141–150 of 166 posts
Affinity fraud is one of the most successful kinds of scams https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affinity_fraud This one seems to be two in-groups at once. Believers in cryptocurrency and believers in a particular type of Christian god.
To a certain extent participation in organised religion is an indicator of the propensity of the subject to be manipulated.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's a good observation, but the part where this breaks down is that these evangelists are clearly not Cristian.
> these evangelists are clearly not Cristian No true scottsman would ever have perpetrated such a scam. In fact, true scottsmen never do anything bad.
I'm not referring to the scam. I'm referring to not abiding by basic tenets of the Christian faith.
"A Christian did something bad, let's insult God and Christianity!" That's the point of this article and its title. But no one cares about the missionaries who risk their lives to benefit others, and all positive things are thrown out the window. Then, let's blame God because a human did something bad "in His name." See the irrationality of the "logic"?
Most missionaries are engaged in the selfish pursuit of a free vacation. Otherwise they could stay home and deliver alms to their local impoverished masses.
"A Christian did something bad, let's insult God and Christianity!" That's the point of this article and its title. But no one cares about the missionaries who risk their lives to benefit others, and all positive things are thrown out the window. Then, let's blame God because a human did something bad "in His name." See the irrationality of the "logic"?
I read it completely differently. It is especially audacious and egregious that this guy claimed defrauding his followers was god's will. That doesn't reflect badly on christianity; it reflects badly on him.
"A Christian did something bad, let's insult God and Christianity!" That's the point of this article and its title. But no one cares about the missionaries who risk their lives to benefit others, and all positive things are thrown out the window. Then, let's blame God because a human did something bad "in His name." See the irrationality of the "logic"?
The vast majority of missionary work these days is virtue signaling disguised as a grift.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> these evangelists are clearly not Cristian No true scottsman would ever have perpetrated such a scam. In fact, true scottsmen never do anything bad.
> No true scottsman would ever have perpetrated such a scam. I'm not referring to the scam. I'm referring to not abiding by basic tenets of the Christian faith.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Modern american evangelical christianity suffers from a particular moral rot that isn't unique to it but is also not common to other branches of the faith. Specifically, there's a firm conviction that once you're saved you remain saved, and you can find lots of people who behave as if as a result, nothing they do really matters. They can be selfish, they can be rude, they can be cruel, they can be unfaithful, and it'…
Sadly, I agree. The "always saved" and "faith without fear" motto's give most the idea that humility doesn't matter anymore. Pastor's fill them up with their being special and elect, which is in the heavenly realm, not here on earth. The concept of servant-believers, for most, isn't even on their radar. 2015 was a sort of tipping point, IMO, that has caused a sort of paradigm shift in Christianity. (sorry, a little v…
And in this context I think confronting the mindset is a valuable thing to do even if you are speaking with an atheist. Essentially, questions like:
* If everyone adopted your mindset, what kind of world would we live in?
* Do you think your friends and family would be proud of you if they knew you were acting this way?
* Would you feel good if you knew all your friends and family were acting like you?
* Are you acting in a way you might regret later in life?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This actually depends on your denomination quite a bit. What you're outlining is a fairly conservative approach. There's a decent sized amount of "charismatic" Christians who firmly believe in prophecy here and now. What qualifies as prophecy, and how to handle it can differ quite a bit from congregation to congregation.
Those are evangelicals. It goes back to the problem of Protestantism’s sola scriptura philosophy, rejecting 1500 years of theological inquiry and study - something that didn’t happen with Orthodoxy or Catholicism.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I didn't know televangelist were a thing until a year or two ago, and remember having my mind blown (in a "but why" way). How is that a thing. Why do so many people fall for it? How do these people get discovered. The only reason I know about them is because of a meme YouTube video where a reporter drilled a televangelist on camera. Aside: may I propose we style the Internet variety as eVangelists?
The son of some family friends decided one day to suddenly give up his life and devote 100% of it to some guru in India. He was moderately religious christian, as most are here in Norway, and I'd spent a lot of time with him as we were of similar age and our families met regularly through our childhood. As such I knew him as quite bright and well informed. Suddenly he was devoting all his time to studying rites and r…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Location. Like male circumcision it simply doesnt exist outside of the USA, unless you count random african countries like Ghana. No idea why, if anyone wants to enlighten me let me know.
It’s very common in South Korea as well as in Jewish and Muslim populations globally. Your comment reflects a very Europe-centric view of the world.