Comment on Should religious people have positions of power? by sacredcow

Parent Post: Should religious people have positions of power? · In Reply To

sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 6:46:37 AM · permalink

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hamstertheory · 2/26/2025, 2:04:00 PM · permalink

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sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 4:25:33 PM · permalink

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hamstertheory · 2/26/2025, 5:02:49 PM · permalink

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sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 5:08:17 PM · permalink

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hamstertheory · 2/26/2025, 5:58:05 PM · permalink

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Homosexuality is repugnant to nature.  So repugnant that reproduction cannot occur.  God has nothing to do with my distaste for homosexuals, my acceptance of Darwin does.
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Murder, pedophilia, rape, robbery, usury, forgery, utterance.  Those are just some things against my beliefs.  Not as a Christian, but as a human who lives under the “social contract.”  
  
For me, my moral authority derives from Christianity because it seems to be the best moral framework I’ve ever encountered.  
  
Humans murder humans, but do so in God’s name.  God’s wrathful bloodlust did end with the Old Testament.  There’s not much killing, or any, by Christian Gentiles in the New Testament.  So killing isn’t in my wheelhouse and I haven’t been a fan of it since the War on Terror or the multiple Israeli genocide attempts, but that’s just me.  
  
Great question about what I think is true about the Bible.  The answer is, I have no idea other than the historical sights and corresponding recorded history to say historical sights, places, or people were true and happened from both religious and secular sources.  The rest, I just accept the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that Jesus allowed me to no longer follow the ways of legalistic Judaism, and that imperfection can be made whole through belief in Him.  That’s my choice and decision, and I’ll share it with others if their heart is open and willing.  
  
My idea of God comes from the religious faith I participate in and adhere to.  I mean if you want me to say that I denounce the “Sky Daddy” or think that it’s insane a supreme being can be omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, I won’t.  I have had supernatural happenings in my life that I cannot explain or comprehend because it violates all logic and reason.  I believe it is God.  I believe it is Jesus Christ.  I believe it.  You don’t have to, but I do and I am okay with that.

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sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 6:39:25 PM · permalink

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hamstertheory · 2/26/2025, 8:54:12 PM · permalink

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sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 9:18:56 PM · permalink

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sacredcow · 2/26/2025, 6:47:17 PM · permalink

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hamstertheory · 2/26/2025, 9:08:17 PM · permalink

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j.k.harwood2 · 2/26/2025, 11:09:31 PM · permalink

The heart of your question seems to press into the tension between love and judgment, equality and salvation—something that has divided theologians for centuries. If Christians believe that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), and that salvation is only through Christ (John 14:6), it can create a mental framework where believers see themselves as "saved" and others as "lost." But if humility is at the core of Christian faith (Philippians 2:3-8), then true belief should prevent a Christian from looking down on anyone.

I think the best way to reconcile this paradox is through Christ's own actions. He never treated people as lesser—even those who were outside the faith or actively in sin. The woman at the well (John 4), the Roman centurion (Matthew 8), even the thief on the cross (Luke 23)—all were met with respect, mercy, and a chance at redemption. His entire approach was relational, not condemning.

That leads to an interesting takeaway: If a Christian truly follows Jesus, they should see everyone as equal in value and potential for grace, not as some kind of spiritual caste system.

The real problem is human nature. People distort doctrine into us vs. them thinking. But when you really dig into it, Jesus didn’t operate like that. His warnings about hell were often directed at the religious elite—those who thought they were better than others (Matthew 23). That alone should be a check against arrogance in faith.

So maybe the better question for Christians is:

"Do I believe in salvation in a way that humbles me, or in a way that makes me feel superior?"

The first is biblical. The second is human ego in disguise.

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sacredcow · 2/27/2025, 5:59:42 PM · permalink

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j.k.harwood2 · 2/27/2025, 6:10:45 PM · permalink

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