General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCan we cool it with the Xian make believe? Anti-Christ, Satan and other fantasies?
Serious, real-life shit is going on. Politics is real. Bombing people is real. Economies crashing are real. tRump being the cause for all the crap is real, because hes a fucking real-life moron whose stupidities are being supported by real-life Rs. No need for an overlay of religious fantasy.
Ocelot II
(130,783 posts)for whom religion isnt a fantasy and is an important part of their lives is a very big deal and shouldnt be disregarded. Put this own goal to good use instead.
wnylib
(26,201 posts)in politics. It affects his MAGA followers.
I don't personally subscribe to belief in the antichrist in the book of Revelation, but thousands of MAGAs do. Trump's depiction of himself as Jesus was so offensive that several MAGAs are calling him the antichrist and are turned off from support of him. That is a significant real world happening.
WhiskeyGrinder
(27,067 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(32,301 posts)Skittles
(172,078 posts)I'm OK with that, I just wish they'd keep it in church.
edited to add: Trump is not a believer, he just uses religion as a tool like he does with so many other things
TexasBushwhacker
(21,230 posts)Intractable
(2,280 posts)Belief in heaven does not necessarily mean a belief in hell.
Skittles
(172,078 posts)suppose you cannot wait to see someone in "heaven" - what if that person did not want to see you, how would that work?
I DO believe in hell, except it is HERE ON EARTH, not in any "afterlife".
Intractable
(2,280 posts)As one dies, the brain produces all sorts of illusions in the mind.
Skittles
(172,078 posts)well, that makes sense
mr715
(3,685 posts)It exists in the mind. But to me it is temporal.
The Earth is full of so many beauties and so much wonder that it can not be justifiably called hell. It is our Eden.
Hell is the feeling that is left after you've sold your soul for pennies and lived long enough to see your own people betray you.
Skittles
(172,078 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 15, 2026, 02:16 AM - Edit history (1)
I think plenty of people experience a HELL ON EARTH, and not just in the MIND.
here is an example right here:
https://currently.att.yahoo.com/news/articles/around-250-missing-rohingya-boat-045232638.html
BlueKota
(5,408 posts)If I were to label it in biblical terms, I'd call it Purgatory. It's not hell but it isn't heaven either.
mr715
(3,685 posts)How could Earth be heaven if there are parasitoid wasps that sting their prey to paralyze it only to maximize the amount of suffering in their victims?
Plato is credited with the philosophy of dualism. The one part that most made sense to me is everything in the universe has a good and a bad nature. Like we can use fire to warm ourselves or cook, but fire can cause destruction & burn us alive.
mr715
(3,685 posts)The first feminist and the first fascist.
Exalted the virtue of Truth while formulating the big lie.
Simultaneously both Socrates' scion and detractor.
Reduced to text a philosophy that lauded dialogue and discussion.
I've read that Socrates himself was influenced by possibly Indian/Aryan philosophy which led to him (and by extension Plato's) paradoxical superposition of contrary narratives.
Eastern philosophy, to me with my Western schooling and Western schema, is extraordinarily difficult to grasp. How do you have logic without the law of the excluded middle?
ColoringFool
(795 posts)Skittles
(172,078 posts)WarGamer
(18,702 posts)Intractable
(2,280 posts)They never mention the anti-Christ, Satan, or end-times. I think they believe in God without the other nonsense.
To me, it's all nonsense.
A universe without an all-knowing creator makes more sense to me than one with a divine comptroller.
Justice matters.
(9,875 posts)And hundreds of billions of galaxies in this Universe we are living in alone.
Neutrons, protons and electrons are the primary gods.
Skittles
(172,078 posts)they wouldn't be anything worthy of WORSHIP
magicarpet
(18,766 posts)... KKKrishtuns who make a mockery out of the church and our government. These people need to be told and told again the church is not here to be a weapon or used to cause damage to or tear our society apart.
Until this rampant expansion of fascist theocracy is curtailed and drastically subsides the general population will become more and more cynical about the value of religion, the value and benefit of the church and find it more and more difficult to take the church seriously. Treating the church as a red headed stepchild open to ridicule and chastisment is what is in the cards if they do not stop weaponizing religion and using it as a cudgel against civil society.
Refrain from forcing your religion or your interpretations of the Bible down anyone else's throat.
It ain't rocket science just common human decency to enable us to live in some degree of harmony and not slashing each other's necks day in and day out like it was a sporting or entertaining thing to do.
What would Jesus do ? He would certainly not use religion as a battering ram or weaponise it against others. Act accordingly so we can live as neighbors and in peace
msongs
(73,870 posts)Jack Valentino
(5,122 posts)to give bigger tax breaks to the rich--- sort of like the parable
about the rich young ruler in reverse
"give all you have to the poor, THEN come and follow me!" ~ Jesus)
TomSlick
(13,048 posts)Attacks on Democratic Christians is both uncalled for and harmful to the Democratic Party.
Please delete this thread.
Sibelius Fan
(24,831 posts)by a fellow member?
TomSlick
(13,048 posts)The hostility to Christians seen here keeps me from recommending DU to liberal Christians who would be offended by posts questioning their intelligence.
Sibelius Fan
(24,831 posts)to provide a contrary opinion. That avenue of discussion is off limits, no?
TomSlick
(13,048 posts)If such posts were made, the posters were wrong.
I make it a point to not ridicule others for their faith or lack of faith. It's just simple courtesy.
For example, while I know the history of the use of the Greek chi (X) as an abbreviation for Christ, most do not. As a result, I do not abbreviate Christian or Christmas because many find it offensive. I can use six letters instead of one to avoid appearing to be disrespectful. It's just simple courtesy.
Courtesy is the oil in the machinery of social interaction.
MorbidButterflyTat
(4,612 posts)You: "Can we cool it with the Xian make believe? Anti-Christ, Satan and other fantasies?"
Also you: "Since when did being a DU member mean never being offended by a post by a fellow member?"
Sibelius Fan
(24,831 posts)they offer fantasy to deal with reality, and to me, thats counterproductive in politics. Takes the eye off the ball.
muriel_volestrangler
(106,332 posts)I was brought up Christian, and confirmed in the Church of England, and none of it came up. Ever. Because it's an embarrassment. Many Christians also think Satan does not exist - only 60% of American Catholics think "he" does exist, for example.
BlueKota
(5,408 posts)The only reason I read it was because one of my friends gave it to me to read. He was Catholic but fell into the whole born again stuff at the University he attended. I told him I wasn't convinced. To his credit he respected my opinion, and isn't a tsf fan. While we remain friends we mostly just talk on line, with another friend, and rarely bring up religion or politics.
Several priests over the years told me Revelations is bunk. Where I am coming from on the "anti Christ," issue is from the gospels where Jesus warns his followers that there would be people who pretended to be believers in his teachings, but then in reality end up advocating the exact opposite of his teachings and lead others into doing the same. To me tsf and his followers definitely fit that criteria, in my view.
Jack Valentino
(5,122 posts)not because I necessarily believe any of it anymore, but because
those who CLAIM to believe in it have been among the strongest supporters
of the Beast who most resembles the 'Anti-Christ' in the scriptures
from the book which they 'claim' to believe in ! (to point out their hypocrisy and BLINDNESS
to the precepts of their claimed religion which they purport to believe in, but DON'T--
only using it as a weapon to attack others!)
I think most of the posters on this board who do such, do so from the same motivations which I do!
So NO, I don't intend to 'cool it' about discussing such things--- but you are quite free
to pass by any such comments, and especially any thread titles which would give
you the hint that such things are being discussed!
This STILL IS a 'discussion board' with relatively free speech,
so I suggest you deal with that, and bypass any subjects
which make you feel uncomfortable, without suggesting that others
'cool it' over subjects which they care to discuss!
(and come to the 'light-bulb moment' that not everyone who quotes Bible verses is necessarily trying to 'promote' the Christian religion, hi! --- although the lessons which Jesus attempted to teach about how to treat your fellow men and women
are still valid, correct and quite right---
and much more congruent with the public policies of the Democratic Party
than with those of the Republican Party, most of whom 'claim' to be 'Christians',
but mostly ignore or are completely ignorant of his teachings.)
struggle4progress
(126,378 posts)the working folks around
believed what he did say
The bankers and the preachers
they nailed him on a cross
and they laid Jesus Christ in his grave. ...
dalton99a
(94,587 posts)Blue Full Moon
(3,534 posts)The republicans have been funded for a long time by individuals that want to bring about Armageddon. That's why they keep bringing up to the troops. Then add Netanyahu who has been also referencing the Messiah's return. Which should mean any soldier who doesn't believe in the BS should be exempt.
Hugin
(37,893 posts)Is that by accepting a savior even at the last seconds of their lives absolves them of all of a lifetime of sins and the misery that they have committed.
It's like the ultimate get out of jail free card. We know how that would appeal to the exploiters and psychopaths.
Every one of them believes it as well as divine providence.