's just that since religion used to be universal, old filth found their justification in what they know and created their existing communities of control. That does not mean religion always lends itself towards more coercion. Belief in a greater purpose is a great rationale to endure and go on to create astonishing projects.