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DurableBookOctober 30, 2024

I'm still working out how I feel about people who believe in one of the Abrahamic faiths but very selectively.

I know that all these patriarchal faiths are hideous if you actually bother to read their holy texts and learn their histories. That's not up for debate; it's simple fact. Anybody who knows what Islam or Christianity really is and actively supports it is someone I would not want to meet in a dark alley. I'm with you there.

But I also know that probably 99% of the believers I encounter have never read the entire holy book of their own faith, and are significantly less informed about the history of their religion than I (an atheist) am. Some of the most devout people I have ever met could not tell you the language in which their scriptures were originally written, let alone the number of times they have been translated.

I don't know how to feel about the vast majority of religious people who proudly proclaim their support for these horrible piles of patriarchal garbage, because they literally do not know what they are talking about. Does it make them less awful, because in many cases their personal values don't actually mesh with their professed religion? Does it make them worse, because they support it without bothering to vet it? Does it make no difference, because ultimately it comes down to social expediency for the majority of religious people, and all their "faith" tells you is that they are social primates who instinctively know they will thrive best if they are accepted by the tribe?

tabbycatcircusOctober 30, 2024(Edited October 30, 2024)

God I hate interacting with these people and I so badly want to tell them that they're misguided and latching on to a stupid collection of texts because they crave a sense of order and structure in their lives. But I don't want to tell them about the actual dark history and beliefs in fear they'll double down and actually believe it, like polygyny and treating women like cattle and the misogyny of not letting them speak in church or hold higher positions in church or teach men. Most of them aren't that harmful with the beliefs they do profess so the most I can say is "the bible isn't against abortion" and that's it.

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