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Originally Posted by Kevin
Religion is the great opiate of the masses. What better tool to teach folks that their servitude and low status is acceptable than by teaching (by force if necessary) that it is ordained by a higher being who will punish all of those who refuse to concede the point?
American slavery certainly wouldn't be the first time religion or even Christianity was used for such a purpose. It certainly won't be the last. In the context of history, there's nothing all that special about American slavery in that regard.
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Of course not.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
I find myself thinking that he needs to get over it. I'm not sure how Jesus' race is relevant to anything in the Bible unless you're looking for a reason to establish victimhood.
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Telling someone to get over things like this has certainly always ended well in the past.
It's not his race in the Bible - his race is not relevant (in the Bible). The depictions/lens through which we think of Jesus now and the lens of who is and has been telling/teaching/depicting him historically to other groups (does he look like you? do you look the same as your audience? does he look like your audience?) is where the discussion is coming from - at least that's what I get from Andre's posts. And I think it does make a difference
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin
Was Christianity at one time widely interpreted to allow slavery? Of course. Is it now? Nope. That single point might be the only point on which Christianity as a whole has monolithically evolved to. So yes, historically, religion was used as a tool of oppression for American slaves, for European serfs, for Roman slaves, etc. It isn't anymore.
So outside of the context of historical discussion, how is any of this relevant today?
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It would be irrelevant if we lived in a vacuum, but considering the historical discussion for things like religion tends to influence the current reality, it's extremely relevant. Just look at dekeguy's post - he's encouraging people to cite 2,000 years worth of historical discussion to explain why Christianity is an influence for individuals today.
Now, whether or not that means you can or can't be Greek... I don't know any GLOs to be outside of Judeo-Christian values but then I only know the ritual for one.