tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post4149332448693981630..comments2023-12-25T01:24:48.957-05:00Comments on Republic of Gilead: U-Turn Conference: George Barna's Disturbing Talk on "Brokenness"Ahabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-17151000682025642112015-03-29T16:38:21.823-04:002015-03-29T16:38:21.823-04:00Agi Tater -- Good point. When people are hurting a...Agi Tater -- Good point. When people are hurting and vulnerable, unscrupulous religious leaders will have an easier time taking advantage of them. If one's self-esteem has been crushed into dust by mistreatment, they'll be less likely to speak up against religious leaders. It's disturbing.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-60743957715164439062015-03-29T16:27:05.067-04:002015-03-29T16:27:05.067-04:00Infidel -- I googled "Christian" and &qu...Infidel -- I googled "Christian" and "brokenness", and I was startled at how many links came up. "Brokenness" seems to be a popular topic among fundamentalists, which should make us uneasy.<br /><br />You're spot-on regarding fundamentalist sadism. I think there's also an element of self-hatred as well -- if people believe that they're sinful, fallen, and depraved, they'll believe themselves and others to be deserving of God's cruelty.<br /><br />Another interpretation is that some Christians feel powerless in the face of their traumas, so they try to make sense of it by assuming that God is teaching them something. It may be an unhealthy attempt at imposing order on a chaotic world.Ahabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14675629709031865432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-86836745411806366332015-03-29T10:42:09.317-04:002015-03-29T10:42:09.317-04:00"When you're broken is when you're us..."When you're broken is when you're usable."<br /><br />That above statement by Barna is a succinct explanation of why oppressive belief systems need "broken" adherents to thrive. Barna's observation that one must be broken to be usable is in fact an ugly raw truth and the only honest thing he said. For fundamentalists, it is doctrine. I grew up with this self-debasing rhetoric couched in terms of faith. "Thy will, not mine, be done" is merely another iteration that inculcates disempowerment and even self-loathing. <br /><br />Barna's God -- the fundamentalists' God -- is a sociopath and a sadist, one who allowed the devil to inflict every deprivation and indignity imaginable upon Job, God's most faithful servant. The lesson for the faithful? That God "loved" and "trusted" Job so much that he traumatized him.<br /><br />I'm with you, Ahab. Anyone who believes in that horrific and extremely childish God can have him.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05362339037879270082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077809256320470141.post-14151912692088950362015-03-28T22:39:32.963-04:002015-03-28T22:39:32.963-04:00Disturbing, yes. Very disturbing.
All gods are c...Disturbing, yes. Very disturbing.<br /><br />All gods are created in the image of their believers, and this is an especially stark, revealing example. If you pay attention to most fundamentalists and theocrats, they're sadists. They <i>revel</i> in the anticipated catastrophes of the End Times, in the torments of the damned in Hell, in the punishments they expect God to inflict on the people they disapprove of. One of the striking things about fundamentalists is how little they talk about Heaven, the supposed reward of the righteous, where they themselves expect to spend eternity. There are "Hell houses" all over the country to scare people, but no "Heaven houses" to entice them. Fundies don't talk about Heaven because pleasure and rewards bore them. What excites them is pain and punishment.<br /><br />So yes, they do believe in "God playing the role of a cosmic torturer who breaks the spirits of his victims." Sadists themselves, they demand a super-sadist as their lord and master. They relish the suffering of "brokenness" and warn against alleviating it. I predict this concept will catch on and spread among fundamentalist preachers. It's perfectly tailored to excite and inspire them.Infidel753https://www.blogger.com/profile/10965786814334886696noreply@blogger.com