this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
374 points (98.4% liked)

Atheism

4065 readers
111 users here now

Community Guide


Archive Today will help you look at paywalled content the way search engines see it.


Statement of Purpose

Acceptable

Unacceptable

Depending on severity, you might be warned before adverse action is taken.

Inadvisable


Application of warnings or bans will be subject to moderator discretion. Feel free to appeal. If changes to the guidelines are necessary, they will be adjusted.


If you vocally harass or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathizer or a resemblant of a group that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of any other group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you you will be banned on sight.

Provable means able to provide proof to the moderation, and, if necessary, to the community.

 ~ /c/nostupidquestions

If you want your space listed in this sidebar and it is especially relevant to the atheist or skeptic communities, PM DancingPickle and we'll have a look!


Connect with Atheists

Help and Support Links

Streaming Media

This is mostly YouTube at the moment. Podcasts and similar media - especially on federated platforms - may also feature here.

Orgs, Blogs, Zines

Mainstream

Bibliography

Start here...

...proceed here.

Proselytize Religion

From Reddit

As a community with an interest in providing the best resources to its members, the following wiki links are provided as historical reference until we can establish our own.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Jennifer Sandlin 4:32 am Mon Feb 12, 2024

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 93 points 9 months ago (3 children)

They've hired a PR firm to address, in the firm's words, the problem of "How did the world's greatest love story in Jesus become known as a hate group?"

More like how did "my dad's gonna torture you forever unless you believe this hogwash" turn into "the world's greatest love story?"

[–] SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 26 points 9 months ago (3 children)

You’re not seeing this right. He’s not going to do it, the devil is. And yeh he is all powerful so technically yes he is also allowing it to happen under his watch. But it’s only to teach you a lesson because he loves you so much. And he agrees on at least some level that burning in a pit of fire for all eternity is a fair, just and effective way for people to learn how to love him.

[–] BabyVi@lemmy.world 12 points 9 months ago (1 children)

According to fundie beliefs God runs hell, Satan is just another inmate.

[–] SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

What a shithead

Actually, in Christian lore the devil will be another inmate in hell, not the leader of it.

Growing up, the justification for hell I always heard was this: No one is torturing you in hell. Hell is just the complete separation from God, which is in and of itself tortuous. God doesn't want to separate you from him. But if you're sinful, and haven't accepted Jesus's washing away of your sins, he doesn't have a choice!

I don't really think this holds up, and honestly I've kinda forgotten why I was writing this comment in the first place.

[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

It's the exact playbook of abusers.

[–] Odd_so_Star_so_Odd@lemmy.world 6 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

They made up their own story because they didn't like the original with its reality of there being no afterlife + hell being a graveyard on earth for people mourning those they failed to respect, honor and love in life / heaven being a place on earth accessed via a mindset of what essentially boils down to communism - all of which is hard to exploit for power and profit without some switcheroo...

And to answer the articles question: turning on fellow christians might have something to do with it.

[–] UlfKirsten@feddit.de 4 points 9 months ago

When he married the hooker, duh

[–] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 92 points 9 months ago (1 children)

At what point do "hateful christian nationalists" get labeled terrorists as we do with so many hateful muslim nationalists?

[–] surewhynotlem@lemmy.world 83 points 9 months ago (1 children)

When they're no longer in charge

[–] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 28 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (3 children)

Could you guys get on with that already? Please? Pretty please?

Signed: the rest of the world

[–] name_NULL111653@pawb.social 26 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Believe me, we're trying ...

Signed, a non-binary American about to flee the country if somehow Trump gets elected again (my kind isn't welcome here).

[–] M137@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Sweden welcomes you with open arms if you don't find anywhere else ❤️

[–] name_NULL111653@pawb.social 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Definitely considering it. I'm leaning towards Sweden or Germany right now.

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago

Check out Portugal as well.

[–] Chriswild@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

It's not easily done. The most backwards states have the most representation constitutionally.

[–] cmoney@lemmy.world 52 points 9 months ago (1 children)

"How can we keep playing the victim /persecuted Christian card?" says the largest religion on earth.

[–] Dudewitbow@lemmy.zip 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

isnt islam the largest religion in the world?

[–] VonCesaw@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

It's #2 but its fairly close

[–] Maalus@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago
[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago (2 children)

I think at this point we can just call them Christians.

[–] SuckMyWang@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Na they’re not all hateful. Labeling them all hateful takes some of the heat off the real cunts too, same goes for other religions

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The ones that aren't are not doing enough to separate themselves from the ones that are.

If there was a hate group that claimed to represent me, mine would be the loudest voice shouting them down.

[–] ClockworkOtter@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

We're not listening to the ones that are trying to separate themselves from the right.

My grandparents were proper red Labour (UK) socialists their whole lives, and my grandfather was also a vicar. While in retirement they left the church he had even done some services for simply because that church wouldn't support gay marriage.

There are good people out there who are also Christian, and they are worth listening to.

[–] themeatbridge@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (10 children)

Are they speaking out? I don't hear any organizations critical of the church. Nobody is buying ads to denounce hate speech and bigotry. Maybe they are out there, but they aren't being very loud.

load more comments (10 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] jopepa@lemmy.world 15 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

Their art is so bad. If they don’t make Jesus look 60, then he just looks indiscernible. The lighting is all over the place, the stripes on the flag are so narrow there’d have to be thirty original colonies, and Jesus looks like he has double decker mouths with the OCD that makes you pluck your eyebrows bald.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Facebones@reddthat.com 13 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Would this be allowed if Muslim? No? The it's terrorism.

Christians are terrorists. Full stop, no exceptions, no alterations.

I look forward to all the christofascists trying to "um, actually" me.

[–] gennygameshark@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Any absolutist statement is inherently false - I've marched in pride parades with leftist Christians who use the Bible as a philosophical foundation of love and tolerance, the way it should be.

This breed of Evangelical fascists you're talking about are a scourge upon both Christianity as a whole and society at large, and have become the biggest government supported terrorist cell in the world. They are why I no longer believe in the "goodness of Christ" anymore.

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 10 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I'm as anti religion as it gets, but calling every Christian a terrorist is way over board. Most are simply brainwashed and never actually spend any time thinking about religion critically, but a good percentage of them (those leading them) absolutely are evil and are exploiting the credulity of their followers for personal gain and hate.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 9 months ago

Half are brainwashed, but the other half are just really thick. They actually think the Bible is real, and even when you point out that even the church doesn't claim that every aspect of the bible is real and that quite a lot of it was written either after the fact (as in centuries later), or was always just a story to serve as a theoretical example, they don't believe you. So they don't actually understand their own religion.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] pachrist@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

For every atheist I've met who's kind and empathetic, I've met a Christian who's kind an empathetic. For every Christian I've met who's an ignorant, egocentric absolutist, I've met an atheist who's an ignorant, egocentric absolutist.

The problem isn't religion. It's people who don't prioritize empathy. Being an atheist doesn't make you a good person. Being a Christian doesn't make you a good person. Being kind makes you a good person.

[–] Tyfud@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Um , actually... You're absolutely right.

[–] COASTER1921@lemmy.ml 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

For a lot of the Christian audience a reminder that Jesus didn't teach hate is something well needed that they aren't getting in church. Maybe my expectations were too low but I was pleasantly surprised with the message considering how it could have gone regardless of any issues around who funded it.

[–] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 9 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Honestly, I thought the same thing. I got really apprehensive the moment that I saw the foot washing begin, but so many different types of people were depicted having their feet washed (girl in front of a Planned Parenthood, white dude washing the feet of a Native American activist, cop washing the foot of a black dude in an inner city alley, white family washing the feet of who I assume are meant to represent immigrants because its a bus full of Hispanic people, etc), that I felt like they were doing their best to remind everyone to love even those that "society" (Republicans) deems "unfit". Now, were some of those depictions made with underlying racist undertones? Yes. But I honestly cannot determine if it was purposeful, or if this was one of those "they tried their best. More work to be done, but the effort was there" moments. Maybe I'm still just not jaded enough.

[–] ReiRose@lemmy.world 4 points 9 months ago (2 children)

By being shown washing the feet of the "unfit" we are still being reminded that they are infact "unfit". They are still other, lesser than and to be saved. The target audience, the Christian viewer, is the white person doing the washing, and is meant to feel empowered and that they are good like Jesus for showing compassion to these poor other people.

Noone will actually wash the feet of someone in need. They will translate their Christian compassion to help them by saving them from themselves, i.e. restrictive laws.

[–] AnarchoSnowPlow@midwest.social 4 points 9 months ago

"look we care about all these disgusting sinners"

[–] AquaTofana@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's a fair take on it for sure, and one I hadn't considered. When I went to rewatch the commercial to make sure that I didn't misremember it, there were a lot of "Controversial Superbowl Ad" type videos that I did not click on, because I don't need hyper-Christian videos defending it or anything else in my YT reccs, so that clearly shows an intense difference of reception of this ad.

I'm just wary of immediately poking holes in anything/everything the right does, if I feel like they're at least making an attempt, rather than being like, "Hey, you tried, and that's good. Maybe next time showcase your message like this instead so more people find this palatable.."

Maybe it's because I grew up in a Republican household, and even spewed some of that rhetoric, and I had my own journey into Progressive thinking, so I like to give people the benefit of the doubt/growth/seeing the error of their ways/etc.

[–] ReiRose@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

Definitely give people the benefit of the doubt. But corporations spending superbowl-ad money I always assume the worst and maybe will one day be pleasantly surprised.

Overall there's probably more misguided good intent than mal-intent. I've just become so jaded.

[–] madcaesar@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've said this before, you cannot combat a lie with a lie.

Jesus and all the things said about him are made up stories. Pretending to discuss the "real" Jesus, who we want to be nice and accepting, is a losing battle.

It's like arguing which Saiyan is the most powerful, when they are all not real.

Making better Christians means ridding them of nonsensical beliefs not trying to replace the lies in their head, with the nicer lies you would like them to believe.

[–] dev_null@lemmy.ml 9 points 9 months ago

Here "real" refers to "the character that's really in the Bible". It doesn't matter if it's fictional. Same as criticizing a bad fan fiction with "real Harry Potter wouldn't have done that", with "real" meaning "in the actual source material".

[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 11 points 9 months ago

Christians who buy super bowl ads rather than try to convert people through good deeds are literally virtue signaling.

[–] Raverbunny@aussie.zone 10 points 9 months ago

I'm honestly surprised the American version of Jesus doesn't look like Trump...

[–] roguetrick@kbin.social 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Hobby lobby founder wants to waste money on the superbowl. Let 'em.

[–] GladiusB@lemmy.world 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No please don't. Ruins the whole experience.

[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 3 points 9 months ago

No, the foot ~~fetish~~ washing commercial made me uncomfortable and ran way too long.

[–] LightDelaBlue@lemmy.world 2 points 9 months ago

American wen temu ads on super ball: nooooooooo it's bad ! Ban it ! Wen jebus: ah yes please :3

load more comments
view more: next ›