Christianity: The Next Generation

I just finished watching Jesus Camp, a 2006 documentary about Children who are essentially brainwashed by the Fundamentalist Evangelical movement plaguing our country this millennium. This documentary holds a certain level of irony for me: at the time it was being filmed, I was also part of that very same movement.

It is not hard to get enraptured by the charismatic movement -- the dancing, shouting, speaking in tongues, alleged miracles, etc. But the weights of the world they placed upon the shoulders of these teens and preteens was shocking! Children, crying out to god, tears in eyes, for an end to abortion? I cannot -- even old, Christian Frank cannot -- understand the line of thinking which forces children from playgrounds and into picket lines.

Children are being taught that science is in error. They are being taught that climate change is a liberal political farce. They are being taught that our country was founded upon Judeo-Christian values. They are being taught that to die for their beliefs is good, that homosexuals are evil, that athiests are satan worshippers, that all other religions are false.

In short, they are being taught lies.

Children are being taught that everything outside of Christianity is false, and that Christianity teaches the truth. But the tragic irony is that the complete opposite is true: reality and truth begin just outside the church doors, and Christianity seems content to keep those doors deadbolted from the inside.

Fortunately, every now and again, people like me escape through a window left open somewhere.

You cannot look at the world through the lense of Christianity and expect to have a coherent viewpoint: there are just too many errors and contradictions, and the majority of Christians are not taught this -- in fact, they are repeatedly taught that there are no contradictions in the bible.

In truth, a key problem with Christianity is that it doesn’t understand that each author of each New Testament book was writing from his own interpretation of the movement, through his own point of view, and into his own narrative; and that each of these narratives are unique and diverse -- often to the point of contradicting each other. Because of this, the bible should not be read as a harmoniously written book but as a compilation of different points of view concerning the Christian movement.

Since the bible is not cohesive, it should not be used as an all-inclusive rule book. For instance, Matthew’s Jesus states that one must follow the law perfectly to attain salvation, whereas Paul’s Jesus implicitly states that one must absolutely not follow the law to attain salvation (Galatians). Who is correct? This type of contradiction (of which this is but one of many) presents an irreconcilable conundrum and a schizophrenic Christ.

Children are not taught about errors and contradictions such as these. They are not taught the alternative theories put forth by historical and theological scholars (this, in itself, is yet another irony since the Fundamentalist Evangelical movement is trying desperately to have the “truth” of creationism taught in schools as an alternative to evolution). Children are not taught how to answer to the atrocities committed in the name of their religion -- most of the time they are not even made aware of any atrocities! They are not taught that their belief is just one of thousands in Christianity, and their god just one of millions throughout history.

They are not even being given a choice. This religion is what their parents have chosen for them, and the level of their engagement is mostly dictated by the parents and the church. They are being brainwashed, hoodwinked, and forced into perverse dictates of worship to some god that they are trusting exists based not upon personal revelation or experience, but purely on the words of the authority figures in their lives.

They are not being taught to think, they are being taught to react. Shame on their parents. Shame on the churches. And “god” help us all when they become the next generation of political leaders and scientists.

Until next Monday,

Frank

Perceptions

Back in 2003 I pulled out of the dealership lot with an almost new Saturn SL2. Standard shift, hunter green, complete with automatic windows and keyless entry. I was very proud to be behind the wheel: I had a specific idea of a Saturn driver in my mind, and so I tried my best to look good, to drive properly, and to project the image of what I thought a proper Saturn owner was. At times I would find myself being downright haughty about it. And god forbid I should see other Saturn drivers not living up to my ideal!

Of course, the parallel of the "Christian witness" was not lost on me. A Christian is supposed to fit a specific ideal: to look like a follower of Christ, to act like a follower of Christ, and to project the image of a proper Christian. And most certainly Christians can be very haughty about this, god forbid if they see other Christians not living up to that ideal!

The inherent problem with the "Christian witness" is that the Christian is forced to be "on" at all times. He is expected to be a living positive example of the Christian lifestyle -- a witness to non-Christians. This means he is constantly forcing a particular perception about himself to the general public, to his friends, his coworkers, even his church. The pressure can be overwhelming, and many Christians find it extremely difficult to exist in such a way. Thus behind closed doors they cast off the costume of Christ. And so the public is shocked when scandalous skeletons come pouring out of the closets of so many religious leaders.

Well, Christians aren't perfect, they're just forgiven.

Continuously forcing a false perception means that your life is never truly your own. You end up molding your existence around your belief system. In so doing, you are setting yourself up to potentially become a mindless automaton -- your life becomes your religion and abandons your humanity. 

I can't help but wonder what the world would be like if humanity would move past religion, if people would stop conforming to the often uncalled-for rules and regulations that their church and religion shackled upon them. Certainly much good has been done in the name of religious belief, but much evil has also been done. And anyways, the deeds come from the adherents, not the actual religion -- one can find many good things done by droves of agnostics and atheists; but those people (unlike their religious counterparts) don't feel compelled to do good in the "name" of atheism or agnosticism.

So what could be the possible outcome if religion becomes passé? Whole books have been devoted to this very concept. I personally think that humans would start getting along better with each other. We certainly would see a 100% reduction in ridiculous or trite or violent or even murderous disputes over which ancient book was right. In fact, there would be no holy books left to be used as justification for classism, slavery, misogyny, genocide, racism, hate, etc.

But that is ultimately a topic for a different post. This post is about perceptions, and I perceive that I have gotten sidetracked!

I know a number of comic book nerds. In fact, I am married to one. I used to secretly mock those who put their fantastical hopes into the salvation of comic book characters and other fictional heroes. I don't mean to say that they actually believe Awesome Woman or Arachnidman or The Crepe Crusader will save their souls, but I used to think about how they would waste their time on these fictional messiahs in fictional books, instead of spending that time learning about the "reality" of Christ and the Bible. After all, their eternal souls were wasting away in those glossy pages!

Now I look back and, embarrassed, laugh at myself. I was doing the same exact thing with Jesus and the bible. Oh the irony!

I was so judgmental then. I have been so fortunate to have had parentage which instilled a mentality of inquiry, fortunate to have had friends over the last six years who worked hard to help me understand that my point of view is not the only point of view, and fortunate to have read a plethora of books which forced me to deal with the growing issues and questions of religious belief.

My perceptions are constantly changing, perhaps more in the last three months than ever before. In all honesty it is still very difficult to understand and side with the things I used to rally so hard against: evolution, atheism, soullessness, etc.

Sometimes I find I've slipped back into the old and familiar comfort of religious thinking. It could be something as simple as a quick and silent prayer for something to go well, or as elaborate as being pulled into a friendly bible debate with a friend or coworker. I'll catch myself in mid sentence -- this is not who I am anymore! And then I stop and smile, remind myself that old habits die hard, and move on with my life.

Because I so clearly see that Christianity is not true (at least, not as it is presented today), I feel, for the first time in my life, like I have control over my destiny. I don't have the "guarantee" of god guiding my every footstep, blessing me, or just generally making everything work out for my benefit (it all seems so egotistical now). I am responsible for my own future, my own destiny -- and I have to be the one to reach out and grab it! It could be a scary prospect, but I choose to see it as exciting and invigorating.

At the very least, I've thrown out the co-dependent thinking that goes along with religion. And that is something.

Until next Monday,

Frank 

Moving On

My backstory is now complete.

To sum up, I left Christianity (and religion in general) because:

• Considering the millions of gods throughout human history, it is impossible to know which one(s) to follow. We have no way of knowing that the god of the bible is THE TRUE god.
• Considering the hundreds of thousands of religions throughout human history, it is impossible to claim that Christianity is THE TRUE religion, simply because the "evidence" of authenticity Christianity offers is shared by thousands of other beliefs (prophecy, morality, miracles, power of prayer, longevity, proliferation, etc.), and that all of these are supported purely by confirmation bias and anecdote.
• Considering the thousands of contradictory variants of Christianity, it is impossible to know which teaches THE TRUE interpretation of the religion, and thus impossible to know which denomination(s) to follow.
• The bible is (among other issues) riddled with contradictions and was compiled in its present form, not from divine inspiration, but from political machination and religious domination.
• Too many Christians, who have a great deal of media exposure, are often caught up in scandalous, hypocritical, or otherwise unbefitting behaviors. This is contradictory to the morals they seek to impose upon others.
• Too many Christians hold -- and act upon -- a negative bias against those who do not follow exactly the same beliefs; this can range from atheists to Buddhists to Christians of other denominations.

If there really is a god who cares about his creation's life, belief, worship, and eternal destination, he certainly has an odd way of showing it: he is completely absent and is completely complicit in the bullet points I've listed. That’s not being a god -- that's just being a jerk.

80% of the people in the United States claim some sort of religious belief and 76% claim some form of Christianity. Being agnostic / atheist can be a lonely path at times since it is virtually guaranteed that the overwhelming majority of all daily interactions will be with religious folk who take religion for granted and just assume that everyone believes. People are taken aback when they find out that you don’t follow their religion -- doubly so when they find out you don’t follow any religion!

Currently I am working my way through "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins, and I have to admit that a lot of what he presents sounds, to a recent deconvert, rather dubious. But then I remind myself that what I used to believe -- the creation account of Genesis -- is even more dubious and directly contradicts a lot of science. It is therefore no mystery that 60% of the United States believes in evolution by either natural or supernatural means.

Now that more of the people around me are starting to discover my "godless heathen ways," I am beginning to hear the inevitable counter-arguments that I've been dreading. The first argument almost always used by Christians against atheists or agnostics is that of morality: to them it is a foundational premise (made popular by C. S. Lewis) that all morality must come from a god (and so, logically as the arguments progress, the Christian attempts to show that all morality comes from the Christian god).

Please indulge me for a moment, I wish to make a point before moving on.

The argument about morality used to intimidate me, but now I know better. Morality has developed in thousands of religions and thousands of cultures over thousands of years. Sometimes it develops with a god in mind, sometimes without.

Religious adherents claim that god ingrained a moral code in our genes, so that all of us ultimately know right from wrong. From an evolutionary standpoint, this actually may not be far from accurate (except for the god part); our moral code may be part of our genes' need for preservation and propagation.

As an agnostic, I am certainly willing to concede that perhaps some god out in the cosmos put something somewhere in our genetic structure to create the aforementioned needs, and thus give birth to a moral code. But religion? It would become comical if it weren't so tragic: religions are responsible for a huge portion of history’s destruction, death, suffering, and misery.

Oh so very moral, isn't it?

All religions claim that their holy books are the utmost in ethics. Christianity is no exception, regardless if its adherents honestly think that its morals are somehow superior to any other religion's. There is, however, one area of morality that Christianity does excel at: cherry-picking what morals to follow. And here is the pinnacle in hypocrisy: that by deciding for themselves which of their god's moral rules to apply and which to discard, they are in effect claiming that they have wisdom greater than god! Suddenly "god's ways are higher" becomes: "I will decide which of god's ways are higher."

To add insult to injury, there is this:

"You are using your own moral intuitions to decide that the bible is the appropriate guarantor of your moral intuitions." - Sam Harris, Letter to a Christian Nation

How very circular of religious folk, and I'm ashamed that I used to think like this. But at any rate, I feel that is a nice way to sum up my little rant on Christian morality.

Moving on...

Over the last few months, I have been on a reading frenzy. In February and March, I read Guy Harrison's books "50 Popular Beliefs that People Think Are True" and "50 Simple Questions for Every Christian." These were my starting point, and I wholeheartedly recommend them for any Christian who is struggling with trying to find truth.

I followed those up with:

• "Did Jesus Exist?" by Bart Ehrman (provides a lot of evidence for the historical man named Jesus)
• "Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris (a lot of great points and questions for Christians)
• "Jesus, Interrupted" by Bart Ehrman (shows discrepancies in the bible, helps one understand that each book must be taken as its own point of view, not as part of a narrative)
• "The Atheist Camel Chronicles" by Bart Centre (a compilation of blog posts from 2008-2009 which makes many good points  against religion and Christianity in particular)
• "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins (discusses how genes have had a hand in certain levels of morality)

I highly recommend these books to anyone who is honestly pursuing the truth around Christianity -- whether just curious, or trying to find a way out, or trying to justify your recent deconversion.

Until next Monday,

Frank

Contradictions

You now know a few things that happened in my past, which started me down this path. Those things were necessary to tell in order to relate my tale. I would like to use this post to fill in the blank areas and finish telling my backstory.

Towards the beginning of February, I was invited to meet with a small group of local Christians; I was going to hear the testimony of a man's journey to Christ. I listened for over 2 hours as this man passionately told his sordid tale of being abused as a child and ending up a tormented drug-addicted vagrant by his mid-twenties. He was a very nice man, and it was a very inspiring tale. The time was well spent anyways, because I was looking for a group of fellow Christians to once again fellowship with and these folk seemed to fit the bill.

Before I left, he gave me a copy of his autobiography and I promised to read it -- which I did in the weeks following. In the book, however, I saw a very different man than I had met: when he wrote about the demons that would torment him and make him torture himself, all I could really see was a little boy who had been abused and suffered mental anguish for it -- turning to drugs and self-abuse to cope.  And as I read, I slowly began to realize that his demons could just as easily have been delusions, most likely brought on by mental illness and rampant drug use. In fact, by all sense of logic and reasoning, that is precisely what was going on.

If this passionate man could be so passionately wrong about his encounter with the supernatural, could I be wrong about mine? Certainly not! I used to proudly proclaim that, no matter what happened, I would never abandon my faith in Christ! And yet the seed of doubt was planted and the Tree of Knowledge took firm root in the back of my mind. Looking back now, I can appreciate the irony that one man's conversion was the first real step in my deconversion.

By the end of February, the April Deboer / Jayne Rouse trial was in full swing. A judge was hearing their case regarding gay marriage and adoption in my home state of Michigan (ultimately our gay marriage ban was overturned and gay adoptive rights established, currently pending an appeals process which no one seriously expects to actually result in anything except for a gross misappropriation of taxpayer funds).

At the same time, fundamentalists in Arizona decided to try to push into law a bill which would allow any business to refuse service to anyone due to religious objection. It was, in all honesty, a thinly-veiled attempt by Christians to solidify laws to actively discriminate against anyone for practically anything (fortunately, reason and common sense overruled, and this medieval line of thinking was defeated).

It wasn't the fact that our country seems to be intent on making people fight for a basic human right that caused me to lose my faith. Neither did the opinions of a group of conservatives who have apparently spent too much time in the hot sun make me abandon Jesus. These things certainly contributed, but they were not the ultimate catalyst. It was those who call themselves Christian, posting their disturbing, ignorant, delusional, hateful, hurtful comments on social media during these events that pushed me over the edge.

Already over several years I had been distancing myself from the title "Christian" because I did not want to be associated with the evangelical movement going on in this country. That didn't mean I wasn't a Christian, I just preferred to call myself a "follower of Christ" instead. But after all these things going on I realized that I truly wanted nothing more to do with this country’s brand of Christianity.

"Out of the same mouth comes forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water?" James 3:10-11

The hypocrisy is so transparent now: Christianity preaches love out of one side of its mouth and hate out of the other. And so it was not Christ, but his Christians which drove me away.

Thus enters the serendipitous timing of Guy Harrison's book in my queue. Current events put me in the mindset to question my beliefs: What kind of god would allow his adherents to be -- excuse my language -- such ignorant and arrogant assholes? One person summarized the fundamentalist Christian attitude best with the statement: "Stop oppressing us by not letting us oppress you." Sadly oppression has been a constant theme throughout Christianity’s 2000-year tenure. It started almost immediately after the disciples were gone.

There are holes in Christianity -- holes in the bible left from time and worm. I see the holes now because people have taken the time to pull back the magnifying glass from the words of the scriptures to the pages they are written on. I owe Guy Harrison a debt of gratitude for being my first real encounter with logical, reasonable skeptical arguments. In fact, as soon as I finished "50 Popular Beliefs that People Think Are True" I got my hands on "50 Simple Questions for Every Christian."

Please don't misunderstand me -- it is not my intent to actively try to deconvert anyone. Beliefs are personal, tied to culture, and fundamentally important to many. But I am willing to have honest and open discourse with anyone who engages me and I will do my personal best to be truthful and logical. After all, my ultimate purpose is to offer the perspective of a Christian who has found his religion to be invalid and so is searching for new truth and new meaning.

You have two choices in this regard: try to reconvert me, try to argue, try to prove yourself right; or ask questions and let me try to help you understand. I can all but guarantee the former won’t happen, and I can all but guarantee the latter will. But really, it's up to you.

Until next Monday,

Frank