Berzerker
Deity
When people are taught, and they embrace the idea, that death opens a new door instead of closing the only 'known' door, that 'eternal life' awaits those who die in furtherance of the prophet's cause, a death cult is born... How did Judaism give rise to death cults? Jews (well, Jewish fundamentalists?) dont even believe in an afterlife, yet both Christianity and Islam (and I imagine some other, smaller offspring) not only rejected what should have been a foundational stone of their respective religions, they ran with the belief their prophets judged them by how much they suffered and rewarded those who passed the test.
Take up your cross and sit by Jesus' throne, 72 virgins await Muslims who die for Islam. Christianity is especially unsettling in this regard, followers were put in the position of choosing death over this life. Jesus died for you, how can you deny Jesus? But Jesus tried to keep his followers safe, he was the 'human' sacrifice to pay for our sins, we dont have that burden.
He knew his followers would be persecuted so he tried to keep them out of Rome's cross hairs. Course it didn't work because the Romans were butchers and any message of peace and love would be lost on them. The early Christians didn't help matters, they were accused by their neighbors of cannibalism - bread is my flesh, wine is my blood - and the secretive nature of their practices led to crackdowns by Rome.
On the other hand, while Christians were choosing to 'deny' Jesus or die a horrible death, many Christians embraced death. It got so bad the Church eventually had to launch a campaign against what was effectively suicide. I read a story about a group of Christians demanding a Roman centurion execute them. He accommodated some but grew tired and told the rest to throw themselves off cliffs if they desired death so much. Christianity is based on death and suicide by cop was the primary means.
Why did Jesus turn his religion into a death cult? I suppose the sacrifice of Abraham's son - a test of loyalty - might lead some to conclude suffering and death impresses God. But an angel stopped Abraham before he killed his son. I wonder if people did kill their children thinking God was testing their loyalty and there was no angel to intervene. And of course the Jews did have their Messiah myths, but he wasn't supposed to be God or his son, just a King of the Jews. The Romans had outlawed the Jewish monarchy so Messiahs were obvious targets of the authorities.
While I like Jesus' main message about how we should treat each other, I have problems with all the seemingly unnecessary trappings that created a death cult. Why did Jesus have to die? Why did he lead others down the same path? Was that a price to pay for ultimate success? Many upper class Romans were so impressed by the 'faith' of those in the death cult, they became Christians and the religion would one day become Rome. Of course Christians began slaughtering each other once they tasted power and wanted more.
Strangely enough, as Christianity became outwardly violent the inward violence took a back seat. Christians weren't running around looking to be killed any more, they were looking for sinners to cleanse with various forms of torture and death. Now that Christianity has been reformed once again, I have to wonder if Jesus is happy with the results of his 'sacrifice'.
He spawned one of the biggest religions on the planet, but for what? Most of today's Christians aren't really that religious, not compared to their forerunners. But they aren't killing themselves or others nearly as much, at least not in his name. Did "we" really need him to die a terrible death to learn the golden rule? Dont most of us feel a shameful sense of hypocrisy when we mistreat others while demanding respect? Even the would-be executioners of the adulteress dropped their stones when asked if they were sinless. I just dont think we needed Jesus to identify that hypocrisy.
Take up your cross and sit by Jesus' throne, 72 virgins await Muslims who die for Islam. Christianity is especially unsettling in this regard, followers were put in the position of choosing death over this life. Jesus died for you, how can you deny Jesus? But Jesus tried to keep his followers safe, he was the 'human' sacrifice to pay for our sins, we dont have that burden.
He knew his followers would be persecuted so he tried to keep them out of Rome's cross hairs. Course it didn't work because the Romans were butchers and any message of peace and love would be lost on them. The early Christians didn't help matters, they were accused by their neighbors of cannibalism - bread is my flesh, wine is my blood - and the secretive nature of their practices led to crackdowns by Rome.
On the other hand, while Christians were choosing to 'deny' Jesus or die a horrible death, many Christians embraced death. It got so bad the Church eventually had to launch a campaign against what was effectively suicide. I read a story about a group of Christians demanding a Roman centurion execute them. He accommodated some but grew tired and told the rest to throw themselves off cliffs if they desired death so much. Christianity is based on death and suicide by cop was the primary means.
Why did Jesus turn his religion into a death cult? I suppose the sacrifice of Abraham's son - a test of loyalty - might lead some to conclude suffering and death impresses God. But an angel stopped Abraham before he killed his son. I wonder if people did kill their children thinking God was testing their loyalty and there was no angel to intervene. And of course the Jews did have their Messiah myths, but he wasn't supposed to be God or his son, just a King of the Jews. The Romans had outlawed the Jewish monarchy so Messiahs were obvious targets of the authorities.
While I like Jesus' main message about how we should treat each other, I have problems with all the seemingly unnecessary trappings that created a death cult. Why did Jesus have to die? Why did he lead others down the same path? Was that a price to pay for ultimate success? Many upper class Romans were so impressed by the 'faith' of those in the death cult, they became Christians and the religion would one day become Rome. Of course Christians began slaughtering each other once they tasted power and wanted more.
Strangely enough, as Christianity became outwardly violent the inward violence took a back seat. Christians weren't running around looking to be killed any more, they were looking for sinners to cleanse with various forms of torture and death. Now that Christianity has been reformed once again, I have to wonder if Jesus is happy with the results of his 'sacrifice'.
He spawned one of the biggest religions on the planet, but for what? Most of today's Christians aren't really that religious, not compared to their forerunners. But they aren't killing themselves or others nearly as much, at least not in his name. Did "we" really need him to die a terrible death to learn the golden rule? Dont most of us feel a shameful sense of hypocrisy when we mistreat others while demanding respect? Even the would-be executioners of the adulteress dropped their stones when asked if they were sinless. I just dont think we needed Jesus to identify that hypocrisy.
