MiraculousMM [he/him, any]

  • 13 Posts
  • 57 Comments
Joined 5 years ago
Cake day: July 26th, 2020
  • MiraculousMM [he/him, any]@hexbear.netMtochapotraphouse@hexbear.net•(CW: All forms of bigotry) The New Testament is *also* filled with nasty bigoted shit! Christianity is rotten to its core and is incompatible with a Marxist frame of thoughtEnglish
    23·
    9 days ago

    masters obey the state (render unto Cesar)

    Just want to add an interesting note here regarding this line and one other that I learned from my favorite professor in college, absolutely brilliant scholar who was like an encyclopedia of New Testament studies. Supposedly this line is intended as a double entendre that only Jesus’ audience of common people would have fully understood - on the surface it sounds like “give to Caesar what belongs to him” meaning taxes, fealty, etc. But it can also be interpreted as “give Caesar what he deserves”, meaning revolutionary violence against the Roman state.

    Another example is the “turn the other cheek” saying. In the culture of the time, if you slapped a person with the back of your hand, that was a sign you considered them your inferior or subordinate. Slapping with the palm of your hand was reserved for people you considered your equal. (it might be the other way around but you get the idea) So if a Roman solider backhanded you, and you turned your other cheek towards them, they’d have to palmslap you if they wanted to hit you again, acknowledging you as their equal.

    Granted I learned this stuff well over a decade ago so take it with a grain of salt. The language, translation, and interpretation of the texts is a HUGE factor in how Christianity in particular develops. Similar to how:

    CW: pedo

    The lines from the Pauline epistles that seem to refer to homosexuality generally are largely about the practice of pederasty in Roman culture, if you understand the original, Greek texts

    Not to detract from your other points about the modern Western understanding of Christian theology (esp among white evangelicals), I just find the academic study of the Bible very enlightening for these reasons. Ultimately reactionary forces will push whatever interpretation benefits them and the status quo the most. The “original texts” don’t hold a lot of value for a dialectical materialist analysis.

  • MiraculousMM [he/him, any]@hexbear.netMtochapotraphouse@hexbear.net•Why is there a c/Christianity?English
    16·
    10 days ago

    over correcting into enthusiastic support for religion can also be problematic.

    I don’t generally see this happen around here, I feel hexbear users have pretty even-keeled views on religion as a whole, barring those with religious trauma who are completely justified in their negative views. I’d certainly never allow outright evangelism anywhere on the site. And as others have said, the christianity comm is barely alive, same with /c/judaism, and /c/islam has been locked forever due to lack of mods. This is not a site that’s enthusiastic about religion.

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