4 ms·

It's also bad understanding of Christian theology. > Christianity is quite focused on the idea of good and evil. No, it's mostly focused on the contrast betwe

It's also bad understanding of Christian theology. > Christianity is quite focused on the idea of good and evil. No, it's mostly focused on the contrast between being a follower of Christ or not. To that end, the character of God and Jesus are elaborated on at length. So subjects like "good" and "evil" come up as a part of that. Yes, Christ is described as being intrinsically good, but the end goal isn't to: * do good things * be a good person * avoid evil things * punish bad people ...that's not to say all those things are irrelevant, but they're certainly based on trusting Christ and His teachings. To be fair, the usual cast of Flanders clones (televangelists, Westboro Baptist) get this all really wrong, but just because they're wrong doesn't mean we should get it wrong, too.

jaggi1 9y ago
One has to differentiate between Christian influence and general thinking. "Do good things" is common sense but Christian theology has opinion on what is good and bad and it matters at a subtle level. For example as a Hindu when my kid went to a missionary school they would try to portray polytheism as bad and temporary tattoos as evil.
keithnz 9y ago
It really doesn't matter what the "theology" is, or what academically people may understand it to be, it's how it manifests.
- humanrebar 9y ago
  The argument was that the manifestation follows from the theology. I'm arguing that if the premises are true (culture follows from theology; culture and laws reflect that), then the originating philosophy (centered around good vs. evil) is something other than Christian theology.
- Nomentatus 9y ago
  True enough, while St. Augustine abandoned Manichaeism for Christianity, we've been busy reinventing it ever since.
thephyber 9y ago
> To be fair, the usual cast of Flanders clones (televangelists, Westboro Baptist) get this all really wrong, but just because they're wrong doesn't mean we should get it wrong, too. If I had written your comment, this would have been the first line, not the last. Obviously the GP was boiling down a more complex moral model into something simple enough for a social media comment. Whether (s)he knew enough about Christianity to know the difference between these two dichotomies is still unknown.
abritinthebay 9y ago
It's not trying to be a description of the theology, but of the practice. In that respect it's quite accurate.
mcv 9y ago
Being a good person and doing god things is absolutely important in Christianity. Jesus talked a lot about the need to do good: to give to the poor, feed the hungry, welcome the outcast and the stranger, etc. During the course of history, numerous people have changed this into punishing bad people (for to varying degrees and widely varying definitions of "bad"), and that is I think one of the big ways where some branches of Christianity have gone astray. We are supposed to forgive, not to punish as harshly as possible and then some.

jaggi1 9y ago

One has to differentiate between Christian influence and general thinking. "Do good things" is common sense but Christian theology has opinion on what is good and bad and it matters at a subtle level. For example as a Hindu when my kid went to a missionary school they would try to portray polytheism as bad and temporary tattoos as evil.

keithnz 9y ago

It really doesn't matter what the "theology" is, or what academically people may understand it to be, it's how it manifests.

humanrebar 9y ago
The argument was that the manifestation follows from the theology. I'm arguing that if the premises are true (culture follows from theology; culture and laws reflect that), then the originating philosophy (centered around good vs. evil) is something other than Christian theology.
Nomentatus 9y ago
True enough, while St. Augustine abandoned Manichaeism for Christianity, we've been busy reinventing it ever since.

thephyber 9y ago

> To be fair, the usual cast of Flanders clones (televangelists, Westboro Baptist) get this all really wrong, but just because they're wrong doesn't mean we should get it wrong, too. If I had written your comment, this would have been the first line, not the last. Obviously the GP was boiling down a more complex moral model into something simple enough for a social media comment. Whether (s)he knew enough about Christianity to know the difference between these two dichotomies is still unknown.

abritinthebay 9y ago

It's not trying to be a description of the theology, but of the practice. In that respect it's quite accurate.

mcv 9y ago

Being a good person and doing god things is absolutely important in Christianity. Jesus talked a lot about the need to do good: to give to the poor, feed the hungry, welcome the outcast and the stranger, etc. During the course of history, numerous people have changed this into punishing bad people (for to varying degrees and widely varying definitions of "bad"), and that is I think one of the big ways where some branches of Christianity have gone astray. We are supposed to forgive, not to punish as harshly as possible and then some.