You constantly spew forth against Christians your hate and derision with your mind already made up that we are all like the pathetic examples you like to parade before us. You need to look at all the real followers of Christ who are seeking to help and make the world a better place. Jesus is about love and he came to save those that are lost. He is the only way to God the Father. You are lost. That is not judgmental and intolerant; that is me saying I love you enough to tell you the truth.
“The truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.”I’ve tried very hard to be clear about my feelings about modern Christianity. For those of you who haven’t read this umpteen times prior, I have no problem with the concept of Christianity. Peace, love, tolerance, and understanding are all very good things, qualities this world too often suffers a pronounced lack of. No, my problem is with Christians, too many of whom use their faith as a club with which to bludgeon those who happen not to be “enlightened” enough to share their beliefs. I’m tired of preachy judgmental types who feel it’s their place to tell me I’m “lost,’ and that only the love of Jesus Christ can save me. Yes, “truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.” Sadly, the quote above is from someone I love, but who for whatever reasons deems themselves worthy of sitting in judgment of me for my “lack of faith.”
This is the very definition of my problem with a certain segment of the Christian population. You’re free to your beliefs; you’re not free to belief that I’m lost without your beliefs and therefore you must witness to me in order to save my soul. Thank you, but my soul is fine as is.
What truly upsets me is that, even as I try hard to respect the beliefs of others, that respect is very often not returned in kind. Many Christians are convinced that their faith makes them possessed of a superior morality, and that it’s their duty to share the “Good News” with me. They see me as a sinner, lost and in need of salvation. The idea that I might just be good without God is something they just can’t seem to fathom.
I don’t believe in God, because I choose to live in what in my estimation is a reality-based world. More people have been killed in the name of religion than any other factor in human history. Religion has been the source of hatred, oppression, and all manner of things inimical to the concept of religion. I look at the historical record and wonder why anyone would want any part of that? Sure, the concept may be sound, but the execution has been corrupted and bastardized beyond all recognition. Seven states still have laws on the books banning atheists from holding public office (The laws are unconstitutional and unenforceable, but they’ve yet to be repealed). In many respects, discrimination against those who don’t believe in God is the last open and socially acceptable form of discrimination allowable today.
There are so many reasons to reject modern Christianity. What was once a religion based in love, tolerance, and acceptance has been destroyed by its followers and turned into something evil and unrecognizable. Yes, there are those who endeavor to lead Christ-like lives, and I admire those people for living their beliefs. Unfortunately, there are too many who believe their faith gives them license to judge those who don’t share their beliefs harshly. Evidently, the Gospel’s message: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged” (Matthew 7:1) has fallen on deaf ears.
Before deciding that I’m lost and in need of salvation, how about getting your own house in order and letting me live my life in the manner of my choosing? You don’t get to decide that my life is “less than” and preach the Gospel to me. Your faith is yours. My life is mine. If you want to have any part in my life, you’ll agree to keep it that way. And if honestly discussing my feelings on the subject of religion makes me guilty of spewing forth “against Christians your hate and derision”…well, I suppose I’m guilty as charged. Except that when dissension is held to equal hate and derision, it’s no longer about my views; it’s about your narrow-minded refusal to accept that your truth isn’t THE truth. That’s kind of sad, don’tchathink??
When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
I try hard to grant Christians their beliefs. They have every right in a free country to believe as they wish…just as I have every right to question those beliefs, the validity of them, and/or the manner in which those beliefs are manifested. Being a Christian doesn’t connote upon one the Divine right to judge me and find me wanting. Nor do you get to preach to me about how I’m “lost,” and that only the love of Jesus Christ can save me from going to Hell. If I recognize your right to your beliefs, it’s only reasonable to expect you to grant the same to me.
Part of my problem is the logical fallacy that the Bible is the literal, unerring, immutable, and unchangeable Word of God. To believe that, one must blow by the truth that the Bible you’re reading today is the translation of a translation of a translation by numerous people over many hundreds of years. If the Bible is the literal Word of God, why can I find at least 21 different versions of it? To accept the Bible as the literal, direct-from-the-mouth Word of God is as illogical as it is unrealistic. Yet there are many who believe with every fiber of their being that the Bible is the unerring and undeniable Word- the Way, the Truth, and the Light.
To my way of thinking, it would be more logical and sensible to believe in Santa Claus…but then so much of modern Christianity seems to be about believing in the imaginary and nonexistent.
That line of thinking is as valid to me as a firm faith in Jesus Christ is to Christians. Unfortunately, there are many, including some I care deeply about who feel justified in preaching to me and telling me that I’m “lost.” To say that I reject that assertion wholeheartedly doesn’t begin to do justice to the depth of my anger at such arrogance and judgment.
Religion has convinced people that there’s an invisible man…living in the sky, who watches everything you do every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a list of ten specific things he doesn’t want you to do. And if you do any of these things, he will send you to a special place, of burning and fire and smoke and torture and anguish for you to live forever, and suffer and burn and scream until the end of time. But he loves you. He loves you and he needs money.
- George Carlin
There’s no reason that religion shouldn’t be a subject open to rational discussion like so many other topics. Good people should be able to disagree and exchange ideas without feeling threatened by those who disagree. I should be able to expect that my views will be heard respectfully without being told that I need to prove God doesn’t exist.
Wait…what?? Your expectation is that I disprove a negative? Could there possibly be a more absurd expectation? I’ve never asked or expected that anyone prove to me that God exists. I don’t believe in God, but I can accept that you do. We don’t have to agree, and there’s nothing wrong with agreeing to disagree…as long as it’s done respectfully.
Unfortunately, too often that disagreement leaves me feeling disrespected and judged harshly…something I admittedly don’t deal with very well.
My rejection of Christianity (and religion in general) is not representative of “hatred” or “derision.” It IS representative of me making up my mind for myself and deciding that I’m quite good without God, thank you very much. You don’t have to like it; you just don’t get to preach to me about how I’m destined for Hell unless I accept Jesus Christ as my personal savior.
“The truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth” is something I’ve heard far too often from Christians. It’s the sort of thing one wields against someone they pity because they hold their beliefs and morality to be superior. Judge me in that fashion and you’ll find that I WILL push back. You may not agree with my belief that there is no God…but you don’t get to sit in judgment of me for it.
Live and let live, eh?
