Microblog Memes

I like the last words of chief Hatuey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatuey) before the Christians burned him alive:

[Hatuey], thinking a little, asked the religious man if Spaniards went to heaven. The religious man answered yes... The chief then said without further thought that he did not want to go there but to hell so as not to be where they were and where he would not see such cruel people. This is the name and honour that God and our faith have earned.

Solid burn

"Before our white brothers arrived to make us civilized men, we didn't have any kind of prison. Because of this, we had no delinquents. Without a prison, there can be no delinquents. We had no locks nor keys and therefore among us there were no thieves. When someone was so poor that he couldn't afford a horse, a tent or a blanket, he would, in that case, receive it all as a gift. We were too uncivilized to give great importance to private property. We didn't know any kind of money and consequently, the value of a human being was not determined by his wealth. We had no written laws laid down, no lawyers, no politicians, therefore we were not able to cheat and swindle one another. We were really in bad shape before the white men arrived and I don't know how to explain how we were able to manage without these fundamental things that (so they tell us) are so necessary for a civilized society. "

• John Fire Lame Deer

Yeah, those great christian values... Here are some lists for those christian values if anyone wants to act accordingly to them:
https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/detaillist.php?cid=3&pub=1
https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/detaillist.php?cid=2&pub=1
https://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/detaillist.php?cid=4&pub=1

I would describe many people as "wannabe Christians". They don't attend mass, they don't read the Bible except to quote overused passages, and they watch pseudo-historical and religious films and art to strengthen their alleged Christian identity. They don't really believe in God or practise religion for the sake of it, but to distinguish themselves from others; it's about feeling unique, superior and better. Most modern young Christians are teenagers who view religion and belief as a trend or fashion, with an added sense of elitism and classicism. I'm an ex-Catholic and a descendant of Bavarian settlers who were Catholic and assimilated only because of their faith. Faith and religion used to bind people of different ethnicities, nationalities and ancestries together because they had one crucial thing in common. I was the second generation to quit because I was tired of the "holier-than-thou" attitude, of people being berated for believing "in a different way", and of being scolded for trying to find my place in life and forge my own path. I have probably become what Luther wanted to achieve — a reformed Catholic — but not for very long. Nowadays, I am mostly interested in theology and philosophy rather than religion and faith. However, I have noticed that the more you know, the more you are despised. I don't have time for pointless arguments with people who have never read the Bible.

Didn't Gandhi say something similar?

"I like your christ but not your Christians, they have so little in common with christ" (or something similar)

The american natives of the great lakes region were considered some of the sharpest orators the missionaries have ever witnessed. A number of them also didn't have rigid hierarchies and believed in the importance of individual freedom. The Dawn of Everything speaks a lot about some of their civic/social beliefs.

Speaking of which, can anyone point me to resources on those early missionaries' records on the natives?

Problem is, the Bible doesn't present one cohesive set of positive moral principles. It's a collection of books written over hundreds of years by many authors with their own beliefs, biases and contexts, so it's not possible to derive one set of "Christian values" from it. This means people will cherry pick bits that align with their pre-existing beliefs and dismiss or downplay whatever is inconvenient or contradicts them, and there are plenty of less than savoury parts to cherry pick from.

Savage