Question: Top 3 tenets causing Christian confusion

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Dardedar
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Question: Top 3 tenets causing Christian confusion

Post by Dardedar »

From the mailbag. Questions, with my answers:
Hi Dardedar,
Wonder if you could give me a little feedback. I'm currently writing a book about levels of ethical development and their relationship with institutions and ideologies. The segment I'm working on is about the psychological and mental confusion that can result from Christian teachings, especially Calvinism.

As you may remember, I was raised by agnostic/atheist parents and never went to church. Now, reading about Original Sin, I'm amazed at just how horrible it is, especially in the Calvinistic form.

So I wonder what you might consider the top three tenets or aspects of Christianity that contribute most to mental and psychological confusion in its followers. Would it be Original Sin? or trying to include the OT and the Gospels in one system? or more recent notions of literal reading and inerrancy? Bible idolatry? The concept of heresy? The Trinity? or...

Thanks,
C.
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Hello C., good questions.

C: "I wonder what you might consider the top three tenets or aspects of Christianity that contribute most to mental and psychological confusion in its followers.">>

1) Crippling their ability to reason and think critically about any and all issues by instilling in them, as a foundation, the idea that it is a good thing to develop and hold beliefs without having good reason, that is to say, faith.

2) Fiercely, at a young age, grabbing hold of their lower limbic fear, reward and guilt functions. Eternal torture or eternal death/annihilation for fear, eternal life with loved ones for a reward for following the religion and guilt when they necessarily "sin" and breach religious tenets which conveniently can only cured and forgiven by their religion.

3) For the fundamentalist bunch (which is the problem), encouraging and promoting and requiring intolerance of other and dissenting opinions, different or strange cultures, habits etc.,. Forbidding skeptical scrutiny of religious claims.

To your other questions:

C: "Would it be Original Sin?">>

That's the guilt #2.

C: "or trying to include the OT and the Gospels in one system?">>

That's theology making adjustments as one religion tries to graft onto another religion. Christianity is a Jewish heresy.

C: "or more recent notions of literal reading and inerrancy?">>

Fundamentalism. Worst because it uses the most virulent forms of 1, 2, 3.

C: "Bible idolatry?">>

Ditto.

C: "The concept of heresy?">>

That's fundamentalism's protective mechanism to keep people from straying. See #2 and #3.

C: "The Trinity?">>

The Trinity is theological gibberish developed decades after Jesus so Christianity could be grafted onto to Judaism even though the Jewish scriptures most explicitly, unequivocally and repeatedly state that there is one God and only one God and no other God and his name is YHWH.
"I'm not a skeptic because I want to believe, I'm a skeptic because I want to know." --Michael Shermer
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