What have Christians and/or Christianity done recently (last 100 years) that has harmed you and/or our society

Question

Sing out folks.

This question is being asked because of a statement made by Theophilus in another thread.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhWUyPKUk7VN1HV.niikd6sezKIX?qid=20070112104015AARKwRt&show=7&cp=2&tp=2#all-answers

The Catholic Church is past of Christendom. And just incase you are wondering there have been plenty of Protestant that have raped and abuse children.

Answer 1

I wonder if the question was reworded to eliminate anything done by the Catholic church.
Something like 'What has reformed Christianity done to harm you or the society you live in?

Some of the things cited related to acts of the Catholic church, and others seem to just resent that we are so stupid.

Don't I have a right to be stupid?

grace2u

Answer 2

Christianity seems a little cruel to people who are not of a particular sect within the Christian world. For example, according to my history book, Mormons were driven out of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois and had to settle in the Great Basin of Utah because nobody else wanted that area or them. Mitt Romney (a Mormon) isn't being considered by many right wing Christians as a viable political candidate because of his religious beliefs, so you ask are Christians harming society?

Maybe not true Christians, but many of the far right seem to be harming society because of such narrow perspectives and the propensity to persecute people who do not believe exactly as them. However, the same can be said for the other entire major religious groups such as Muslim, Jews, etc. and ask if they are harming society. The question is YES on the one hand and NO on the other. “For by their fruits ye shall know them”. Many Christians are doing good, living by their faith, trying to establish peace in the world, not persecuting others, etc., but many are not. So, it is a question that needs more examination so that it can be answered definitively by analyzing “by their fruits ye shall know them”. When Christian fruits can show me the examples of NO, then I will state NO they are not harming society, until then I find that they are proving to be like all others and NO BETTER.

Answer 3

They have attempted on many levels to turn the United States into a "christian nation", which is NOT what the founding fathers had in mind for this country (see the Treaty of Tripoli). Here are just a FEW examples:

Prohibition- 1920's
Attempted to prevent women's right to vote until 1920
Forced insertion of "One Nation Under God" in 1954 into the Pledge of Alliegance
Force the phrase "in god we trust" on U.S. coins in 1956
1980's attempted to ban lyrics from rock albums, negating the 1st amendment right to free speech.

They have voted en masse in the United States to let the government determine who is allowed to marry and who isn't, effectively allowing the government into our homes and personal lives.. something that should never have been allowed.


They have attempted to keep Wiccan soldiers from being able to have a pentacle (a sacred symbol in that religion) on their headstones because christians think it's a sign of their devil.

Attempting to force creationism into the public classroom in an attempt to counteract science.

Answer 4

Well, this link is a little outside the 100 year realm, but Christians opposed giving women the right to vote for years.

http://external.oneonta.edu/cooper/susan/suffrage.html

We started demanding en masse the right to vote in 1848, but there were women who were demanding the right to vote as early as the 1600s. We weren't granted it until 1920.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm

You will notice that it says, in the paragraph about the U.S. and Canada, that the in Latin America the people of Roman Catholic heritage discouraged the rights of women. I don't think they would mention "Roman Catholic heritage" if Christianity hadn't played a large role in denying women the vote in Latin American countries.

I could go on, but I think this is enough. There's no way he can deny that Christians tried to keep women from having a say in what happens to us in this country.

)O(

Answer 5

That's tough to answer because anything we list will can dismissed by a Christian by saying that "a TRUE Christian would never have done that, etc.." Any 'Christian' that hurts anyone or does any bad thing at all will be labeled 'not a true Christian' and, therefore, it's somehow invalid.

Like, a 'true' Christian would never make you feel bad about something...

Answer 6

What haven't they done? The world religion is run by man, thus imposed laws that are manmade.....the school system, the government is all set up by Christians/Freemasons, so we live everyday in these parameters. Confused the hell out of us(literally), hidden truth, spread propaganda, just to name a few things............I could go on all day ..........not to mention, judge everyone when they are not God in the first place...........

Answer 7

Undermining scientific progress like stem cell research
One of the underlying rationales for the war in Iraq.
Spreading guilt, self-doubt and fear.
Dividing citizens against one another
Defrauding church congregations.
Sexual, physical, and emotional abuse of children.
Abortion clinic bombings and murder of abortionists
Treatment of homosexuals as second-class citizens
Assuming control over human sexuality in general.
Hypocrisy (dictating morality while behaving immorally)
Encouraging rejection of scientific truths

Answer 8

Well, Im not gay personally, but I have friends who are denied rights because of their sexual tastes. Thats just one....

I havent been abused by any Christian/Catholic priests - but thats because I avoid Church like the plague.

And holding children's food for ransom of prayers ala Christian Childrens Charity disgusts me.... "Are you hungry little child? Here is some food - but you must thank Jesus for it before I give it to you."

Answer 9

Roughly speaking; the Red letter edition started about 100 years ago. It states that the words of Christ are in red. That logic is part true. The part that is not true is the Lord (not lord) Christ(Jesus) said things from Genesis-Malachi, but they are not in red.

Answer 10

By emitting lots of hot air (literally & figuratively), they have contributed to global warming. The majority of the population in the developed countries - USA, UK, Canada, Australia, EU - are christians.