Democracy VS Christianity

[stromboli]

The Bible and the creation of the Christian church, starting with Catholicism, happened under the tenure of the Roman Empire. From the beginning of writing the bible, the oral tradition that preceded it and every other religion with origins in that same time frame were all under the auspices and the forbearance of kings and empires. Whether it Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian or Roman, every religion had similar templates in their makeup; From the Assyrians on down, religions were either entities of the state or allowed by the state. And every religion owed both its survival and its growth under the feudal states they were built under.

When we read the bible, the manner of behavior dictated- that of subservience and order- is built within either an Empiric or feudal state. Catholicism/Christianity flourished because it became the state religion under Justinian. Catholicism spread across Europe and England because the same governmental model was used throughout, headed by a king/emperor with an underclass of nobility and the worker classes of serfs and slaves. The bible reflects that. It does not speak against slavery or concubines or raping of women because those were normal conditions then. Martin Luther and other reformers were able to introduce change because the governments or rulers of their countries were either tacitly involved or at least providing protection for them. But the same governmental models were still in evidence, and the same order of servile behavior dictated; order, discipline and control under the auspices of the ruler and the state religion.

But the advent of democracy was a major sea change for several reasons. The original colonists were a mixed bag- Calvinists, Quakers, Presbyterians and so on. But initially, each of them in their own right tried to establish themselves as a state government in their given region- Quakers in Pennsylvania, Presbyterians in Rhode Island, Calvinists in Massachusetts and so on. And they were each very firm in their efforts to be the specific religious sect- the overall concept of Christianity as a blanket belief did not occur until the 19th century.

It was not by accident that the wall of separation of church and state was written into the constitution. Jefferson specifically had spoken out against establishment of a state religion in Virginia, and it was very much on his mind and others when the Constitution was written, that a means to keep out the establishment of a state religion be built in to the document. The forward thinking writers of the Constitution saw that a state religion was also a vehicle by which a hierarchy of leadership very similar to the European models could be implemented. Indeed, many thought of Washington as president more in the role of a king than an elected leader.

Democracy was established not by the religious old line but by forward thinking men like Thomas Jefferson and enabled by men like John Adams and Ben Franklin. It was the first time that a governmental model supporting homage to kings specifically was gone. It is ironic, therefore, that conservative Christians of today can espouse a state religion, because that is one of the tools by which a king/feudal state could be implemented. It is no accident that men like the Kochs and other Oligarchs want that- they want to be kings, to have unopposed power and do exactly what they want. And that men like Scalia and Clarence Thomas of SCOTUS have even declared there is nothing wrong with a state religion. They are tools of oligarchy, period.

The old world religions are very much aligned with the concept of a feudal state. Democracy as a government was the first major break from that model. It is ironic that so-called Christians have in the past trumpeted the Constitution as a vehicle divinely inspired, to now saying that the wall of separation is flawed and to be removed. The one thing that must not happen is that wall of separation ever be removed. It keeps us from being forced to obey a set of tenets we do not agree with, and to remove it would be the single biggest mistake we could possibly make.

[james_stepon]

The tyrant theme is the underlying model and image of the bible. By now we should be able to push this out of our society and ban these books that spam repeat principles of dictatorship and one being supreme on the pyramid model. We now have so many instances that prove the tyrant method as non-sustainable in any social circle.

[Solitary]

Christianity churches and the Catholic Church are fascistic organizations, as far from a Democracy as you can get.   :fU: