Mocking Christianity

[Ihatepcos]

I am so sick of people thinking it's okay to ridicule Catholicism and Christianity. This is especially apparent on Mumsnet. Every time there's a thread about religion I can't even read the replies because they're so awful.

The same doesn't seem to apply to the Muslim, Jewish, Hindu faiths etc.

If you don't believe in God that is your choice. But purposely mocking someone's faith and calling it a load of bullshit (and worse) is just not acceptable. So many people turn to faith to help them through extremely tough times in life and you are mocking the only thing that is keeping them going.

I think that people are mocking Christianity much less than they used to.

Partly I suspect because churches tend to be disproportionately attended by immigrants and it would feel like kicking down.

Partly because so few people now go to church that younger generations are pretty unfamiliar with Christianity, and it is harder to mock things in an entertaining fashion when they are alien to you.

The British have been hating Catholics for hundreds of years; it is a national pass time. That is unlikely to change.

If I discuss Christianity, it does not matter what sect you belong to.

I do wonder what Jesus would make of all the different types of Christianity though if he returned.

And what he would say to Christians like Jacob Rees-Mogg

Oh that is my favourite being told I'm going to hell, even though I explicitly don't believe in hell how is that even a threat, the religious look really stupid when they say such things.

Everyone has right to believe in what they want however they also don't have the right not to have far fetched beliefs ridiculed.

@Againstmachine exactly - it's genuinely not the threat they think it is!

If I don't believe in Heaven or Hell, I'll... go to hell? Huh? 🫢

Think he would have a look instantly say, actually I’m pushing for a second commandment - please don’t take my name in vain.

then - “you’ve missed the entire fucking point by a country mile”

Walk into the Vatican start handing out all the goodies stored in there to the poor people outside, tweet all Christian’s to raid the goods from their churches and redistribute. Make all churches sell their land and give money to the poor.

pour himself a large glass of wine from the Evian bottle and think what was the fucking point and ask his dad to make it rain…

I'm agnostic however I've noticed that people think it's okay to mock Christianity far more than any other religion- do you often hear people mocking Judaism or Islam?

Is that because the predominant religion in the UK is Christianity though?

You mock what you know, which is Christianity, I've read the Bible often I know more about it then the religious.

I've not read the Torah or the Koran so can't mock them.

Although I'd bet there are many Jewish people who mock the Torah.

The first five books of the bible are the Torah.

Also, Jesus is an Islamic prophet, and much of the old testament is in the quran as Islam is Abrahamic. So if you are mocking Christianity, you may also be mocking Judaism or Islam.

Indeed what many forget is that the christian, Jewish and Islamic god are the same person.

So if I get to mock Christianity I get others as a bonus.

There's the Islamic precept of "people of the book" if my memory is correct. It's what made Moorish Spain a tolerant paradise compared to medieval Europe.

If you're a Times subscriber, may I recommend this article in today's (Friday) edition? Will probably rile up some here, but for those open to a defence of Christianity (and faith in general) in the backgrounds of politicians, it's interesting.

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/f38500ce-b45f-11ed-bc64-f71663a88018?shareToken=1c1ca286f0783e0ee3f099f5c84377b2

We agree on that point. But I’m saying the OP is upset about personal attacks. If you’re not attacking people personally, it’s not about you.

I have definitely heard the types of 'jokes' aimed at the Christian religion that would be considered highly offensive if applied to other religions. It's strange when much of the advise for living a life of purpose and integrity can be found in the Bible. Don't steal, kill ext. Be considerate to others, love your neighbour as yourself, don't repay evil with evil, don't covet the belongings, wife, husband of others ext. Now I'm not saying all Christians live like this, they are just as human and just as prone to faulty living as people from any other religion. They know what the ideal is, but living it is bloody hard. But the tolerance level here in Britain is far lower for Christians than for other religions. Historically wars have waged between Christians and Muslins, between Hindus and Muslins, between various other group so it isn't only Christians who don't live up to the ideals of their religion yet I have worked in large organisations and have never seen/heard 'off' jokes openly, to their face, made in front of people of other faiths but I have seen this done to Christians. I've no idea why. We are fortunate in this country to have a big range of diverse cultures and we can all learn something from each other. It's never right to target a particular group with ridicule or scorn whether we believe the same as them or not.

@Againstmachine with respect, beacsue you say it isn't true, I'm not going to belive it because you say it.
You having read the BIble doesn't give you authority on it.

It's strange when much of the advise for living a life of purpose and integrity can be found in the Bible. Don't steal, kill ext. Be considerate to others, love your neighbour as yourself, don't repay evil with evil, don't covet the belongings, wife, husband of others ext.

It's also very specific about how you treat your slaves. And in a nod to modern time it's very concerned to say "male or female" slaves.

And obviously it's excellent advice that menstruating women should be shunned. And thank goodness we know what to do with resident aliens.

The problem with using the bible - or any religious text - for guidance is you end up having the batshit thrown in too.

Maybe instead of Bowdlerising Roald Dahl, people could have removed the offensive bits from the bible.

I have a vague recollection that Buddhism starts off by saying something like "try these (precepts ?) out, and keep them if they work". Which seems slightly more progressive.

No it doesn't give me authority on it but it gives me a right to mock it.

Especially when people actually believe a lot of the story's as fact in there, like believing in Adam and Eve.

@SerendipityJane and the first tenet of paganism is 'Do no harm'. The seven tenets of The Satanic Temple also cover much of this stuff (depite its name they are a secular organisation).

Love is the law. Love under will.

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Well that's me fucked then.

The problem with Christianity - and Christ - is taken too literally - it's all "me, me, me".

Why not: "If you help your neighbour as you would yourself then who gives a shit about what you believe ?" Which may have been the context of the Bible, but certainly has no part in "Christianity". That "Christianity" since whenever you are lucky enough to debate it, it turns out it's other "Christians" that are the bad ones.

It’s mainly atheists who insist Christians must take everything in the Bible as literally applicable today, and eschew “cherry picking”. Funny that you like the idea of cherry picking when Buddhists recommend it, but not Christians.

Nowhere in Christian writing or thought is there an injunction to switch off your brain and do exactly what the Bible says. It’s always been studied in its historical context and people have devoted their lives to understanding the ancient languages and cultures it originated from. But it’s a lovely straw man for you to shoot at.

It's strange when much of the advise for living a life of purpose and integrity can be found in the Bible. Don't steal, kill ext. Be considerate to others, love your neighbour as yourself, don't repay evil with evil, don't covet the belongings, wife, husband of others etc

It's a bit worrying if you need a bible to tell you that. Besides, I've certainly never seen any evidence that the religious people I've known have been any less likely to do those things than the atheists. Generally

It’s mainly atheists who insist Christians must take everything in the Bible as literally applicable today, and eschew “cherry picking”. Funny that you like the idea of cherry picking when Buddhists recommend it, but not Christians.
Nowhere in Christian writing or thought is there an injunction to switch off your brain and do exactly what the Bible says. It’s always been studied in its historical context and people have devoted their lives to understanding the ancient languages and cultures it originated from. But it’s a lovely straw man for you to shoot at

So how do you decide which things to take from the Bible as the life you choose to lead and those you choose to ignore?