The only warping of Christianity that is occurring are the secular humanists who have infiltrated good Christian society and started preaching that everything is just fine, there's no such thing as sin. To be frank, those who ascribe to such a view are not Christian, just some offshoot of the secular humanist viewpoint that happens to believe in something greater than themselves.
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Should be called something else, to be honest.
*America's government and laws are not based on Christianity nor is marriage a necessarily religious ceremony.*
Just about all laws are based on Christianity, actually. The Ten Commandments? Those things that some courts have said are not fit to hang in a court room to display our humble legal beginnings?
As for the second point, the church and the government should be in step with each other; it shows that they are both in the same mindset. When one goes a different way, society stumbles and falls apart...as ancient Rome will show.
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Just about all laws are based on Christianity, actually.
I'd like to point your attention to little something called sharia law.
Lawbringers don't need Ten Commandments to realize that stealing and killing is bad. They can see that by themselves.
There is no such thing as sin. Sin is a religious concept based on transgressing the dictates of an imaginary being. But even if you believe that being exists, sin only applies to adherents of the religion.
As for ancient Rome, are you saying Jupiter et al were real beings and Rome fell because the state abandoned them?
You mean not as ancient Christian Rome?
How bout them many European countries who have kept the church out of governing to produce peaceful productive countries?
How about Incest or Pedofelia, against the law in western countries yet not a Biblical or church doctrine?
How about, in fact many laws that have shaped Western society that have no Biblical comparisons?
How about the throwing off of Royal rule, against Biblical command?
How about you reading your Bible instead of pretending you have?
How about you try to live by Biblical law, not one of y'all do. There's loads of false prophets out there you "good Christians" pay heed and money to, Pat Robertson, Jack Van Impe, David Barton, Michelle Bachmann and far too many others who have long careers of lieing without the Biblical stoning of false prophets being invoked.
i dare the OP to explain how a randomly picked paragraph from the U.S. Code is based on xianity.
or, here, i'll randomly pick a law: U.S. constitution, article II, section 4. now point me to a biblical basis for it.
"As for the second point, the church and the government should be in step with each other; it shows that they are both in the same mindset. When one goes a different way, society stumbles and falls apart...as ancient Rome will show."
That's true, when the Roman Empire made christianity its official religion it collapsed within a century.
Thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal, and only under oath does "Thou shalt not bear false witness" applies. Other than that there are no laws against coveting your neighbors belongings or wife, and the first, second, and third commandments strictly violate the First Amendment.
Bored now! It has been pointed out again and again that most the Ten Commandments are not law, only something like four and a half are even sort of laws.
Ancient Rome stumbled when it adopted Christianity, silly. Oh, I see what you mean, they left traditional values behind; of course they stumbled!
Just about all laws are based on Christianity, actually.
The fundie method of argument: When proven wrong, just re-assert what you originally said. Oh, and Rome was Christian when it fell, dipshit.
Just about all laws are based on Christianity, actually. The Ten Commandments? Those things that some courts have said are not fit to hang in a court room to display our humble legal beginnings?
Uh, you do know that the ten commandments are in the OT, the one you share with Judaism? Even if (and that is a big if) the laws were based on them, that would mean that they are based on Judaism, not Christianity.
And as there have been many laws in civilizations that had never even heard of Judaism (and even less of Christianity), your statement that all laws are based on the ten commandments is demonstrably false.
As for the second point, the church and the government should be in step with each other; it shows that they are both in the same mindset.
Okay, then the US government will be in lock-step with the Unitarian Universalist Church and support freedom of religion, tolerance, gay marriage, and abortion. There. Happy now?
Rome fell after Constatine's conversion you history failure. To be fair though this country was founded as a Christian nation. In the 1690s. You know when people were hung on accusation of witchcraft but those pesky founding fathers and their secular ways overrode that. If you have such a hard on for Christian theocracy, there are African nations which are Christian theocracies
This is a classic case of "I don't know what the Constitution, the common law or the Ten Commandments say, but I'm sure they're totally in sync."
No, they are not. In fact, most of the common law is an attempt to get away from the Ten Commandments as the sole and only source of law. Otherwise, we'd be stoning people in the streets for wearing a St. Christopher's medal.
And it is not the only source of law in our society. There are also the Code of Hammurabi, the Code of the Assura, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the laws of Urukagina, the Draconian Constitution, the Law of the Twelve Tables, the Constitution of the Iroquois League, the Halakha and so on. So why just the 10 Commandments? This wouldn't have anything with trying to backdoor the old "this is a Christian nation" crap, would it?
If what you say is true, America would have laws on its books that cover adultery, saying God's name in vain, keeping the sabbath holy, honoring mothers and fathers, not coveting our neighbor's belongings, and lying.
WRONG!
the church and the government should be in step with each other
People who say that almost always really mean "the government should be in step with MY church, not yours."
Of the Ten Commandments, only three are actual laws: the laws against murder, stealing and perjury - and those things are forbidden in every culture. The Chinese, who never even heard of the Bible until a few centuries ago, have had laws against these things for thousands of years. So did the Native Americans. What do the Ten Commandments have to do with anyone's "legal beginnings"?
You fail law, religion and history forever, you're a triple failure, your logic is bad and you should feel bad
Next time maybe you should research before you post, but don't think because you probably are this guy
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US law is based on British Common Law, which is not based on Biblical at all.
"When William, duke of Normandy, also known as William the Conqueror, vanquished England in 1066, there was no English law as the Americans of 1776 came to know it. No national or federal legal machinery had yet been contemplated. Law was a loose collection of decentralized customs, traditions, and rules followed by the Anglians and Saxons, among others. Criminal cases were indistinguishable from civil cases, and both secular and spiritual disputes were resolved at the local level by community courts. Trials in the modern sense did not exist, nor did juries. Guilt and innocence were determined by compurgation and ordeal.'
@Everyone blaming Christianity for the fall of Rome
You are so wrong I don't know where to begin. Christianity absolutely nothing to do with the fall of the Roman Empire. That's like blaming Islam for the decline of the Mongol Horde.
"As for the second point, the church and the government should be in step with each other; it shows that they are both in the same mindset."
If that's the case clearly the church needs to get back in step with the government and stop opposing same sex civil matrimony.
America's laws are based on English law which is influenced by Roman law. A much better thing to put in courtrooms to display your "humble legal beginnings" would be the Magna Carta.
"the church and the government should be in step with each other" Which church? Which of the thousands of Protestant sects?
Is his argument that the Roman Empire fell because it adopted Christianity?
Just about all laws are based on Christianity
Oh, it's illegal to dishonour your parents? It's illegal to wear blended fabrics? Illegal to be anything other than a Christian? Illegal to work on a Saturday? Illegal to lie? Illegal to acquire wealth? Illegal to charge interest?
Those are just a very few things that Christianity outlaws, yet are legal in just about every country on this planet! Based on Christianity my arse!
Sin is something born of fairy tales and is when people think and believe differently to you. Maybe the ultimate sin is to allow yourself to be so deluded as to think you're making sense, when really you're talking complete bollocks and have allowed yourself to slip ungracefully into a state of drooling zombiedom.
Sin is what empowers wretched arseholes to openly display their immorality and beastliness so that anything that smacks of actual morality and humanity is called sinful.
Actually our 'humble legal beginnings' is the Code of Hammurabi, which was written by a polytheist. From his laws we got the basis of the legal system of today. Additionally, the Ten Commandments aren't Christian, they're Jewish. Stop stealing our myths and folktales and claiming them as your own.
As for the second point, the church and the government should be in step with each other; it shows that they are both in the same mindset.
So we should keep plates of spaghetti and meatballs in every courtroom and chamber of legislature? The pasta industry will prosper beyond its wildest dreams.
@ Ultimate Paragon
You said:
@Everyone blaming Christianity for the fall of Rome
You are so wrong I don't know where to begin. Christianity absolutely nothing to do with the fall of the Roman Empire. That's like blaming Islam for the decline of the Mongol Horde.
Protip-
When someone says something that surprises you, it's worth checking before you tell them they're wrong.
It's less embarrassing when, as in this case, it turns out they're the ones in the right.
@ Ultimate Paragon
Rome was Christian when it fell and pushing Christianity by the sword in it's occupied lands.
The Christian argument above pretends there was a split between Christianity and the ruling system. Wrong. They overextended themselves and pissed off the wrong Germamic tribes.
Everytime Christians bring up the collapse of the Roman Empire they pretend it was still the Paganish nation of vicious acts and that it became peaceful and the heart of knowledge under Christianity.
The point is the armies of Ares were no worse than the armies of Christ and Christians cannot keep pretending Rome became all nicey nice as a Christian nation.
Next you'll be trying the old "oh, no no no, the enlightenment was when the church was in control!" shit.
@John_in_Oz and Canadiest
I'm not saying that Rome under Christianity was perfect. In fact, I agree with you that Christian Rome wasn't really any better than it was under pagan rule. However, Christianity did not cause the fall of Rome. Even if it did, it was only one of many causes. Oppressive taxes, reliance on foreign mercenaries for defense, external enemies, political unrest, the division of the empire, economic inflation, lead plumbing, bread and circuses, a declining population, corruption, and a number of other factors contributed. To call Christianity the "magic bullet" or even a factor in Rome's decline is just plain intellectually dishonest.
It's true that Christianity came into vogue during Rome's downward spiral. However, correlation does not equal causation. If it did, then one could blame secularization for the decline of modern Europe. If you have evidence that Christianity caused the fall of Rome, then tell me.
The Ten Commandments were not written by Christians. Nor are all laws based on them.
@Ultimate Paragon
At what stage did all parts of the Mongol Empire adopt Islam as their official religion?
With which central authority in Islam did Mongol Emperors have disputes over preferments, sale of offices, landholdings, appropriation of land dues and other matters?
@ Ultimate Paragon
Read it again:
"The point is the armies of Ares were no worse than the armies of Christ and Christians cannot keep pretending Rome became all nicey nice as a Christian nation."
Not saying Christianity was Romes downfall, pointing out (as others have) that the Christian argument is usually to pretend Christian Rome was infinitely better.
See how in the origional post he's trying to claim Rome fell because it didn't let the Christian doctrines rule the empire. There's nothing in Christian denominations to this day that stops colonization and enslaving others and much to suggest that how God wants it.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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