Is my religion evil?

I've been thinking a lot recently. Having trouble with my (maybe ex) fiancee, et cetera. I started to realize that the way I see it, Christianity is evil. I don't mean to say that Christians are necessarily evil, but the religion itself is, in my eyes; anything that says I am to be stoned to death and then tortured for eternity for arbitrary reasons doesn't strike me as benevolent.

Of course, that made me think even more: is there evil in my faith? I'll outline it as follows, and I want anyone that sees anything morally objective about it to tell me. No shitposts/trolling, please and thank you.

• First off, the goddess. She didn't make the universe, but she has existed as long as it has. Her tenets are as follows:
  • There is no relevance in black/white/gay/straight/et cetera. It is never okay to judge someone by something they cannot control.
  • Respect nature and try to prevent its destruction.
  • Do not hurt anyone unnecessarily.
  • If someone tries to hurt you, fight back.
  • Forgive but never forget.
  • Love openly and with all your heart.

• Reincarnation. When you die, your soul is transferred to a new body. Whether you take the time to seek memories of the past is up to you; it is not required, nor discouraged.

• Magic. Much the same as Wiccans and most other pagans; magic is a natural force that can be used to benefit yourself and others.

That's about it. Does anyone see any issues with it?

   Also, inb4 Atheism is the One True Way.   

edited 28th Jan '11 9:37:30 AM by Diamonnes

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

Who gave you the idea that all Christians believe that you deserve to be stoned? That is horrific and stupid. I'm sorry that you have come away with this sort of conclusion. Please do not just dismiss an entire religion. Would you mind listing a few of the arbitrary reasons you believe Christians believe others are sent to hell?

To answer your question, as long as your beliefs do not hinder the freedoms of another person, or lead an individual directly into harm then I do not believe your religion is 'evil'. You are free to believe whatever you want.

edited 27th Jan '11 7:51:56 PM by Pentadragon

@Diamonnes You believe Strawmaninity is evil? Yeah, me too!

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

Christianity explicitly states: Suffer not a witch to live. (Regarding me being stoned. I realize 99 % of Christians think this is B.S.)

Also, that anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus burns in Hell. That's pretty damn arbitrary. Jesus = heaven, no Jesus = torture. That dichotomy is unnacceptable to me.

edited 27th Jan '11 8:09:30 PM by Diamonnes

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

@Diamonnes That's not Christianity, that's from the OT law which Christians need not worry about. You don't recall hearing any stories about Jesus going around killing witches, do you?

Also, the idea of an eternal, fiery Hell is more-or-less inspired by tradition and not entirely Scriptural.

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

Back then, witchcraft was often related to cursing people. Not simply "magic". For that, you visited a shrine and killed a few animals while requesting a blessing.

And no, I don't consider your religion evil.

edited 27th Jan '11 8:46:39 PM by SilentColossus

Wrong, wrong and wrong again. Do better research.

I'm not going to put your religion down, so I won't offer my opinion.

edited 27th Jan '11 8:16:52 PM by Ultrayellow

Except for 4/1/2011. That day lingers in my memory like...metaphor here...I should go.

Aside from the basic, knee-jerk "No, you're wrong," a couple of substantive objections:

"◦Respect nature and try to prevent its destruction."

"Nature" if viewed as some sort of balance/system of life  ^*

does not exist. A wide variety of different species are in constant, competitive flux all over the planet. Because the processes by which they change and go extinct are so slow, and human perception of time is so narrow, it seems to us that there is some sort of balance and system to it all. There is not.

Organisms are in constant competition for energy and other necessities (which will, eventually, be exhausted on Earth no matter what; the atmosphere's oxygen is slowly leaking into space and will eventually become to scarce to support life, the sun will eventually burn off any biosphere that might remain, and then go out) and constantly going extinct with or without human intervention.

To put the motley conglomeration of mindless organisms we share the globe with above the interests and wellbeing of humanity is, to me at least, an abhorrent idea.

"•Magic. Much the same as Wiccans and most other pagans; magic is a natural force that can be used to benefit yourself and others."

Magic does not exist. To encourage belief in it is to encourage ignorance and superstition.

I was Christian for years; lived all over the U.S., and every church I went to told me that paganism was evil (if they said anything about it) and that nonChristians burned in hell. I've read the bible half a dozen times. I know my damn research.

Admittedly, maybe I was going to the wrong churches. Like I said, my issue isn't the people, it's the text.

EDIT: Shit, this got derailed FAST.

Alright, Humans Are Special. Got it. That's one point against it that I openly accept; I've had issues with that myself, mostly along the lines of 'what the fuck makes them special?'. However, I do think it's rather important to preserve the planet as long as possible to sustain humanity.

edited 27th Jan '11 8:25:56 PM by Diamonnes

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

@Diammones I'm sorry, but no, you do not know your research.

What were the denominations of these churches you visited?

edited 27th Jan '11 8:23:48 PM by KCK

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

"Also, that anyone who doesn't believe in Jesus burns in Hell. That's pretty damn arbitrary. Jesus = heaven, no Jesus = torture. That dichotomy is unnacceptable to me."

Actually, the underlying assumption of Christianity is that Humans Are Bastards and Hell is the default, but Jesus sacrificed himself in order to open heaven to any who will accept Him, ask forgiveness, and repent of sin.

So how, exactly, does "anyone can renounce sin, embrace Christ, and enter Heaven by the grace of God" "= torture"?

Hell is the default. That's my problem with it. If it were 'People that hurt other people frequently and with no remorse go to Hell' I'd be significantly less knee-jerk 'oh hell no' about it.

KCK, Apostalic mostly, also baptist.

edited 27th Jan '11 8:37:22 PM by Diamonnes

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

To be fair, the KJV version of the bible says "suffer not a witch to live", and there are many... more fundamentalist churches that would LOVE to stone witches (and gay people, and people with disabilities, and... etc.), but the more liberal Christians tend to lean towards a newer translation that says it's referring mainly to black magic/ curses/ etc.

I think that any religion or lack of religion can be painted 'evil' if you only take the worst of the lot. Religion is a social construct, and therefore is made up of a vast number of individuals, and the nature of it lends itself well to being used for evil.

"I don't know how I do it. I'm like the Mr. Bean of sex." -Drunkscriblerian

@Diammones Oh, there's your problem! Baptists aren't the end-all of Scriptural interpretations, you know.

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

Eh, true. I Might be Probably am biased on the matter. Initial angst aside, what are your personal beliefs, KCK? What is to become of me when I die?

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

@Diammones Your soul will be put in stasis until Judgement Day. After that, I'm not sure; I think it is presumptuous to say who is headed to which afterlife destination.

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

Actually... I'd be cool with that. That's a pretty sweet deal, assuming I'd then be judged according to my actions in life, rather than my feelings. (I have a serious case of Knight in Sour Armour sometimes)

In reply to ;promoting belief in magic is promoting ignorance': All religions promote ignorance, then, if you look at it like that.

My name is Cu Chulainn. Beside the raging sea I am left to moan. Sorrow I am, for I brought down my only son.

Only if you equate all spirituality with magic.

It's more that in Neopaganism, magic is intrinsically tied up with our spirituality. I really don't see how casting a spell is inherently any more ridiculous or superstitious than saying a prayer. We all have our ways of pleading with thunderstorms.

Stuff what I do.

@Karalora Agreed.

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

I'm always shooting questions at Christians but I just can't make em crack. It's not I make it easy for them and they know that but they almost seem to welcome the challenge. They kinda squirm under the pressure but they deflect it with a well placed Bible quote that never answers things.

It's usually "But Jesus dies for everyone's sins and he came back as proof that following him will lead to salvation"

Is Christianity evil? No but I'd blame it on scripture and so it is with no suprise that the religions of the book are the most violent. It is the whole reason as to why countries are secular.

But I wouldn't believe in a religion that lies about the very race of their beloved founder than go about galavanting about white superiority.

Or one that denounces non-believers just because they don't share a viewpoint.

edited 27th Jan '11 9:19:42 PM by shinfernape

A wish is never free.

@Shinfer So, what research have you done?

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

To be fair, to the average person, at least in my experience who has casual contact with Christianity could VERY EASILY walk away with thinking the things that the OP has thought. It's not nuanced, but it's not exactly "wrong" either.

Your average person is entirely unable to make the distinction between metaphor (or say a "historical lens" like the pro-slavery stuff) and literalism. It's unreasonable to expect them to do so when presented with this chaotic blend of the metaphorical and the literal. The problem isn't with the listener, it's with the speaker not being clear enough. (Which is why I say the best bet for Progressive/Liberal/Modernist Christianity is to make the distinctions as bright as they possibly can, instead of downplaying them.)

@OP. It's not evil in any way. There's zero part of anything there that could potentially result in the harm of another person. Now, I kind of "disagree" with forgiving without forgetting, as in a way I feel that's impossible. To truly forgive someone, you must at the very least act like you've forgotten about it, or you act like it's no longer a concern, if you do not, you don't really forgive them, at least in terms of an external action. You can, of course, internally say that you're not going to concern yourself with it and let it go, but I don't feel as though that's real forgiveness.

Democracy is the process in which we determine the government that we deserve

@Karmakin Perhaps, but that doesn't stop me from being bothered.

edited 27th Jan '11 9:23:17 PM by KCK

There's no justice in the world and there never was~

@ KCK none but like I said I shoot a lot of questions down the way of Christians and like most people you eventually make observations.

A wish is never free.