I think it’s actually a really good passage to show the Christian faith currently on display because of the next 2 verses
2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.
3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sistersins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them.
4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
So it’s a verse about mercy and forgiveness but this person took home -checks notes- waterboarding. Sounds legit.
The part about being thrown into the sea is about the horror that awaits if you sin or lead into sin others, such that it’s better to drown oneself than do that.
The part following is about the importance of interpersonal forgiveness, not divine forgiveness.
It’s in line with Paul’s shtick about not eating meat offered to idols - not because it’s wrong - but because if someone else thinks it’s wrong and then they do it, you’ll have led them into perceived sin.
Taken together, those lines exemplify the most fucked up aspects of canonical Christianity.
If you do bad things you face horrific divine punishment
But you must forgive others who do you wrong
This was part of how the church was able to manipulate and abuse their followers for thousands of years.
‘Forgiveness’ as outlined in that passage has been almost certainly directly cited by the church to silence pedophile victims of its members.
The version of Christianity that passed the survivorship filter of the Roman empire is the one that enabled slavery, servitude, and the oppression of the most vulnerable, and used pleasant sounding terms like ‘forgiveness’ to do it.
I think it’s actually a really good passage to show the Christian faith currently on display because of the next 2 verses
2 It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. 3 So watch yourselves. “If your brother or sistersins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. 4 Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
So it’s a verse about mercy and forgiveness but this person took home -checks notes- waterboarding. Sounds legit.
Well, not really.
The part about being thrown into the sea is about the horror that awaits if you sin or lead into sin others, such that it’s better to drown oneself than do that.
The part following is about the importance of interpersonal forgiveness, not divine forgiveness.
It’s in line with Paul’s shtick about not eating meat offered to idols - not because it’s wrong - but because if someone else thinks it’s wrong and then they do it, you’ll have led them into perceived sin.
Taken together, those lines exemplify the most fucked up aspects of canonical Christianity.
This was part of how the church was able to manipulate and abuse their followers for thousands of years.
‘Forgiveness’ as outlined in that passage has been almost certainly directly cited by the church to silence pedophile victims of its members.
The version of Christianity that passed the survivorship filter of the Roman empire is the one that enabled slavery, servitude, and the oppression of the most vulnerable, and used pleasant sounding terms like ‘forgiveness’ to do it.