This painting was done by an austrailian artist, it is a satire of the famous Pollice Verso painting depicting a gladitor asking the crowd whether or not he should kill his opponent. I think this painting speaks volumes on why christianity is a failing religion. Jesus was supposed to die for our sins so we can be sinners, what kind of message is this trying to send. The people in the painting are depicting with there thumbs down that they want jesus to die, and are running around neckade and carefree. What kind of God would give up his own son for a creature as vile as humans, mabies its our mortality that God feels is so precious. I remember a qoute from achilles that said, "its the gods that envy us, they envy us because any moment might be our last, everything is more beautiful because we are doomed". I find that quote beautiful, and speaks volumes to why what makes this picture beautiful. Your thoughts guys?
I think more of the flawed premises of christianity really. It's a bit of a tangent, but I'll get there. There basically is two major flaws of christianity. There are others, naturally, but in comparison they are just details. Now the first: Original sin. That humanity is inherently bad. Whatever humanity is, it is not all this or that. Sure some do behave bad, but the most of us are actually pretty good, with a well developed sense of ethics and empathy. Mankind is by no means perfect, but then again, no life is. To compund this flaw, is that our original sin was apparantly to seek knowledge about our world and existance in it. In short, according to biblical myth, asking questions is a bad thing right from the onset. This ofcourse is nothing but a protective device manufactured by the mystics that invented this tall tale. To shield them from criticism, and ensure their monopoly on providing answers on just about any issue. The second flaw is the entire Jesus story, and especially the crucifixion. The Jesus story is obviously an astro-theological tall tale. Jesus is the sun, the disciples representatives of the 12 signs of the zodiac. The three wize men the three stars in the belt of Orion. So on and so forth. Too much to go into, maybe in another thread. The crucifiction is the real problem here. Imagine for a second that some scientist comes to you, and say to you that if you just endure intense pain for a day, you'd be guaranteed a long life of at least 100 years. Care and painfree. No strings attached, no trickery. 24h of pain in return for at least 100 years of a happy good life. Would you do it? Assuming you would, you'd get strapped to this torture device and the experiment starts. And the crowd gathering to see this experiment, when it succeeds and you jump to your feet. Pain free and looking forward to at least 100 years of care-free life, what do you think the crowd would think? 1) I'd gladly do that too for a 100 years of care-free life 2) That man is clearly the most noble self-sacrificing man ever, and someone should write a book about his sacrifice as a model for all of us The difference to that scenario and the Jesus story, is that in the Jesus story, it wasn't a full day of suffering, and much of that was just catching rays at any rate. Also, the reward were not a mere 100 years of bliss, but an eternity as ruler of heaven. Thirdly, Jesus being a god, he knew from the onset how everything was to go down, so he didn't have to entertain silly thoughts of doubt. Or in short, the Jesus gesture is an empty, self serving one. Religion in general, and the abrahamic ones in particular, is just a control and agitation device encouraged and enforced by the powers that be. And as the OPs painting show, not everyone is entirely happy about that. We prefer to be free. We get more done when free. We are more happy when free. The best example of this is western civilization post the enlightenment and to this day. We have rid ourself of religious dogma to a high degree, and have achieved so much. In stark contrast, take a look at the barbaric and stagnant muslim world...
Your understanding of Christianity is flawed, unfortunately i'm to high to explain it to you with the attention it deserves. That's the problem with people who like to dismiss Christianity, they only have a rudimentary understanding of it so their arguments are flawed from the beginning.
Well thats funny because I have gone to church every sunday most of my life, I do not dispise the church, I just feel that it is less of a holy place and more of a helpful place. I feel that churchs along with religion like christianity are here to give men hope when they cannot find it and guidence when a subject is unclear. I do not dismiss christianity, I am embracing it for what I feel it is. Comeon budda, I know you probly didn't wake n bake today, prove to me why I am wrong, I want to hear this.
Christianity, like most religions, has fine principles to live by but taking it literally is retarded and totally illogical.
If you learn your history it would be all the proof you need to realize Christianity is a failed religion.
If you were born 2,000 years ago in China, would you still be a Christian? I can guarantee you that you would not be. You would be just as much an adamant Confucianism follower as you are a Christianity follower today. That alone should be enough for you to realize that something like religion is PURELY environmental. Once you stop believing in God, God stops affecting your life. It doesn't matter what you know or don't know about Christianity, some people have what is called intelligence and are not easily seduced by tales of mystical creatures.
also, back in jesus' times, thumbs down meant "swords down", which meant that the person in question was worth more alive than dead. so when thumbs down signal was offered, it meant they wanted to spare the life of the individual. never assume, champ.
I know, but I didn't want to confuse the point of my post. The cross itself as a symbol preceeds christianity by millenia, and symbolises the equinoxes. Spring, summer, autumn and winter.
I think buddy makes a point tho. If I was born 2k years ago in China, there is practically NO chance of me being Christian. I mean, this would have been 8 years after Jesus's death, I doubt that Christianity spread that quickly into China. The same goes for being born in North America, South Africa, India or even Northern Europe in that same time, Those places were probably more consumed with "Pagan" religions than Christianity.
yea no stuff. his point is like saying, "if you were born and lived in egypt, you wouldnt be american". real deep.
this was a modern painting though and its a satire of this one. The painting is a conviction of why we are sinners, it is saying that we are sinners that are putting jesus to death so we can be saved. I feel it is bringing up why mortality is so important and a precious thing.
The biggest flaw is how a loving creator, such as God himself, can cause so much violence and hate and destruction over human beings he supposedly loves. It is more of a conundrum because it makes you wonder why the Almighty would want to inflict damage upon its own creation. I try hard to learn and accept the methodologies associated with theology, but the more I try the more absurdities I come across. Living your life according to a set of rules is a waste of breath.
... that's why you're supposed to live by one rule. The Golden rule. If we all lived by that, we would live in Utopia. Unfortunately, we choose not to. I would hardly consider Christianity to be a failing religion. It is still the fastest growing religion in the world... and will soon be taking over China. While Westerners might be becoming "less religious," Christianity is still the most influential religion in Western societies. And in America, religious issues play a quite dominant role in the democratic scene.
Son i wake and bake EVERYDAY, and going to church dont give you and understanding of Christianity, Read the book, otherwise you aint even sure of what you are embracing! i went to church every Sunday since i was a little budda, and you know what i learned? Exactly what THEY wanted me to know. It wasn't till i went to prison that i actually sat down and read the bible, and there i found a lot of shit they were teaching me was wrong and contradicted what the bible actually taught all so the could line their pockets. I cant sit here and explain to you a religion that is outlined in a 1600 page two column book. If you want to know and be able to intelligently argue against it then its on you to study it. Although i am a christian, its not my obligation to convince you. The bible only tells me spread the word, its not on me to preach to you, thats why i normally avoid this forum. I dont believe in the church, the church was made by man, i believe in Christ.