Christians are masochists

by onacruse 33 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Narkissos

  Ross,

  What I mean is our motivations for anything, especially "altruism" or "self-sacrifice," are always complex, partly obscure, and subject to endless reinterpretations.

  To illustrate: many parents, including those whom their children may consider as "abusive" or "selfish," will always talk about how they sacrificed themselves for their children. And they certainly did so in many ways. But why they did so as they did it is open to question. Love is an easy answer, but (as the Bible says) it may cover a lot of other things.

  I don't see any reason why religious talk on self-sacrifice or suffering, and the logical rationalisations it offers, should be above the same interrogations.

  Edit: this reminds me of an old thread of mine... http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/63761/1.ashx
• 

  RAF

  Narkissos : To illustrate: many parents, including those whom their children may consider as "abusive" or "selfish," will always talk about how they sacrificed themselves for their children. And they certainly did so in many ways. But why they did so as they did it is open to question. Love is an easy answer, but (as the Bible says) it may cover a lot of other things.

  Right as a kid I had hard time understanding my mother when she was saying things like it's for your own good ... In my head I was like : errrrrrrrr ar you sure? As a kid Adults really got me nervous (sounds hypocrite on lots of things) - but then again what do I really know about the origin of their motivations I'm not them? There must be a reason good or bad but there is one ...
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  LittleToe

  Dider:Thank you for expanding on that. That helped immensely, and I agree.

  Craig:
  Good point. Noone in their right mind looks for real pain and suffering. They naturally avoid it. Some situations are unavoidable, however and, even further, in some situations an individual has to stand up and be counted even if its merely to assert the rights of themselves or a group. IMHO this is different from being sacrificed on a politico-religious altar, dancing to another individual's agenda. It has a more sociological basis.

  IMHO the NT doesn't encouage seeking out trouble, but it does offer some suggetions about how to deal with it when trouble finds you!
• 

  Abaddon

  onacruise

  Well, ya know, almost every time I start a thread, and you post back to it, my heart skips a beat and I say to myself "Oh geez, what is Abaddon gonna do now to deconstruct me?" LOL

  Ahhh.. I didn't know you cared...

  So, it is with no small degree of pleasure (and yes, in so saying, since I've voluntarily suffered at your hands for the pleasure of this moment, I am therefore by definition a masochist!), that I must admit to complete agreement with what I bolded in your post.

  No! No! You're meant to disagree with me!!! Argh!! I'm melting!!!!