I just got to wonder how on earth this sort of behaviour squares with Christianity

[Lark]

Why a lack of empathy is the root of all evil | The Independent

Lucy Adeniji – an evangelical Christian and author of two books on childcare – trafficked two girls and a 21-year-old woman from Nigeria to work as slaves in her east London home. She made them toil for 21 hours a day and tortured them if they displeased her. The youngest girl was 11 years old.

I really and truly cant believe this, now I know, because I hear about it often from evangelicals, that salvation through good works makes no sense as you can not offer to God anything that he has not in the first place created, inspired or destined to be so (I've lots of issues with this script for a bunch of different reasons, I dont believe in predestination for one).

However, surely some misguided dedication to good works would be far, far superior to a rote learned bible study which permits you to freaking enslave others?!

I swear the whole thing just reads more and more and more like James Hogg's Confessions of a Justified Sinner.

Anyway, to come to the point, what good is religion if it can not improve world and reconcile mankind's existence to mankind's essence?

 

[Totenkindly]

Honestly, that's nothing. There's a ton of bad stuff, such as this bit by the Baptists that just broke:

Church ties, pastors’ friendships allow abusers to escape | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Rationalize, rationalize, rationalize.

 

[SurrealisticSlumbers]

I am sickened and disgusted.

Hoping the girls and young woman will be able to move on from this.

 

[Pionart]

The second most important rule of Christianity is to love your neighbour as yourself. Was that rule followed here? I don't think so. So it's not Christian behaviour, it's anti-Christian.

If I hear something like this from a supposed Christian I make the assumption that they were a fraudulent Christian, not a real one.

 

[Maou]

People are people first, values and principles 2nd, then religious philosophy 3rd.

Being part of a religionn rarely means actual devout as well. Most people are surface level.

I would also like to point out the devisiveness of the article, to paint religion in an intentionally bad light and trying to stigmatize mental illness as a religious thing.

 

[rav3n]

This article is dated August 19, 2018, the most recent among many, Catholic sexual abuse scandals.

'How could this happen again?' Why this Catholic abuse scandal seems worse than 2002 - CNN

The report, two years in the making, revealed shocking accusations: More than 1,000 children had been abused by 300 Catholic "predator priests" in six Pennsylvania dioceses during the past 70 years.

The report also said some church leaders covered up the crimes, shuffling priests from rehab centers to parishes, giving no notice to parents or civil authorities.

 

[rav3n]

Evangelicals have their fair share of sexual abuse problems.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...he-evangelical-church/?utm_term=.c79181cc8be2

That’s what Wade Mullen, the director of the M.Div. program at Capital Seminary & Graduate School, did as a part of his PhD dissertation. He collected reports of evangelical pastors or ministers charged with a crime in order to understand how evangelical organizations respond to crisis. Over 2016 and 2017, Mullen found 192 instances of a leader from an influential church or evangelical institution being publicly charged with sexual crimes involving a minor, including rape, molestation, battery and child pornography. (This data did not include sexual crimes against an adult or crimes committed by someone other than a leader.)

His findings help explain a 2014 GRACE report on Bob Jones University, one of the most visible evangelical colleges in the country. The study showed that 56 percent of the 381 respondents who reported having knowledge of the school’s handling of abuse (a group that included current and former students, as well as employees) believed that BJU conveyed a “blaming and disparaging” attitude toward victims. Of the 166 people who said they had been victims of sexual abuse before or during their time at BJU, half said school officials had actively discouraged them from going to the police. According to one anonymous respondent, after he finally told the police about years of sexual abuse by his grandfather, a BJU official admonished him that “[you] tore your family apart, and that’s your fault,” and “you love yourself more than you love God.” BJU officials declined to comment for this article.

 

[Totenkindly]

People are people first, values and principles 2nd, then religious philosophy 3rd.

Being part of a religionn rarely means actual devout as well. Most people are surface level.

I would also like to point out the devisiveness of the article, to paint religion in an intentionally bad light and trying to stigmatize mental illness as a religious thing.

You can ignore any obvious slant and still reach the same conclusion that those kinds of controlling authoritative systems automatically lend themselves to abuse and in fact often are abusive when there are no checks on power. I spent a long time in that world and it still frustrates me to know how their system works w/ little way to implement change, since it all revolves around their intrinsic belief set.

I think you're also broad-brushing how people actually aren't 'devout' -- the truth is that they are fervently devout, it's just their devotion is to something that doesn't embody the actual faith. It's all twisted and they at least consciously aren't aware of how a lot of the practice of their faith is driven by their fears and self-centeredness.

 

[Obfuscate]

if the woman said she was a doctor, would we be questioning the ethics of the medical field? clearly she is no more a christian than a doctor...

"It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble."
-luke 7:2

"'When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them."
-leviticus 19:33

"Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns."
-deuteronomy 24:14

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?"
-isaiah 58:6-7

i could keep pulling verses about this, but it is considered to be pretty low to do anything like this woman did... i get when people talk about what a priest or pastor does, as if it reflects on the church... the church is the only thing we can look to and say "this is what those people believe"... it says something when an organization does something evil... i think this thread is a case of confirmation bias being used to drag a religion through the mud... i don't think it is hard to find people that claim to be something they are not... hell, i think a lot of priests and pastors aren't christians at all, but are people that are looking to use others... what i don't think, is that a christian woman would do the things being discussed...

 

[Coriolis]

if the woman said she was a doctor, would we be questioning the ethics of the medical field? clearly she is no more a christian than a doctor...

Perhaps not, but if she said she was a feminist, plenty of folks would add this to the list of "obvious evils of feminism". People are quite inconsistent and often self-serving in deciding when to use the behavior of an individual to tarnish the group, and when to insist that, obviously that individual is not a "real" group member.

 

[Mole]

God the Father is offended by us and requires a. blood sacrifice to forgive us. The blood sacrifice is His Son on the Cross.

This is the theology of the crminal Church.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Anyone can find a bible passage to justify their actions and worldview.

 

[Obfuscate]

Perhaps not, but if she said she was a feminist, plenty of folks would add this to the list of "obvious evils of feminism". People are quite inconsistent and often self-serving in deciding when to use the behavior of an individual to tarnish the group, and when to insist that, obviously that individual is not a "real" group member.

i think that is an excellent comparison, but i don't think that feminism has a basic set of tenents that are agreed upon... there isn't a core set of concepts that can be looked to so one can identify "correct behavior"... it is good to think about how one might throw a group under the bus for some idiot that isn't really related...

 

[Coriolis]

i think that is an excellent comparison, but i don't think that feminism has a basic set of tenents that are agreed upon... there isn't a core set of concepts that can be looked to so one can identify "correct behavior"... it is good to think about how one might throw a group under the bus for some idiot that isn't really related...

And you think Christians all agree on what to believe and how to practice their faith? Last I checked, there were probably hundreds of denominations, each doing things differently, not to mention the three great divisions of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants. Diversity notwithstanding, many Christians say the essence of Christianity is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Similarly, the essence of Feminism is the view that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. They won't all agree on exactly how to interpret this or practice it, any more than those Christians do.

 

[highlander]

This article is dated August 19, 2018, the most recent among many, Catholic sexual abuse scandals. 'How could this happen again?' Why this Catholic abuse scandal seems worse than 2002 - CNN

It's disgusting. They need to abolish the rule that priests shouldn't be married because it attracts some of the wrong kind of people - not to mention it limits the practicality of advice they are able to provide because they lack life experience of relationships and families.

 

[Obfuscate]

And you think Christians all agree on what to believe and how to practice their faith? Last I checked, there were probably hundreds of denominations, each doing things differently, not to mention the three great divisions of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants. Diversity notwithstanding, many Christians say the essence of Christianity is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Similarly, the essence of Feminism is the view that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. They won't all agree on exactly how to interpret this or practice it, any more than those Christians do.

the interpretation of the book is different, but there is a single source that can be examined for coherency... some add additional doctrines or books, but that doesn't negate identity if it doesn't contradict the source...

feminism has not always been defined by a belief in equal rights... in it's infancy it was defined as advocacy for women's rights... it is a fine line, but one that shows that even a simple definition of the thing is not universally true... some people that use the label still use that definition... i don't see the point of pursuing this line of reasoning unless you can show me a document or set of documents that all feminists can be held to... i agree that the initial point you were making is sound (that people judge a group by people the group doesn't think of as associated), but i do think that the distinction i am drawing in this case is sound... one of these groups has a document that people outside of the group are able to review in order to make an informed decision... the other group has no such document...

 

[Coriolis]

the interpretation of the book is different, but there is a single source that can be examined for coherency... some add additional doctrines or books, but that doesn't negate identity if it doesn't contradict the source...

feminism has not always been defined by a belief in equal rights... in it's infancy it was defined as advocacy for women's rights... it is a fine line, but one that shows that even a simple definition of the thing is not universally true... some people that use the label still use that definition... i don't see the point of pursuing this line of reasoning unless you can show me a document or set of documents that all feminists can be held to... i agree that the initial point you were making is sound (that people judge a group by people the group doesn't think of as associated), but i do think that the distinction i am drawing in this case is sound... one of these groups has a document that people outside of the group are able to review in order to make an informed decision... the other group has no such document...

The definition I mentioned - and which is given by dictionaries as well - does focus on women's rights. The presence of a "single source document" does not make Christians any more united in their views and approaches than feminists, or many other groups. In fact Christians cannot even agree on what exactly to include in this documentation. Point still stands, though. Both groups represent diversity of thought and practice around a central core of meaning. Both contain people who claim the label, while violating that central meaning, or pursuing it in harmful ways. Both are subject to being judged negatively across the board for the actions of these subgroups or individuals. People just seem more willing on the whole to make excuses for bad Christians (or members of other groups) than bad feminists, rather than understanding that people will be people, so every group will have some bad or misguided folks.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

If rabbis are allowed to get their dicks wet, I don't see why priests shouldn't be allowed to do the same.

 

[Obfuscate]

The definition I mentioned - and which is given by dictionaries as well - does focus on women's rights. The presence of a "single source document" does not make Christians any more united in their views and approaches than feminists, or many other groups. In fact Christians cannot even agree on what exactly to include in this documentation. Point still stands, though. Both groups represent diversity of thought and practice around a central core of meaning. Both contain people who claim the label, while violating that central meaning, or pursuing it in harmful ways. Both are subject to being judged negatively across the board for the actions of these subgroups or individuals. People just seem more willing on the whole to make excuses for bad Christians (or members of other groups) than bad feminists, rather than understanding that people will be people, so every group will have some bad or misguided folks.

in 1855 the word meant simply to be feminine, in 1895 it meant to advocate for female rights, at present it is defined as as equal rights (but not by everyone who uses it)... repeating yourself doesn't change my mind... the groups who use a different book or different sections of the book are in a small minority... it is an argument that i disagree with... i would say (for example) i think catholicism is not equivalent to christianity because of their divergence from the source material... they are as comparable to christianity as the jewish or islamic faith... unless you can point me to something by which even 90% of feminists hold to be a universal code of conduct, you haven't changed my mind on this minute point... a single sentence in a dictionary does not impress me...

 

[rav3n]

It's disgusting. They need to abolish the rule that priests shouldn't be married because it attracts some of the wrong kind of people - not to mention it limits the practicality of advice they are able to provide because they lack life experience of relationships and families.

Agreed, albeit this type of abuse appears to occur with baptists and evangelicals too, who can experience relationships and families. It appears to be an issue of power going to people's heads since they know their institutions will cover it up.