feel free to skip this one if you'd prefer not to hear me talk negatively about other chr*stianity - i'm just musing about things i think are interesting but it's ok if you'd rather not :) it's not about chr*stians, who are as varied as any other group, just about the teachings of the religion as i'm familiar with it.
there's a lot about chr*stianity that i simply disagree with outright - the belief in anything non-material, the idea of sin, etc - but those aren't very interesting.
what does interest me right now is what humility means in chr*stianity vs in paganism.
Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
Matthew 19:21 (King James version)
on first hearing that, i think "yeah, sounds good" - having less ourselves so that our neighbours are fed and housed, etc. i've always been drawn to extremes in religion, in the sense that they're fascinating to me - i'll never become a monk myself for example but it's very interesting and has its own strange appeal. so "sell all your stuff! live with as little as possible and devote your life to service to the poor!" has an appeal.
who am i selling my stuff to, if we're all supposed to do this? perhaps excess of what would normally be necessities (clothes etc) can be sold (or, better, given) to those who have too few... but if i sell my musical instruments, or my jewellery, or anything else considered a luxury to someone who has the money to buy it from me, surely that person then has to also sell it on, since they're also supposed to follow that command?
in order to follow commands like this, there have to be poor people. i know this sounds obvious, and like a moot point because there has always been poverty, there have always been people who suffered unjustly at the hands of power... but there's something about the way chr*stianity talks about the virtue of charity that makes the existence of poverty a necessity. that is, you can't follow jesus's teachings UNLESS there is a class of poor people for you to help. i'm finding this point difficult to put into words, so i apologise for that. essentially, it seems that within chr*stianity one must always be looking for someone less fortunate than themselves, and bestowing their wonderful chr*stian charity on them. in the best cases, this means helping someone out of poverty... but 1) it doesn't always mean this, often it just means helping a little and preaching along the way, but 2) even in the best cases, the system still requires that there remain people in poverty for the good charitable christian to help. it's a little like capitalism in this way, in that for capitalism to work there always have to be people who are homeless, or at least suffering greatly due to unemployment, so that there are always people willing to work for measly wages.
this stuff is often framed in terms of being of "service" to others - to the poor, and/or to the church. if this language resonates with you that's fine, and, especially if it motivates you to help people, i'm not trying to change your mind! for me personally, it feels off. i've never been one for pointless self-debasing. why do i have to bow to anyone or anything? why can't we simply be equals? why can't i help someone else because we are simply two beings and i happen to have what you need at this time (money, or time, or physical ability, or the willingness to listen, or whatever)? this is why i brought up humility at the start - in chr*stianity, to be humble seems to mean that you debase yourself, that you deny yourself good things and cry to god that you're not worthy!!
in (my) paganism, humility means to accept and understand your limitations. i am a creature among creatures, i am one living organism. i have exactly as much worth and value as every other human, animal, plant, and fungi. i don't really believe in the concept of "deserving", but to put it in those terms: i deserve to be happy, and so does everyone else. i deserve nice things, and so does everyone else. this means we have to share. and we should temper our desires for stuff in so far as the accumulation of that stuff negatively impacts the world of which we are a part, but it is not the desire to have nice things that is the problem, and there is no inherent moral good in having less. humility means that i don't deserve happiness/stuff/etc any more than others do. humility means that we share, and i choose to be mindful of others and to act in everyone's best interests to the best of my knowledge and ability.
and there shouldn't be poverty, at all. it would be better if there was no poverty, and thus no need for charity. indeed, charity is arguably not even the best way to actually solve poverty, but that's not the point right now. i reject the idea that "the poor" are a class of people whose role is to be the beneficiaries of my moral goodness.
i think i had more to say but i've not been awake long enough, half of it disappeared from my sleepy brain into the ether lmao.
