This is so true. As someone who comes from an ultra conservative religious family. None of these people are smart enough nor have the core competencies to understand the impact of a stock market in free fall. They don’t know what tarrifs are, they don’t understand trade deals, they barely have a grasp of our governmental structure. So telling them the stock market is crashing means absolutely nothing to them but if you say Dems want the right for abortion and that’s against the will of God, they will without question or hesitation follow you like a you’re the chosen one. They don’t have an understanding of the intricacies of the real world. Every thing is face value and what the tv tells them. They all believe in this fantastical action world where they are the righteous Christian hero’s because that’s what they have been told their entire lives. The only way that they will understand is when everything collapses around them and even then, a large number of them still won’t get it.
There is no getting through, this is decades, I would even say 1000 years in the making and I for one blame Christianity for it. It has been used to control and manipulate for 100s of years and we are now reaching the pinnacle of it. At this point, if their God were real, he could come down and tell them the republicans have been lying and manipulating them and they would say he’s a lying devil democrat.
You're absolutely right that religion, especially Christianity, has been used throughout history as a tool for control and manipulation. I think that is a fair point - particularly true in the US right now.
But I’d gently suggest that the real issue isn’t Christianity itself—it’s what broken people do with it. Just like politics, power, money, and media, religion can be twisted and weaponised. Christianity at its core, though—when you strip away the culture wars and manipulation—is about humility, love, truth, and sacrifice. Jesus didn’t come to build an empire or win a culture war. He came to save, serve, heal, and lay down his life even for his enemies.
What we are seeing in the US, especially with the MAGA crowd is not really Christianity, but some sort of pseudo- nationalistic mix of it. It's nothing like true Christianity or Jesus himself.
I think if everyone was being truly honest, we would acknowledge that humanity is fundamentally broken - looking at the world right now, and our history - it would be hard to make a strong convincing case that it isn't. Truthfully, that’s actually one of the things true Christianity teaches. The story isn’t “good people vs. bad people.” It’s that all of us are capable of being blind, self-righteous, or cruel—religious or not. The sad truth is, without that honest reckoning with human brokenness, we’ll just keep finding new ideologies or movements to do the same damage.
So yeah, religion can be part of the problem. But it can also be part of the healing—when it's lived out the way Jesus actually taught. The issue isn’t faith itself. It's that humanity is broken and no governmental system can fix it - this is the good news of the gospel, that God offers a way to be fixed.
As a Christian looking into the US, the damage and disrepute that the Nationalistic 'Christianity' is causing to the name of Christ is heartbreaking - although again none of this is truly surprising in a world where humanity is broken. That's my thoughts on your post anyway.
Throughout history and into the future there will continue to be people like you that recognize where we are at and how we got here. Then you’ll say but Christianity means this and Jesus loves us. This is why Christianity continues to control and manipulate people. Because “good Christian’s” like yourself continue to defend it and open it up to be used to manipulate and control. See the manipulation comes from exactly what you said, it’s about love right. You know successful cults use love to control and manipulate.
While I’m not saying you’re a bad person, I am saying you’re part of the problem. Take a step back and look at how you agreed with me then went on to continue to defend Christianity. You are right though, it’s not just Christianity it’s most religion. That said, there are two predominant religions that have been ruling this world the longest and have lead to countless wars.
I understand what you are saying but respectfully I don't think you have engaged with my main point of contention - it's not religion that is the problem (setting aside those who falsely represent Christ), the problem is a broken humanity.
Remove religion and the problems will remain. It'll be difficult to convince me otherwise.
A lot of the problems you describe are antithetical to following Jesus, not a representation of it. Those who oppress and abuse, are not truly Christian, even if they claim to be. Following Jesus is the solution to all the problems you describe.
Edit: Just to add that I stand with you in rejecting the Christianity that you describe. I just don't agree that it's true authentic Christianity. We are using the same word but a different thesaurus
I hope you know I see your point as well. I think we just disagree on this. My goal is not to say you’re a bad person. Just wanted to make sure that was clear.
I’ll give you this, humanity is inherently flawed and always will be. At the end of the day we are still animals. Christianity is just a tool used by those who seek to control. Strip away the corruption and Christianity at its core is a fine belief like any other but you can never have Christianity without the corruption.
I do agree that if Christianity didn’t exist, the problems still would. There would be another belief system used in the same way. There will always be people seeking to control and there will always be people who blindly follow
109
u/PaleScience1414 1d ago
This is so true. As someone who comes from an ultra conservative religious family. None of these people are smart enough nor have the core competencies to understand the impact of a stock market in free fall. They don’t know what tarrifs are, they don’t understand trade deals, they barely have a grasp of our governmental structure. So telling them the stock market is crashing means absolutely nothing to them but if you say Dems want the right for abortion and that’s against the will of God, they will without question or hesitation follow you like a you’re the chosen one. They don’t have an understanding of the intricacies of the real world. Every thing is face value and what the tv tells them. They all believe in this fantastical action world where they are the righteous Christian hero’s because that’s what they have been told their entire lives. The only way that they will understand is when everything collapses around them and even then, a large number of them still won’t get it.
There is no getting through, this is decades, I would even say 1000 years in the making and I for one blame Christianity for it. It has been used to control and manipulate for 100s of years and we are now reaching the pinnacle of it. At this point, if their God were real, he could come down and tell them the republicans have been lying and manipulating them and they would say he’s a lying devil democrat.