Well put - and that was even before Christianity won the game of becoming the very best and extremely useful tool for those in power.
As we know it also works very well for those who are seeking power, like e.g. Donald Trump who all of a sudden is flaunting Christian beliefs he has never before exhibited any trust in. Smart? Yes, up to a point, but that trick only works in certain contexts and societies ....
I didn't know that about Thomas Paine, but I fully agree, especially in one aspect of the quote: Those who preach religious doctrines may not have chosen to do so in order to suppress others, but those doctrines - which they may or may not have believed in themselves - always have served that purpose. It's smart to team up with the ultimate authority which many see as the deity we in The West inherited from The Middle East: Yahwe. Up till now this planet has seen c. 4000-6000 "gods" (that we know of as there may be many more!!!), but somehow we, who are not desert people like the Jews, decided that the legend of the former war god, Yahwe, was the one we would adhere to. Former times worshipped other gods:
I find that extremely interesting historically and philosophically, but very, very Christian people hate to see this. For instance, many/most don't seem to understand that the so-called "Mother Goddess" was GOD and not only the consort of some male god.
When politicians nowadays claim being "God's people" who "speak for God" I find that both preposterous, hypocritical and sacrilegious. To be a proclaimed Christian isn't the same as being the authorized mouthpiece of the god they say they are serving. I've always felt - and said - that Americans have a way of confusing their god with Santa and that goes for most of these so-called American, Christian politicians.
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar