• karashta@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Acts 4:34-36

    “For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

    They mean this Christianity, right???

    • lugal@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Exactly! People keep confusing Christianity with the bible but the former is a patriotic American religion and the latter is middle eastern leftist propaganda

    • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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      5 months ago

      So, Judaism?

      But seriously, most of the bloodthirsty bits of the Christian Bible are bits carried over from the Torah. Hell, a lot of them are specifically about Joshua conquering everyone around.

  • j4k3@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    In many historical societies including ancient Christian, Jewish, and Islamic societies, usury meant the charging of interest of any kind, and was considered wrong, or was made illegal.[3]

    BTW chrishitery should be the next capitalist McCarthyism. Muhh! red hats!

    • cerement@slrpnk.net
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      5 months ago
      • Deuteronomy 23:19-20 – “19 You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.”
      • Exodus 22:25 – “25 If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.”
      • Deuteronomy 15:1-3 – “1 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts. 2 And this is the regulation for the release of debts: every creditor is to forgive what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not require it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s release has been proclaimed. 3 From a foreigner you may require it, but your hand shall forgive whatever of yours is with your brother.”
      • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        This sounds good in theory, but is relatively bad in practice. Without interest, no one will loan the government money. Municipalities would need to rely on huge tax increases to fund large projects, instead of bonds funded by small tax increases over time.

        No one will loan money to businesses either, and you are not getting any money to buy a house. It would favor those who already own established businesses, as they can just use profits from one to invest in another one.

        • RustyWizard@programming.dev
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          5 months ago

          I don’t think anyone is saying this is sound economic theory, just that Christianity has a lot of kooky shit that modern Christians are ignorant of and are contradictory to the theocracy they envision.

        • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          I think the idea is that you give loans to the needy, and do so out of generosity, hoping to get your money back but not relying on it. It’s one of those things where the law does not work without the spirit.

          • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            That would mean rich donors end up “lending” money to the government for “no interest”. I’m sure in return they would receive zero favors or benefits of any kind.

            Like a lot of things in the Bible, it may work for goat herders lost in the Bronze Age desert. But it definitely doesn’t literally work today. It didn’t even work under the Romans during Jesus’s time.

            He was like “not a word shall be changed”, but also don’t worry about tiny details. Regarding keeping Kosher He said, “it’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you, but what comes out.” The point is to keep yourself clean, not details about shellfish.

            • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              That would mean rich donors end up “lending” money to the government for “no interest”. I’m sure in return they would receive zero favors or benefits of any kind.

              That can happen under just about any system.

                • KevonLooney@lemm.ee
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                  5 months ago

                  Exactly, and no it can’t “just happen under any system”. Right now the US government is giving out 5.1% interest on risk free Treasury Bills. There’s literally no way to bribe the Treasury with free money because everyone and their dog is rushing to lend the government money at those rates.

        • poVoq@slrpnk.net
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          5 months ago

          You realise that the government can (and does) just make new money? There is no need for the government to borrow any money (but it does it anyways for other more complex reasons). And if done in moderation the resulting inflation is in effect identical to taxes, except that it automatically “taxes” the rich more and incurages further investments.

          And with sufficient inflation, businesses will have no problem to attract investments as people will want to have investments that retain their value, no interest needed.

          Similarly, investing money in houses is sound business when inflation is relatively high, both individually and for housing companies.

          But the real problem is anyways not basic interest, but compound interest that forces the borrower to repay the lend amount many times over and still be in debt afterwards.

  • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    And prevent anyone from being really rich.

    And prevent banks from getting too big.

    And be hospitable to refugees.

    And a whole lot of other things that Y’all Qaeda don’t want.

  • Emmie@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    No, no this is the part of Christianity where we convert heretics. With heavy automatic weaponry

  • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Ha… this is an obligation in Islam. I rather my tax dollars help the needy than help my nation and or other nations bomb nations.

    • Nom Nom@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      this is an obligation in Islam.

      Obligation doesn’t mean they’ll ever apply it. They only ever mention such when it’s convenient, to make themselves look like better people. All Abrahamic religions are this way(doesn’t mean any other religion’s any better either). I live in a muslim country, it’s just another tool of the state & the ultra rich to control people.

      • StaySquared@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Uhm… what. Zakat is one of the pillars of Islam.

        There are five key practices that all Muslims are obligated to fulfil throughout their lifetime. These practices are referred to as pillars because they form the foundation of Muslim life. The five pillars of Islam are Shahada, Salah, Zakat, Sawm (fasting), and Hajj. Four categories of people do not pay Zakat: the poor, the indigent, the debt-ridden, and the unfree.

        • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          And charity is one of the virtues. Their point is that almost allreligions, and definitely the abrahamic ones, say that charity and altruism are core doctrine. Nobody actually follows through tho unless it’s convenient.

  • frezik@midwest.social
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    5 months ago

    “You don’t actually read the bible, you just cherry picked some bits out of the atheist meme book” - actual response I’ve gotten when I’ve brought this up.

    • Squirrel@thelemmy.club
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      5 months ago

      Funny, the whole thing is supposed to be applicable. They can’t just ignore the parts that fit your terrible atheist agenda. And these points certainly aren’t a matter of ignored context.

      I’ve actually had other Christians argue against the message of love preached by Jesus, saying it’s inapplicable here or there. Of course, I can’t be a true Christian if I want equal rights for “the gays,” healthcare for all, or any of the other various far left (for the US) views I hold.

      Note: I’m a Christian who firmly supports the separation of church and state, sooooo…

    • Zink@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      Sneaky little atheistses, always being tricksy to outsmart the omnipotent & omniscient creator and maintainer of existence itself, precious!

    • Schadrach@lemmy.sdf.org
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      5 months ago

      You mean with a magic potion of dirty water that should not by any mechanism cause an abortion that doubled as a paternity test because God would only cause the abortion if she cheated.

      Realistically this probably mostly served to cow men into accepting that their wife’s child is theirs regardless of any suspicions because God said so. There’s a reason being Jewish is matrilineal.

      • Veraxus@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Not just dirty… the temple was meticulously maintained, so that “dust” was myrrh, which was used as incense day and night. Not surprisingly, myrrh can cause miscarriage when taken orally.

        So what the scripture actually says is “If the husband is jealous, try to induce a miscarriage. If it doesn’t work, well, then it’s God’s will.”

  • deaf_fish@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    This is funny and it makes me feel good. But you know as well as I do, that it doesn’t matter what any religious text says is right or wrong. Fascism and capitalism will take control and health care will be a personal problem.

    • I Cast Fist@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      Why can’t we use divine magic?

      Apparently, there was a balance patch that made all clerics’ gods quit their interference with mortal matters.