LogFAQs > #908520467

Zeus posted...

You have some really weird standards for your left/right paradigm. By your logic, an Amish community would be extremely leftwing because they raise barns together and work as a community.

Yes, actually - that's called "Socialism". Many Christian fundamentalist sects practice it, even if they don't like to call it that.

On most social and political issues, of course, they are extremely right-wing, but socioeconomically they are quite left-wing.

Zeus posted...

As for Japan's "extremely left wing" social leanings, that collectivist society has essentially the same leanings as many conservative groups where it frowns upon public conduct (including tattoos) deemed completely acceptable in other nations.

Differences in what is and is not considered socially acceptable is not a left/right issue (with one caveat I'll get to in a second). There are communities in the world where a woman showing her breasts is completely normal, but baring her legs above the calf is considered extremely provocative. That does not make that society more or less right-wing than ours.

The caveat tends to be to what extent dissensions from social norms are accepted. Socially left-wing groups, which focus on the welfare of the group before the individual, are generally less tolerant of such deviations than more individualistic right-wing groups.

Zeus posted...

And if you think collectivism is "extremely left wing," then I'm guessing you think Christians are extremely left-wing as well because the Bible emphasizes the importance of cooperation, working closely with neighbors, community building, etc, all of which are reinforced by the church.

This is not an incorrect interpretation - as I mentioned earlier, these elements of Christianity are very left-wing. Jesus was basically preaching proto-socialism, even though most socialists and most Christians hate hearing that.

Zeus posted...

In fact, given America's substantial religious culture, wouldn't that make America one of the most liberal nations on the planet using your collectivist standards as a guide?

Take it from a Christian, whatever it is that's being preached across much of the US - particularly in evangelist circles- is not Christianity as I recognize it. Things like the Prosperity Gospel, which has a frightening number of adherents in America, isn't so much Christianity as a cult dressed up in Christianity's trappings and using it to separate the desperate from their money - that's not just bad faith, that's flat-out blasphemy.

I go to a pretty apolitical church in a pretty apolitical denomination of Christianity. I've been attending for decades and I can count the number of times political issues were raised on one hand; one of those times was a few months ago when good ol' Jeff Sessions was going on about how scripture supports the Trump administration's family separations on the border (which required a pretty tortured reading of the passage of scripture he quoted, including carefully excising it from the passages on either side that made it clear that authority was only godly if it acted in a godly way). Not sure which book he reads every Sunday, but it sure as hell isn't the Bible, because I find it difficult to believe that he missed the multitude of passages talking about caring for "the poor, the sick, the widow, and the foreigner." And let me tell you, both the preacher and congregation in my church were pretty steamed that someone was using the Bible to try and justify that sort of malice.

Honestly, if Christians in America actually started behaving like Christians your country would be in a much better place.
---

Kill 1 man: You are a murderer. Kill 10 men: You are a monster.
Kill 100 men: You are a hero. Kill 10,000 men, you are a conqueror!