Why do people worship their favorite imaginary deity out of fear?

@revenant Fascist leaders should be feared!

@Carazaa You love fascists. Hitler was a social democrat.... Until he wasn't. You would have voted for him without ever questioning him.

@Carazaa Do as I say, Do as I Think or else...is fascism

@revenant [quote]Do as I say, Do as I Think or else...is fascism[/quote]

That makes religion fascism.

@Diotrephes Wrong again. In Christianity there is no compulsion. You can do what you want but you can not do X and pretend to be Y. Unless you are born again you can not enter the Kingdom. Simply fact. Unless you are born you can not breathe. So simple even a goof like you can grasp it.

@Diotrephes wrong. Religion is used by MAN to do all kinds of things granted but religion is not wrong on itself.
What do you want to replace Christ or Buddha' images with ? a huge picture of Mao.
You are deifying some guy !
and attributing some guy with supernatural powers

@Diotrephes My guess is that you are going to cite christianity again..this is getting old. NOBODY forces you to become a christian.
Which religion nowadays threatens you ..think...give me an answer ?

@revenant You just stepped in it.

If you believe the Bible you are not supposed to make images of any person or living thing. Therefore, every time you look at a picture of "Jesus" you are engaging in idol worship.

@Diotrephes YOU are making idols out of mere mortals. Your Fauci, Trudeau , Klaus Schwabb and company.
Secondly. You have no idea who I am. I was christened catholic but that was it. I guess you are talking from a protestant perspective or something or Hindu or ????

@Diotrephes you stepped in it. Who are you to decide about idols ? or whatever ? give a definition and please give info of where you come from.
Context is missing here.
You are being very mysterious

@revenant [quote]you stepped in it. Who are you to decide about idols ? or whatever ? give a definition and please give info of where you come from.
Context is missing here.
You are being very mysterious[/quote]
I am a mature American male who was a church goer as a youth. It can be very comforting to be a member of a good congregation and be among people who will support you emotionally in times of hardship. They provide something that your neighbors and co-workers don't and it is a good feeling to know that you are not alone in the hurricane blizzard firestorm that is life.

I have been participating on various internet forums for years and, as a consequence, have been able to extensively explore the biblical fairytale. It is very complex and a beautiful work of literature but the bottom line is, although it does have some good tidbits of timeless advice, the central message is pure BS. Even the writers said in several places that it is BS.

The comment I made about pictures of "Jesus" being examples of idol worship is based on Exodus 20:4-6 (ERV) =
4 “You must not make any idols. Don’t make any statues or pictures of anything up in the sky or of anything on the earth or of anything down in the water. 5 Don’t worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the Lord, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods.[a] People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren. 6 But I will be very kind to people who love me and obey my commands. I will be kind to their families for thousands of generations."

Catholics are big idol worshippers. Their churches are filled with them.

BTW, did you notice in the passage how individuals are not judged on their own merits but on the deeds done by other people? That theme is repeated throughout the Bible. The story tellers did try to change it and make it an individual thing.

I am willing to discuss any topic with anyone but if you are easily triggered by my analysis it may be better for your emotional health to simply ignore me. Offer your analysis on the the topic and I will do likewise.

Choose to move on from everything that makes you miserable.

@Diotrephes You are so ignorant about Christianity you are a joke. Yes you hang around echo chambers hearing what you want to hear.