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Did Christianity get co-opted?

I often feel unseasy around Christians or those wearing crosses as my experience with Christianity is that it is a doctrine based on hierarchy, submission, and punishment. It is fueled by comparison, hate, shame, and fear.

But then I know Christians who swear to me that their experience is all about love. ...how can that be?

Well I recently learned about Gnostic Christianity. This was one of the earlier forms of Christianity and it was much more focused on inner experience and knowledge rather than institutions and punishment. But then, somewhere around 300 ce it shifted. ...it got co-opted.

And that makes perfect sense. We can see now that’s how politicians and “leaders” of all varieties function today. They take something that is very popular among “the people” and twist it and turn it to fit their needs.

Perhaps the tyrants of the day co-opted what Christianity was, and made it conform to their hierarchy, submission, and punishment based structures?

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Discussion

Lady Dialla 5d ago

And it worsens when individuals choose to leave, instead of defending their values & imposing their will.

Lady Dialla 5d ago

*Not just as a group, but also as individuals against internal & external threats.

Lady Dialla 5d ago

And if you cannot articulate your abstract values in material & precise terms, you will have an even harder time to defend them or yourself, when your peace & comfort gets disrupted.

Lady Dialla 5d ago

If your self-awareness and reflection fails to achieve this, then it is still incomplete.

Lady Dialla 5d ago

If you don't bother even verbally resisting when in confrontations, then it indicates maybe you won't even scream when you get rolled over.

TelebeleCo 5d ago

Might be true. I am Christian and most of my friends Atheists. I try to follow love not doctrine. The inner way in Christianity is nearly dead. You can find some interesting readings of priests who also became Zen masters. In the middle ages there were many Christians scholars promoting the inner way

Lady Dialla 5d ago

Do you also feel uneasy, when you see the cross being worn upside down in black?

Lady Dialla 3d ago

What is your view of individuals, who only pick up Christianity when feeling unhappy/bad, when feeling happy/good toss it back in the trash, and sometimes when feeling neither & bored, take it back out from the trash for mischief & entertainment?