Christiainity
I think it's time for me to say this: I am not a Christian... at least in the contemporary sense of the word.
Do I like Jesus? Sure. Follow his teachings? Most of them, yeah. Do I appreciate his sacrifice? As a symbol, yeah, though I really don't believe it actually happened.
Do I trust him as my lord and personal savior? Absolutely not.
What you have to understand here, friends, is that up until a few years ago, I was a Christian -- the fundamentalist, Bible-toting, scripture-quoting kind. I believed the Earth was 6,000 years old, and I scoffed -- I SCOFFED! -- at my father when he suggested that evolution might possibly make sense. (We are now on opposite ends of that debate. He denies evolution, and I accept it.)
But then, I started doing research. I began with the question of why Satan did not appear at all in the Old Testament (except as an accusatory spirit, but we'll get to that in a moment), and why he was suddenly a major player in the New Testament. The answer I was given by a seminary professor -- that god reveals things gradually -- did not satisfy me. Surely, if the Earth was 6,000 years old, it didn't make sense to keep humanity in the dark for 2/3 of that time about the nature of evil. It also didn't make sense to save the people in the last 2,000 years, but not those in the first 4,000.
The problem was that I believed the Bible was infallible -- that it was the inerrant word of god. I'd been raised with it, and I never had considered the possibility that it might not be true, accurate, or even good. But slowly, the more I researched, and the more I learned about the origins of Biblical scripture and the historical framework in which the Bible came to be... slowly, I found my faith in the Bible eroding, until finally, I started to see inconsistencies EVERYWHERE. And believe me, there are a lot!
But what's more, I also started to see some of the horrifying aspects of the book. There's a story in the book of Numbers where Aaron and Mirian, the brother and sister of Moses, get annoyed that Moses marries a Cushite woman, and they complain about the fact that Moses is getting too powerful. God gets angry and gives Miriam leprosy. When Aaron prays to god and apologizes, Miriam is forced to wait seven days, alone in the wilderness, before she can come back and be healed.
Then, the people grumble against Moses a couple of chapters later, so god makes sure they lose in battle... but only because Moses prays for mercy. A couple of chapters after that, a man named Korah raises a rabble among the Levite priests to complain about Moses's authority, and god gets so angry he causes an earthquake to swallow Korah, his entire family, and all of his followers.
Does that sound like a good and loving god to you? And by the way, in the book of Numbers, these people have SEEN manifestations of god... they're not just acting on faith alone. They know who god is, but they're questioning the leader who has led them around in the wilderness for decades on the outskirts of the promised land. God responds not with mercy and answers, but with judgment and destruction.
And that bit about Job? I don't know how anyone can read a book that opens in the heavenly courts as being literally true (who was there to record it?), but it's pretty clear that Job is a morality play, not a holy record of god. The story is horrifying, and god slaughters women and children senselessly to test Job's faith. Satan's role is minor, and his purpose is to test, not tempt. His very name is "the satan," which means, "the accuser." The capital "S" doesn't come until the New Testament. In the book of Job, Satan is not the destroyer. God is. And when Job finally gets the chance to ask why these bad things have happened, god appears in a whirlwind and tells him that he's god, and he doesn't have to answer to anyone.
I could go on with countless more examples of the Biblical god being a major jerk (and yes, they occur in the New Testament, too!), but I'm not going to bother. Because, you see, if you don't agree with me, I'm not going to persuade you. If you do agree with me, you don't need persuading. There's nothing to be gained by this course of conversation.
But there is something to be gained by asking a very important question -- is Christianity actually helping to make the world a better place? I think to some extent, it is. Christians sponsor ministries to help the poor, and they also assist people with other kinds of needs. Churches can improve communities, and they can help give communities a moral center.
But I think to some extent, it's holding humanity back. In parts of Africa and Asia, for example, people in Christianized nations are dying because of AIDS, STDs and dangerous pregnancies. All of these things could be prevented by condoms, but certain Christian institutions don't want people having premarital sex or having recreational (as opposed to procreational) sex, even in the context of marriage. So, a very simple health problem that could be greatly reduced continues on because of religious ideas.
Here in the US, Christianity is rapidly becoming a culture of attending a large church, singing poorly-written songs performed by giant musical acts, and sitting through sermons that use high-tech media to help drive points home. Some churches have credit card readers so parishoners can give their 10% without stopping by the ATM first. Countless hours and dollars are wasted on these inane, banal churches. If Christians really want to follow Christ, they should be outdoors, giving to the poor and sharing everything they own. They shouldn't be sitting in air-conditioned ampitheaters in their nice clothes watching a preacher in an expensive suit performing for them.
So, yeah, I'm not a Christian anymore, because being a Christian means nothing to me. I don't believe Jesus was the son of god (that would require my believing in god, which I don't), and I'm not even sure Jesus even existed, let alone died on a cross for my sins. I appreciate the mythology and the wisdom in the bible, but I much prefer it when I can question how valuable it is instead of finding myself accepting every word as true. I'm not crazy about organized religion, and I think the churches of today are a pale mockery of the rather communist-like churches described in the book of Acts. If the New Testament can be believed, those people actually had to suffer for their faith. They really believed Jesus was coming back for them, and soon. The whole notion meant something more to them than it does to the Christians of today.
I'm sorry if my strong words offend anyone, but honestly... I'm not sorry about anything I've said. I don't demand that anyone think what I think or do what I do. I just ask that people think for themselves and act according to their principles. My principles don't allow me to blindly accept anything. And as I said to god when he and I parted ways so many years ago...
"I asked you to show me that this was true, and I asked you to help me see the error of my ways. But all I have found during this time are more doubts, and more problems, and more certainty that you are not there. I will gladly revisit my conclusions when you are ready, god, but you seem to be strangely silent on the issue despite my passion and my repeated requests. And therefore, there is no longer a need to speak to you as if you are there, because I know now that you are not."
Do I like Jesus? Sure. Follow his teachings? Most of them, yeah. Do I appreciate his sacrifice? As a symbol, yeah, though I really don't believe it actually happened.
Do I trust him as my lord and personal savior? Absolutely not.
What you have to understand here, friends, is that up until a few years ago, I was a Christian -- the fundamentalist, Bible-toting, scripture-quoting kind. I believed the Earth was 6,000 years old, and I scoffed -- I SCOFFED! -- at my father when he suggested that evolution might possibly make sense. (We are now on opposite ends of that debate. He denies evolution, and I accept it.)
But then, I started doing research. I began with the question of why Satan did not appear at all in the Old Testament (except as an accusatory spirit, but we'll get to that in a moment), and why he was suddenly a major player in the New Testament. The answer I was given by a seminary professor -- that god reveals things gradually -- did not satisfy me. Surely, if the Earth was 6,000 years old, it didn't make sense to keep humanity in the dark for 2/3 of that time about the nature of evil. It also didn't make sense to save the people in the last 2,000 years, but not those in the first 4,000.
The problem was that I believed the Bible was infallible -- that it was the inerrant word of god. I'd been raised with it, and I never had considered the possibility that it might not be true, accurate, or even good. But slowly, the more I researched, and the more I learned about the origins of Biblical scripture and the historical framework in which the Bible came to be... slowly, I found my faith in the Bible eroding, until finally, I started to see inconsistencies EVERYWHERE. And believe me, there are a lot!
But what's more, I also started to see some of the horrifying aspects of the book. There's a story in the book of Numbers where Aaron and Mirian, the brother and sister of Moses, get annoyed that Moses marries a Cushite woman, and they complain about the fact that Moses is getting too powerful. God gets angry and gives Miriam leprosy. When Aaron prays to god and apologizes, Miriam is forced to wait seven days, alone in the wilderness, before she can come back and be healed.
Then, the people grumble against Moses a couple of chapters later, so god makes sure they lose in battle... but only because Moses prays for mercy. A couple of chapters after that, a man named Korah raises a rabble among the Levite priests to complain about Moses's authority, and god gets so angry he causes an earthquake to swallow Korah, his entire family, and all of his followers.
Does that sound like a good and loving god to you? And by the way, in the book of Numbers, these people have SEEN manifestations of god... they're not just acting on faith alone. They know who god is, but they're questioning the leader who has led them around in the wilderness for decades on the outskirts of the promised land. God responds not with mercy and answers, but with judgment and destruction.
And that bit about Job? I don't know how anyone can read a book that opens in the heavenly courts as being literally true (who was there to record it?), but it's pretty clear that Job is a morality play, not a holy record of god. The story is horrifying, and god slaughters women and children senselessly to test Job's faith. Satan's role is minor, and his purpose is to test, not tempt. His very name is "the satan," which means, "the accuser." The capital "S" doesn't come until the New Testament. In the book of Job, Satan is not the destroyer. God is. And when Job finally gets the chance to ask why these bad things have happened, god appears in a whirlwind and tells him that he's god, and he doesn't have to answer to anyone.
I could go on with countless more examples of the Biblical god being a major jerk (and yes, they occur in the New Testament, too!), but I'm not going to bother. Because, you see, if you don't agree with me, I'm not going to persuade you. If you do agree with me, you don't need persuading. There's nothing to be gained by this course of conversation.
But there is something to be gained by asking a very important question -- is Christianity actually helping to make the world a better place? I think to some extent, it is. Christians sponsor ministries to help the poor, and they also assist people with other kinds of needs. Churches can improve communities, and they can help give communities a moral center.
But I think to some extent, it's holding humanity back. In parts of Africa and Asia, for example, people in Christianized nations are dying because of AIDS, STDs and dangerous pregnancies. All of these things could be prevented by condoms, but certain Christian institutions don't want people having premarital sex or having recreational (as opposed to procreational) sex, even in the context of marriage. So, a very simple health problem that could be greatly reduced continues on because of religious ideas.
Here in the US, Christianity is rapidly becoming a culture of attending a large church, singing poorly-written songs performed by giant musical acts, and sitting through sermons that use high-tech media to help drive points home. Some churches have credit card readers so parishoners can give their 10% without stopping by the ATM first. Countless hours and dollars are wasted on these inane, banal churches. If Christians really want to follow Christ, they should be outdoors, giving to the poor and sharing everything they own. They shouldn't be sitting in air-conditioned ampitheaters in their nice clothes watching a preacher in an expensive suit performing for them.
So, yeah, I'm not a Christian anymore, because being a Christian means nothing to me. I don't believe Jesus was the son of god (that would require my believing in god, which I don't), and I'm not even sure Jesus even existed, let alone died on a cross for my sins. I appreciate the mythology and the wisdom in the bible, but I much prefer it when I can question how valuable it is instead of finding myself accepting every word as true. I'm not crazy about organized religion, and I think the churches of today are a pale mockery of the rather communist-like churches described in the book of Acts. If the New Testament can be believed, those people actually had to suffer for their faith. They really believed Jesus was coming back for them, and soon. The whole notion meant something more to them than it does to the Christians of today.
I'm sorry if my strong words offend anyone, but honestly... I'm not sorry about anything I've said. I don't demand that anyone think what I think or do what I do. I just ask that people think for themselves and act according to their principles. My principles don't allow me to blindly accept anything. And as I said to god when he and I parted ways so many years ago...
"I asked you to show me that this was true, and I asked you to help me see the error of my ways. But all I have found during this time are more doubts, and more problems, and more certainty that you are not there. I will gladly revisit my conclusions when you are ready, god, but you seem to be strangely silent on the issue despite my passion and my repeated requests. And therefore, there is no longer a need to speak to you as if you are there, because I know now that you are not."