Ask Lemmy

Republicans are a lot of things.

Christian isn't one of them.

They don't believe what you assume Christianity is. They believe in Calvinist predestination. They think that whenever something bad happens to someone, that person deserved it.

Because a wolf in sheep's clothing eats better than when it's seen for what it really is.

All organized religions are about an elite controlling everyone else. Unlike some other ways to organize people it depends highly on ignorant people who breed quickly to produce lots of grist for the mill.

Perfect target for fascists

Theocratic confusion. Republicans worship Supply-Sidr Jesus. Christians model themselves after Jesus of Nazareth, Christ. The similar names are a source of confusion.

Also neither is related to Jesus that sells tamles at the farmer's market, tho I hear he is a pretty good guy.

It's just a trick to get votes they are as heathen as they come. Since Christians believe in made up bullshit they are easy to trick out of money and votes. It's really not any deeper than that.

For a bunch of guys always talking about prophets, their belief system has zero predictive power.

Trick question. They are not.

Ok, that's disingenuous. They are Christians. Except, they are nothing like christ.

I know each person will find a different quality of christ that is most like themselves and attribute that as his defining feature but to me christ was radically liberal. Christ saw the hurting in the world and said "I won't submit to it" but gave himself to it freely. In doing so he freed himself. Christ saw the labrythian rules and dogmas of the prevailing religion of his time; saw how it was punishing people and fought to reform. He knew he has just as much authority over God's word as any prophet or religious person and give himself to make the needed changes that would ease the suffering of everyone. It was that and a dash of magic; the world was changed. Slowly but thoroughly.

He was a brown middle eastern liberal. Nothing like the Christians we see today. If there was a christ for today they would reform again and the cycle of religous power struggle would continue.

Because they stopped maturing when they were 8 years old and mommy and daddy were dragging them to church every weekend.

Because Abrahamic faiths are first and foremost built on deciding a truth and working backwards to “prove”(convince yourself and brainwash your kids) it.

This works well for right wing ideologies built around social classes and believing whatever you’re told without question.

Add to that that Christians are on average significantly dumber, then all you have to do is tickle their confirmation bias and they won’t give anything you do a second thought.

~~>socialist utopia~~

more like fascism

Religion isn't about what it preaches, it's about what it does.

Christianity pretty much only ever pushes conservative bullshit and rigid social structures, so conservatives like it.

I wouldn't call their brand of Christianity, Christian. They're idolators, they worship Trump, money, and guns. The praying to God is just a smokescreen.

They're not, in fact the typical conservative 'Christian' despises what Jesus taught: Care for the poor and sick, and hospitality to the stranger in your land.

Christianity, at its heart, is incredibly socialist and the first 'churches' after Jesus's crucifixion operated a lot like communes, with shared group meals and living communally.

I'm not entertaining any 'no true scotsman' replies today, that will just get you blocked.

If you say you are vegan and eat meat, you are not vegan.

If you say you are Christian and despise the poor, the sick, and the foreigner, you are not Christian.

This isn't really true. A lot of Democrat voters are also Christian. If by "fervent," you mean "hateful," this may be more true. A large percentage of Democrat voters are also Christian, but not as hard-line about LGBT issues, and perhaps not as hard-line about abortion.

The type of Christians that Republicans court are easy to persuade and control. Religion has historically been used to create in-groups and out-groups, and as a form of control.

If one were to take the Christian bible at face-value, they would oppose things like sexual freedom. Most leftists/socialists think about intersectionality, so they would be opposed to people who have the "morals" of many Christians.

Because they're actually very bad at Christianity and the teachings of Jesus, they're not informed, and they have something to prove.

They like that they can use Confession to clear their concious of all their crimes every week. As if it were a super hideout in Grand Theft Auto

There are all kinds of people who are Christian. Their worldviews and interpretations are as varied as anyone else. Most of the ones I know aren’t the type to go cherry picking passages to use as an excuse to mistreat others. Many quietly lead their lives as an example of Christian faith. It’s often acknowledged among Christians that no one - Christian or otherwise- is perfect and no one but God can judge others.

There are others who didn’t get that memo. They take it all very literally. It’s like they completely missed the point of the four gospels in which one of the themes is Jesus at odds with the Pharisees who are so stuck on the Old Testament that they forget love and compassion. It’s not that the New Testament contradicts the Old Testament so much as it’s teaching that going through the motions and following the rules exactly as written is not the same as living with God and showing humanity towards others.

In my experience, this latter group is often comprised of people who grew up being taught strict adherence to the Bible, with a particular focus on the Old Testament, and born again types whose rigid compliance keeps them on the straight and narrow.

Not all Christians are Republicans or conservative. You really have all types, from the ones you’re talking about to some pretty liberal, polar opposite ones. Some identify with conservative politics because of their Christian views and others are avowed liberals for the same reason.

Most of the Christians I know are good people, and their happiness and just how they live their lives is something you want for yourself. They lead by example. I’ve been around the other ones too and I’m not particularly fond of hanging out with them. Ironically, those were the ones whose outward attitudes and behavior in private were completely contradictory. Basically, they were the kinds of people you probably don’t want to be around regardless of religion.

And I was always wondering how come Republicans are perceiving themselves as devout Christians while the political party they support is openly opposing those virtues and if this doesn’t make them hypocrites?

That's exactly what it makes them. By the Biblical definition of a hypocrite. Jesus literally talks about what that means.

They aren't. Most are just just cosplaying as Christians.

Because Religion is the ultimate tool of self-righteousness.

It can be used and twisted to justify their every behavior, no matter how vile.. While conversely being used to demonize everything they hate, no matter how righteous.

Thats why most fervent right wing christians dont even know whats in the bible, they are only capable of regurgitating the hate and vague justifications for it that they hear from their cohorts, their extremist evangelical leaders, and their politicians. Because they don't care about the actual tenants of the religion they've co-opted, They only care about the authority claiming ti be faithful gives their words and actions in their own eyes and opinions. . They are addicted to it, like a drug.

Based on my limited knowledge of Christianity, it is all about social justice, compassion and peace.

That's expected. That's what they say they are about. However, one only ever needs to open their book, the bible, or just observe history the past 2000 years, to see that is NOT at all what they do.

You have a very GOOD understanding of Christianity. You're seeing it for what it really is. That hypocrisy is intentional, and obscured by the mythology of: "I dunno, god's weird, right?"

It's by design that Republicans, considering all those observations, would claim they were. Because they are the real christians. [My best MAGAT impression]: "Not like these liberal hippies that just want everyone to be kind to one another. That's socialism!" And on and on.

Because if you wear your religion on your sleeve and are highly observant then that means you are conservative and rules focused by nature. People who belong to liberal Christian denominations, like Unitarianism, are rarely heard from because they aren't vocal by nature.

People who are very religious also want to believe that what they follow is the truth but the very existence of nonbelievers casts doubt on this either consciously or subconsciously. "If my beliefs are self evident then how can so many nonbelievers exist?" So they rationalize this as either thinking of you as a sinner who deliberately refuses to accept the "truth" or a poor lost soul in need of saving. Christianity, and some other faiths, is also missionary minded in nature. They are called upon in the New Testament to "spread the word". If you want to grow your numbers and/or your income (i.e. Mormon church) then you are aggressive with missionaries and hunting for converts.

People are also very good at rationalizing their views and cherry picking data to force things to fit their emotionally driven beliefs. Look at conspiracy theorists who dismiss anything that contradicts them as "lies" and "propaganda" but their sources are never questioned.