The previous two days I wrote about where Atheists and Christians can find some common ground to at least understand each other as people. And I think there is value in that... to a point.
However, I find that it's usually left up to the Atheist to make the concessions.
And that's not fair.
In fact, its time to get to the meat and potatoes of why I am an atheist. And to empower myself to stop being "too nice" and get some things out in the open!
Evangelical Christianity is not a neutral position that atheists should "accept" and respect. I hope I did not give that impression in the previous posts. I want better dialogue with Christians that are willing. But there is a lot to address here! This brand of literal interpretation Christianity has had cataclysmic, hurtful, painful effects on my own life and on the lives of so many people. And that deserves to be called out and bashed in public forums.
The basic premise of the evangelical faith is the complete inability of a person to please God. Oh, he certainly "loves" us, but we are filthy, disgusting and born apart from God. We fearfully baptize babies, pray for them using the words "beautiful" in the same breath as "sinner." Parents dedicate their babies to the Lord to put the focus on indoctrination and early decision for Christ. And as much as we hear Pastors talk about God giving children that die a special type of grace, it doesn't jive with that dedication rhetoric.
That's all very fucked up. It is time we address that. Because there's no way to come half way on indoctrinating children.
The other huge issue with sin is the equally disturbing view that evangelicals have of our final destination after we die (in sin.) Hell. If it is not abuse to talk to a child about burning in a lake of fire and everlasting torment because of rejecting Jesus... I don't know what is. To tell a child that their every thought and decision is a sin that has eternal consequences is the cruelest, most harmful thing I can think of.
And it gets worse! Not only to bring up a child in the church with this "sin sick" conscience, but to cause them to create this diametrically opposed "us vs. them" world in their brains. Saved/non-saved. Heading to heaven/heading to hell. Children of God/Children of the devil. Able to please God/unable to please God at all. A person goes into teenage years with a distinct view that they have to keep separate.
And this brings me to the biggest reason I left the evangelical faith and why I have no problem calling out evangelicals: portraying clinical depression as a result of our sin!
There I was, convinced I was sad all the time because of unconfessed sin, constantly fearing that God heard every thought and knew how weak I was. I was convinced from books and messages that I was a sex addict, a lukewarm Christian, unable to keep my heart on Christ. Why did I think that? Because I was depressed all the time! And that had to be solved via applying the Holy Spirit's revelation to my conscience and constant discipline.
I hated myself. I hated who I was and I felt like God agreed with me. Oh, he loved me, but only because he created me. I could do nothing to please him. I could do nothing worth his love. He loved me because of a loophole. Jesus death and resurrection. Otherwise, I didn't deserve it.
So we have a group of people, walking around with deep conflicted hearts and self hatred, trying not to cling to this world because its destined to burn in unquenchable fire! And we are called to hate everything about the secular world, because everything is tinged in the color of the devil. His shadow is over everything that is outside the church. Music, media, government, on and on...
Punishment is coming. Fire is coming. Judgment is coming. I could feel my arm hairs stand on end as I thought about that moment.
Raised in Christ, sitting before God the father hearing a summary of my pitiful life. My failings, my sin, my inability to shake the sins of my flesh. And after all was laid bare, I would be allowed in, forgiven but... barely. I was lucky to be anywhere near saved.
Then to sit and watch the sword of Christ cut through his enemies... who rejected him... who deserved hell. And all my loved ones, reaching for my hand as they are stirred up in the lake of fire... because I had not done my job.
I should have prayed harder... listened to music less... pleaded with them! explained it again and again. Lived my life in a more perfect manner...
I cried all the time for my non-Christian family... friends... prayed quietly while driving for each person. Cried for Catholics, for Muslims, for anyone that I was told was still outside God's grace... even other denominations that were "liberal" and headed to hell.
Fuck it. I'm done being nice. I laid out my case to cooperate and join together on human rights. But that's not a statement of weakness. That's a statement that says "you better come together on human rights, because if you don't, you are an enemy."
So evangelical Christians, let me lay out my direct statements, minus any fucks given.
1. Don't tell my kids they are going to hell. I will not allow them to hate themselves because of this literal bullshit
2. Don't touch LGBTQ rights or you will lose all your influence (justifiably so)
3. Don't take away a women's right to make their own decisions regarding their body, keep the fuck away from legislation that discusses contraception.
4. Don't tell me I need to support Israel because it fulfills some end-times prophecy so you can get to the rapture quicker
5. Don't tell me we are a Christian nation founded on the bible. You know its not true. You know most founders were deists. You know there's a separation for a reason and you know we are owe most of our modern law code to Great Britain.
6. Don't go into other countries with the guise of giving aid just to force a bible on someone and tell them the good news they are going to hell. I will give my money to NGO's with secular visions.
7. Don't tell me we can't restrict gun ownership because of some "Republican-Jesus-Rambo" bullshit. Let's get laws out there that make sense.
8. Don't tell my kids that one particular Iron/Bronze age origin story belongs in a freaking science class.
9. Don't fight against Climate Change laws because you feel like the world is going to end and this won't be a problem. Fine, drink the Kool-Aid and get out of here so we can change the course of man-made climate change.
10. Don't tell me I have no moral compass when the bible is not a paragon of morality... need I say more?
And finally, don't tell me my depression is because of sin. I'll send you my therapy bills.
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