Is Democracy Anti-christian?

So you feel that a person should have free moral agency to choose their destiny but you also feel that the Ten Commandments should be legislated. How are those two things compatible to you?

 

Not all the commandments. The ones that affect a society such as thou shalt not kill (innocent beings born and unborn), steal, covet and so forth. At the same time, a government should legislate to protect the belief in God as we have in our Constitution Bill of Rights.

 

In your mind, is the commandment “you should not kill” or “you should not murder”?
Coveting is a thought, isn’t it? How would you legislate against a thought crime?
Which commandments would you exclude?

 

I was thinking of the humane laws that spread in the world because of Christianity. This doesn't mean the world is Christian, only that it has adopted many of the Christian values.

If it wasn't so, we wouldn't be condemning terrorist acts and other atrocities. Instead they would be an accepted fact of life as they had been throughout history.

First of all there was no genocide in this country. There were some cases where the settlers reacted harshly because of the savagery of some of the tribes, but the natives on a whole died because they lacked an immunity to diseases such as measles and smallpox.

The colonists noticed that only the children of the half breeds could survive the measles. This might explain why so many natives in the reservations look European.

Everything is relative. Compared to the rest of the world, we were a beacon of light. In that sense we did reflect Christian values more than others.

As for slavery, throughout history, there was not much difference between being a slave or a servant other than a slave could be bought and sold, but not a servant. I believe the Greek word 'doulos' means either a slave or servant.

In the Greek city states like Athens, most of the people were free men then slaves and then citizens. Only the citizens had a voice in the government. The slaves were the captives, the free men the original inhabitants, and the tribe that conquered them were the citizens.

I did read different accounts of slavery in the US. Some visitors in the north said they would never have accepted such laxness in their own servants, but I also read accounts about black children not having clothes, and running around naked. No matter, the blacks themselves knew they had it much better in the US then in the Caribbean islands under the Europeans.

Britain did free the slaves, and that was because of a brilliant former slave who became a Christian Minister and had spoken to Parliament against slavery. The former slave said (I can't recall his name), that he couldn't understand how people as lovely as the British could be so cruel in the Caribbean.

I personally believe there's a spiritual reason for it. In Christian Orthodox theology, everything and everyone in the world affects everything and everyone else. If people are prayerful and with 'God', this will affect their heart and that love will extend everywhere and will also affect the hearts of others. In contrast if people are away from God and delve in the occult, that 'evil' will encompass everything and others as well.

When the slaves came over, the owners in order to rationalize having slaves, wanted to see them as not being fully human otherwise they would have to free them. Because of that they didn't edify them to Christianity, so these slaves retained the witchcraft, voodoo, etc. they brought with them from Africa.

This created a hateful and cruel atmosphere which affected the hearts of almost everyone. Eventually it culminated in a war in which 2% of the American people died. That would be the equivalent of 6 million people today.

Anyway, this is what I concluded from what I read, but you can take it as you will.

 

In the early 1800’s the Cherokee people lived in the South eastern United States. They modeled their society around western society. They even drafted a constitution modeled after the US constitution, which apparently was inspired by God. The land they lived on was rich in natural resources and was coveted by the American people. The Cherokee pursued the right to keep their lands in the Supreme Court of the USA. The Supreme Court upheld the right of the Cherokee to continue living in their territory.

Nevertheless Andrew Jackson decided that, since the Supreme Court could not command an army and he could, that the Cherokee people would be forcibly removed. These people were force marched along the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokee died on the trail. Other Native American groups were also force marched along the Trail of Tears. Ultimately, over the course of about 20 years, 60,000 people were force-migrated to Oklahoma. Many of these people died from disease and exposure during the march.

My description is an oversimplification of what happened to these human beings. It is also just one chapter in a bloody history that culminated in the 1870s with the slaughter of hundreds of unarmed Lakota at the Massacre of Wounded Knee. I urge you to learn more about it.

 

National Geographic has a thing on it.

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/maps/indian-removal-act-and-trail-tears/

 

Yes, and in the Russian revolution 40 million Christians were killed by the Bolsheviks, many burned alive in the churches. I'm going to repeat that so you can grasp it. It was not 60 thousand it was 40 million killed. The Bolshevik leaders were mostly Jews, should this be a reflection on all Jews?

Do you know who the Russian Church blames? The priests, because if they had done their job and edified the people the way they should have, God would not have allowed the Bolsheviks to take over. Instead what you had was a Russian nobility mimicking the Europeans and delving into occult practices such as necromakncy.

As for the native American tribes in the East, the worse that happened to them, was that they had to move westwards and ended up being tortured and slaughtered by the Comanches. Their cruelty was as legendary as their riding skills.

Anyway I'm sure that what went on when the settlers came, was no different than what went on in Europe from time immemorial, as new tribes moved in looking for better pastures.

I think that instead of condemning people for acts no matter how horrific, that took place at a certain time and place without knowing the intricacies and all the people involved, we start looking with gratitude towards those who risked their lives to cross an ocean - not knowing if they would survive the ordeal, and then went into the wilderness to farm the land that gave us and the world everything we have today?

 

RE: Is Democracy Anti-christian?
SUBTOPICS: Mentality
※→ Jeannette, et al,

PREFACE: From Religious frameworks - Governments were derived. Governments (political atmosphere) are about the accumulation of wealth, influence, and power. This atmosphere is not necessarily driven by knowledge. While there was all manner of educated women of influence, as demonstrated by Hypatia of Alexandria and Emilie du Chatelet, there are still glass ceilings. And as demonstrated by the Abrahamic Religions, women are still held behind in one, Jews still under fire, and no female in the Pontiff's chair or the White House.

Depending on your upbringing, your perspective - whether if you have achieved the level where you are collecting things of beauty, reached the level where you all you can be or transcending beyond that which is explainable, you still need the accumulation of wealth, influence, and power to achieve these last levels in Maslow's Hierarchy.

“Man is fallible, but maybe men are less so.”
.......................................................................― Atul Gawande
........................................The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right
​

(COMMENT)

I have to agree that to an extent, that the magnitude of horrors in human history is of little consequence. There is a question as to the motive and the horrific manner in which the deaths were executed. Whether it be the beheading of Women in Mexico or Afghanistan, the mentality behind such retribution is a reflection of the community make-up. IF it is condoned by the general population in which they feel the lives are not worth the risk of their intervention, THEN that is a true reflection of general morals and ethics.


Most Respectfully,
R

 

I am not blaming Christians, Jews or priests. My specific question was “How could slavery and genocide be compatible with the Christian message of forgiveness and loving one’s neighbour?”

I also asked “I’m still not sure how the American system of government reflects Christian values. How could slavery and genocide be compatible with the Christian message of forgiveness and loving one’s neighbour?”

If anything you have just convinced me that the American revolution isn’t so ethically different than the Bolshevik revolution.

 

So I walked away for a bit and then it dawned on me! Jeanette! Whenever there is genocide you believe that is judgement of god against people for necromancy and witchcraft! You have said that a few times in this thread now. You decided that slaves caused the civil war by practicing witchcraft, the Christian churches of Russia were killed by the Bolsheviks for practicing necromancy.

is this belief something that you can explain biblically?

 

In other words an intellectual movement that was being discussed in town halls and churches by the American colonists and that gave equal religious rights to people and where very few people were killed, is equal to the denial of religious rights by the Soviets and the deliberate murder of 40 million Russian people for trying to retain their rights? Interesting!

 

You are deliberately misinterpreting everything I say, so I'm putting you on ignore.

 

Sorry.

 

Well yeah if the end result is mass murder in a greedy thirst for territory and power.