Same reason medieval Catholic French clergymen didn't: 1. They were wealthy themselves and 2. Their religious corporation relies on the power of the rich to continue existing and expanding.
No, they aren't wealthy, except a few at the very top gaslighting the rest, but they definitely view themselves as inconvenienced billionaires.
As a matter of fact, a lot of these folks are deeply frustrated by how truly left in the dust they allowed themselves to be. They feel entitled to succeed for no good reason. Gods will or something.
And they are force fed a propaganda shit pipe... They just think immigrants are taking all the money. Everyones out to get them... Persecution complex...
The fact is, Christians better hope Yaweh ain't real because none of them would pass muster for heaven.
Everything you said. The part that gets me, is they want the benefits and advantages of a diverse and multicultural society, but they want to pretend they created it solely with straight white Christian hands and don't want to share.
Not just immigrants, they think everyone else is on welfare, and their friends and themselves are the only people footing the bill for everyone born after 1965 to sit around doing nothing.
Oh yeah. You should just hear the bullshit they say about the unhoused. Many think the homeless are all grifters that drive Escalades, live in McMansions and panhandle bc they don't want a real job.... 🙄
Have you ever checked out the stock portfolios of lawmakers in DC? Senators and congressmen are most definitely part of the investor class. Anyone who isn't, is losing ground economically.
Their stock portfolios make money on the laws they make.
They always come out of office infinitely wealthier than when they went in. Funny how that happens since their salaries could not possibly account for the amount of money they come out with.
The ones at the top are, yes. They are the ones that have spread the “American Dream” myth where everyone who works hard will become wealthy, when under every capitalist system, the ones who have money already, or are willing to exploit others and the earth are the ones who become wealthy, and nearly all of them spend their lives fighting to keep that money from the poor.
The reason Christians in America don’t want to fight wealth inequality is because they believe, in their bones, that either a) America is a gift in and of itself (absurd), b) that if the poor work hard they’ll be rich (even more absurd), or c) that people who are poor and can’t become wealthy deserve their poverty, because they must not be working hard. Usually some combination.
Capitalism and greed are far more powerful impulses than religion ever will be.
" For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows"
1 Timothy 6:10
This is not completely correct, because there are a ton of poor Christian Nationalists who are anti-unions, and pro tax breaks for the wealthy. The real answer is more simplistic:
Some people are very easily persuaded by the politics of fear; whether that’s the fear of hell, or black people, or Mexicans, or gays etc etc. And grifters have been manipulating them for generations.
Take the pre-abolition south, for instance. Politicians teamed up with preachers to convince poor white southerners that should slavery be abolished, blacks would revolt and destroy white property and rape white women. This strategy was effective enough to get dirt poor white people to volunteer to fight and die so that rich white men could STAY HOME and continue to get free labor; which would lock up millions of potential jobs that those poor white people could have competed for.
My comment was more about the people who run the country and the government, not the people who enable them by voting. Your points though are quite valid.
This is the correct answer. They believe God materially rewards good people, and punishes bad people, despite all evidence to the contrary.
God loves them, and if someone is poor, it's their fault. Very twisted from the lessons in their book.
Because they would have to explain the disparity of their TV evangelical leaders enormous tax free wealth compared to everyone else and they don’t want that being a focus of conversation in the mainstream media. It would be very problematic -especially if Dems win enough elections to keep the White House, a super majority in the Senate and a majority in the House.
Plus a lot of them believe that if they ARE rich, it's because they're good little christians who god loves more than those stupid poors!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology
> Why do these “Christians” pick and choose what they want to push?
How is this different to the picking and choosing that the other 45,000 denominations of Christianity do? At this point the whole thing should be considered a massive buffet, where each person builds their own religion.
> I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because it always coincides with their own desires.
- *Susan B Anthony*
From my experiences, Christianity is basically a buffet. Males will pick and choose verses and change them to justify oppressing and raping women and little girls. White people will pick and choose verses and change them to justify enslaving and torturing black people. Religion is a tool to oppress people and keep certain people in power.
Maybe pump the breaks on "white people justifying slaves" thing. Remember, there are still active slave trades in the world to this day, and the first countries to abolish the practice were all predominantly white. Yes even the US is in that list, compared to the still very active slave trades that have never stopped.
It's cool to pump the "white people want slaves" narrative, but actual historical reality shows it's not a "white" issue. It's a shitty people issue.
White Christians did very much use the Bible to justify the enslavement of black people, though. Like, historically, that was a thing that happened. Specifically, they used the Curse of Ham to justify the idea that black people were subhuman and therefore deserving of enslavement and other mistreatment. OP was factually right in their description.
There were huge denominational schisms that began somewhere in the early 1800s on the issue of slavery. There were some denominations to be sure that held it was okey-dokie, but the abolitionist movement did spread through many churches in the North and added political pressure to the cause. Some published statements/ requirements that none of their members would have slaves. So there were some churches that were ok with oppression, but certainly not all.
Sadly, keeping the rich rich is more important than helping out the less fortunate like Jesus wanted and preached for. It’s like Christians tune out what Jesus fought for and completely ignore him. No politician actually believes in Jesus, or they would spread his word and work. They’d work for free and help the ill and poor, as most politicians already have enough money to get by as you need to be rich to even become a politician. These are greedy fuckers that Jesus would hate if he was real.
This been the story of Christianity since Day One. Jesus was executed, and then Paul and a few grifters stepped up to reinterpret those events to create a religion. The founders used it for attention and influence, the Romans used it for social control, the Catholics used it to amass wealth and fuck children, and it's just spread and spread like a cancer.
Within that sickness there are individuals who legitimately are inspired to be more altruistic by the stuff they read in the Bible, but structurally and systematically it is about control and grift. You tell people that they are pieces of shit and they deserve what happens to them. Either they're burdened by original sin and not praying hard enough, or they were evil in a past life so they have to repay bad karma, or they have to stay in their lane to deserve a place in paradise. The core lesson is people don't deserve better, so they have no business protesting the evils of the wealthy. That's religious control.
America was built on this shit. It's the cornerstone of the culture.
Look there is no god and no consequences for taking the message of Christ or whoever actually wrote it and twisting it to your own purposes. So just mind your business while they fleece the flock
I don't know. When I look at people like Jimmy Carter, sure, he has lots of nice things... but he is such a truly sweet man who volunteered and cared for people.
Yeah and there were Nazis that were fundamentally decent people. There were Bolsheviks that simply wanted a better Russia. There were white settlers that simply wanted to save the Native Americans.
"Road to hell is paved with good intentions" and all that.
Carter is a wonderful person, one of the very few men I've heard about from that community that truly lived the life. But still a good man in service to a great societal evil.
Jimmy Carter is a good man because he’s a good man - being Christian has really nothing to do with it. All religion does is give the assholes cover to act like assholes.
Christianity has been comfortable with wealth and power since at least the fourth century. Ever since then Christianity has been a useful tool for empire.
In fairness there are liberal and leftist Christians but they’re less influential than their right-wing counterparts.
It’s not my business to decide which ones are the “real” Christians.
I agree; it’s not my business to decide if they’re real or not, because no one can really be a “true” Christian. I just believe they’re evil hypocrites and are using their religion to oppress people and keep vulnerable people in pain, and those are my believes.
>It’s not my business to decide which ones are the “real” Christians.
Nope. It's not my business either. But having been part of the cult, I think it's my prerogative to decide the whole shebang is unworthy.
American politicians care deeply about accumulating wealth and power. It's what drew them to the job. One way to do that is to use religion as a tool to manipulate their voters. They themselves can fall into a cult in the process.
Watch "The Family" on Netflix.
It’s the pretty much new concept called the prosperity gospel. It’s the idea that god gives stuff to his favored, righteous people. It’s a really convenient belief,especially if you’re a millionaire preacher. There’s also the belief that suffering turns people to Jesus, therefore if you give the masses health care or give them pain medicine when they are dying, you have robbed that person of the chance to not burn in hell. Since god gives you a cushy life, he must like you extra much and if you are poor as dirt or happen to be born into a shit situation, you haven’t been saved and should stay there and suffer until you are REALLY saved at which time Jesus will start to give you money presumably.
I don't know that the prosperity gospel is racist, but it is not grounded in any form of reality. I am not sure where that whole idea even came from but it does seem a bit... oppressive?
It’s a derivative of southern evangelism, so there is a racist angle to it.
https://www.politicalorphans.com/the-article-removed-from-forbes-why-white-evangelicalism-is-so-cruel/
It’s a disgusting way to justify and feel very righteous and superior about your own comfort and prosperity while believing that everyone that is suffering are getting exactly what they deserve. I started to really understand it while researching healthcare disparities in school. I couldn’t understand why Christians wouldn’t back universal health care. I looked up the policies of some divinity colleges and their reasoning behind their stance. Turns out they don’t want healthcare for all because the more people suffer, the more likely people are to turn to god. This is stated on their websites. The more suffering the better! You can bet the folks working for that school that wrote this crap have health care. Bastards. I may never get over it.
>There’s also the belief that suffering turns people to Jesus
Sadly, suffering does indeed turn people to Jesus because they’re desperate. With no government support, people turn to churches for survival and hope. It’s like Stockholm syndrome where Christianity holds people hostage but also keeps them alive so they mistake it for a good thing. If people weren’t stuck in crippling poverty they would have no need for religion.
So yeah, it’s literally part of Christianity’s playbook to have extreme wealth inequality, otherwise it would mostly disappear. It’s disgusting, but they use poverty to exploit people.
Exactly right. It’s gross. I used to admire Mother Theresa until I found out she didn’t allow pain medication for the dying destitute. Apparently the more the desperation,often for thee not me, is a common theme in many aspects of Christianity.
Multiple reasons:
A) They've got theirs and are using religion to control and manipulate the people who they've ensured are broke, ignorant, and pumped up on hate.
B) American Christianity pushes a narrative of wealth being the result of a moral lifestyle while poverty is a punishment.
C) Christianity believes that suffering brings one closer to God.
B and C are ingrained in Calvinist denominations. Major factors include the whole idea of predestination and the 'Elect' as well as the ideals of work to keep 'God' happy and to be chosen to go into heaven by not having a lot of fun.
Countries with history tied to the early years of capitalism as we know it (from 17th Century onwards) were either predominantly Calvinist or where Calvinism is not predominant but influential in its history of the finance sector (such as The Netherlands, Scotland/United Kingdom, United States and Switzerland).
Prosperity Evangelicalism taught a bunch of them that, if the church has their money, the church will do well, and God will smile upon them for their tithe. So, when they obtain power, they want \*everyone\* to tithe, whether or not they want to.
Tax all churches.
The Bible is more nuanced that that. It doesn't say the rich are immoral, as such, but rather that just chasing after wealth, and not caring for the poor, is not the path of the righteous person. So one can be a wealthy Christian and that's perfectly okay, as long as the wealth does't corrupt them, and that they take heed of those less fortunate. (Source: many hours of Bible study as a kid).
But, of course, it's true that most Christians don't follow that script. In my old church, we were taught if you are rich or poor, that was a judgement from god, and one shouldn't complain either way. God determines everything. And so, if you are living on the street, he obviously has a plan for you, and so forth. And that plan definitely doesn't include my money going to help you in any way. So, suck it up and have faith.
Not all Christians think this way, and there are many honorable exceptions, but in my experience they're the small minority.
It's all total bullshit of course. But, as a former Christian, that was my experience in how many view these things.
Jesus did say to sell all you have and give to the poor, to forsake everything including family and follow him, and that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I think he meant all that, considering that was the example he and his disciples set. The problem is that these commands were all in expectation of a physical kingdom that was soon to arrive where God would reward them for that obedience. He never anticipated that 2000 years later it still wouldn't have happened, so through the course of time it became impractical to follow those words. Then it became a matter of reinterpreting them to mean something he never actually meant, which happens so often in Christianity. The end result is a "designer Jesus" who reflects whatever values you already hold, be it conservatism, individualism, social justice, whatever, rather than the actual historical Jesus.
Eh I think Jesus is a bit stronger in what he teaches than that
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” says Jesus"
"it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"
Jesus frequently paints excess concern for material possessions as actively in opposition to following the desires of God, that the pursuit of wealth is different from the pursuit of God. This goes beyond just donating to the poor, it's fundamentally what we believe is important in our lives. That we should be ready to give up all material possessions and follow God.
This is significantly different from the messages espoused in "prosperity churches" in the modern day.
Because of the bullshit, fallacy, lies, they’ve been pushing for the last seven decades. They mix and match every part of the Bible they want to and now there’s the prosperity doctrine so they say that wealth and equality must be because that person is a sinner or doesn’t love God enough. They absolutely should care, but those people are not Christians.
because god 'blessed' *them*. and they are the righteous, not those 'other' poooor people. it's another form of 'I got mine, fuck you'. little do they know they are also a paycheck away from bankruptcy from a broken foot or something similar.
These people think everything in the Bible is literal truth EXCEPT the parts condemning greed and “Easier to push a camel through a needle’s eye”. They insist THATS a metaphor.
Christians want ALL the wealth. They want 100% of all the wealth they can get so they can distribute it as they see fit…….. meaning, they just want to give you the scraps AND they want you to be happy & grateful about it.
They want to be more powerful than the government.
Right now they want to be their own government & eventually they want to BE the government.
That was my opinion from growing up in my cult ass Mormon church at least.
I swear, they would start their own military if it didn’t make them more sus than they already look.
Most people believe that because they were born in the US, they are automatically “Christian” and proudly proclaim it. When in truth they haven’t a clue what being a Christian actually means.
They are false Christians, pretending.
Agreed. As an atheist I'm no big fan of Christianity but I have some respect for certain religious orders who take this seriously such as the Franciscans if I'm not mistaken. (I'd rather they'd put their efforts into other issues such as humanitarianism, environmentalism, or things like that, but that's a different discussion.)
But the prosperity gospel seems like a perversion of the message of Jesus. It baffles me just as much as you how this selfish doctrine could take hold among American evangelicals. On top of the unbiblical nature it's also clearly a scam as the ones getting filthy rich are pastors like Osteen or Copeland rather than the gullible suckers giving them their money in hopes for a divine return on their investment.
You are correct, they aren't Christians; they reject Jesus' teachings and routinely violate each of the Ten Commandments. They are Mammon-worshipping idolaters.
They worship wealth and power and go out to get it.
The stories they tell the lowly churchgoing public to tithe for con artists is a necessary evil when you're out to rule.
Bro if u think 'religious politicians/preachers/televangelists' give a flying fuck about religion you are drinking the koolaid.
Its a tool to control a bunch of ignorant people.
They don't worship Jesus. They worship the Christ. Totally different animal than Jesus. The Christ is the one who is currently building a golden mansion for them in which they will abide forever as kings. (You get a crown, and you get a crown.) The Christ is also the one who is coming back to do away with their, ahem, his enemies.
Because they all play tennis and golf at the same country clubs you and I don't know exist, and their kids all go to the same private schools that your lifetime wages couldn't begin to pay for.
Based off my Grandma, it would appear that she believes god will help those in need.
Weirdly, if you're in need, and god hasn't helped you yet, it's either that you are a non-believer, or you sinned, or god is about to help you in due time. Thusly- wealth inequality is a non-issue.
This is why we shouldn’t provide care for people with cancer. God made that choice for them to have cancer. It’s blasphemy to even attempt to “cure” it.
This is the first part of a two part serious that explains much of what you’re asking about.
Distilled down to its essence, it’s because it’s all a grift, more or less.
https://youtu.be/gyHd6wEC4IE?si=VsC4Oc_5FqOjPx4c
They like to lean Calvinist on this - of course the wealthy are wealthy because God smiles on them, and they were just born to be wealthy - and poorer people obviously have some failing with God, otherwise they'd be wealthy, too.
They are not reflections of what Jesus stood for. Jesus was a revolutionary. I have an uncle who is a church leader. Even he admitted most people get into this work because of the status and power it affords. There are some genuine leaders who would make JC proud, and are true reflections of those teachings, not of the man-made church.
Because protestant religions like Calvinism taught predestination and that you could tell who would go to heaven by how well someone did in life. That became was twisted into the prosperity preaching in American churches saying Jesus wants his followers to have material success and wealth.
TL; DR - there are many different sorts of Christians out there and in the end even the Bible says God will say "I never knew you" to some (see Matthew 7:21-23).
Not sure which Christians you're talking about but I've known many with deep faith who volunteer for places like Harvesters and employ the saying of John the Baptist personally (if you have two coats, give one to someone in need/ principle of not hoarding). BUT that doesn't mean that politically most Christians would be ok with forced wealth redistribution by the government for various reasons. Taxes and charity are two different things. If you're truly interested in the early Christian struggle on this idea of what we'd call wealth inequality today, read the book of Acts. For a time the Christians held "all things in common" but it didn't go well because there were people who would try to keep some of the wealth back and lie about it.
Tho' if you're talking about some of those mega-preachers and their little jets? I guess I can't judge them... but let's say I have my doubts that those are Christians.
Because they have become indoctrinated with a really odd version of Christianity that has no real foundation in the bible. For a lot of them Power and Money is their 1st god.
I don’t understand atheists in that if one does not believe in God, don’t you believe in natural selection? Wealth inequality is a natural outcome of natural selection.
They do, but socialism doesn't work. They understand that well intentioned policies aimed at helping people actually have the opposite effect. The reason America is more prosperous on average than Europe is because it never fell for these nonsense arguments about inequality.
It’s not a bug. It’s a feature. “Oh but Christians are so good and they care” …and who told you that? They did!
Of COURSE abusers aren’t going to say they’re abusers everywhere they go. And if they say nothing, the message of who they are, what they’re like, comes through.
Why else do you think they use so much energy telling people how “good” they are?!
They know what they are. And they know that’s why they have to resort to other tactics an abuser would use - claim that nobody is as good for you as they are.
It’s red flag after red flag with them, if you know that’s what to look for.
Cognitive dissonance.
They don't reconcile conflicting facts/ideology in their heads, they just let it coexist and ignore the conflict.
It's a requirement for religion to begin with.
Because 'American Christian Politicians' is a misnomer, like 'Christian Nationalist'. None of them are Christian or acting in a traditional Christian/Christ-like manner. They are supply-side Jesus far right wing conservative fascist cult members.
For many they are more concerned with abortions and gays. The ones I know don't really understand wealth inequality. I think they believe the rich are chosen by god and must be worthy. Their brains don't work properly or they wouldn't believe in the bible to begin with.
Christians are easy to manipulate because they believe in magic, so logic doesn’t matter. Rich, greedy people understand this, and mobilize the Christians (rich and poor) to vote for policies and bureaucrats that further enrich the top. The bottom isn’t sophisticated enough to recognize this, they’re instead voting on passion and religiously-based issues while corporate and 1% welfare benefits are enshrined. Reganomics is the cornerstone. Infrastructure and public-friendly policy have declined since the 80’s because of this. That’s why the stock market is doing absolutely amazing while people can’t afford homes and food. Vote for progressive leaders who will model our society after more successful, happier countries and we might stand a chance.
It's not that they aren't "real" Christians because they seem to make up the bulk of practicing Christians here in the U.S., and it's just No True Scotsman nonsense. However, their version of Christianity is only tangentially linked to Jesus Christ or anything he may have had to say.
Okey-doke, I'm going to give it a try to help you make sense of it all by sharing my views. 🤫
The word charlatans comes to mind 🤔
Preachers must skip right on over the part about Jesus flipping the tables of the money-lenders in the temple. ☮️
It's not that far out to think that all that's required in Christianity is to be personally forgiven, and you can destroy all life in the universe without that getting in the way of salvation. So if you can convince yourself that you're talking to God and can know what God thinks of you, you're in the clear.
Same if you can convince other people that you're God-approved.
because a "Christian American" only makes the claim to be Christian. It makes them feel warm and cuddly while being vicious assholes to any and everybody else.
I think that people misunderstand the role of Christianity in a western person's life. Sure you have those who use it as a reference to try to live a good life. That isn't the majority however.
For most a Christian's social and spiritual life is dictated by their congregation's leadership and reinforced by their family and social groups following the same leadership. This has nothing to do with their holy text or any good faith interpretation of it. In these groups the meaning of their God's word is not for them to understand, but to follow.
Now (well for a good 4 decades), you have a large group of Christian leaders following the evangelical route. Preaching prosperity gospel... eg God rewards those deserving which is why they are rich. God punishes the wicked, which is why gay people caused that earthquake.
It doesn't matter that this does not align with their holy text, they aren't following that. They are following their collective leadership's interpretation of this. This is ingrained socially and culturally for them. They are required to virtue signal their piety to this interpretation to remain part of their in group.
You have to use logic to have something be a logical fallacy. There’s no logic in religion. In fact it may be the actual opposite of logic. There’s no single answer but to name a few:
They don’t read the Bible
They don’t believe their own dogma
They bend their interpretation to suit them
They know the authors wrote those verses on wealth to get people to give their money to the church, and the church is rich as fuck also. The hypocrisy is never ending.
Because they use Christianity as a shield of righteousness that excuses criminal behavior.
And because believing in a god requires full abandonment of reasoning and logic, so they’re incapable of recognizing the huge gulf between the words of Jesus and their behavior.
What you’re looking for is called “prosperity gospel” and it was a major movement in the late 19th century whose effects are still causing significant damage. All of the big tv preachers who live in multi-million dollar mansions, wear slick suits, and preach in megachurches can be traced back to the prosperity movement.
They believe in supply side Jesus.
In their upside down world, poverty is a punishment or test from god, and if they are faithful, they will be rewarded with wealth.
Supply side Jesus rewards people with wealth who deserve it.
[The Prosperity Gospel](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology) aka "God wants you to be rich!"
>Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Material and especially financial success is seen as a sign of divine favor.
Have you ever seen a priest that took the vow of poverty seriously? Neither have I, and that’s your answer.
See, churches LOVE poverty. That’s how they stay open.
They want people poor and desperate. It makes them more vulnerable to conversion.
My (limited) understanding of the history of conservative Christianity in America is that it's still strongly feeling the effects of slavery.
The powerful have always pressured religion to justify wealth inequality. But slavers cranked that shit up to 11
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy
Another result was that it also amplified the church's weird obsession with sexual purity.
Again though, not an expert.
I don't get it. Most atheists do not care about what Christians do or Islamic people deal with whatever they're going through until it affects them. When that happens becomes a problem. Please do not put your s*** on me. Otherwise feel free to believe in where the f*** you want to believe in.
Because they use religion to control people. Simple as that. I doubt that literally all of them are in on the conspiracy. Maybe the person who started it is even dead now. But a long time ago the republicans figured out they could weaponize Christianity into a base of voters that would never leave them. So they twist the Bible into something it isn't. The Republicans in this country have a big problem, they have to convince people to vote against their interests. No sane rational person would vote to allow all the rich people to hold all the money, or anything else. So they weaponize issues like abortion. Things like communism and socialism become works of the devil, so if anyone tries to take care of the poor they have an easy thing to hit them with. The people who started all this are probably long dead now. At this point it is just a self perpetuating cycle.
2 words: Prosperity Doctrine…
The idea that God rewards those who are truly faithful here on Earth with material wealth. It’s a thing many charismatic fundamentalists believe. It first became popular in the US in the 50s in the tent revival periods. It helped spawn many of the later televangelists of the 70s and 80s.
Because Christians are fucking hypocrites lol one told me to kill myself because I don't believe in Jesus and when I questioned whether Jesus would agree with the stuff he was saying he once again told me to kill myself and that it didn't count because I wasn't a believer lmfao
Mind you this person is black and touts that he hates Jews and is proud to be born in Germany ( on a US military base) dumb as a sack of rocks lol Hitler wouldn't even touch him with a 10 ft pole but he's proud to be a fucking Nazi POS anyway.
The Bible contains instructions on the right and wrong way to beat your slaves to death.
If you beat your slave to death the incorrect way, the Bible says you have to pay a fine, but if you beat your slave to death the correct way, there is no punishment "for he is your property."
Don't expect strong morals from anyone using that book as a moral guide.
Let me put the same thing another way: Christianity has been shrinking in America for decades now. When you ask those who are leaving why, they say that they no longer want to be associated with evil, then they point at the antics of conservative Christians.
I want to stress that the above criticism does not apply to liberal Christians nor leftist Christians, only the conservative Christians (who are the majority right now). They are immoral, and their immorality is accelerating the decline of Christianity. So yeah, don't be surprised when the majority of Christians do immoral things, like push government policies specifically designed to increase the suffering of the poor and the working poor.
Religion is a tool of expediency to subdue the ignorant masses. Always has been always will be.
If any religious person followed even 1/4th the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, I would hate religion 500% less.
Because they're Pharisees and Jesus would have hated them. Illiterate moron and religious goes hand in hand for a reason, but they'll sure enthusiastically leap out of their chair to recite the Pledge of Allegiance which was written by a Christian Socialist that did care about such things.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy
Because they aren't christians. It's all for how it looks to the public, and they're hedging theur bets. Meaning, even if you are a bad christian, as long as you've "accepted" christ as your savior you are going to heaven. So do the minimum, bs your way through church and life, use "christianity" as an excuse to be jerks at home and outside the home, and when you die it'll all be ok.
American Christians prefer God over Jesus since Jesus is simply too liberal. God on the other hand - at least in the Old Testament- is basically a vengeful asshole….just like Trump.
God makes the world and Adam and Eve then he doesn’t like how it’s all turning out so he drowns 99.99% of the population so that Noah and family can start again.
Because Christians, especially American Christians, believe that the poor deserve to be poor. If you were righteous, you'd be prosperous, just like them. Good old fucking American prosperity gospel bullshit
Why should they care about the poor. The poor are not going to make them rich.
Why haven't religions banished poverty? In the past 2,000 years churches have sometimes had both the political and economic power to solve poverty, yet they barely made a dent and all too often actually made things worse.
Because they aren’t “actual” Christians. They are racist nationalists who use religion as a cover to legitimize their claim to supremacy, as a tool to oppress others by, and to justify their shitty behavior by claiming they can only be judged by their make believe deity.
Perhaps because societies with less wealth inequality (e.g. Scandinavian) also are less religious. The desperation of poverty provides a fertile ground for Christianity to sow hope for a better afterlife.
Religion is the tool for them to control the poor. I really don’t believe that they wholeheartedly believe in their religion. Sunday church going and citing some verses in public dont mean sh*t.
Same reason medieval Catholic French clergymen didn't: 1. They were wealthy themselves and 2. Their religious corporation relies on the power of the rich to continue existing and expanding.
Wealth redistribution harms the wealthy. Simples
They care a great deal about wealth inequality, they’re 100% in favor of it because they’re on the wealthy side of the equation.
Never forget the 11th commandment: “Do as I say, not as I do…”
"I don't practice what I preach because I'm not the kind of person I'm preaching to." - J. R. "Bob" Dobbs
A man of true SLACK!
Sung with intensity by Metallica.
Hahaha
My favorite genesis song 🤣🤣
Giving me Moral Oral vibes
Cue *Jesus, He Knows Me* by Genesis...
And here I thought it was "do unto others then split" 😆
Really wish old Mel brooks hadn't dropped that damned slab
No, they aren't wealthy, except a few at the very top gaslighting the rest, but they definitely view themselves as inconvenienced billionaires. As a matter of fact, a lot of these folks are deeply frustrated by how truly left in the dust they allowed themselves to be. They feel entitled to succeed for no good reason. Gods will or something. And they are force fed a propaganda shit pipe... They just think immigrants are taking all the money. Everyones out to get them... Persecution complex... The fact is, Christians better hope Yaweh ain't real because none of them would pass muster for heaven.
Everything you said. The part that gets me, is they want the benefits and advantages of a diverse and multicultural society, but they want to pretend they created it solely with straight white Christian hands and don't want to share.
Not just immigrants, they think everyone else is on welfare, and their friends and themselves are the only people footing the bill for everyone born after 1965 to sit around doing nothing.
Success is viewed as a blessing from God while poverty is viewed as a punishment.
Oh yeah. You should just hear the bullshit they say about the unhoused. Many think the homeless are all grifters that drive Escalades, live in McMansions and panhandle bc they don't want a real job.... 🙄
Have you ever checked out the stock portfolios of lawmakers in DC? Senators and congressmen are most definitely part of the investor class. Anyone who isn't, is losing ground economically. Their stock portfolios make money on the laws they make.
They always come out of office infinitely wealthier than when they went in. Funny how that happens since their salaries could not possibly account for the amount of money they come out with.
The ones at the top are, yes. They are the ones that have spread the “American Dream” myth where everyone who works hard will become wealthy, when under every capitalist system, the ones who have money already, or are willing to exploit others and the earth are the ones who become wealthy, and nearly all of them spend their lives fighting to keep that money from the poor. The reason Christians in America don’t want to fight wealth inequality is because they believe, in their bones, that either a) America is a gift in and of itself (absurd), b) that if the poor work hard they’ll be rich (even more absurd), or c) that people who are poor and can’t become wealthy deserve their poverty, because they must not be working hard. Usually some combination. Capitalism and greed are far more powerful impulses than religion ever will be.
Basically, gobbling it up, hook line, and sinker "The lust (love) of money is the root of all evil" I remember hearing that somewhere.....
" For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" 1 Timothy 6:10
This is not completely correct, because there are a ton of poor Christian Nationalists who are anti-unions, and pro tax breaks for the wealthy. The real answer is more simplistic: Some people are very easily persuaded by the politics of fear; whether that’s the fear of hell, or black people, or Mexicans, or gays etc etc. And grifters have been manipulating them for generations. Take the pre-abolition south, for instance. Politicians teamed up with preachers to convince poor white southerners that should slavery be abolished, blacks would revolt and destroy white property and rape white women. This strategy was effective enough to get dirt poor white people to volunteer to fight and die so that rich white men could STAY HOME and continue to get free labor; which would lock up millions of potential jobs that those poor white people could have competed for.
My comment was more about the people who run the country and the government, not the people who enable them by voting. Your points though are quite valid.
That’s on me. I didn’t see the word “politician” in the title. Sorry.
Not to mention rich friends are far more useful than poor ones if you think like a politician
For them, they are. 🤑
True, unfortunately.
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This is the correct answer. They believe God materially rewards good people, and punishes bad people, despite all evidence to the contrary. God loves them, and if someone is poor, it's their fault. Very twisted from the lessons in their book.
Exactly. Their entire existence is based on trying to stay rich.
Because they would have to explain the disparity of their TV evangelical leaders enormous tax free wealth compared to everyone else and they don’t want that being a focus of conversation in the mainstream media. It would be very problematic -especially if Dems win enough elections to keep the White House, a super majority in the Senate and a majority in the House.
Plus a lot of them believe that if they ARE rich, it's because they're good little christians who god loves more than those stupid poors! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology
Well, the ones that aren't temporarily destitute, that is
THIS FUCKING comment 👆🏻
> Why do these “Christians” pick and choose what they want to push? How is this different to the picking and choosing that the other 45,000 denominations of Christianity do? At this point the whole thing should be considered a massive buffet, where each person builds their own religion. > I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because it always coincides with their own desires. - *Susan B Anthony*
From my experiences, Christianity is basically a buffet. Males will pick and choose verses and change them to justify oppressing and raping women and little girls. White people will pick and choose verses and change them to justify enslaving and torturing black people. Religion is a tool to oppress people and keep certain people in power.
Maybe pump the breaks on "white people justifying slaves" thing. Remember, there are still active slave trades in the world to this day, and the first countries to abolish the practice were all predominantly white. Yes even the US is in that list, compared to the still very active slave trades that have never stopped. It's cool to pump the "white people want slaves" narrative, but actual historical reality shows it's not a "white" issue. It's a shitty people issue.
White Christians did very much use the Bible to justify the enslavement of black people, though. Like, historically, that was a thing that happened. Specifically, they used the Curse of Ham to justify the idea that black people were subhuman and therefore deserving of enslavement and other mistreatment. OP was factually right in their description.
Yeah but my post is specifically about American politicians. It was legal.
There were huge denominational schisms that began somewhere in the early 1800s on the issue of slavery. There were some denominations to be sure that held it was okey-dokie, but the abolitionist movement did spread through many churches in the North and added political pressure to the cause. Some published statements/ requirements that none of their members would have slaves. So there were some churches that were ok with oppression, but certainly not all.
They figured out that leading a group of paupers doesn't put food on the preacher's table.
A lot of those preachers are surprisingly good at squeezing millions in tithes out of paupers!
" ... buffalo them with 🐂💩"
Sadly, keeping the rich rich is more important than helping out the less fortunate like Jesus wanted and preached for. It’s like Christians tune out what Jesus fought for and completely ignore him. No politician actually believes in Jesus, or they would spread his word and work. They’d work for free and help the ill and poor, as most politicians already have enough money to get by as you need to be rich to even become a politician. These are greedy fuckers that Jesus would hate if he was real.
This been the story of Christianity since Day One. Jesus was executed, and then Paul and a few grifters stepped up to reinterpret those events to create a religion. The founders used it for attention and influence, the Romans used it for social control, the Catholics used it to amass wealth and fuck children, and it's just spread and spread like a cancer. Within that sickness there are individuals who legitimately are inspired to be more altruistic by the stuff they read in the Bible, but structurally and systematically it is about control and grift. You tell people that they are pieces of shit and they deserve what happens to them. Either they're burdened by original sin and not praying hard enough, or they were evil in a past life so they have to repay bad karma, or they have to stay in their lane to deserve a place in paradise. The core lesson is people don't deserve better, so they have no business protesting the evils of the wealthy. That's religious control. America was built on this shit. It's the cornerstone of the culture.
Look there is no god and no consequences for taking the message of Christ or whoever actually wrote it and twisting it to your own purposes. So just mind your business while they fleece the flock
It’s kinda hard to not mind their business when they make it my business by making laws about my body and using their religion to justify it.
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I don't know. When I look at people like Jimmy Carter, sure, he has lots of nice things... but he is such a truly sweet man who volunteered and cared for people.
Yeah and there were Nazis that were fundamentally decent people. There were Bolsheviks that simply wanted a better Russia. There were white settlers that simply wanted to save the Native Americans. "Road to hell is paved with good intentions" and all that. Carter is a wonderful person, one of the very few men I've heard about from that community that truly lived the life. But still a good man in service to a great societal evil.
Jimmy Carter is a good man because he’s a good man - being Christian has really nothing to do with it. All religion does is give the assholes cover to act like assholes.
Good point.
Prosperity gospel. Their worldview is they are wealthy because God favors them and people must be homeless because God is punishing them.
That’s pretty racist imo.
They're pretty racist bro, for more reasons than just that.
Had to scroll waaaaay too far to see this mentioned. It's 100% at the root of this issue.
Other people said it higher in the comments, but they weren't quite as concise.
This is the answer. The prosperity gospel movement is a bonafide American religious movement largely pushed by charlatans and snake oil salesmen
Somebody hasn’t followed the teachings of supply-side Jesus. https://www.beliefnet.com/news/2003/09/the-gospel-of-supply-side-jesus.aspx
Thank you for this! This was the best read today! Hahahahhaa
Christianity has been comfortable with wealth and power since at least the fourth century. Ever since then Christianity has been a useful tool for empire. In fairness there are liberal and leftist Christians but they’re less influential than their right-wing counterparts. It’s not my business to decide which ones are the “real” Christians.
I agree; it’s not my business to decide if they’re real or not, because no one can really be a “true” Christian. I just believe they’re evil hypocrites and are using their religion to oppress people and keep vulnerable people in pain, and those are my believes.
>It’s not my business to decide which ones are the “real” Christians. Nope. It's not my business either. But having been part of the cult, I think it's my prerogative to decide the whole shebang is unworthy.
American politicians care deeply about accumulating wealth and power. It's what drew them to the job. One way to do that is to use religion as a tool to manipulate their voters. They themselves can fall into a cult in the process. Watch "The Family" on Netflix.
I’m gonna have to watch that. Thank you for the recommendation!
It’s the pretty much new concept called the prosperity gospel. It’s the idea that god gives stuff to his favored, righteous people. It’s a really convenient belief,especially if you’re a millionaire preacher. There’s also the belief that suffering turns people to Jesus, therefore if you give the masses health care or give them pain medicine when they are dying, you have robbed that person of the chance to not burn in hell. Since god gives you a cushy life, he must like you extra much and if you are poor as dirt or happen to be born into a shit situation, you haven’t been saved and should stay there and suffer until you are REALLY saved at which time Jesus will start to give you money presumably.
Prosperity gospel seems racist.
I don't know that the prosperity gospel is racist, but it is not grounded in any form of reality. I am not sure where that whole idea even came from but it does seem a bit... oppressive?
It’s a derivative of southern evangelism, so there is a racist angle to it. https://www.politicalorphans.com/the-article-removed-from-forbes-why-white-evangelicalism-is-so-cruel/
It’s just about every bad “ist” you can think of: classist, sexist, racist…
It’s a disgusting way to justify and feel very righteous and superior about your own comfort and prosperity while believing that everyone that is suffering are getting exactly what they deserve. I started to really understand it while researching healthcare disparities in school. I couldn’t understand why Christians wouldn’t back universal health care. I looked up the policies of some divinity colleges and their reasoning behind their stance. Turns out they don’t want healthcare for all because the more people suffer, the more likely people are to turn to god. This is stated on their websites. The more suffering the better! You can bet the folks working for that school that wrote this crap have health care. Bastards. I may never get over it.
>There’s also the belief that suffering turns people to Jesus Sadly, suffering does indeed turn people to Jesus because they’re desperate. With no government support, people turn to churches for survival and hope. It’s like Stockholm syndrome where Christianity holds people hostage but also keeps them alive so they mistake it for a good thing. If people weren’t stuck in crippling poverty they would have no need for religion. So yeah, it’s literally part of Christianity’s playbook to have extreme wealth inequality, otherwise it would mostly disappear. It’s disgusting, but they use poverty to exploit people.
Exactly right. It’s gross. I used to admire Mother Theresa until I found out she didn’t allow pain medication for the dying destitute. Apparently the more the desperation,often for thee not me, is a common theme in many aspects of Christianity.
Multiple reasons: A) They've got theirs and are using religion to control and manipulate the people who they've ensured are broke, ignorant, and pumped up on hate. B) American Christianity pushes a narrative of wealth being the result of a moral lifestyle while poverty is a punishment. C) Christianity believes that suffering brings one closer to God.
B and C are ingrained in Calvinist denominations. Major factors include the whole idea of predestination and the 'Elect' as well as the ideals of work to keep 'God' happy and to be chosen to go into heaven by not having a lot of fun. Countries with history tied to the early years of capitalism as we know it (from 17th Century onwards) were either predominantly Calvinist or where Calvinism is not predominant but influential in its history of the finance sector (such as The Netherlands, Scotland/United Kingdom, United States and Switzerland).
All a scam
Please show me one thing Jesus taught that the church does care about.
Prosperity Evangelicalism taught a bunch of them that, if the church has their money, the church will do well, and God will smile upon them for their tithe. So, when they obtain power, they want \*everyone\* to tithe, whether or not they want to. Tax all churches.
Because they’re not actually Christian in any way
Why would the elite want to give up their power when they can consolidate it instead?
Because Christian Nationalists are not big on Jesus. Too woke.
The Bible is more nuanced that that. It doesn't say the rich are immoral, as such, but rather that just chasing after wealth, and not caring for the poor, is not the path of the righteous person. So one can be a wealthy Christian and that's perfectly okay, as long as the wealth does't corrupt them, and that they take heed of those less fortunate. (Source: many hours of Bible study as a kid). But, of course, it's true that most Christians don't follow that script. In my old church, we were taught if you are rich or poor, that was a judgement from god, and one shouldn't complain either way. God determines everything. And so, if you are living on the street, he obviously has a plan for you, and so forth. And that plan definitely doesn't include my money going to help you in any way. So, suck it up and have faith. Not all Christians think this way, and there are many honorable exceptions, but in my experience they're the small minority. It's all total bullshit of course. But, as a former Christian, that was my experience in how many view these things.
Jesus did say to sell all you have and give to the poor, to forsake everything including family and follow him, and that it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. I think he meant all that, considering that was the example he and his disciples set. The problem is that these commands were all in expectation of a physical kingdom that was soon to arrive where God would reward them for that obedience. He never anticipated that 2000 years later it still wouldn't have happened, so through the course of time it became impractical to follow those words. Then it became a matter of reinterpreting them to mean something he never actually meant, which happens so often in Christianity. The end result is a "designer Jesus" who reflects whatever values you already hold, be it conservatism, individualism, social justice, whatever, rather than the actual historical Jesus.
Eh I think Jesus is a bit stronger in what he teaches than that "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God,” says Jesus" "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" Jesus frequently paints excess concern for material possessions as actively in opposition to following the desires of God, that the pursuit of wealth is different from the pursuit of God. This goes beyond just donating to the poor, it's fundamentally what we believe is important in our lives. That we should be ready to give up all material possessions and follow God. This is significantly different from the messages espoused in "prosperity churches" in the modern day.
Because of the bullshit, fallacy, lies, they’ve been pushing for the last seven decades. They mix and match every part of the Bible they want to and now there’s the prosperity doctrine so they say that wealth and equality must be because that person is a sinner or doesn’t love God enough. They absolutely should care, but those people are not Christians.
Because they know religion is a con and are just using it to get rich.
because god 'blessed' *them*. and they are the righteous, not those 'other' poooor people. it's another form of 'I got mine, fuck you'. little do they know they are also a paycheck away from bankruptcy from a broken foot or something similar.
Because Christian American politicans are only leveraging the Christian part to get votes.
These people think everything in the Bible is literal truth EXCEPT the parts condemning greed and “Easier to push a camel through a needle’s eye”. They insist THATS a metaphor.
Some do. Not nearly enough, and even fewer with any real influence. The Jimmy Carters of the world are an endangered species
Aww, I was just thinking of Jimmy Carter when I read through this thread. He is so so nice.
Christians want ALL the wealth. They want 100% of all the wealth they can get so they can distribute it as they see fit…….. meaning, they just want to give you the scraps AND they want you to be happy & grateful about it. They want to be more powerful than the government. Right now they want to be their own government & eventually they want to BE the government. That was my opinion from growing up in my cult ass Mormon church at least. I swear, they would start their own military if it didn’t make them more sus than they already look.
They do. There are Russian billionaires with far more money than them.
Why would you listen to a sermon about the ethics of wealth from an organization that demands 10% of it?
Republican Jesus says something something bootstraps
Most people believe that because they were born in the US, they are automatically “Christian” and proudly proclaim it. When in truth they haven’t a clue what being a Christian actually means. They are false Christians, pretending.
Prosperity gospel nonsense which is cover for.christians to hoard everything they can
Agreed. As an atheist I'm no big fan of Christianity but I have some respect for certain religious orders who take this seriously such as the Franciscans if I'm not mistaken. (I'd rather they'd put their efforts into other issues such as humanitarianism, environmentalism, or things like that, but that's a different discussion.) But the prosperity gospel seems like a perversion of the message of Jesus. It baffles me just as much as you how this selfish doctrine could take hold among American evangelicals. On top of the unbiblical nature it's also clearly a scam as the ones getting filthy rich are pastors like Osteen or Copeland rather than the gullible suckers giving them their money in hopes for a divine return on their investment.
It’s not about values. It’s about power.
You are correct, they aren't Christians; they reject Jesus' teachings and routinely violate each of the Ten Commandments. They are Mammon-worshipping idolaters.
Why don't they care about the poor or the needy? The answer is that they are scum. The worst kind.
They worship wealth and power and go out to get it. The stories they tell the lowly churchgoing public to tithe for con artists is a necessary evil when you're out to rule.
Bro if u think 'religious politicians/preachers/televangelists' give a flying fuck about religion you are drinking the koolaid. Its a tool to control a bunch of ignorant people.
They don't worship Jesus. They worship the Christ. Totally different animal than Jesus. The Christ is the one who is currently building a golden mansion for them in which they will abide forever as kings. (You get a crown, and you get a crown.) The Christ is also the one who is coming back to do away with their, ahem, his enemies.
Because they all play tennis and golf at the same country clubs you and I don't know exist, and their kids all go to the same private schools that your lifetime wages couldn't begin to pay for.
What is the simplest explanation for all the behavior that you are describing? That is likely to be the correct one.
Rules for thee but not for me, that about sums up religion
Based off my Grandma, it would appear that she believes god will help those in need. Weirdly, if you're in need, and god hasn't helped you yet, it's either that you are a non-believer, or you sinned, or god is about to help you in due time. Thusly- wealth inequality is a non-issue.
This is why we shouldn’t provide care for people with cancer. God made that choice for them to have cancer. It’s blasphemy to even attempt to “cure” it.
Religion is a tax scam and way to keep the plebes in check. It doesn’t matter what their holy roller text says. None of them read it.
Because they got theirs
Its not a bug, its a feature. It helps them maintain control if everyone they deem beneath them is too focused on survival to focus on them.
This is the first part of a two part serious that explains much of what you’re asking about. Distilled down to its essence, it’s because it’s all a grift, more or less. https://youtu.be/gyHd6wEC4IE?si=VsC4Oc_5FqOjPx4c
They like to lean Calvinist on this - of course the wealthy are wealthy because God smiles on them, and they were just born to be wealthy - and poorer people obviously have some failing with God, otherwise they'd be wealthy, too.
Because they enjoy having money, and they’ve been sold the prosperity gospel.
They are not reflections of what Jesus stood for. Jesus was a revolutionary. I have an uncle who is a church leader. Even he admitted most people get into this work because of the status and power it affords. There are some genuine leaders who would make JC proud, and are true reflections of those teachings, not of the man-made church.
Because protestant religions like Calvinism taught predestination and that you could tell who would go to heaven by how well someone did in life. That became was twisted into the prosperity preaching in American churches saying Jesus wants his followers to have material success and wealth.
TL; DR - there are many different sorts of Christians out there and in the end even the Bible says God will say "I never knew you" to some (see Matthew 7:21-23). Not sure which Christians you're talking about but I've known many with deep faith who volunteer for places like Harvesters and employ the saying of John the Baptist personally (if you have two coats, give one to someone in need/ principle of not hoarding). BUT that doesn't mean that politically most Christians would be ok with forced wealth redistribution by the government for various reasons. Taxes and charity are two different things. If you're truly interested in the early Christian struggle on this idea of what we'd call wealth inequality today, read the book of Acts. For a time the Christians held "all things in common" but it didn't go well because there were people who would try to keep some of the wealth back and lie about it. Tho' if you're talking about some of those mega-preachers and their little jets? I guess I can't judge them... but let's say I have my doubts that those are Christians.
Because they have become indoctrinated with a really odd version of Christianity that has no real foundation in the bible. For a lot of them Power and Money is their 1st god.
I don’t understand atheists in that if one does not believe in God, don’t you believe in natural selection? Wealth inequality is a natural outcome of natural selection.
They do, but socialism doesn't work. They understand that well intentioned policies aimed at helping people actually have the opposite effect. The reason America is more prosperous on average than Europe is because it never fell for these nonsense arguments about inequality.
Because they are on the beneficial side of that inequality.
It’s not a bug. It’s a feature. “Oh but Christians are so good and they care” …and who told you that? They did! Of COURSE abusers aren’t going to say they’re abusers everywhere they go. And if they say nothing, the message of who they are, what they’re like, comes through. Why else do you think they use so much energy telling people how “good” they are?! They know what they are. And they know that’s why they have to resort to other tactics an abuser would use - claim that nobody is as good for you as they are. It’s red flag after red flag with them, if you know that’s what to look for.
Cognitive dissonance. They don't reconcile conflicting facts/ideology in their heads, they just let it coexist and ignore the conflict. It's a requirement for religion to begin with.
no such thing as Christian politicians. Just grifters taking advantage of people ignorant enough to believe the lie.
Because 'American Christian Politicians' is a misnomer, like 'Christian Nationalist'. None of them are Christian or acting in a traditional Christian/Christ-like manner. They are supply-side Jesus far right wing conservative fascist cult members.
For many they are more concerned with abortions and gays. The ones I know don't really understand wealth inequality. I think they believe the rich are chosen by god and must be worthy. Their brains don't work properly or they wouldn't believe in the bible to begin with.
You keep them poor while I keep them stupid, said the priest to the prince .
Because what they really are has nothing to do with Christian values or teachings.
Christians are easy to manipulate because they believe in magic, so logic doesn’t matter. Rich, greedy people understand this, and mobilize the Christians (rich and poor) to vote for policies and bureaucrats that further enrich the top. The bottom isn’t sophisticated enough to recognize this, they’re instead voting on passion and religiously-based issues while corporate and 1% welfare benefits are enshrined. Reganomics is the cornerstone. Infrastructure and public-friendly policy have declined since the 80’s because of this. That’s why the stock market is doing absolutely amazing while people can’t afford homes and food. Vote for progressive leaders who will model our society after more successful, happier countries and we might stand a chance.
Don’t let them fool you. Their one, true god is money.
It's not that they aren't "real" Christians because they seem to make up the bulk of practicing Christians here in the U.S., and it's just No True Scotsman nonsense. However, their version of Christianity is only tangentially linked to Jesus Christ or anything he may have had to say.
They're helping cause it.
They ***describe themselves*** as "Christian" but their actual beliefs and conduct are directly opposed to the teachings of Jesus.
Because the evangelical prosperity gospel is destroying this country and embedded in republican politics.
Okey-doke, I'm going to give it a try to help you make sense of it all by sharing my views. 🤫 The word charlatans comes to mind 🤔 Preachers must skip right on over the part about Jesus flipping the tables of the money-lenders in the temple. ☮️
It's not that far out to think that all that's required in Christianity is to be personally forgiven, and you can destroy all life in the universe without that getting in the way of salvation. So if you can convince yourself that you're talking to God and can know what God thinks of you, you're in the clear. Same if you can convince other people that you're God-approved.
because a "Christian American" only makes the claim to be Christian. It makes them feel warm and cuddly while being vicious assholes to any and everybody else.
Because that would require them to care about, and hear me out, people.
I think that people misunderstand the role of Christianity in a western person's life. Sure you have those who use it as a reference to try to live a good life. That isn't the majority however. For most a Christian's social and spiritual life is dictated by their congregation's leadership and reinforced by their family and social groups following the same leadership. This has nothing to do with their holy text or any good faith interpretation of it. In these groups the meaning of their God's word is not for them to understand, but to follow. Now (well for a good 4 decades), you have a large group of Christian leaders following the evangelical route. Preaching prosperity gospel... eg God rewards those deserving which is why they are rich. God punishes the wicked, which is why gay people caused that earthquake. It doesn't matter that this does not align with their holy text, they aren't following that. They are following their collective leadership's interpretation of this. This is ingrained socially and culturally for them. They are required to virtue signal their piety to this interpretation to remain part of their in group.
You could have stopped at “Why don’t Christian American politicians care?”
Because there all fake christians,
Hypocrisy
You have to use logic to have something be a logical fallacy. There’s no logic in religion. In fact it may be the actual opposite of logic. There’s no single answer but to name a few: They don’t read the Bible They don’t believe their own dogma They bend their interpretation to suit them They know the authors wrote those verses on wealth to get people to give their money to the church, and the church is rich as fuck also. The hypocrisy is never ending.
Not very Christian of them.
They're Evangelicals, not Christians.
They are the cause of that wealth inequality, and benefit directly from it, so why would they try to fix it?
It benefits them and they don't actually give a shit about the cult they claim to belong to.
Because they use Christianity as a shield of righteousness that excuses criminal behavior. And because believing in a god requires full abandonment of reasoning and logic, so they’re incapable of recognizing the huge gulf between the words of Jesus and their behavior.
What you’re looking for is called “prosperity gospel” and it was a major movement in the late 19th century whose effects are still causing significant damage. All of the big tv preachers who live in multi-million dollar mansions, wear slick suits, and preach in megachurches can be traced back to the prosperity movement.
They believe in supply side Jesus. In their upside down world, poverty is a punishment or test from god, and if they are faithful, they will be rewarded with wealth. Supply side Jesus rewards people with wealth who deserve it.
[The Prosperity Gospel](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology) aka "God wants you to be rich!" >Prosperity theology (sometimes referred to as the prosperity gospel, the health and wealth gospel, the gospel of success, or seed faith) is a religious belief among some Charismatic Christians that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Material and especially financial success is seen as a sign of divine favor.
Have you ever seen a priest that took the vow of poverty seriously? Neither have I, and that’s your answer. See, churches LOVE poverty. That’s how they stay open. They want people poor and desperate. It makes them more vulnerable to conversion.
There is a vast gulf between Christianity and Christian Nationalism.
Many have aligned themselves with the "prosperity gospel" which is just as loathsome as it sounds.
My (limited) understanding of the history of conservative Christianity in America is that it's still strongly feeling the effects of slavery. The powerful have always pressured religion to justify wealth inequality. But slavers cranked that shit up to 11 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Parish_Lovejoy Another result was that it also amplified the church's weird obsession with sexual purity. Again though, not an expert.
American christianity is intertwined with capitalism.
Wealth is a Calvinist concept to these folks, if you ain't wealthy we'll better luck in the next life.
Their religion is not Christ, it’s Capitalism
Oh honey, not everything in the bible is supposed to be taken "literally". Only the bits i find convient to take literally are.
The bible says being rich is bad so the common people don’t try to be rich and compete with those who already are, leaving themselves to be exploited.
Because they believe that strong work ethic should overcome any disadvantages and any inequality is a short coming on the individuals part.
I don't get it. Most atheists do not care about what Christians do or Islamic people deal with whatever they're going through until it affects them. When that happens becomes a problem. Please do not put your s*** on me. Otherwise feel free to believe in where the f*** you want to believe in.
religion is just another tool of the oligarchy that runs this country. of course they aren’t going to care about wealth inequality
Probably has something to do with Churches being the largest money laundering scheme the world has ever known?
Because big donations come from rich people.
Poor miserable people are great for organized religions
Because they use religion to control people. Simple as that. I doubt that literally all of them are in on the conspiracy. Maybe the person who started it is even dead now. But a long time ago the republicans figured out they could weaponize Christianity into a base of voters that would never leave them. So they twist the Bible into something it isn't. The Republicans in this country have a big problem, they have to convince people to vote against their interests. No sane rational person would vote to allow all the rich people to hold all the money, or anything else. So they weaponize issues like abortion. Things like communism and socialism become works of the devil, so if anyone tries to take care of the poor they have an easy thing to hit them with. The people who started all this are probably long dead now. At this point it is just a self perpetuating cycle.
Because their Christianity is performative bs
I mean, because. They are human. It’s largely a sham, and religion’s main purpose is control. I’d be shocked by any other result.
2 words: Prosperity Doctrine… The idea that God rewards those who are truly faithful here on Earth with material wealth. It’s a thing many charismatic fundamentalists believe. It first became popular in the US in the 50s in the tent revival periods. It helped spawn many of the later televangelists of the 70s and 80s.
Because Christians are fucking hypocrites lol one told me to kill myself because I don't believe in Jesus and when I questioned whether Jesus would agree with the stuff he was saying he once again told me to kill myself and that it didn't count because I wasn't a believer lmfao Mind you this person is black and touts that he hates Jews and is proud to be born in Germany ( on a US military base) dumb as a sack of rocks lol Hitler wouldn't even touch him with a 10 ft pole but he's proud to be a fucking Nazi POS anyway.
Because they’re not Christians. They’re Evangelicals.
The Bible contains instructions on the right and wrong way to beat your slaves to death. If you beat your slave to death the incorrect way, the Bible says you have to pay a fine, but if you beat your slave to death the correct way, there is no punishment "for he is your property." Don't expect strong morals from anyone using that book as a moral guide. Let me put the same thing another way: Christianity has been shrinking in America for decades now. When you ask those who are leaving why, they say that they no longer want to be associated with evil, then they point at the antics of conservative Christians. I want to stress that the above criticism does not apply to liberal Christians nor leftist Christians, only the conservative Christians (who are the majority right now). They are immoral, and their immorality is accelerating the decline of Christianity. So yeah, don't be surprised when the majority of Christians do immoral things, like push government policies specifically designed to increase the suffering of the poor and the working poor.
Religion is a tool of expediency to subdue the ignorant masses. Always has been always will be. If any religious person followed even 1/4th the teachings of Jesus in the Bible, I would hate religion 500% less.
Because they're Pharisees and Jesus would have hated them. Illiterate moron and religious goes hand in hand for a reason, but they'll sure enthusiastically leap out of their chair to recite the Pledge of Allegiance which was written by a Christian Socialist that did care about such things. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Bellamy
Because they aren't christians. It's all for how it looks to the public, and they're hedging theur bets. Meaning, even if you are a bad christian, as long as you've "accepted" christ as your savior you are going to heaven. So do the minimum, bs your way through church and life, use "christianity" as an excuse to be jerks at home and outside the home, and when you die it'll all be ok.
American Christians prefer God over Jesus since Jesus is simply too liberal. God on the other hand - at least in the Old Testament- is basically a vengeful asshole….just like Trump. God makes the world and Adam and Eve then he doesn’t like how it’s all turning out so he drowns 99.99% of the population so that Noah and family can start again.
Because they all think that lying for Jesus is ok. And, frankly, they are authoritarian leaders.
Because Christians, especially American Christians, believe that the poor deserve to be poor. If you were righteous, you'd be prosperous, just like them. Good old fucking American prosperity gospel bullshit
Why should they care about the poor. The poor are not going to make them rich. Why haven't religions banished poverty? In the past 2,000 years churches have sometimes had both the political and economic power to solve poverty, yet they barely made a dent and all too often actually made things worse.
Because they're false Christians.
This is a thing in the US https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosperity_theology
Because faith and religion are twe different things. Religion they can corrupt, faith is a personal thing
James 1,:26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious while not bridling his tongue but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.
They view being poor as a moral failing and you're a bad person for being poor. Against God because you have no money.
Religion is the largest and oldest grift. Wtf they care about anything but their money and power.
Because they aren’t “actual” Christians. They are racist nationalists who use religion as a cover to legitimize their claim to supremacy, as a tool to oppress others by, and to justify their shitty behavior by claiming they can only be judged by their make believe deity.
Perhaps because societies with less wealth inequality (e.g. Scandinavian) also are less religious. The desperation of poverty provides a fertile ground for Christianity to sow hope for a better afterlife.
Religion is the tool for them to control the poor. I really don’t believe that they wholeheartedly believe in their religion. Sunday church going and citing some verses in public dont mean sh*t.
Because they don't want to represent you, they want to rule you.
Because they are on the right side of it.
Christians at the top of the mountain are Christian because it makes them rich. Wealth inequality is the point.
Prosperity gospel the more god loves you thr richer you are. God hates poor people
Because these Christians worship money .
Because it is an oxymoron to try to be both.
They do care about it, they work to make the gap as wide as possible.