Hi guys.
A Christian mob invaded private land that was rented as an artistic retreat to evict people from a private, multidenominational chapel because of the “Om” symbol and the meditation that was going on in there. The police would not intervene, and the local politicians supported the mob. Fortunately, no one was killed.
Please see below:
So, what are your ideas?
Geez, the Pedophile/Christian gathers a mob to defend a space that didn’t belong to him from people who were doing no harm and had a right to be there? It’s unfortunate that there doesn’t appear there’s going to be any consequences and he’s even getting praised by those in authority. I think it’s likely for him to do something similar again. Let’s hope it doesn’t end with people hurt, or worse.
Thank you for responding, and I agree with you.
Another example of religious fascism rearing its ugly head.
I agree with you. Thank you for responding.
The US is plagued by a particularly perverted interpretation of scripture. The “evangelicals” and the devotion to Trump and the resistance to abortion and gun control and claims of healing and even resurrecting the dead, this movement is peculiar to the United States and reflect it’s own history and racist culture.
Christianity in the United States is rooted in two distinct doctrinal strands, Quakerism and Puritanism. You’ll find much in common between old time puritanical doctrine and modern day US evangelicalism.
(for example the modern “prosperity gospel” is more or less the same as the puritan belief that the poor are poor because they are sinners and the rich are rich because of God’s blessings)
Of course anyone can claim to be a Christian and many do and many of them hold wildly differing beliefs so it would be better to characterize these people as evangelical fundamentalists rather than simply “Christian”.
That is what happens when people think they know what god wants.
Thank you both for responding.
That’s really fucked up.
I agree. 20 characters
Sound like they may have a case for a civil suit?
I agree. It isn’t that simple, however. I ran into similar problems when I had Wiccan patients that I transported with their clergy. Religious hospitals excoriated me and kicked the “high” preistess out of the hospital because she’s a Satanist and a danger to children.
In the case of the chapel, a jury for the lawsuit would be from the area where it happened, and almost all of them are Evangelicals.
Yes that did occur to me as well, but a good lawyer might present that fact as justifying a change of venue for the case to be heard? It’s a long expensive road though tbh. Probably best to just arm yourself to the teeth, those right wing Christians can’t possibly deny you that right… 
Maybe it could be a case for the American Civil Liberties Union. I was first thinking maybe the Freedom from Religion Foundation might get involved, though the ejected group seemed to have some ties to religion, just not the flavor approved by the local christians. I’m not sure how the FFRF sees it’s work. I guess freedom from religion does apply when other religious beliefs interfere with your own practices. Christians have never been a live and let live bunch, it’s one of the things that make them so dangerous. This man being lauded as a hero by those in authority and police refusing to help is disturbing.
You only need to look to Africa or South Korea or anywhere else the Christian religion has gotten to see some pretty heinous interpretations. That the bible is so unconcise as to render itself to many interpretations points to it being the work of man and not some divine all knowing deity. The punishment for not getting it right is eternal damnation, yet a supposed god was unable to make it clear to everyone exactly what he wants and expects.
The Bible is I agree, interpreted and in my experience I think that is no accident. Different people interpret scripture differently and sometimes their interpretation changes over time. I long ago stopped thinking there was some correct, definitive way to interpret scripture and God which is why I don’t align myself with any institutionalized “churches”.
In fact my original interpretation was “this is antiquated claptrap perpetuated by uneducated primitives” but that began to change as my life experiences unfolded.
Well the “eternal damnation” is an interpretation, what this term means is itself an interpretation. There are different ways to interpret what’s written, for example I am a universalist - I believe every human will be saved from an eternal death, not just “the good” people.
There are scriptural arguments for and against almost any doctrinal position because we cannot know everything, I am a Christian who is not afraid to say “I don’t know” for example is abortion right/wrong? Frankly I don’t know, there are arguments for and against it being wrong. I also take the view that each person has their own private struggle with these and other questions and that the struggle is actually intended, we are intended to struggle it is part of our spiritual development.
Regarding the subject of interpretation, I recently heard this aloud, I’ve read it a hundred times and it was a curiosity but when I heard it a year ago, aloud, I saw a deeper profound meaning:
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, b 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
It suddenly struck me (i interpreted it) as metaphorical (in the way Christ spoke in parables) stating that each one of us experiences God and God’s reality in different ways. It uses literal physical speaking in foreign languages to convey the fact that God can interact with people in different ways, using “language” specific to them.
Thus I - a former student of theoretical physics - did experience God as a result of exploring the boundary of physical laws, the edge of what is materially knowable. Another person might get their insight from profound music, perhaps they are a composer, or a painter or a teacher - each one of us can experience God in ways peculiar to us.
The problem is that huge amounts of blood has been spilled between people who interpret the bible differently. All this misery is by no accident, it’s what god wants? He wants chaos, blood shed and misery? It doesn’t seem like the work of a deity, but man making myths to explain things he doesn’t understand with no thought or care about the consequences of a poorly articulated belief system open to a lot of interpretation.
Thank for responding, Kellii . . . and I agree with you.
From where did your expectations of God originate? how do you decide what is and is not reasonably to be expected from God.
It is written clearly that God can and does bring calamity so we shouldn’t balk at this or be surprised. Many do not believe in God because the universe doesn’t fit their expectation of what a God driven universe should be like, but from where do they get those expectations…
Thank you for responding.