(April 17, 2021 at 2:47 pm)Ranjr Wrote: From the time I was a child going to Sunday School to the time I was a teenager playing trumpet with the choir, I was looking for reasons to believe. The more I studied and learned, the more skeptical I became. One of the things that puzzles me more now than ever is how followers of a guy who tells them to get back to nature, eschew material gain, and love all people could vote Republican.
That's kind of what I'm talking about too. It's not just confirmation bias but cognitive dissonance mixed in.
The doctrine says be obedient.
The Repub/conservative platform says it's about individual liberty and justice, yet cushions the rich and the decadent.
The doctrine says submit to the will of God.
The Repub/conservative platform says it's supporting independence, freedom, and civil rights. God given rights.
The doctrine preaches love, acceptance, and picking up the downtrodden. Putting everyone on an even playing field under God.
The Repub/conservative platform is vehemently against gay rights, trans rights, anyone other than Christian rights, and in any situation they can, they cast doubt upon the legitimacy of brown people having rights.
(By the by, for each of these doctrines I've listed, I can also think of opposing doctrines Christianity also preaches simultaneously; submit to God but Christ sets you free; free agency is important but obey or you'll go to hell, etc.)
It's not something I was aware of while I was faithful. Any time I had any liberal leanings, I did so while accepting that I was likely making God unhappy. I thought my political views and my religious views made intuitive sense at the time. Yet, it was an intellectually lazy way of approaching the issues to the point it didn't even occur to me that God didn't exist. So I never examined it or entertained any doubts.
