***Official Political Discussion Thread***

[IATT]

 

[dacomeup]

Sometimes it is. In this instance, a priest (not a pastor) is being used to paint a negative image of Christianity as a whole, and has appeared to shape one individual’s view of Christianity pretty strongly.

I’m not going to get sucked into a strawman argument on this. Lots of things shape people’s views of Christianity but a lot of these similar stories revolve around experiences in the Catholic church.

Interesting, because as someone who grew up in Black Baptist churches, that shaped my views of Christianity far more than anything else. I’d think people would be more influenced by whatever was proximate to them

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

Interesting, because as someone who grew up in Black Baptist churches, that shaped my views of Christianity far more than anything else. I’d think people would be more influenced by whatever was proximate to them

For sure. This doesn’t always mean these views are always accurate, well informed, or justified though.

I grew up catholic and thought that’s what Christianity was until well into my 20’s. Thank God I was wrong.

 

[jpzx]

If you look around and say wtf, just remember we in Minnesota agree. This is literally the second-best metropolitan area in the Midwest,

At least in the metro and Minneapolis.

We are a tall state, don’t go outward or else we’re like bum**** Pennsylvania.

 

[Lee And His Sneaks]

 

[IATT]

All about the church you grew up in

I’m Roman Catholic and live in the Bahamas.. very traditional

But because my dad was heavy heavy into politics my whole life.. I’ve experienced pretty much every denomination we have down here

Still was a shock once I started experiencing American churches.. I was prepared for say black baptist churches or traditional Roman Catholic or Anglican churches.. but some other ones I ended up, shhh was a whole other world

 

[IATT]

 

[plansb]

Yeah Ive been to the Philly burbs (Phoenixville and King of Prussia area) quite a bit and it gets very bible beltish the further west you go. Almost creepy.

Both are very close to me, just had dinner in kop tonight. I’m glad my community leans dem but the state is ******. There’s a reason most of the state is considered ‘pennsyltucky’

 

[Belgium]

I’m sorry you had such a negative experience at such an important time and that the leaders of that church dropped the ball for you and your family. Using this as an example to show that Christianity is bad comes across fairly ignorantly. I wish the Catholic Church would get it together so people would stop judging Christianity based on it. Evangelicals are Protestants, not Catholics. Typically when people talk about “bible thumpers” they are talking about evangelicals. The catholic church could certainly stand to do some bible thumping. It would prevent many negative experiences like this.

If anything, I thought the pastor chugging down wine like an alcoholic during my dad's funeral was funny.
Prior to that I don't recall ever being a church, I just assumed that I've probably been to maybe a funeral or something when I was little.

When I got to elementary school, I did not like the concept of organized religion so I asked my parents to not force me to attend catholic class. The alternative class was kind of a mix between religious history (including all major religions), cultural science and arts.

I don't have anything against religion or religious people. What other people believe in isn't my business as long as it doesn't infringe on basic human rights.
However I do think organized religion as a whole is an absolute cancer that only breeds corruption and authoritarian barbaric propaganda and laws.

Hypothetically, I'd strip tax-free status from any religious organization, add mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years for any sex crime committed by a priest, pastor, whatever and sanction the Vatican into financial ruin.
My local church is gonna have a weekly population of 0 once the current senior citizens die out. From what I hear, the local sunday mass barely reaches 20% capacity (compared to full when I was little) and literally all of them are senior citizens.
If a church can't attract enough interest to stay financially healthy without tax-free status, maybe they should get the message and pack their bags.

 

[Nike Jordan]

 

[HarlemShakeStory]

If anything, I thought the pastor chugging down wine like an alcoholic during my dad's funeral was funny.
Prior to that I don't recall ever being a church, I just assumed that I've probably been to maybe a funeral or something when I was little.

When I got to elementary school, I did not like the concept of organized religion so I asked my parents to not force me to attend catholic class. The alternative class was kind of a mix between religious history (including all major religions), cultural science and arts.

I don't have anything against religion or religious people. What other people believe in isn't my business as long as it doesn't infringe on basic human rights.
However I do think organized religion as a whole is an absolute cancer that only breeds corruption and authoritarian barbaric propaganda and laws.

Hypothetically, I'd strip tax-free status from any religious institute, add mandatory minimum sentences of 20 years for any sex crime committed by a priest, pastor, whatever and sanction the Vatican into financial ruin.
My local church is gonna have a weekly population of 0 once the current senior citizens die out. If a church can't attract enough interest to stay financially healthy without tax-free status, maybe they should get the message and pack their bags.

I appreciate your open mindedness and just want to encourage you that there are a lot of really great churches and church communities out there that are doing a lot of good in the world (as well as some not so good ones that give them a bad name).

 

[Belgium]

I appreciate your open mindedness and just want to encourage you that there are a lot of really great churches and church communities out there that are doing a lot of good in the world (as well as some not so good ones that give them a bad name).

I think most churches etc are perfectly fine, it really just comes down to the people running the show.
Religion is one of the easiest tools for manipulation, so a skilled orator can either produce a lot of good or produce a whole lot of bad. Then it becomes an issue of how to get rid of the bad actors, which is often constrained by organizational barriers and/or the optics problem of possibly infringing on religious freedom.

 

[sooperhooper]

I have to ask this: hypothetically, after Trump gets inaugurated, what would happen if concrete evidence of him engaged in unsavory activity at Epstein Island is revealed? Can he be removed as president? Is there a statue of limitations? Will he still have his diehard supporters?

 

[solewoman]

I have to ask this: hypothetically, after Trump gets inaugurated, what would happen if concrete evidence of him engaged in unsavory activity at Epstein Island is revealed? Can he be removed as president? Is there a statute of limitations? Will he still have his diehard supporters?

At this point it feels like nothing ever sticks to him and people don’t care (his supporters). The affinity for him is cultishly scary

 

[Betonblck]

I have to ask this: hypothetically, after Trump gets inaugurated, what would happen if concrete evidence of him engaged in unsavory activity at Epstein Island is revealed? Can he be removed as president? Is there a statue of limitations? Will he still have his diehard supporters?

He can murder someone and he would not lose a vote. His supporters do not care.

 

[Air Champa]

When it comes to religion, the churches who do good things never make the news. You'd think anyone associated with Christianity is a raving lunatic if all you see is what's in the media.

I went to a private Christian school for about 2 years before going back to regular high school. My teachers were all end times, Bible is all literal and really happened, hardcore conservatives. Every negative stereotype you could think of, they were it. Nearly all of them loved Rush Limbaugh, too, so I got a double dose of daily bs.

You either come out of a place like that a fundamentalist for life or a foaming at the mouth atheist. I came out an atheist by the time I left. I guess I was a heathen. It took a few years for me to become a little more tolerant and understanding that not all believers are the same.

I'd consider myself somewhere along the lines of agnosticism or deism these days.

 

[Public Enemy]

He can murder someone and he would not lose a vote. His supporters do not care.

And this is not an exaggeration. Couple this with how police officers say "I feared for my life", Trump could shoot someone live on camera and just say "I feared for my life. She looked like she was going to do something".

When he said that "I could shoot someone on 5th avenue and get away with it" thing back in like 2016, it seemed like half truth half joke.

It's all truth now.

 

[freeze]

Your government ladies and gentlemen

 

[IATT]

Seems risky

Give me a oar

 

[stuntman mike]

*sighs*

Loading…

www.reddit.com

 

[iamjusayn]

Bro! That Donald trump dance jon jones did at this end of his match will ne the most viral dance of 2024!

 

[IATT]

 

[osh kosh bosh]

Trump did not run on unification or moderation. He ran on division, resentment, and retribution. The Trump “policy platform” is essentially the Joe Rogan diet: nothing but red meat and ketamine. He catered almost exclusively to his base. There was no post-convention shift to center. He closed with watermelon “jokes.”
lbeing of these students.

This isn't true, a big part of Donald Trump's appeal is strategic moderation.

He moderated on entitlement cuts in 2016, he moderates by being big on protectionism and tariffs against the wishes of the chamber of commerce republicans, he targeted working class latino voters in Nevada wit the no tax on tips. He said he would not sign a nation wide abortion ban against the wishes of the anti abortion lobby.

voters view him as more extreme but only slightly more than Kamala. "Harris did manage to persuade 59 percent of voters that Trump was too extreme. But 56 percent of voters said the same of Harris"

AND more than any other republican in history he tried to win black voters, he campaigned with prominent local black celebrities and church leaders in detroit.

we can sit around and list all the bad things he said, but we have the results....it's clearly not that big of a deal to many people OF ALL RACES. and not enough to not vote for him.

Donald Trump just assembled the most diverse working class republican coalition since like Nixon, I think its crazy to pretend like he didn't campaign for those votes. he obviously did.

Likewise, I will not take seriously the demands of centrists to monopolize for themselves a party that relies on a diverse coalition to wrest control from an entrenched but dwindling supremacist plurality.

Every election the Democratic party moves to the left and becomes less working class and less diverse.

So i think we gotta quit it with the "racists centrists want to throw minorities to the wolves!!" rhetoric.

 

[Lee And His Sneaks]

 

[Public Enemy]