#american christianity

[aci25]

#american christianity #los religiosos #religiones #atheism #atheist #atheisim #christian people #jesus christ #christianity #faith #the supreme court #gop proposals #twits #supreme court decision #supreme court judge #scotus #roe vs wade #abortion rights #abortion #supreme court on sedition law #roe versus wade

[mikkeneko]

I decided to make this its own post for two reasons: one, I didn't want to derail a post that is about Judaism with a discussion of a different faith and two, it was really only one of several posts I've seen recently that stuck out to me as being "man, this is way off-base."

This is not so much about "people are saying mean things about this religion and it hurts my feelings!" but it is definitely about "people are making statements that represent a wildly skewed and inaccurate picture of the reality, and I can't tell whether they're being hyperbolic on purpose or think they're genuinely telling the truth." This is not a question of whether any given church is good or bad; this is a question of whether there is or can be a distinct entity that serves as a single unified church or faith in American Christian tradition (spoiler: No.)

Here's the basic message: Any discussion of "the Christian god" or "the Christian faith" or "American Christianity" needs to be taken with a big honking asterisk that there is no single portrayal of God, or Christianity, or spirituality and faith that conveys accurate information about the entire breadth of American Christianity.

There is no single American Christian Church. None. The single biggest branch of American Christianity, Southern Evangelical Baptist, makes up at its broadest 30% of all American Christians (12% of the overall population.) The rest are split between Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Pentecostal, Adventist, Congregationalist, and a dozen other even tinier branches, before you even get into the more far-out variants that people have ongoing arguments as to whether they even really count as "Christian." (LDS, Unitarians, and possibly Mennonites fall into this category.) Most of the major branches share a lot of common ground, but there's an enormous amount of variation -- they disagree widely on concepts such as the existence or nonexistence of Hell; the mechanics of conversion or salvation; the requirements of baptism or confirmation; whether prostylezation is required, encouraged or even permitted; what kind of sexualities are or are not accepted; God as an active or non-active role in the world; how 'sin' works or if it's even a thing; the existence or not of saints; the divinity or not of Christ; or even the idea of an anthropomorphic God at all. Some are progressive, some are fundamentalist, some are fundamentalist in ways that are completely at odds with the popular perception of what those fundaments are. I personally know one Methodist pastor who also believes and teaches about God as a "oneness of the universe" and have met others who conceive of God as "that which spans the space between the limits of our understanding and the limits of our universe." You cannot categorically state that all American Christians share a common notion on any of these topics.

Other statements I've seen recently that just made me go "what? no?"

That the USA was founded by religious extremists and That's Why America is Like That. Only one or two of the original settlements were founded for this purpose. Some were founded with an explicit purpose of total freedom of (or from) religion; others were entrepreneurial ventures with nothing to say on the topic of religion at all. When the guiding documents of the American state were put together the clause of freedom of religion was included front and center precisely because they didn't want religious extremists to be steering the ship.

That the majority of USAmericans are in cults and don't even realize they're in cults. This requires both an extremely broad definition of “cult” (to encompass pretty much any branch of Christianity, not only the more extremely evangelical ones) and severely over-estimates how many people in the US are practicing Christians (less than half.)

That the "Christian God" is intended to function as a "Great Uniter" into which other faiths can be folded; This is not a Protestant thing. Most Protestant faiths are not syncretic to the degree Catholicism is (or at all,) since there wasn't a motivating political entity backing their creeds to make them so. Again: Not all branches of American Protestantism require, encourage, or even permit prostylezation.

On that note: Not all Christians are Catholic. This isn't news, right? People know this, right? This is one of those things that I always assumed was very common knowledge, and was very surprised to run into people who were not aware of this (who either think that all Christians or Catholic, or else that Catholics are not Christian at all, depending on which side of the equation they're approaching from.) Protestant and Catholic Christianity are very very distinct entities both spiritually and politically, and in the USA, Catholic Christianity is a minority religion and is mostly (though not exclusively) practiced in minority demographic communities. Of 46 presidents so far only one has been Catholic, and a lot of the opposition to JFK's appointment was people being suspicious of his Catholicism since it was thought that his loyalty to the Church might supersede his loyalty to the US. American Christianity is mostly Protestant, not Catholic, and Protestant Christianity does not function at all the way Catholicism does. We had a whole Reformation about this. Any take that refers to "The Church" in America as a single united entity that dictates theology to its outreaching branches is... off-base.

What certainly is true is that a number of individual churches in the US have organized around the aim of consolidating social and political power, have worked at advancing their members to positions of power in order to protect and promote their interests, and thus are over-represented and have outsized influence on the political sphere. The ones that do this, as well as the ones that put emphasis on proselytizing and on money-making, tend to self-select for being the most visible and infamous because their business model is expansive by nature. That's certainly the case for the SEB in the American South, or the LDS in Utah. I really get the feeling when people use these broad terms that they are thinking either of the SEB (again, not even a majority among American Protestants!) or of the Catholic church (even less so!)  But not only do not all Americans agree with those beliefs, they don't even agree with each other.

#politics shitshow 2023 #christianity #american christianity

[hymnsofheresy]

Blessed quietness, holy quietness what assurance in my soul!

On the stormy sea speaking peace to me, how the billows cease to roll!

#hymns #american folk christiantiy #american christianity

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

My main problem with the "Free Thinker / 'Skeptic" atheist movement (from what I've seen of it)

Is that they are usually White, Cishet, Normate, English-Speaking, American, Men, who were raised Christian (in other words, the most privileged cohort in America today), who realized Christianity they were raised in is Wrong. ...And considering the state of much of American Christianity today, that's not, in itself, an unreasonable conclusion.

The problem is, they then jump to the conclusion that all religion is wrong, and all people who espouse any Faith at all must be unintelligent and/or morally corrupt. They claim (and likely sincerely believe) to have grown past Christianity. But they seem to have bought into the Christian propaganda of being the Only True religion.

So here's my advice: if you're questioning your faith, and you think you might be atheist, conduct some thought experiments with yourself, and imagine the universe being inhabited with different sorts of deities. Do some research on what people throughout history have believed. Like putting on a different set of glasses, to put the world in a new focus. Make up your own deities, while you're at it (It doesn't matter if you're a religion of one).

You may still end up deciding no gods are "actually" real. But at least you'll have a broader idea of what it is you don't believe in.

#religion #atheism #thoughts I've had for years #american christianity

[titleknown]

I feel like it says something that American fundie Christians constantly brag about their strict biblical literalism and how they don't "pick and choose" from their holy book

And yet, when you look into the origins of their beliefs 9 times out of 10 it turns out it's based on some very specific interpretation of scripture by some insane person from the 1800s reading the bible wrong.

And said insane person also said shit like "Shove a barbed electrum rod up your urethra to cure tuberculosis!" or something equally batshit.

#quackery #history #religion #christianity #american christianity #biblical literalism #the bible #theology #the great awakening #silly

[creature-wizard]

What’s crazy about the western Christians supporting what’s going on in Gaza, is that they’re doing this because they believe that the Israeli are the Israelites of the Bible and are God’s chosen people, yada yada yada and that Palestinian = Canaanite and needs to die. Do they realise that they are supporting the deaths of… other Christians? Obviously there are Muslim and Jewish Palestinians as well and this is not a religious matter at all and their lives shouldn’t be disregarded, but how can you be Christian and root for the deaths of other Christians? You’re happy that an Anglican hospital just got destroyed? Like wtf? I ain’t religious but I don’t think God would be happy with this behaviour at all.

These assholes are literally doing it to set the stage for the End Times and bring about the Second Coming. They don't care who gets killed along the way, they just want global Christofascism ASAP.

#answered #christians #american christians #american christianity #evangelical christianity #israel #palestine #christofascism

[queersatanic]

you might have already answered this but what does satanism mean to you?

Satanism makes sense only as a reaction to and inversion of Christianity. "If poverty is the work of God, then I'm with the devil."

Partially that's accepting that you were likely raised Christian and if not, you still came to exist in a culturally Christian environment where the default was Christianity and your worldview was irreparably shaped by this.

"Irreparably" because, while Christianity is large and contains multitudes as much as it can be said to contain contradictions, the strains that became dominant with European colonialism and capitalism were those that justified "might is right" and consecrated the power of some blessed by God to enslave and abuse those without power.

So our Satanism says, "Yes, capitalism's power feels overwhelming. But Lucifer named himself and had the courage to fight omnipotence. Although he didn't overthrow heaven then, the fight continues, and as long as we fight, we will never ever lose."

Ideas of revolutionary struggle exist in lots of religions, including Christianity. But Satanism can allow a person to create their own religious meaning without pilfering from existing ones except insofar as you look at Christianity and say, "What you call evil, I embrace."

Where this goes astray is LaVeyan Satanism and its antecedent in the extreme social Darwinism, misogyny, racism, antisemitism, and anti-egalitarianism of Arthur Desmond's book "Might Is Right". Both looked at a sort of Christianity that was rhetorically concerned with upending the existing social order and aligning with those at the bottom of society, and they took it at face value as being Christianity actually. Both Anton LaVey and Desmond talked of a Christianity that no one looking at the United States' history of a slaver religion would even recognize.

So when you invert kindness and community as ideals, you get bog-standard libertarian individualism and douchebaggery. Which is what Satanism has been and worse for most of the past fifty years.

But if you invert slaver Christianity, you should get the religion of liberation for all at any costs, and that's what we find attractive about Satanism as a concept and historically, pre-LaVey.

#satanism #satanic history #slaver christianity #American Christianity #Anton LaVey #Arthur Desmond

[gramarobin]

#revival #praise and worship #devil #Holy Spirit #black lives matter #american christianity #no thanks #exchristian #exvangelical #bible #ironic #ex fundamentalist

[entanglingbriars]

And “white evangelicalism” is not a demographic category. The adjective “white” does not refer to the demography of its adherents, but to the content of its theology and of its politics. (The white politics determines the white theology. And vice versa.)

What is the difference between white and non-white evangelical Christians? It is not that the former are white and the latter are not, but that the theology of the former is white and the theology of the latter is not.

And why is that? Because:

1. Non-white evangelicals insist on the full humanity of non-white people.

2. White evangelicals do not.

- Fred Clark

#christianity #american christianity #white christianity #fred clark #slacktivist #racism #theology

[skaianbruja]

Shit Evangelicals Believe

This is a rewrite of a previous post. I am an Exvangelical and grew up with many of the following beliefs. Others I learned about by interacting with other (mostly USAmerican) Exvangelicals

Keep in mind that not every Evangelical believes in the following. Some of these beliefs are US specific and not shared by Evangelicals living in other countries. Others are Fundamentalist specific

The Ancient Hebrews were white

Jesus was a blond haired blue eyed white man

King David was also a blue eyed white man, but there is disagreement as to whether his hair was blond or red

Palestinians and Palestine do not exist

The United States of America is the promised land and (white) USAmerican Evangelicals are God's new chosen people

USAmericanholidays such as 4th of July and Thanksgiving — especially Thanksgiving — are sacred holidays established by God himself and to oppose them is commit blasphemy

Celebrating Halloween or Día de Muertos is Devil Worship

Engaging in media about fictional witches is the same as practicing actual witchcraft and thus Devil Worship

All non-Evangelicals are Devil Worshipers (Yes this includes other Christians, particularly Catholics)

Marian apparitions are demons and the Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon

Catholics are not Christians and thus must be preached to and converted

The KJV 1611 is the only valid English translation. All other English translations are either corrupted or works of the Devil

The True Church refers to literal institution and all who are not members of this specific institution — including other Evangelicals — will suffer eternal damnation

"It's a sin except when we do it"

Feel free to add to this if you're an Exvangelical

#exvangelical #american christianity

[kneel-gayman]

there something so incredibly powerful about non-binary representation in a show where the ethereal and the occult and a distant god are so central because, at least for me, it has been a JOURNEY getting away from the religion i was pressure cooked in and i have never really experienced seeing people like me in that context and it’s just so cool

anyways, stream good omens

#crowley #aziraphale #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens series 2 #god #religion #ethereal #occult #angels good omens #demons good omens #nonbinary #american christianity #queer #neil gaimen #muriel #neilgaimanwantsmedead

[honeysucklepink]

I follow Jason Kirk for college football, but he is also an ex-vangelical who hosts a hilarious and informative podcast called Vacation Bible School and is debuting his first novel, Hell Is a World Without You, pre-order proceeds going to The Trevor Project. If you were a USA church kid in the early 2000s (and I know a fuck-ton of you were) and are still unpacking the trauma, this is purported to be a LOL-funny and warm-hearted journey. I trust the reviews of the blurb-writers and I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing!

#jason kirk #hell is a world without you #exvangelical #evangelicals #american christianity

[hymnsofheresy]

There are angels, angels hov’ring round! To carry the tidings home!

#hymns #american Christianity

[arctic-hands]

I appreciate the intent behind the U.N declaring there are two horsemen of the apocalypse (war and pestilence) are in Gaza right now. Martin Griffiths probably thinks it will sway American Christians. Unfortunately American evangelicals are so batshit immersed in their belief in a supposed doomsday prophecy that the apocalypse starts in Israel and then all the good Christians ascend to paradise in heaven while the rest of us suffer eternal. American Christians want the horsemen to appear, especially starting in the Middle East as a whole and in that particular little sliver of "Holy Land" in particular.

This goes as far as former president George W. Bush, btw. One of the reasons France didn't join the war in Iraq was because he rambled to the French president about Gog and Magog in Iraq. Give me a second to find the article

#Gaza #Israel #american christianity #united nations #george w bush

[apostate-in-an-alcove]

The American Christian insistence to have their flag hung up in their churches is so strange. I feel like if you did that anywhere else in the world, you'd get (rightfully) told to take it down.

#like your shitty American nationalism DOES NOT need to be included in a sacred space #american christianity #american nationalism #only in the usa i guess #national flags don't belong in places of worship sorry not sorry #christianity

[creature-wizard]

A non-comprehensive list of stuff that went on in the 80's and 90's:

Right-wing Christians preached hate and spread conspiracy theories on daytime TV.

TV talk shows and radio shows regularly hosted people who claimed they were SRA survivors (all them have been exposed as frauds, btw), claimed they had psychic powers, claimed they were abducted by aliens, claimed to remember past lives, claimed to have encountered angels, and claimed they had near death experiences.

Unsolved Mysteries frequently featured stories of alleged alien and cryptid encounters.

Professional psychics advertised over TV and conducted their services over the phone.

Tabloids sold at supermarkets ran articles about alleged paranormal phenomena.

Books on topics such as New Age spirituality, angel encounters, working with angels, ghosts, demons, the apocalypse, UFOs, "unexplained" phenomena, and developing ESP were sold at stores and could be purchased through mail order.

Ouija boards were advertised to children through TV commercials. You could buy them at toy stores. Loads of people were convinced that they were portals to Hell.

Evangelical Christians regularly handed out Chick tracts. Some would pass them out along with/in lieu of Halloween candy.

Mental health awareness was absolutely horrendous; much worse than it is now.

Kids were taught an extremely sanitized version of American history in schools: Pilgrims came to the US, had the first Thanksgiving, founded America, then the Civil War and WWII happened, everything is good now.

The concept of cultural appropriation was basically unknown. People just assumed everything was free-for-all. Native cultures were frequently appropriated from.

A lot of people basically thought that the Middle Ages were non-stop witch burnings and believed that the Renaissance saved us from all of that.

People thought that the Brothers Grimm collected "the original" fairytales.

A lot of books made witchcraft and Wicca out to be synonymous, and by the late 90's this idea was turning up in TV shows like Buffy and Charmed.

#history #pseudohistory #occult #paranormal #religion #christianity #american christianity #spirituality #conspiracy theorists #conspiracy theories #conspiracism #conspirituality