Question Home

Position:Home>Philosophy> Why do the Abrahamic religions idealize weakness? ?


Question: Why do the Abrahamic religions idealize weakness!? !?
This has been bothering me for a while now; why is it considered 'good' to be helpless!?

In the bible, the new testament, there's a story called The Parable of Lazarus!. (not the guy who got resurrected, a different Lazarus) It tells the story of Lazarus, a homeless beggar, and Dives, a wealthy man!. Lazarus stays outside Dives' house and every time Dives passed Lazarus would beg him for money!. Dives was greedy and never gave Lazarus anything!. Both of them die, and Lazarus "received his reward in the Hereafter, in Abraham's bosom at the everlasting banquet," while Dives burned in hell!.
Now, i understand that Dives was bad for being greedy and overindulgent but what good deeds did Lazarus do!? Was his begging really so virtuous!? He would have been nothing more than a burden on society, and yet in God's eye's he must have been special!. Did his poverty save his immortal soul!? Or did he beg Peter to let him through the pearly gates!?

also, consider the religion of Islam!. In Arabic, the word Islam is a synonym to submission, as in submission to God, and the word Muslim is the participial from of the same verb, roughly translating into 'one who has submitted'!.
Why must we surrender ourselves to God!? Shouldn't God aid and guide us rather than subjugate us!? Are we so inadequate that we must give up and deny our own free will, the will that God himself gave us!?

These are just a few of the many examples of this kind of morality!. I am wondering what exactly about weakness is appealing to the Abrahamic God, or perhaps the men who distribute the Abrahamic religions!. Is strength not a virtue!? Why must powerful always be linked to evil!? I'm starting to understand why people like Nietzsche resented Christian morals

The way i see it, weakness is a bad thing, it breeds sloth, dependence and ressentiment, and nothing good comes out of it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
In a Near Eastern religions class I took one time, I remember learning about religion is shaped by the world in which it developed!. Egyptian gods and goddesses weren't too passionate in their ruling in their myths, much as the Nile was rhythmic and able to predict!. In the Middle East, the rivers were prone to flash floods and chaos was prominent!. I think it is this difference that led Abrahamic religions to create this idea of a superstrong God, out to smite everything, and we have to just submit and see where it takes us!. If the Tigris and Euphrates were calmer, maybe Judaism, Christianity, and Islam would be more peaceful and supportive instead of being bent on submission!.

also, I think the point of the Parable of Lazarus is to illustrate the evil of having and not sharing, rather than showing it's good to be a beggar!. Sayings like "the meek shall inherit the earth" seem to me like effective crowd control and little else!. It's called pandering!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Across the road, to get to the other side!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You have not adequately defined "weakness" nor "strength" for your argument!. You have just thrown the word ot there!. You have also tossed the words submission, surrender, subjugate and inadequate into one paragraph without defining them!. One is therefore forced to conclude that they all mean the same thing in your "question!." Thirdly, you have mentioned "free will," but not said how it relates to your above words or statements!. This is a terrible "question!."

*the reason I have placed "question" in quotes is because you have not asked anything!. You have merely stated an opinion and are looking for objections!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Which is undoubtedly why Abrahamic religions have conquered 4/5ths of the globe and are still expanding, right!?

I think you're looking at this parable through a narrow view!. The purpose of a parable is to make a point!. The point was that Lazarus did not have the greedy contempt of the rich man!. His occupation was unimportant, but he's presented as a beggar to combat the idea that money, power, influence, and prestige has anything to do with entrance into Heaven!.

How you read an ethos promoting weakness (never once heard a sermon about this) into this story tells me you've got a closet full of axes to grind about Christianity!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It isn't weakness in the usual sense that is upheld in the Abrahamic faiths, it is humility!. Pride and hubris are considered the ultimate sins because they encourage a sense of superiority, entitlement and the right to exploit others and nature for personal gain!.

In this light, it's not what YOU get out of your faith but what OTHERS gain from it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

You've hit it on the head !.!.!.!. all systems where the thinking is done for you are intended to keep you weak and silent!.

That was what Marx was talking about when he said religion was the opiate of the masses!.

These days media takes the place of the masses' opiate, encouraging us to be passive observers instead of actively responding!.



Nietzche really was a depressed psychopath !.!.!. but as far as critiques of the patheticness of christian morals he was on the ball!. He also saw it as noble to conquer, which is pretty suspect!.

Sarte was more to my liking !.!.!. emphasising that when we make choices we're making them for everyone, so choose well!.

On that view we are incredibly powerful, and should rise to the challenge of making choices we'll want to live with!.

The word for christian morality is psychophantic!.Www@QuestionHome@Com