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
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