Rath on 22 February 2012
| Jumpin said: Christian values include: forgiveness; the equality of humanity under God; sharing with the poor, the widows, the orphans, the sick, and elderly; etc... The principals of modern Democracy are rooted in Christianity - there was democracy in classical antiquity, but it was class-based - and people were not granted equal rights. Christianity was also a very liberal and revolutionary religion: The bringer of peace, Lord, son of God, Saviour, etc... are not titles unique to Christianity, but rather titles that were bestowed upon Jesus to put him on the same standing as the Roman Emperor. In the first century AD, if you asked someone about those titles in Latin or Greek, they would be the titles commonly attributed to Augustus. The difference being Augustus used violence, Jesus used peaceful tactics. The first Christians were Hellenized Jews, living in the Roman Empire, who lived around the crossroads of the African trade (egypt was newly conquered) and the silk road passing from India (also newly secured) - so given that environment with the obvious flow of tradition. So essentially the first Christians were Jewish philosophers who were likely initiates in the mystery cults with influence from Buddhism and Zoroastrianism (Judaism already was heavily influenced by this faith, it's where Angels and Archangels, as well as monotheism, originated). The way I see Christianity is that it is an evolution of the greater Indo-European religion. Also, followers of Liberal Christianity for a big part believe in religious pluralism: that there are cultural differences between religions, but also core similarities. Liberal Christians believe that the Bible is metaphorical, and that spiritual enlightenment is not exclusive to Christianity. |
I don't really see how it can be claimed that liberal democracy is related to Christianity, democracy as we know it didn't rise until after the French Revolution changed everything up.
