Are members of the christian belief system members in a death cult, or is this definition a little over the top? A previous thread wondered if they could be considered terrorists when/if they do something like shut down an abortion clinic.
Are all organized religions simply death cults? Do you consider the Catholic Church or Islam to be cults? They’re told to live their lives according to the teachings in their “sacred” texts, and to go out and recruit/convert others to their cause. The more the better.
They’re told that their deity is watching everything that they do or even think, and that it continues until the moment of their deaths.
Sounds like a loving, caring deity to me, we should all join one.
2 Likes
It sure feels like it because the more serious members of that religion are gearing up for the hereafter. Some but not all xians seem to find religion in their later years because they fucked around in their earlier years and now they want to spend their final days worrying about whether or not they’re getting their bus ticket to the golden kingdom of OZ.
2 Likes
I prefer a cult of human sacrifice and cannibalism. Where ritualistic sacrifice is still carried out today. Where the consumption of blood and flesh magically symbolized by wine and crackers, and then consumed in place of actual human flesh.
5 Likes
All religions begin as cults. The ones that make it to main stream have managed to stand the test of time.
4 Likes
cult
noun
- a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object.
Death cult
A religious movement that worships death or the dead
The second one seems a little tenuous, though Christian religion is obsessed with the crucifixion and the torturing to death of a purportedly innocent individual as vicarious redemption, not just for the things we do, but just for being born at all, original sin etc.
Not a very healthy idea, and I find the notion of vicarious redemption morally repugnant.
4 Likes
Reminds me of Midsommar.
4 Likes
I love this movie, from the same director that gave us the Witch.
They don’t know it, but Christians are “sun worshipers”.
The birth story of Jesus mirrors a dozen other birth stories of so called “messiahs” pre-dating Christianity by hundreds or thousands of years.
Horus was the Egyptian sun god born to a virgin on the 25th of December. Also, crucified on a cross to rise three days later.
Mithra - another example of a “messiah” born to a virgin on the 25th of December. Also, crucified on a cross to rise three days later.
The significance of the December 25th date is this (among other things). On the 22nd of December the sun appears to momentarily “hang” in the sky - which, for sun worshipping societies meant the death of the sun. (Ie. the shortest day of the year).
The sun resumes its “normal” motion through the skies on the 25th (representing its rebirth and the “dawn” of longer days).
On the 25th, the star Sirius lines up with the sun at dawn on one side and the “three kings” of Orien’s Belt on the other side.
This is why Jesus’ birth was attended by the three kings who followed the “star of Bethlehem”.
“Bethlehem” literally means “house of bread” and is literally a constellation in the sky which accompanies this date. The town never existed.
All of the above is well documented in “Zeitgeist: The Movie.”
The earth has a roughly 2,100 year procession in which the sun appears to rise in different constellations throughout the zodiac.
The story of Jesus, the “messiah” the “son” of God is the story of how the Sun was reborn on the 25th of December in the age of Pisces.
Like the age of Taurus before Jesus, the sun God Horus was born on the 25th of December.
It’s basically just a sun worshipping cult who don’t realize what the origins of their goatherder mythology are.
Some say we’re approaching the dawning of the age of Aquarius. I’m just waiting for that date to roll over so that we can have a new sun god messiah to worship 
1 Like
Ratty… Do you even listen to what you say?
You need to stop watching YouTube videos.
3 Likes
I would actually agree with the date of December 25. It is shortly after the winter solstice and it could be measured that the sun was now rebirthed.
The church did adopt many pagan beliefs, customs and there is a common mythological god/hero at play.
Mithra celebration was on Dec. 25th. The Christians found it convenient to celebrate the birth of their own god at the same time. From what I have read, that is where the similarity ends.
It is very hard to demonstrate a causal relationship between Christianity and any other specific religion. All the religions of the time had similar components and were offshoots of each other. The Christianity we see today was nothing at all like Christianity of ancient Rome. Bart Eherman asserts there was a greater variety of Christian faiths during the first century that there is today. It took over 300 years for all the faiths to fade away and for a few of them to become dominant. Correlation is not causation.
Convenient.
Yah it was. The non-Christians were using that date. It was convenient to keep some pagan dates for the “winning” Christianity doctrine to build its numbers/followers.
1 Like
Mithra was called the “lamb”. Also depicted as carrying one. Familiar much?
Early Churches also mirrored (as far as we know) the temple of Mithra layout in the permanent camps of Legionaries especvially the positioning of the altar, Which did not even exist in the early Christian or Jewish followers temples.
3 Likes
https://www.nairaland.com/4251378/list-gods-born-virgin-25th
Here are names of Gods throughout history that were said to have been born by a virgin on 25th December.
HORUS
An Ethiopian-Sudanese God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 3,000 YEARS before Jesus.
BUDDHA
A Nepal God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 563 YEARS before Jesus.
KRISHNA
An Indian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 900 YEARS before Jesus.
ZARATHUSTRA
An Iranian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 1,000 YEARS before Jesus.
HERCULES
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 800 YEARS before Jesus.
MITHRA
A Persian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin- 600 YEARS before Jesus.
DIONYSUS
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 500 YEARS before Jesus.
THAMMUZ
A Babylonian God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 400 YEARS before Jesus.
HERMES
A Greek God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
€ADONIS
A Phoenician God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 200 YEARS before Jesus.
JESUS CHRIST
A Roman God, born 25th December, by a Virgin around 1-30 AD.
“Zeitgeist: The Movie” - ties it all together with the astrology aspects. The three kings (Oriens Belt), the star of Bethlehem (Sirius), the Bethlehem Constellation (the house of bread constellation), and the precession of the Earth into the house of Pisces.
Gods that are similar to [J]esus include Mithrus, Dionysus, Attis, Osirus and Orpheus. Any mediterranean religion has its own similarities. […] Ohh and I almost forgot, [C]hristmas trees and [E]aster eggs are also pagan traditions. So Chriatianity just as easily came from all these traditions. You don’t actually get to point to one and pretend Christianity copied it. All the Medeteranian religions were influencing each other. As previously stated, there were more Christian sects in the first century than there are in the world today. They believed in one god, 12 gods, 306 gods and more. Christianity grew our of hundreds of Christian sects that all held different beliefs. The religion was influenced by the culture of the Mediterranian. Corrolation is not causation.
Is full of shit. Do your own research.
2 Likes