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When did Zeus provide moral teachings? Jesus is fundamentally interesting because the moral teachings of the cult in his name have persisted as the dominant st
by Affric 2y ago
When did Zeus provide moral teachings?
Jesus is fundamentally interesting because the moral teachings of the cult in his name have persisted as the dominant state morality for European societies for about a millennium and a half since Julian the apostate’s death to the present day.
Even Marx owes a huge amount of his philosophy to Owenite socialism and Christianity. The teachings of Jesus turn ideas of power on their head.
> There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus
This idea is so deeply ingrained in western morality at this point that most cannot even see it but Christianity is the bottleneck through which all egalitarianist thought in the west has passed through.
You talk about faith impeding critical thinking while in the same paragraph talk about secularism as though it arose out of nothing.
The moral philosophy of the earliest of christians is profound and is the foundation of everything good in western society. The fanatical purism and reaction in what followed is instructive in terms of the cruelty that can exist in people professing empathy and the pitfalls of expecting a state to somehow act morally.
If we are talking about Jesus the same way we are talking about Zeus it will be the end of history there will be because there is no power in the idea that everyone is equal.
- spiderfarmer 2y agoIt would be interesting if the moral teachings started with Christianity, but they did not. There are plenty of other philosophical teachings from that time that had great impact on morality without feeling the need to subjugate others. For example, Greek philosophers like Socrates and Aristotle taught about virtue and justice centuries before Christianity. Confucius in China emphasized benevolence and duty long before Christian doctrine existed, and Buddha’s teachings focused on compassion and nonviolence without forcing conversion. These traditions show that moral ideas thrived in many places independently.
- kyleee 2y agoYou’ve left out Islam which has arguably brought the most significant levels of peace and morality, without relying on subjugation and force
- Affric 2y ago> Islam not relying on subjugation and force Ah yeah, so long as we disregard a lot of history both within and outside of Islamic societies this is true. Huge waves of conquests, the jizya. These are all coercive as any Christian state act.
- spiderfarmer 2y agoHave you ever read a history book?
- Affric 2y agoYeah but none of the thinkers you listed came close to saying something as radical "the first shall be last and the last shall be first". Like any moral philosophy professed Christianity has it's flaws, is professed by many a hypocrite, and worn as a cover for many a wicked person but its message on equality goes further than pretty much all moral philosophy I know from any earlier time.
- rbetts 2y agoDiminishing sectarian hierarchy and placing the church above everything else is a clever strategy for an organization seeking to control your thoughts, your actions, your relationships, your financial obligations, and even your eternal fate.
- Affric 2y ago> Diminishing sectarian hierarchy Boy, oh boy, did that backfire!
- spiderfarmer 2y agoThat's a manipulation trick if I've ever seen one.