Christianity

[The Mikado]

I have a very negative view of Christianity (like most religions that have stricter doctrines).

Christianity is pretty much the loosest religion in terms of requirements you're ever going to find, which goes a long way to explaining its success.  I don't see how you could possibly interpret it as a strict faith.

[The Mikado]

Negative, as it has led to ignorance, hate, and a loss of the ability to think critically in so many of its followers.

  Yes, the six hundred page brick that is the City of God is the embodiment of ignorance and lack of critical thinking.  Augustine's view that the Gothic sackers and the Romans victims of the fall of Rome might well find themselves on the same side in the coming Heavenly city is truly the most vicious message of hatred and not a glowing call for reconciliation.  I admit defeat.

[The Mikado]

Furthermore, there's a significant disconnect between someone like Augustine or whomever and how most Christians actually understand themselves. Most people aren't nearly so highbrow in their views, in general. You can argue whether that is good or bad, or value-neutral, but that doesn't change the fact that most people simply don't operate like eminent theologians or philosophers.

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One really cannot in good conscience look at an intellectual system that produced fruits as varied and wild as Augustine and Kirkegaard, then turn away and look at an asshole like Jerry Falwell and go "Yeah, they're all a bunch of bigoted morons."  When you confront one of the most venerable and influential intellectual and philosophical doctrines in human history, you'd better be prepared to go toe to toe with the shades of Aquinas and Dostoyevsky in defense of your skepticism of the fundamental bedrock of their worldviews.  None of the men I mentioned really strongly agreed on many moral or philosophical points and yet they all shared a fundamental belief in Christianity that should make you consider that, even if (like me) you don't share that belief, that there's something pretty compelling and rich intellectual soil in that direction and that you shouldn't just brush Christians off as ignorant rubes.

[The Mikado]

I have a very negative view of Christianity (like most religions that have stricter doctrines).

Christianity is pretty much the loosest religion in terms of requirements you're ever going to find, which goes a long way to explaining its success.  I don't see how you could possibly interpret it as a strict faith.

Compared to other religions (especially Islam), yeah it's looser. But I feel that most Abrahamic religions suck for a variety of reasons, but here I mean that they tend to not take into account an individual's experiences in life, they dictate moral rights and wrongs, and that unlike Hinduism, Baha'i faith, and Buddhism, there is less room to move around when considering that there may be more than one way to know God (e.g. "you either believe this or you go to hell forever") and concerning moral gray areas. 

On a related note, I think it's a sad testament to the Christian-centric nature of this forum that Christianity has a ~70% FF rating and Buddhism has a ~55% negative rating.

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Have you seen the Noble Eightfold Path?  If you actually want to break the cycle of reincarnation and live the life that will allow you to break out, your Buddhist is going to live a life far rougher than all but the most ascetic brands of Christianity.  Of course, few choose to actually pursue such a lifestyle and commit themselves to the monastic lifestyle, but if you read the Dhammapada and look at Theravada Buddhism as it's actually practiced in Southeast Asia it's not a particularly easygoing religion.  Christianity's pretty much total lack of rules governing social behavior beyond all the most obvious ends up contrasting quite dramatically.

It's actually a pretty significant doctrinal point that Christianity doesn't really require much in the way of active deeds beyond baptism and (if you're Catholic) the sacraments to achieve salvation.

[The Mikado]

Clark: by the Noble Eightfold Path, I was referring to the eight steps that the Buddha claimed that one needed to follow to achieve enlightenment, not a documentary.  Buddhism is a remarkably strict doctrine coupled with the recognition that very few people in this lifetime are ready to attempt to achieve Nirvana.  That's not a disapproving statement, mind: I don't dislike Buddhism.  It's just stunning to see someone not grasping that it is a far more demanding belief system in terms of its code of conduct than Christianity, a faith whose doctrinal commitments pretty much begin and end at having water sprinkled on one's head and eating a wafer at Church.

Then you mentioned Hinduism, which is frankly baffling because Hinduism is right up there with Judaism on the top tier of doctrinally-demanding religions.  Arguably more so because Judaism never advocated vegetarianism when that, of course, is one of the most radical commitments in terms of shaping a person's lifestyle that a religion could come up with (and a big reason why the Manichean faith isn't around today).  You mention the Abrahamic faiths micromanaging your life when the entire concept of dharma is that there is a divinely-ordained set of actions and behaviors given to you based on the position to which you're born into life.  I don't see how a religion could be more micromanaging in terms of setting out a right way to live than the Hindu faith. 

[The Mikado]

Now you might be wondering at what I'm getting at. It is simply this; what is Christianity actually for?

Measuring something's value by its utility is such a disgustingly 20th-21st century concept. Oscar Wilde correctly said "All art is quite useless," and the sentiment applies to everything of any real worth in life.

[The Mikado]

Now you might be wondering at what I'm getting at. It is simply this; what is Christianity actually for?

Measuring something's value by its utility is such a disgustingly 20th-21st century concept. Oscar Wilde correctly said "All art is quite useless," and the sentiment applies to everything of any real worth in life.

That's exactly my point. As an 'art'; a philosophy, it is quite useless

Absolutely, and that's its beauty and why it's good. Any ideology or belief system that claims utility is...perhaps not inherently worthy of hostility, but certainly arouses my skepticism. Scientific and "practical" philosophies top the list. Christianity is so metaphysical and interested in a second, spiritual life that its few suggestions as to how to live a just life end up evaporating into "believe in Christ" and doesn't have much if any actual requirements for behavior beyond "splash some water on your face."