How Did Some Americans Become So Stupid?

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My grandmother died back in December. She had completely shunned me for years because of religion. I was publicly denounced as a sinner in my church. There’s certainly NOT one degree of separation between that and mainstream Christianity. I’m not in the Jesus Fan Club (JFC) but even I must recognize that.

The other week I read on Politifact that there were posts that was an outbreak of a new disease called the IDIOT virus, which they said was just a hoax. Of course, I knew it couldn't be true, because they said it was "new". The IDIOT virus has existed since the 1990s at least. And it's spread to every country, not just the USA.

Defunding education, lack of healthcare, drugs, alcohol, malnutrition, and the trauma of living through daily shootings.

I think there's more than one degree of difference between Mormons and mainstream Christians. I found this on a Christian site:

https://clearlyreformed.org/7-reasons-why-mormonism-and-christianity-are-not-the-same/

This jibes with my prior understanding. Conclusion:



In contrast, I believe Sunni and Shia Muslims consider each other Muslims.

On the site I posted about above, I found this sermon that deals with Jehovah's Witnesses however it doesn't seem to make that the main topic. Compare and contrast with the foregoing if you wish.

https://clearlyreformed.org/sermon/in-the-beginning/

It's my personal understanding of the old Testament, that the Hebrew God was initially seen as a tribal god that competed with other tribal gods, so the message to Jews was "worship Me not those others".

Jesus apparently consumed a lot of water-to-WheyProteinShakes.

He is a half-god after all.

That's not what the doctrine of the Trinity has to say.

Many Christians, including JWs, don’t believe in the Trinity. I wouldn’t if I were a Christian. Having read the Bible, I think there’s more support for Jesus being the son of God, not that I care either way. Meh.

“Half God” sounds like a good description. With all the divine cast of characters (angels, Satan, demons, and Jesus), I would say that Christianity is polytheistic.

Most rank-and-file Christians don't really grasp the concept of the trinity, either, even though they sing the trinitarian doxology every Sunday.

It is just a convenient way of dodging the accusation of polytheism.

"What? No! We don't worship THREE gods! We worship ONE god, who exists in three PERSONS!"

Meh, might as well just call them three different gods.

My maternal grandmother (Catholic) was ostracised for marrying an Anglican (my grandad) back in the 1930s. The protestants and Catholics of that era were equally as much nutters as any JW or mormon.

Whatever sect of christianity or islam, the distinction you point out is like a comicon convention where some cosplay fans follow Naruto and some follow Pokemon (christian and muslim clergy also play dress up as if the sky father god has a dress code ). At the end of the day some people's fantasies diverge from other people's fantasies. Groupthink does not make fantasy into truth.

^^ We weren’t talking about that era. We were talking about mainstream Christianity now. People in mainstream churches do not experience anything close to what I have for leaving my faith and for supposed “sin.”

I was a member of my parent's church (they eventually became Weslyans a sect of the Anglican Church) and also dabbled with the 7th day Adventists for a time. When I think back both of these churches smacked of being a cult. As with any cult the group naturally cast out/ostracize fallen members.

The fact your former church treated you so badly for leaving should tell you something about these people and how they use religion as a way of manipulating/coercing their followers to conform.

There are good reasons why young educated people are leaving the christian faith in droves.

What are you talking about? I talk about how they are a cult and how cults operate in general all the time. I’m not stupid despite being American.

https://freedomofmind.com/the-bite-mode ... witnesses/


Once again, this is is not how mainstream churches treat people and this is not why fewer people are religious now than in the past. I’m an atheist due to a lack of evidence and valid proof. I don’t believe that aliens are behind UFOs for similar reasons. If I believed in a deity, I wouldn’t be a Christian because of problems I have with the Bible itself (contradictions and issues I have with many passages and teachings). I also don’t believe that a god could be all-powerful AND all-loving due to the existence of suffering.

If I was provided with valid proof of God(s) existence, I would change my stance. It doesn’t mean I would worship him, her, it, or them, though. I would not worship the god of the Bible - Old or New Testament.

I agree with Richard Dawkins:

Sunni vs Shia is equivalent to Protestant vs Catholic. Not as big and fundamental a differences as Christian vs Mormon.

The Muslim equivalent of the Mormons are the Druze, who call themselves Muslim, but are so far out that neither Sunnies nor the Shiites accept them as true Muslims (just like Protestants and Catholics disown Mormons as Christians).