this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2026
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[–] Lushed_Lungfish@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 day ago (1 children)

The US is probably one of the furthest nations from actual "christian values".

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 27 points 1 day ago (2 children)

There are no actual christian values. It's all deadly bullshit.

Would Jesus heal the sick? Nope. Not unless they entertain his racism.

Would Jesus feed the poor? Not when he could waste valuable resources on himself in a useless, vain ceremony.

It is narcissism. The only consistent christian value I can discern is "I will do anything if I think it will please god (my own ego)."

[–] HostilePasta@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 day ago

You nailed it. That and Divine Command Theory. If God says it's good, then it's good (but only according to my interpretation of my translation of copies of copies of oral traditions).

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 0 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

There are no actual christian values.

That's pure cynacism. The Christian faiths have a very well-defined ideological framework based on a number of canonical texts with established interpretations. To say people fail to live up to these values isn't particularly shocking. To claim the values don't exist is ignorant.

It is narcissism.

It's aspiration. You set the bar high and try to clear it, knowing it's a hard thing to do but still believing its worth doing.

To heal the sick? You make it sound like health care isn't a cornerstone of modern industrial economies. Or that public health care isn't routinely included in modern state functions. To feed the poor? We've got everything from SNAP benefits to Food Banks. Panhandlers hit the bricks with a certain degree of confidence that their neighbors do feel inclined to lend aid. Shelters exist. Relief organizations exist. People who dedicate their whole lives to providing aid to their neighbors fucking exist. And if you don't know of any, that's more on you than on an organization you don't attend and whose charitable works you don't want to look at.

The only consistent christian value I can discern

Is the only value you've chosen to acknowledge.

FFS, my local Food Bank has people who roll out of Church and show up to provide aid every day. I know people by name, because I see them there on every visit.

My mother, a die-hard Catholic, has worked with Caritas Internationalis for twenty years. Pretty much since the day she became an empty-nester she's been volunteering her time and her love and whatever money she can afford to a project bigger than herself for the benefit of as many of her neighbors as she can help.

I've got an ex-girlfriend whose mother was a missionary and a preacher, fully committed to ending homelessness in her little corner of Houston. She would help her mom make meals every Saturday and hand them out, then plan out where they would distribute the food. Often, they were out doing this in defiance of the local police. Her mom's been arrested more times than she can count, and it's only the good grace of the (Christian) municipal judge that she keeps getting let out and fines keep getting waved.

These people are real. They exist. They do shit, in no small part because they believe it is a religious obligation. And they hold to that religious obligation because they genuinely believe in the utopian vision of a world without sin and hate and horror. They learned these values from their Christian Parents and their Christian Neighbors and their Christian pastors. And they pass them on to their children, whether or not those kids or their grandkids hold to the spiritual end of the doctrine.

[–] SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today 5 points 1 day ago

That's pure cynacism.

At worst, it's slightly hyperbolic. You said it yourself:

The Christian faiths have a very well-defined ideological framework based on a number of canonical texts with established interpretations.

The bible conflicts with itself, which is why interpretation is necessary. Many of those interpretations are in direct conflict. That is not well-defined at all.

To say people fail to live up to these values isn't particularly shocking. To claim the values don't exist is ignorant.

The core value of christianity is to do and say whatever your ego wants you to.

It's aspiration. You set the bar high and try to clear it, knowing it's a hard thing to do but still believing its worth doing.

Pretending to know things that cannot be known is arrogant narcissism.

Or that public health care isn't routinely included in modern state functions. To feed the poor? We've got everything from SNAP benefits to Food Banks.

I live in the United States. Guess which programs were just defunded by an administration that claims empathy is a sin?

People who dedicate their whole lives to providing aid to their neighbors fucking exist.

I'm glad they do. Unfortunately, some of them choose to repeat baseless, deadly bullshit. We would all be better off if they would stop that. And many believers pray for god to feed people instead of actually taking any steps that would accomplish it.

"The only consistent christian value I can discern" Is the only value you've chosen to acknowledge.

It's the one under all the bullshit. Please stop falling for the bullshit, people are dying for this.

These people are real. They exist. They do shit, in no small part because they believe it is a religious obligation.

The cult created these problems so it could sell us the cure, but the cure is poison, they demand complete submission.

They learned these values from their Christian Parents and their Christian Neighbors and their Christian pastors. And they pass them on to their children, whether or not those kids or their grandkids hold to the spiritual end of the doctrine.

My christian parents hit me if I didn't want to go to church. They think they're going to heaven for violently brainwashing my brothers and I.

Stop defending abusive death cults. Everyone is better without superstition.