Christianity and its effect on self-worth

[Esquilax]

Et to Brute, more persecution from Christians, cry aloud it those Christians fault. What a crock, people have to be responsible for their own lives, don't put that crap on us. One study showed that atheist like to blame Christians for their problems, atheist placed the blame on others more than other groups, get over it, man up.

GC

Ah, this is gonna be fun! So, GC, weren't you the one blaming atheists for pulling down life expectancy rates earlier?

Because of people like you, less and less believers, atheist are pulling us down in life expectancy.

GC

Oh yeah, you were. So, is it only bad when other people do the blaming, but okay when you do? Hmm, methinks I smell hypocrisy...

But honestly, my atheist peeps, I'm a bit disappointed in you all for not catching this:

@ abaris, this is the site I went to for the info.

http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism_and_depression

GC

Am I really the only one who's going to take GC to task for getting his info from Conservapedia?

[Thumpalumpacus]

Am I really the only one who's going to take GC to task for getting his info from Conservapedia?

I'd rather tilt at G-C for his own stupidity, rather than the stupidity he's borrowed.

[Ryantology]

Am I really the only one who's going to take GC to task for getting his info from Conservapedia?

I think we should just be happy he even attempted to cite a source of any kind in an effort to bolster some insane bullshit claim he made. Baby steps.

[Godscreated]

Oh, please. I'm from East Tennessee. The friendliness is most often times insincere; the drug usage is immense, as well as alcohol abuse; I started smoking with my pastor's daughter who is now a coke addict and alcoholic, all while most of her time is spent in the church. Most of my "good Christian" friends of old are drug addicts, whether it's coke, oxycontin, or meth, among other things, and they all still consider themselves "good Christians". They go to churches all over Knox County.

My mom, who hadn't seen my dad in over a decade, came to his funeral to support my sister and me. Guess what she encountered at the church: most of the congregation ignoring her except to talk behind their hands about her.

There are a lot of reasons my last trip back to East Tennessee was to take care of my dad on his death bed. The biggest is that I have absolutely no use for the people there, for the most part.

I'm sorry for your loss, I loss my dad several years ago and my sisters church sent deacons to stay at mom's house while we were at the funeral home and the next day when we were at the grave yard. There was enough food from two churches to feed an army. There were more people at the funeral home than I knew were still alive. You see dad had out lived most of his family and friends, or so I thought. My mother had more support than you could imagine. My half brother helped mom by paying for most of the funeral. When my brother in-laws brother died, his neighbor and I help pay for some of the funeral and the church was of great support and service. You see my experience with East Tennessee during these tough times was awesome.

I grew up in north Knoxville and now live in Sevier county. When I first graduated high school, I was buying drugs from a preachers son and getting high with people that went to my church. You know what we grew up and many of us have become preachers, deacons and Sunday School teachers. I have friends who are dead from drugs in one way or another, others are alcoholics and drug addicts. This stuff happens all over this country, I have friends and family all over this country and nothing's any different, actually things are getting worse every where. It's all in who you choose to hang with, there are lots of good Christians in this area and there are those who believe they are in good standing with God, it could be a sad day for a lot of them when judgement comes. Hanging out with Christ will lead people to all those who care.

The reason there are so many drugs in this area has to do with the Interstate system, drugs flow through here like a flooded river. Unfortunately to many stop here.

My niece was addicted to oxy and she went to a Christian rehab in North Carolina, she's clean now and we work together to help people get into these Christian rehabs, it gets to be tough when they say no to a program we know works well, neither of us gets paid a thing we only want to help. I'm sorry you did not get to know the East Tennessee I know, you just might have found real people who care more about others than they do themselves. If you ever want to give it a try again let me know, I'll be glad to introduce you to the East Tennessee I know and love.

GC

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Et to Brute, more persecution from Christians, cry aloud it those Christians fault. What a crock, people have to be responsible for their own lives, don't put that crap on us. One study showed that atheist like to blame Christians for their problems, atheist placed the blame on others more than other groups, get over it, man up.

GC

Ah, this is gonna be fun! So, GC, weren't you the one blaming atheists for pulling down life expectancy rates earlier?

No I was the one poking fun at a less than mature kid.

Because of people like you, less and less believers, atheist are pulling us down in life expectancy.

GC

Oh yeah, you were. So, is it only bad when other people do the blaming, but okay when you do? Hmm, methinks I smell hypocrisy...

Me thinks I smell foolishness, foolishness that come from a hater of what I believe in and run down my belief, nope it's hypocrisy I smell from you.

But honestly, my atheist peeps, I'm a bit disappointed in you all for not catching this:

Setting yourself above your fellow atheist I see, not a surprise, not at all.

@ abaris, this is the site I went to for the info.

http://www.conservapedia.com/Atheism_and_depression

GC

Am I really the only one who's going to take GC to task for getting his info from Conservapedia?

The information came from some of the most respected institutions in this country, just because it was found on a site you dislike has nothing to do with the validity of the information. But then you would argue with yourself just to say you won. Looks like your fun turned into a puddle of drool.

GC

[Spooky]

I saw on Dr. Oz today where payer greatly aids in a persons recovery. Pray can reduce stress by 90%.

Probably an accurate statement. But what is prayer but misguided meditation?

[Tonus]

Yep. You noted Christianity in particular, but many atheists believe that most religions are evil. If most religions are evil, and most people have belonged to a religion, that means people are generally evil.

I think that religion is just another form of tribalism. Humans, being social creatures, have the habit of forming exclusive groups based around common traits: nationality, ethnicity, skin color, hair color, gender, and so on. We have also developed a desire to form exclusive groups based on traits that are not inborn: sports teams, political affiliation or ideology, and religion being among those.

In the past I've said that religion is a particularly dangerous form of that trait, because it posits that there is a supreme judge who can excuse --or even praise-- the most horrific actions of one person towards another. But we can see that even without divine sanction, some people will savage one another in the name of a political ideology or even a sports team. So maybe religion only stands out in one of two ways: it implies that there is a supreme force that approves of such behavior, or it implies that there is a supreme force that is apathetic towards it. So it's not evil in and of itself, but it permits and sometimes excuses evil done in its name.

[Spooky]

Seriously? With all of religion's technological repression you're claiming atheists are causing the life expectancy to go down?
Pray away that cancer

You understand what taking a jab at someone is, you seem to take things to seriously.

GC

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I wonder how happy you would be living as a minority that was hated and vilified and slandered by a large majority full of hate for you.

Cry out sonny, cry out, it's persecution by Christians that cause us to be less adjusted. Pass the buck, it's the Christians fault. Sorry I can't feel bad for you.

GC

Where's a lion when you need one.

I think the bottom line here is that Christianity is not only completely outdated, but very detrimental to any sort of scientific or sociological progress.

[abaris]

Am I really the only one who's going to take GC to task for getting his info from Conservapedia?

The information came from some of the most respected institutions in this country, just because it was found on a site you dislike has nothing to do with the validity of the information. But then you would argue with yourself just to say you won. Looks like your fun turned into a puddle of drool.

GC

Yeah, but they don't link to the actual study, which is supposed to be more than ten years old by the way. You would take info from an outspoken atheist site with the same bag of salt as we are taking conservapedia, a portal that's pretty outspoken about it's agenda.

[Drich]

One of the most corrosive elements of Christianity is its assertions regarding the inherent worth of humanity. This psychologically damaging and twisted concept is endemic within the Christian faith. One of the most well-known hymns, "Amazing Grace", describes humans as wretches in need of saving. Faithfuls constantly claim that they aren't worthy of god's love yet he loves them regardless, such is his magnanimous nature. Christians believe that they constantly fail, fall short of the glory of god, despite any and all positive actions. Evangelicals make self-deprecating statements such as this one from an AFA mouthpiece:

God has every right and reason to purge me from His presence and send me to hell.

...

I don’t deserve to be happy or blessed. I don’t deserve the home I live in, the family I have, my awesome job, or the church family that claims me. I am not good. I know it. And if God was who so many people seem to think He is, I would have nothing in life to look forward to. Hell would be my destination, like it or not.

http://afa.net/the-stand/bible/glory-be/

He actually believes he deserves hell, deserves eternal punishment for merely existing. Furthermore, he believes that he does not deserve happiness or any of the other positive aspects of his life. Consider how utterly devastating those statements would be to a person with depression of any degree. How many people live their lives feeling shame and unworthiness for simply being alive because of the harmful Christian view of self-worth and self-esteem?

Self-esteem is viewed as particularly troublesome because some attribute this to pride, the presumed stumbling block to those trying to lead godly lives. Others like to tap dance around the concept of self-esteem saying that it's fine to have self-esteem as long as it stems from a person's identity in Christ rather than perceived notions of personal qualities and actions. However, this view is nearly as acidic because it teaches the individual that acknowledging his/her good qualities and positive actions is prideful, thus bad.

This toxic mindset is detrimental to day-to-day living, relationships, marriage, and so much more. This message promotes the idea that a person can be of no worth acting on his or her own without god; "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

The inherent shame and guilt that must come with Christianity if one is to follow it faithfully is poisonous, absolutely poisonous. Even if I were not an atheist, this sole concept of the self would be enough for me to abandon Christianity as the hateful, harmful, and revolting dogma that it is.

When I heard the song amazing grace for the first time I wondered why he thought so poorly of himself, as did the author of your artical. The difference? I did not stop at just the curiosity I had, and my initial conclusion. Every chance I got I'd ask someone about that song and who wrote and and why he was so down. I got the platitude christian answer more than a few times, but then I asked the right person once and he turned me on to a version of this this:
http://www.anointedlinks.com/amazing_grace.html

The dude was a slave trader, and found Christ. His song, his lament was because he saw the contrast between the pain and suffering he caused and the life Christ called him to live. He saw himself as a 'wretch' because by every standard of man and God he was a wretch. But, rather than justify his sins he repented of them.

This thread is a perfect example of why 'moral' men will never know God. They think that their morality/self worth puts them in a position where it is not 'healthy' to repent.

[Strider]

When I heard the song amazing grace for the first time I wondered why he thought so poorly of himself, as did the author of your artical. The difference? I did not stop at just the curiosity I had, and my initial conclusion. Every chance I got I'd ask someone about that song and who wrote and and why he was so down. I got the platitude christian answer more than a few times, but then I asked the right person once and he turned me on to a version of this this:
http://www.anointedlinks.com/amazing_grace.html

The dude was a slave trader, and found Christ. His song, his lament was because he saw the contrast between the pain and suffering he caused and the life Christ called him to live. He saw himself as a 'wretch' because by every standard of man and God he was a wretch. But, rather than justify his sins he repented of them.

This thread is a perfect example of why 'moral' men will never know God. They think that their morality/self worth puts them in a position where it is not 'healthy' to repent.

I wasn't aware of Newton's history, but I'd say the vast majority of people that recite "Amazing Grace" in church with a vacant stare and a slack-jaw don't know the origins either. They are singing it with themselves in mind, entirely ignorant of the song's origin.

I never mentioned the concept of repentance. I stand by my original statement that the Christian notion of unworthiness and guilt is counterproductive to healthy emotional well-being. However, I do agree with you on one point. This thread is a perfect example of why moral men will never know, acknowledge, or accept your purported version of god or his dogma. We're moral because we recognize the inherent worth of all others around us; we don't subscribe to a notion that says we are inherently broken, born in a magical sort of sullied condition that is beyond our control.