I'd say that it is you that has bought the lie, and judging from your avatar, more than just the religious one. I can do a comparison of Christianity and Americanism similar to the one I just did comparing Islam and Christianity. Patriotism is just a secular religion, complete with its own myths (cherry tree and log splitting presidents instead of babes in the reeds and virgin births), symbols (flags, eagles and Uncle Sam instead of Jesus, Mary and the cross), precious documents (original parchments/papyri for each). Patriotism or faith. Traitor or infidel. The Ten Commandments and The Bill of Rights. Manifest destiny and American exceptionalism vs. the Chosen People. The Pilgrims and the Exodus. Godless Communists and suicide bombers. "I pledge allegiance" and "Our Father who art in heaven." "Communism is my enemy" and "Islam is my enemy." Honor vs righteousness. Lapel flags and crosses. He died for your rights or he died for your salvation.
Serving God and serving country: It's all fantasy and tribalism, and it exists to convince you and me to underwrite and/or die for somebody else's agenda.
I see Christianity as the aggressor. It certainly has been in the case of atheists. It has successfully demonized and marginalizied atheists and atheism for millennia, although lately, we are breaking through, finding our voice, fighting back, and defining ourselves. Christianity isn't too happy about it.
When I was born, atheists were considered morally unfit to teach, coach, adopt, hold public office, or serve on juries or as expert witnesses. That's due to nothing but millennia of biblical hate speech rendered as Christian bigotry. The Christian Bible teaches that unbelievers arelying, corrupt, vile, wicked, abominable, decadent, debauched, godless vessels of darkness in the service of evil, not one of whom does any good, fit to be shunned and to be burned alive forever as enemies of a good god, and the moral equivalent of murderers and whoremongers. If you are unfamiliar with the specific scriptures, I'd be glad to provide them upon request, but I'm pretty sure you don't want me reproducing those scriptures here.
Isn't it about time for Christians to accept responsibility for their plight? My opinion of Christianity stems from having been a Christian, and from observing Christians in the news and in venues like this one. It is people like you that "indoctrinate" me. I'm not really interested in anybody else's opinion of Christianity, and I can't be indoctrinated. Nobody has any chance of inserting an idea into my head through repetition, which is probably the case with most people trained in critical thinking. They're rational skeptics, meaning they question all claims, rejecting those that are insufficiently supported by reason applied to evidence.
If we could be reached that way, you'd have indoctrinated us all by now with your repetitious memes such as this persecution meme, or your progressive indoctrinee meme. You simply repeat these claims over and over and over again, never noticing that your non-Christian audience is unaffected by your efforts. Save those for Sunday school, where you get people to sing "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so" over and over, offering no evidence that this Jesus exists, that he loves anybody, or that the Bible should be believed. Indoctrination occurs if the target eventually receives the implanted meme uncritically. Intellectual plankton, floating in the current of the thoughts of others.
My tradition, academic-style teaching and learning, is nothing like that and rejects that kind of thinking. The professor doesn't mindlessly repeat an unsupported meme like creationism. He'll show you the evidence that Darwin had at his disposal, for instance, and what he concluded from that. It won't be repeated again, and you won't be asked if you believe it, just do you remember what was taught. Intellectual nekton.
Agreed, but we're referring to different things. I'm referring to the decline in America caused by conservatism and the willingness of the American electorate to vote for criinals..
The Jews don't want you hitchhiking onto them, either. You're the first spin-off from from Judaism's Happy Days. You're Laverne and Shirley, Islam is Mork and Mindy, and Mormonism is Joannie Loves Chahchi.
Jesus has nothing to do with Abraham. Nobody is opposed to Jesus. The Muslims simply don't believe in that myth. Nor do I.
Still with this false narrative? You're the only one saying so. Your approach is to try to excuse the 22% (or whatever the correct number is) of the world's ills caused by religion by claiming that others are saying 100%, then calling your straw man ridiculous. It's Christiana pologetics that is ridiculous, and like Hitchens, I claim the right to criticize it.
Fantasy. The most anti-Christian institute is the Christian church. We watch it and judge what it does.
Please. I'm an atheist who has been the victim of your religion. I wish to see it disappear, and I am unapologetic about it. I expect the LGBTQ+ community to have the same opinion. Just go away.
People want Christianity to shut up and butt out of the lives of non-Christians. Learn how to be good neighbors, and that might change.
Christianity teaches people to view people like me as immoral. How should I view it? It's an enemy, and I don't love enemies - a foolish idea in the first place. I will fight back, and encourage others to do so by example.
There you go again. Poor you. So persecuted. The most persecuted majority that the world has ever known. Just leave the planet and let the rest of us make progress without Christianity's impediments.
Only on your people, not mine. The religious believe by faith. Just repeat your meme to them over and over, and you can capture them.
I have no reason to believe that such a person existed, or that if he did, his promises mean anything.
It is religion that teaches that animals are inferior to human beings. Secular humanism teaches that they are our fellow pilgrims in this adventure called life. I reject that ethic.
We don't need religion for that, nor is it as good as secular humanism in promoting such qualities.
Why not. It's as valid as Christianity. It has as much evidentiary support - none.
Sinners? There is no reason to believe that sin or sinners exists.
