IS CHRISTIANITY THE WORST RELIGION?

[BigJohn]

Of all of the religions discussed, Christianity appears to be the religion that many on this forum detest. I suspect the animosity toward Christianity comes from personal experiences and that the person never really got over the situation.

Please feel free to express why you have such feelings.

Have you ever looked at your feelings toward Christianity as something spiritual people should pursue?

[BigJohn]

I had a high ranking Christian spiritual leader come to a business I used to own and asked to buy some items on credit. Our policy was "No". The person claimed his daughter needed the items and at the moment he did not have any money. He promised to pay for the items shortly. We gave in and let him have the items. One of the items was a mouse.

The next week, we got a letter from the Bankruptcy Court claiming he had just filed bankruptcy and that we could not proceed with collections.

What a bummer.

This week, that 'issue' came up in my thoughts...... and then I laughed. The price I paid for the mouse was about 75 cents!

[Honza]

You must remember that this is a western based forum with mainly white people participating. Most of us here have grown up in the context of a Christian based religion. We are mainly westerners and westerners are mainly Christians. To us other religions and spiritual practices are new and enticing. We are rebelling against what we have been taught and are seeking new pastures.

Since Christianity is the religion closest to home we actively dislike it and look for something better. If we were an eastern based forum we might be rebelling against other things.

[BigJohn]

Originally Posted by Honza

You must remember that this is a western based forum with mainly white people participating. Most of us here have grown up in the context of a Christian based religion. We are mainly westerners and westerners are mainly Christians. To us other religions and spiritual practices are new and enticing. We are rebelling against what we have been taught and are seeking new pastures.

Since Christianity is the religion closest to home we actively dislike it and look for something better. If we were an eastern based forum we might be rebelling against other things.

GREAT OBSERVATIONS!

But....... should spiritual people behave this way?

[NoOne]

I don't think Christianity is the worst religion by any measure, historically, it was relatively benign and these days it is a paragon of peace and tolerance, with a few glaring exceptions. The worst religions, objectively, were those that engaged in mass human sacrifice (think Mayans and Aztecs for instance), cannibalism, genocide, that sort of thing. At the moment, in relative terms, doomsday cults are the worst culprits. Aum Shrinikyo comes to mind, which poisoned dozens of people on the Tokyo Metro to try to bring about the end of the world and actively worked on developing a nuclear bomb in rural Australia to blow up Tokyo with. Certain strains of radical Islam are also dangerous in that respect, with the Ayatollahs of Iran and the Islamic State radicals of particular concern.

Originally Posted by BigJohn

GREAT OBSERVATIONS!

But....... should spiritual people behave this way?

Probably not. The Advaita Vedanta approach resonates with me because I came to that way of thinking very early on.

Religions arose according to the time, society and culture, but they all manifest an inherent human yearning to understand their mortality and find comfort in something far greater.

To tear that comfort away seems to me the opposite of spirituality, religious or secular. It's just not compassionate.

[Miss Hepburn]

I will leave this question to each individual Christian..is it bad for them?

It was a stepping stone for me...not a perfect stepping stone.

I feel it could be the worst, to stay on topic, if it teaches God is something to be feared
and is a blood thirsty, punishing monster.
Following Jesus' teachings are different than belonging to a man made religion, just wanted to say.

[ThatMan]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I will leave this question to each individual Christian..is it bad for them?

It was a stepping stone for me...not a perfect stepping stone.

I feel it could be the worst, to stay on topic, if it teaches God is something to be feared
and is a blood thirsty, punishing monster.
Following Jesus' teachings are different than belonging to a man made religion, just wanted to say.

Christ is my inspiration too.When I first started reading the Bible, I started with the gospels, I had no idea of what's there, I knew one or two things about Christ but had no idea of His full character, then, when I started readings the gospels, everything changed....I read them again and again and again, they were all I needed to hear.So for some years I only read the gospels, then later on I read the entire NT and I read some parts of the OT, there are too many things there, in the OT, that I can't understand so I focus only on Christ.

I can't understand why some people don't like Christ... His words are full of wisdom and love, basically, His message is: it does not matter who you are, rich or poor, master or servant, come to Me; there are many beautiful words... I love the verse where He says that He and the Father would come and have sup with those who welcome them, where else can you find such powerful and incredible love? Christ's love made to always return to His words.

[mickiel]

I don't like Christianity or any other religion. I think the devil is in charge of them all, secretly infiltrating them and infuluencing them in ways undetected. And the whole world has been deceived in this stunning unusual process.

[enaid]

I believe that what you grew up with is what informs your later years, either in the form of an inbred plan of salvation or in the form of resistence and loathing of your early experience.

Christianity mostly works for people who didnt have it forced on them in the form of scary strictness and ‘hell’ talk. I am one of the lucky Christians who is now experiencing a blossoming of what I grew up with and it’s a very enlightening experience that indeed ’saves’ me in many ways from anxiety, fear and the naive victimhood of my early years at the hands of people who used me.

Grow up a happy Buddhist and you will resultingly be an adult Buddhist if it continues to mean something to you. Same for every other religion on the earth all of which work for the indigenous people of that religion.

For my father, atheism was the healthy way to be as an adult because he had Christianity forced on him as a child having to go to a very strict church multiple times a week.

Whatever floats your boat as they say. Whatever works for you as a way to grow and expand your horizons and get over youthful inadequacies.