Was Christianity started to control the masses and dictate poltical agendas

[Minimalist]

That would have been the doctor who slapped my ass.... not your absurd made up sky daddy.

[Banned]

So I can choose not to go to hell? Why did god have to turn into a man and die in order for me not to go to hell if I could just choose not to go?

His demise and death paid for the freedom of choice.

[Mr.wizard]

So I can choose not to go to hell? Why did god have to turn into a man and die in order for me not to go to hell if I could just choose not to go?

His demise and death paid for the freedom of choice.

Paid who?

[Minimalist]

The stupidest part of jesusism.

[Banned]

...
The church is about nothing but control.  Did it start out that way?  No.  But that was its attractiveness to the Roman emperors who used it to keep the dolts in line.
...

That's right. The church of Rome is Satan's well oiled and camouflaged machine.
It also incorporates and controls Islam and nearly every other religion.

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His demise and death paid for the freedom of choice.

Paid who?

The unchangeable nature of himself.

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The stupidest part of jesusism.

You are off on a tangent, but there's no such thing as original sin.

[Mr.wizard]

...
The church is about nothing but control.  Did it start out that way?  No.  But that was its attractiveness to the Roman emperors who used it to keep the dolts in line.
...

That's right. The church of Rome is Satan's well oiled and camouflaged machine.
It also incorporates and controls Islam and nearly every other religion.

---

Paid who?

The unchangeable nature of himself.

God killed himself to pay himself in order to save us from himself.

[Anomalocaris]

I have always felt this to be true. I do know that this is a very common theme I have heard and read as well. That religion was created to control people and the proper way to do that was to use the deterrents of hell and a vengeful God. I do know the Catholic church really grasped onto this. For instance, they did not allow regular people to read the bible; only priests could. Was this to keep out all the stuff they did not want the masses to see? What are your thoughts?

I do not think Christian and Jewish  priests deliberately concocted myths to control people. I do think it made it easier to do so.

I think even the very earliest myths of the Paleolithic, the most distant discernible ancestors of the earliest glimmer of Judaism and Christianity, was deliberately concocted to enable the fraud to overall the gullible and thus better control the gullible in some way. From that time onwards very few myth were concocted or perpetrated without an eye on its efficacy in enhancing control of other people.

[Minimalist]

That's right. The church of Rome is Satan's well oiled and camouflaged machine.

Hey, dumbfuck.  The RCC set the parameters for all the fucking bullshit that assholes like Luther and Calvin came up with later.  Give credit where it is due.  They created your bullshit story.

[Banned]

God killed himself to pay himself in order to save us from himself.

Ultimate reality doesn't have a delete or reset button.
You are welcome to work it out, but the existence of the only source of life isn't as simple as a set on hollywood or a cartoon.

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Hey, dumbfuck.  The RCC set the parameters for all the fucking bullshit that assholes like Luther and Calvin came up with later.  Give credit where it is due.  They created your bullshit story.

That's an ill informed remark, but no surprise from your perspective.

[AFTT47]

I don't know if it started off that way but that is surely what enabled it to survive and grow. As Obi-Wan Kenobi said, "the Force can have a strong effect on the weak-minded." I don't mean to imply that the majority of humanity are feeble-minded but that one-two-punch of carrot/stick or heaven/hell is a very effective combination. It's hard to ignore when you are alone but when you have the ability to connect with your peers all around the world, it makes a huge difference. You learn things you never considered by yourself. It enables you to see through the bullshit. The internet is a religion slayer.