CallThisAUsername
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Jan 3, 2025 9:59 AM
CallThisAUsername
47227
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WhiskyBravo
or brain worms
VincitQuiSeVincit
I mean, it's likely most "religious" experiences were simply hallucinations from spoiled food and drink, since they all happened before refrigeration, so this tracks.
c2zvgsVillain
I too believe in things I can’t see and a book written by men to keep small minded men in their place when you can control people’s minds you can control their bodies
Thedoctorisout
No no. Ally's on to something.
https://scitechdaily.com/151-million-people-affected-new-study-reveals-that-leaded-gas-permanently-damaged-american-mental-health/
Revicus
I remember reading about an MRI study once in which people were asked to think about their own opinions, those of other people, and those of God, and both the former and latter triggered activity in the same part of the brain. But in trying to find that I found https://www.npr.org/2009/03/09/101617951/to-the-brain-god-is-just-another-guy which seemed to find the exact opposite, so I'm no longer sure.
HelloToe
*childhood indoctrination
baldbear
All the prophets in the bible lived in a desert and ate strange weeds and mushrooms.
whovars
and for young Xians its going to be a micro-plastics based delusion
linkdude212
As I said on another thread: we knew lead was poisonous for thousands of years. Alternatives were available. Yet we thought it was a good idea to aerosolize it‽ The free market failed us.
CallThisAUsername
The free markwt was always meant to fail you.
Justwarlockthings
Thanks Capitalism!
2000000bees
I used to be one of those (I'm 50) For me it wasn't lead poisoning it was childhood trauma, so when I got to the point I could let go of most of that I found myself also letting go of god, but unfortunately people get stuck and don't know a way out. But yeah lead poisoning makes sense for a lot of the people I used to know. Which is sad and also a class issue and in the states at least also a racial issue.
PicassoCT
They come from all species spending to much time in a limited habitat and developing instincts adapted to bumping into the resource ceiling and then worshiping those instincts as divine? Mighty wheelchair who you are in our heads, do not stomp on us today, for we did all things the wheel commanded us todo?
gtollie
Well .. they’re not entirely wrong .. maybe the lead poisoning ( and subsequent opinions ) were god’s will all along 🤷♀️. 😉
mastikator
It's funny how the creator of the universe and absolute arbiter of morality and truth always happen to perfectly agree with these people's personal feelings and opinions. This is the ultimate narcissism.
RufusPimperton
Don't call yourself Christian if you aren't trying to love your neighbor.
SteveD31415
Supernatural MEANS "Super-natural." If you claim to have Supernatural powers but you can't do natural things like program your VCR or fill out your taxes, who are you kidding?
Berrai7
Don't forget asbestos... or/and cocaine
dart223
I have been told by a neighbor that they had healing powers from God. This is before their surgery. The cognitive dissonance is unreal. I have a couple friends that aren't preachy, accepting, and are good people. So I guess it just depends.
CallThisAUsername
I also know some xians (of whatever sect) who are good people, and some are rather progressive.
dart223
Very few but serve as good examples. Must be the gas fumes
CallThisAUsername
I dunno. I don't know or understand enough the judge *all* of them as one batch, tempting as it may be. I'll just treasure the good ones as much as I loathe the bad ones.
dart223
Pretty much agree.
ShadeMeadowsArt
My family is heavily Christian for generations.
And, honestly?
Rarely have I heard of problematic stuff... oh, it did happen, but they were actual Christians 'bout it.
Aeolys
Religion is a cancer. Sometimes literally.
iusedtodream
The great crime, as I see it, is religious leaders have convinced nearly everyone that suffering is good and they will be rewarded after they are dead. This trick has stolen a small and decent life from billions of people. The peasants will not fight for better life here and now in the one and only life we are certain exists for us.
FetaForMoses
Every person who believes in some almighty god excepts that he gave my dad terminal cancer, of which he suffered in extreme pain until he finally died. I was six. God is not real.
GeneralWho
For me it was realizing that my brother would never be healed regardless of how much prayer was given, because somehow God could raise the dead but can't even bring back a leg nowadays. https://whywontgodhealamputees.com
varonicaED
Either that or he's a complete and utter bastard!
FetaForMoses
Must be. Because if god is real he chose to not strike my Nazi grandpa with lightning as a baby and let him go on killing civilians and after the war live a very nice life. Still he lets thousand of babies die of hunger every day. No, god can not be real.
symbolon
It's so true
slinkiisu
That explains the guy who tweeted that Christianity isn't about being nice or doing good
CallThisAUsername
If he meant that being a xian was about politics and greed from the start, boy was he right though.
amp99
4vie
.... I could be wrong, but couldn't Abe have served in the Gulf War, or even Iraqi war 1 at this point? Given the relative ages and creep?
jimfalconer611
A wizard did it
amp99
Abe, full of burn pit chemicals?
Weraim
I think we should go back to worshipping cats as gods and goddesses, mainly because they are beings we can pet and pspsps at
AyatollahBahloni
biggmac911
And cats are real
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
And asbestos.
technofiend
That just fucks up your lungs. Did you know at one time you could get a cigarette with an asbestos filter? That's like making a gasoline martini and filtering it through benzene-laden cheesecloth. https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/wtoj60/crosssection_of_an_asbestosladen_cigarette_filter/
usernametakenisthestoryofmylife
My kinda cocktail!
kimiDriver
Asbestos doesn’t mess ur brain up like lead but yeah.
MidlifecrisisDad
My family believes all good achievements in life are because of God. All bad because Satan. Doesn't that mean they both have equal power? Is what I'm sorely tempted to ask.
LongCommentChainAppreciator
Depends on the ratio of good achievements/ bad achievements I suppose
idonotthinkitownswhatyouthinkitowns
Have you met 2024? It's not 50/50.
RufusPimperton
Most Christians are polytheists with a hierarchy. They only worship one god, but they seem to believe in several other divine beings.
linkdude212
I mean, he basically makes a bet with Satan on whether Satan can successfully tempt ppl. Why would Satan make a bet he could not win? That implies a certain equality.
BigJoocy
Well, Satan was supposedly cast out for elevating himself to the height of God. His entire narrative arc and characterization is supposed to be that of someone with the self-perception of equality. He's an egotist that does not recognize his limits or inferiority.
Wapusk
All evil in the world is born of God. Anyone who says otherwise fundamentally misunderstands omnipotence.
magus200342
It won't matter if you do, their justification will be that the bad is part of God's plan and you need to trust him. Xtians are a cult, unless you're trained in breaking someone free or something catastrophic happens to them personally to make them start questioning themselves you won't shake or bother their faith. There's always a bs excuse they can rattle off, or default to 'his will'
ThrowAwayAcct0000
Christians are the only people on earth who believe Satan exists.
MimirOfTheBifrostTeats
If they actually read the Bible they'd know it says God controls all things good and evil.
TheMilliner
Which by the very definition means that God cannot, under any circumstances given that interpretation, be MERCIFUL or BENEVOLENT. God CANNOT be good for as long as they preside over evil at the most basic level, particularly when God's punishments are so wantonly cruel for such simple supposed misbehaviour as disobedience through ignorance.
CallThisAUsername
Sounds like a worldview that writes off free will ?
GogaMagnet
And any personal responsibility for anything whatsoever
dtallen243
And there's my biggest argument against the existence of a higher being. "God" gave humans free will but then we are punished for exercising it when we supposedly go against him/his followers?
F4ndango
The god of Abraham is a dick. The god I believe in doesn’t judge us for our choices. The state of the world reflects the quality of our choices, and we are all making our own small contribution. Love builds and fear destroys. God leaves that up to us.
iusedtodream
Then why believe in a god at all? If it doesn't intervene, if it doesn't judge and punish/reward, if it doesn't provide guidance, what does it do and why acknowledge it at all?
F4ndango
It helps me in my life and I think it does provide guidance for those who are quiet and listen. I have had experiences that reinforce this for me. It’s a personal thing, and that’s what I think faith should be; something that provides one comfort and stability, and not something forced on others or influencing public policy. It’s possible there is no god and it’s all in my head. So it’s good to have humility around it.
ProbablyABitDrunk
My mom says that god talks to her directly and tells her to do (really random) things. I say that sounds more like schizophrenia.
cousteau
You sure she doesn't say "gut"? "My gut tells me I should do this"
EucalyptusTrees
If you wanna do more research, the specific medical term for her hallucinations is "command hallucinations"!
Nikilynn0125
This sounds like my brother. He told us that God spoke to him and told him he drinks scotch. Therefore, my brother being an alcoholic is ok. Also, the lady at the gas station is a witch, put a curse on him, and now his stomach hurts all the time. He even went to the police with this...
Probablyimaginary
My father a prior atheist claims he saw Jesus on a churches mission trip he accompanied my mother (a born again Christian) to the Dominican Republic but I think it was heat exhaustion, mini stroke or they possibly drugged him. Really wish I could see an MRI of that moment in time.
maniacalmacaroni
Pretty sure Joan of Arc also had this and it didn’t cause any problems for anyone.
Beardybeardrage
Bipolar disorder can also manifest in this way. Ive seen it first hand. Scary stuff.
orp0piru
thegraphiteknight
My dad has always said this. Interesting how whatever "God" said to him was exactly what he wanted us kids to do.
SarcasticComment
why I quit religion as a kid. "God talks to you in prayer". Realized it was always me talking to myself and I knew what the right thing to do was.
idonotthinkitownswhatyouthinkitowns
She's also been doing random people
ItsRainingOutsideAndiDontWantToAdult
Fuck you Shoresy!
ProbablyABitDrunk
Damn I feel bad for the random people. Come on strangers, you can do better than that! Have a little self respect!
Whatdoyousaytoanicecupoftea
NEVER!
CallThisAUsername
It... really does. That's a radically altered perception of reality.
FarkasMacTavish
Well, schizophrenia usually is.
ProbablyABitDrunk
Yeah. Never was a fan of the 3:30 AM phone calls "God told me to call you is everything okay are you safe???" "I..was asleep..?"
HEXtheDark
Maybe you want to get that checked out before it gets worse. :/
ProbablyABitDrunk
My parents want nothing to do with me anymore, they prefer to be hateful bigots. I'm not allowed home, so it's not up to me.
CallThisAUsername
Looks like you are better off :/
HEXtheDark
Ah, my sympathies.
CallThisAUsername
You know, as a peraon without an inner voiced narrative, I always wonder, are these troubled people hearing the voice of their own mind, and think it comes from God ? Idle musing from me. Though it would explain why their deity's sternest command is always what the peraon desires on the moment.
surfacefried
I remember watching a documentary about the hidden impacts of Christianity in western culture that we're mostly oblivious to.... And it started by talking about how people used to interpret their own thoughts as those of "god". I feel like this is what is happening, being described ITT
PlanckEraWasMyBestEra
As someone who has a *constant* running voice in my head, to the point it makes up fictional scenes and conversations if I'm not stimulating it enough, I can say thinking said voice is from God or otherwise supernatural is not normal. As in, it doesn't sound like an outer voice at all. That said, I suppose if you sink into the delusion deep enough you could convince yourself it was God, but just normally no, it's not like someone else is talking to you in your mind.
Appollon
Honest question: in the Beautiful Mind, the main character was not aware that his roommate wasn't real. He saw and heard him as another real person. Does that actually happen to people with schizophrenia?
onlyhalfghost
same issue, brain literally never stops. Couple of "voices" but all clearly identifiable as my thoughts.
cmanaway101
This. There's a constant running voice in my head, but I've always known it was just my thought process, not God, or not anything supernatural
cluelesscookie
This is the exact reason why I cannot phantom when scientists are religious. It's the one group of people who should know our brains make up very convincing shit all the damn time.
cousteau
Maybe they see religion as a more metaphorical and less literal thing.
cousteau
Like, I do that myself. After some reflection, I ended up convinced that "God" is just a metaphor for "humanity", and "heaven/hell" is just what's left of you after you're dead. "If you're a selfish dick, you'll 'offend God' and once you're dead you'll 'go to hell'." (i.e., your only purpose in life and all the suffering you went through will just be to become a footnote in someone's diary saying "man, this guy should never have existed")
cousteau
(I don't know why I always end up super philosophical in this sort of posts. Should get checked for lead.)
cluelesscookie
I appreciate your philosophical post!
RufusPimperton
There's a world of difference between an intellectually curious person who's taken a leap of faith once they hit the unknowable questions of the universe and a dipshit who uses religion as a tool to stay uncurious.
kushezz
There's all kinds of scientists. If it's someone within cognitive research, surprising. If it's someone in engineering, I see plenty of people whose egos absolutely do not account for their brains not being perfect and the universe not designed to accommodate their status quo specifically.
RufusPimperton
Engineers are the worst because they're job is to be correct about stuff, and they're rewarded in society for their career path. They quickly believe that they're experts in all disciplines and anybody who's not an engineer is in no position to correct them on anything.
kushezz
Prime conditions for believing your mind is infallible. And sometimes other engineers aren't male or white or cis is also in no position to correct them. The engineering department sends robots to space, but also exists so far in the past I'm surprised I don't get mistaken for a secretary on daily basis.
Kemi337
Fathom?
DonaIdJ
Holy ghost. Phantom
cluelesscookie
Correct.
bloodtaker3
That's deep
Kemi337
Oh take your upvote you clever fuck
Futchm
I had a complete stranger out of the blue admit to me that the only reason he doesn't rob and murder people is because god
battery1979
Well, the only reason I don't do tons of illegal shit is because I don't want to get arrested.
TrueLegateDamar
ThisSiteAlmostDEAD
Ive seen them and then to their face just quoted castlevania, You make your god sick
cousteau
"If there's no God, what's to stop us from killing and raping and robbing as much as we want?" And then it's when you realize that mayyybe religion is not such a bad thing for certain people.
JohnSmithterms
Yeah as an atheist, i do wish there was a way to weigh the benefits vs cost of religion. I know i do not rob people because its wrong. Unless its a ceo of a large multinational. Then it can be a bit of a grey area.
worldrecordstudios
Some of us need guidance like that. I grew up in a physically, sexually, and psychologically abusive home, left the country running away from gang members in my late 20s, wife and I had about 5 miscarriages, and now she has stage 4 cancer. I admit that my emotions have gotten the best of me from time to time. I get love and peace from religion that I need. Hopefully now I can spread God's love now instead of my own frustrations into the world. Happy new year, friend!
zombiejedediah
That's a lot for one person.
If that's your god doing that to you, it doesn't sound like a god worthy of your worship. But as I cannot even begin to imagine what you've had to suffer, be at peace with your belief. Please remember that to many others, god is not a necessary concept.
Bobbobbobobbananafanafobob
He's wrong. He's just not self aware.
This is grandstanding. "If a man disrespected my girl I'd kick his ass" when he's a fat 5'7" who doesn't know how to hit the gym let alone a person. "I'd stand my ground and shoot an intruder" when he'd piss himself in the closet and likely hurt someone innocent with a gun.
"I'd totally rob a bank if it weren't for this dang religion"
Guess what fuck face, thinking about it counts as sin. And you wouldn't, you just want to sound tough.
FarkasMacTavish
Good thing I'm not a Christian. I get to commit all the robbery and murder I want! Which is none.
Snooj
I like to do a little bit of robbing and murdering so I became a Christian because now I can do it and get my sins forgiven. It's harder being an Atheist; you have to be responsible for all your own actions.
semioticmadness
“Yeah, but if you wanted to, you could. But my hands are restrained by God, which makes me better than you.”
FarkasMacTavish
Yeah, but if you specifically didn't have that, then you wouldn't see anything wrong with it. You believe that the only reason you don't is that you believe if you do, god will beat you up forever. Meanwhile, I don't do it because there are reasons why it's bad in and of itself.
nero4ty2
When my first kid was born my dad legit asked me how I was going to teach her not to rob and kill without god, when I responded that I would just teach her to respect others and that harming people was bad he was shocked and didn’t believe that was possible without fear.
Lontri
That is scary AF
Jewdakris
So if they love god so much why do we have the police
nubblebun
That's really weird. I don't murder or rob people or rape them. And no god. Just me being good. Without god.
NZSheeps
You mean the God who commits outright genocide?
cousteau
It doesn't count when you are God I guess. You're beyond moral rules or something, I suppose? Dunno how it works. But yeah for some reason it's A-OK to drown all of humanity when you are God. 🤷
lx469
and let the chosen people suffer im concentration camps? and gives cancer to small children?
Snooj
That was only a couple times. Just a couple little genocides. And besides, all the people/children/cats/dogs that he murdered were bad. And there's nothing an omnipotent god could do about it but kill them all.
NZSheeps
WanderinBard
And those actions can't be evil because he commanded them, and he is, by definition, perfectly good. So all actions he takes must also be perfectly good.
It's a pretty good system.
GermanSausagesAreTheWurst
They don't have any real reasons for what they believe, so instead of trying to convince you to believe, they simply pick a talking point from their collection of talking points, and hope that it convinces you. He probably doesn't really want to rob and murder, but he thought you might find it a reasonable justification to force yourself to believe in something you don't believe. IOW, it's a feeble attempt to trick you into believing.
Shaodyn
It's the doctrine that everyone is unspeakably, irredeemably evil and only God can make us even halfway decent. I don't agree with that, because many of the non-Christians I know are much better than most Christians.
Shaodyn
But it's a popular doctrine in many Christian denominations.
Lontri
Yeah, my parents are Christians and at least dad thinks that all non-christians and non-white people should be deported, though one time there was also talk about labour camps, forced castrations, taking belongings away from refugees.. I'm pretty sure that those opinions are directly opposite of what the bible says about helping those in need and and loving thy neighbour and all that stuff.
Lontri
And I'm a Satanist and let's just say that I definitely don't agree with my folks about any of that.
Shaodyn
Gandhi said something like "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians." That really resonates with me. We need more Christians like Mr. Rogers and fewer of the "everyone I hate is going to burn in Hell forever" type.
4vie
This aspect is at the basis, I... ironically, believe, is why it's baked in religions of being punished for doing bad; anti-sociopathy.
AntiProtonBoy
Interesting point, and I think that’s a part of it. You look at just about every culture, religion and the pattern repeats.
4vie
You can't screen for socopathic tendencies (yet? And my god what a hellscape it'd be if that became possible), and you certainly couldn't before. Overall, humans have innate sense of solidarity, unless there's something fundamental broken in them, or they get abused "out of it". So what could you do, back in the day? ... Fear of the omniscient, judgemental God to punish you in ways you just can't get away from.
MagusoftheMoon
Wow, that is creepy
dashers
I mean, surely it's a /good/ thing that he's religious then? As then other wise he'd be robbing and murdering? Or do you have to be an inherently good person before you're allowed to follow a religion?
spookyactionatadistance
God sees your thoughts and intentions.
Vellax
I imagine they're horrified by the thought that apparently only his fear of judgement from an imaginary sky man stands between society and murder.
psaga09
Christians only say that they'd rob and murder without god because they were told that their religion is where morality comes from. It's a myth manufactured to stigmatize the nonreligious and keep people from questioning and leaving christianity.
Religion is not a real deterrent to immoral behavior. It only masquerades as one. It's a trick pulled to mislead people /who want to be good/ into believing they're inheritly evil. It's solving a fake problem with a fake solution.
Lontri
Like the other person said, it's horrifying that there's people out there who want to murder, rape, rob, and do other shit like that, but the only thing preventing them from acting on these fantasies is their imaginary friend in the sky.
CallThisAUsername
Soooo he actually wanted to and just feared punishment, instead of say, thought it could be wrong to harm people ?
Geracht
Oh thank you Sky Cake.
thirdlittilbird
He feared divine punishment because the human laws also say you shouldn't do that, but this man has no respect for his fellow humans
bardman135
It's a common argument against atheism. It stems from the logic that God instilled morality into people, so if you are a good person, it can only be because God instilled that in you. Without God, what's to stop you from raping and killing indiscriminately? Ergo, there's no reason to be good if you don't believe in God, as God is the one that instilled right and wrong. So without God, we would all be going around raping and killing.
That's the logic, if it can be called that.
Giraffehalf
Someone can just want to live in a society with prohibitions on murder and rape for the low low subscription cost of not murdering or raping. No God is required for this moral reasoning.
bardman135
Couldn't agree more if there was a God cooercing me to.
glamdring1
So, weirdly, i find this argument less bizarre than I used to. Trumps rise seems to have made many people feel that they have carte Blanche to express and indulge whatever rascism/sexism/etc-ism that they previously kept locked up. That suggests that the morale compass or lack thereof in an authority figure does restrain some portion of the population. So if clergy/pastors/whatever were actually preaching love thy neighbor regularly, some section of people might be better?
Giraffehalf
And thinks God doesn’t know this about them and can fool God enough to get into the good place apparently.
amglasgow
If a person actually has violent urges and manages to control them for their entire life, I'd say they earned a reward. Not that there's any reward after death, but if there were.
raminagrobis
To be honest the Abrahamic God wanting you to be a good person is a mindset that came later. If you read the first testament, being the chosen people means you can, and should, lie to your enemies, profit from them, kill them etc. Not doing so is failing to recognize the superior rights that God has given you by choosing you. Abram sells his wife to Pharaoh after lying about her being his sister because he wants the riches, and later God punishes Pharaoh.
CallThisAUsername
Remember the neat little story about monks inventing ravioli because they wanted to eat meat during Lent and thought they could outsmart an all-knowing, omnipresent god by hiding it in within a shell ? The cognitive dissonance was already there centuries ago.
Zeterai
"Beavers are fish, so they're fine during Lent."
KaptainObveeus
How is fish meat not meat?
Nofoxlefttogive
I'm surprised this even stops him. He could do all of those things, and then just ask for forgiveness. As long as he "believes", it's a VIP pass, straight through the pearly gates.
DartTarget13
One of my favorite arguments, I changed the subject of abortion with the comment, "You probably think being gay is a choice." To which they agreed then I said something along the lines of "then everyone is bi, therefore you also like guys?" They backtracked and came at me with a "no you!" Which was easily countered with a, "well, according to you I do..." Nothing scares toxic masculinity quite like being lumped in with LGBT+ (they are afraid of being treated the way they wish to treat others).
Eleshar24
There is probably more truth in it though. Censoring culture under the pretext it might tempt others to become gay indicates the would-be censor has their own repressed homosexual tendencies and doesn't realise heterosexuals just don't have them...
EternallyIgnorant
Most would just say everyone is straight, and the gays are fooling themselves. But even that falls apart because they think they are falling into temptation and lust, which is another way of saying they are gay but bad.
SamuthNBS
I like to remind the "they're falling to temptation" homophobes that the only people who see gay sex as "temptation" are gay/bi/etc. men. Straight men aren't tempted, which is sort of the point - and it's why so many homophobes are in fact in the closet and angry at those who 'fell' to temptation when they've spent their whole life denying themselves their freedom.
silversean
There’s a reason Grindr servers die every RNC.
EternallyIgnorant
Yup. Im a straight guy, Never in my life have I ever felt a sexual attraction to a guy, with a little asterisk of someone like Finnster dressed like this: lol
Rongeong
There's a lot of stuff to hate about religion but among the few good things is that it keeps a leash on that sort of people. It's not a great leash and they still hurt people in different ways but religion didn't make him want to rob and murder people, that's all him. He's sadly not alone either. Patton Oswalt has a routine called "Sky Cake" where he purposes that religion started as a way to sort of rein in people like that.
homoerection
Yeah but no it really doesn’t. Often people justify their shitty actions with religion.
Rongeong
That's just them justifying it with religion, they want to do those sorts of things and organized religion gives them something to rally under. Imagine if that dude didn't have religion how many people he would hurt, how many people he would stab, shoot, mug, etc. I do don't like organized religion because it's just a power structure used to control people. I don't have an answer on how to stop guys like that before they start attacking people so for the moment the idea of hell is all we got.
CallThisAUsername
And what happens when they stop believing, with still no moral, empathy-driven moral code of conduct ?
Rongeong
If they suddenly stop believing in hell? He'd start hurting people. He'd rob and rape and murder. He's just like that, pure and simple. Some people are just bad.
textilelover
They do less bad shit 'cause they have less time to do it in? I'm not sure what you're arguing here. No one is saying it's fine for him to be that way, just that at least *something* is keeping a leash on him for now.
CutChemist
Ugh, Patton Oswald… his wife.. murder… death. You make me sad. In the best kinda way.
RAJrios
?
CutChemist
Google it. His wife found the Golden State killer, wrote a book, and passed from a disease she had. It’s actually very sad. She was great, so is Patton. Life sucks sometimes.
Rongeong
Yeah, poor guy has gone through a lot in his life.
mohavewolfpup
Hmm…. Abuse/rape/murder of First Nations folks… Catholic Church and its choir boy fixation… Mormons (all of it, not one thing) “my god is better then your god, so I’ll have to kill you for it” etc etc etc… yeah no. It long dropped the leash and full bore buried itself into societie(s) as the law of the land for millennia now….
Rongeong
Like I said it's not a good leash, but imagine if this dude didn't have that. He'd be attacking people left and right. Any interaction with him could turn violent and even deadly. So now he kills slowly, through what he supports, rather than sliding a knife between someone's ribs or hitting a baby with a hammer.
CallThisAUsername
I agree. Most of these people never believed, as in "really believed", that there was a god who'd punish them for their actions, otherwise they'd have been afraid to act that way. They just used this as a convenient excuse to hold themselves over others, while doing whatever the F they wanted.
Rongeong
You really give them more credit than they deserve. They have issues with logic. Like pattern recognition and cause and effect. Many do really believe that there is a god. They've watched their political party, we all know who they support in every country, treat them like shit their entire lives and they still can't put the pieces together. Remember, the brain of a zealot doesn't work right.