Originally Posted by Repugnant Abomination
What's sadder about missionaries - that their help to poor people comes with strings attached, or that they need to serve a higher power in order to help in the first place?
Evangelicalism and populism sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. Look how they hold each other, how they look longingly into each others eyes - a match made in heaven! And unlike naughty catholic school girls, they won't fuck until after they're married.
They're both just fancy words which pretty much mean the same thing: simplification. Or, if we want to use a nastier word(s), dumb down. A brief breakdown for those who aren't familiar:
Evangelicalism - what you need to believe: The need to be "born again", Biblical authority, belief in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the need to do good works based on the gospel. That's it. If the Catholics are the scholars (and molesters) of the religious world then think of the evangelicals as the hillbillies. They've whittled down the complexities of religious argument to four basic tenants that even the most bumbling of their flock can follow. Their favorite rallying cry is "It's not religion, it's a relationship!" this doesn't just reveal that they want to be dissociated with the negative connotations of religion, but reinforces the simplification of. Why study ancient texts when I can have THE ONE TRUE GOD over for a slumber party every night?
Populism: Political-social ideology that places "the people" against the "elite" - it's characterized by a mistrust of excellence, essentially - we're not just talking about slimy politicians here, we're talking about achievers. We're talking about PhD's, social theorists, scientists, anyone who confuses them and messes with their world view, basically. They're "the folks" the honest to goodness down to earth people who the rich, intellectual tricksters take advantage of to get ahead. Populism appeals to the ethos (character) of a person. It's about simplicity, about making everything black and white. Guys like Foucault and Berger make them shake their heads in dismay. Classic victim complex.
Let's examine the population these two seductresses serve: White, middle class mid-westerners. Hey, who do we know who fits that description? Even before BDH felt the hand of God tugging his heartstrings he was in the perfect environment for this to happen.
Anyone with half a brain can see serious problems with how the Bible was put together without even delving into what it actually says. First, there's the translation issue. Let's just say when the King James version of the Bible was slapped together they weren't exactly being careful or impartial:
"James gave the translators instructions intended to guarantee that the new version would conform to the ecclesiology and reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and its beliefs about an ordained clergy."
Source: Daniell, David (2003), The Bible in English: its history and influence, New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, ISBN 0300099304
Second, the books that were chosen versus the books that were excluded. The big secret is this - when they were consolidating Christianity into what it is as we know it, they contrived to select books that conformed to the version they wanted to push. Many of the books that are excluded from the Bible were left out because they contradicted the official version of Jesus the church wanted to push. Period. They needed to make sure there wasn't any doubt that Jesus was in fact the son of God. Anyone can argue WHY they did this, but the point is that they did it. What makes one book more divine than the other? The only thing believers can say is that those who chose the books were divinely inspired.
This discussion is pointless because the crux of BDH's belief comes from personal experience. He can throw whatever books he wants at Blonde, but as long as Blonde doesn't make exceptions for the Bible that he otherwise wouldn't for other epistemological ponderings then this won't go anywhere.
BDH, I don't doubt you feel what you feel, but that's just not enough. In my opinion you feel what you feel because you want to feel it - most people want to believe in God, very few people don't want to believe in God. Because of this people who don't believe in God are almost by definition more objective.
I realize I've come off as a condescending ass, but you of all people should be able to forgive me.
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