A call for a change in the thinking of Christians. To remove the fear of philosophies other than the Christian one.
What I can't understand about the thought processes of Christians is that they live so fanatically in their own bubble that they are unwilling to confront philosophical views that criticize Christianity. When I was a Christian, I was willing to read critical opinions on the internet. But Christians are people full of fear. They have a huge fear of any non-Christian philosophies. At least in the Catholic Church, there is an opinion that it is a serious sin to read any literature that is critical of the faith – in the Catholic Church, such a thing is even forbidden.
A person with a clear conscience cannot be afraid to read arguments that are critical of their religion. Christians apparently do not have a clear conscience. They are not interested in anything else but being maximally isolated and barricaded in the thought bubble of Christianity.
I don't know a single Christian who would boast to me about having literature at home that is critical of Christianity.
Christians are afraid not only of critical literature but also of any other literature/philosophy that is not Christian. Again, I don't know a single Christian who has any literature other than Christian literature at home.
Furthermore, I know many ultra-conservative Catholics who are hostile and have a great aversion to any non-Catholic authors. For example, they would not tolerate a book by a Protestant author.
A person who is truly interested in the truth must read Christian and anti-Christian literature to the same extent.
If Christians had a clear conscience, they would be happy to read literature critical of Christianity, but they are not happy to do so.
Christians should rightly and actively seek out literature critical of Christianity, such as this site, in their own interest, because any polemics and discussions move a person forward. When I was a Christian, I did so, but 99% of Christians do not.
When a Christian is finally willing to read critical arguments against Christianity, they will only do so quietly in secret, in private, but they certainly won't boast about it to their Christian friends, who would at least let them know that they think it's blasphemy against God.
How beautiful it would be if Christians were truly open people who, at all costs, do not want to remain in their information bubble but actively explore, seek the truth, and have no problem subjecting their own dogmas in which they believe to strong criticism or skepticism. How beautiful it would be if Christians in Christian communities, instead of stubborn intellectual isolation from the outside world, had no problem openly discussing even such critical arguments against Christianity as are on this page. Currently, however, this is completely impossible. The reform of the church should also lie in this.
Church reform should consist of Catholic priests being allowed to criticize dogmas, established traditions of the church in their sermons and openly talk about other philosophies than the Christian one. Currently, it is strictly forbidden in the Catholic Church, even at an official level: a Catholic priest would be labeled a heretic and would be immediately fired – he would be suspended the same day.
It is very sad that for conservative Christians, the Middle Ages have not ended. Officially, the Catholic Church no longer keeps a list of banned books as it did in the past, but many humble and obedient sheep continue in this medieval inquisitorial line of thought to this day, and the basic element of their Christian faith is to be afraid of any literature or websites other than Christian ones.
Everything is motivated by the fear of losing faith or betraying God if you even touch a book by an author of a religion/philosophy other than Christianity.
Although something about other religions is briefly taught in priestly seminaries, it is only from the position of argumentative criticism of other religions.
A Christian would certainly read something about the philosophy of another religion, but only from a Christian author who only criticizes that religion/philosophy. A Christian author who would criticize another religion would be labeled a heretic, a blasphemer, and if the author is labeled with these terms in a Christian environment, the discussion is over, a huge emotional resistance to such an author will appear in the Christian mind. A heretic is a person who wants to destroy Christianity in the intellectual world of Christianity, it is a person who blasphemes God, insults God and therefore will certainly go to hell. It is no longer possible to have a normal rational discussion with Christians about a Christian author who would have a positive attitude towards other religions, everything is just about emotions.
I see what a huge wave of indignation among Christians has been brought about by Father Michal Lajcha, who proposed a tiny, cosmetic reform of the church, which is for the good of the Catholic Church, about making celibacy voluntary, and I already see how the vast majority of conservative Catholics are incredibly offended by it, disgustingly and vilely slandering and condemning him. I really know Christians and their mentality very well and I don't expect anything good from them, but this incredibly surprised even me, that instead of gratitude for the proposal for reform, Catholics hate and slander Mišo Lajcha so much, inventing dozens of different untrue stories about him to tarnish his reputation.
When Catholics are not able to tolerate even Michal Lajcha, how could they tolerate a Catholic priest who would even suggest that it is permissible to read literature about other religions?
In the Catholic Church, it is considered a virtue and faithfulness to God if a person is a perfect sheep who has no individuality, no opinion of their own, who does not think and does not deviate from the only correct official line of the teaching of the Catholic Church. In Christianity, it is considered a virtue and an ideal if a person is a perfect copy who does not stand out and does not differ from others. Conservative Catholics cannot psychologically tolerate even a proposal for a cosmetic reform of the church. While the basis of Christianity is to be a perfect copy, the basis of shamanism is to be as individual as possible.
I have a suggestion for Christians for their New Year's resolution: "Try for one whole year to think every day about how you would explain to a non-religious person that you are so afraid of a philosophy other than the Christian one."
Making such a resolution is very beneficial and useful for Christians, because they are forced to leave their own world of thought and reflect on another world of thought. This can help Christians get rid of Christianity in small steps or at least be a little less fanatical and bigoted Christians.
***
All credit to the particularly progressive Hussite priest Rudolf Špaček, who has attended lectures organized by the esotericist Igor Chaun several times. This is a manifestation of great progressiveness. This man differs from most bigoted Christians.
***
If a Christian were to read a philosophy other than the Christian one, then they would be forced to think, but thinking hurts.
Christians deliberately want to be ignorant. They know absolutely nothing about other philosophies or religions, nor do they have the slightest interest in reading even a little about them, not even for a general overview and perspective.
Some people, in order to better endure suffering, take alcohol or drugs, while others endure suffering by cowardly escaping reality into a parallel religious world of thought. The word cowardice probably best describes the personality of a religiously inclined person.
Practicing Christians are sick people; they do everything to be as isolated as possible from the rest of the world. I don't know a single Christian who has any literature at home other than Christian literature. Christians are very intolerant of other philosophies (e.g., they say that esotericism is occultism from Satan), and they are literally afraid of losing their faith if they read books/websites of any literature other than Christian literature. This probably best describes the mentality of a Christian.
Christians could have at least a little more tolerance for other philosophies if they read at least something about them. But these cowardly people deliberately want to remain ignorant , they deliberately want to be uninformed.
And a group of Christian friends confirm their worldview to each other, they live in their own world.
Christians are very hostile, distrustful, and suspicious of other philosophies/religions.
Apostasy in Christianity
The full beauty of Christianity is revealed when someone in the family falls away from religion and abandons Christianity. In such circumstances, there are huge conflicts in the family. Christians can tolerate non-Christians to some extent, but if a Christian falls away from Christianity, for example, a son or daughter in a Christian family, suddenly huge conflicts arise. It is said that the foundation of Christianity is love. But is it a manifestation of love if Christian parents are intolerant of their son/daughter for falling away from religion? Furthermore, there are very strong attempts to reorient the person who has fallen away from religion back to religion, and that person has to face unpleasant bullying.
The number of philosophers critical of Christianity is too small.
Religious and non-religious people live in their own bubbles, in their own worlds, which is not good. More precisely, Christians are very interested in non-Christians, they are very actively engaged in convincing them to convert to Christianity, but on the contrary, non-religious people live in their own world and are not interested in Christianity.While Christians publish tens of thousands of book titles on how to evangelize, i.e., to convince non-Christians to convert to Christianity, there is almost no literature that would try to dissuade Christians from Christianity, or literature critical of Christianity.
While Christians care a lot about non-Christians, non-Christians do not care about Christians, which is a huge mistake.
Even if it is finally a criticism of Christianity, it is most often about various atheistic or humanistic associations that advocate the philosophy of materialism. Arguing against Christianity with an outdated, ossified philosophy of materialism is laughable. Arguing with one lie against another lie is a dead end and it is more of an advertisement for Christianity.
Although there is a relatively strong esoteric community in the Czech Republic from which we could expect some criticism of Christianity, this is not the case.
I have not seen practically any blogger or Facebook page that would present any reasonable arguments against Christianity. Very sad. There is no one to awaken Christians , and Christians are sleeping peacefully in their ignorance of the thought bubble. Under these circumstances, there is certainly no threat that the Catholic Church will reform.
I wish and hope that the time will come when souls – philosophers who will criticize Christianity with factual arguments – will incarnate en masse on this entire planet.
I wish and hope that the time will come when the argumentative critical pages on Christianity on social networks will be so successful that the Catholic Church will no longer be able to ignore them.