Why am I critical?
I posted the following meme on Facebook this morning and it drew quite the discussion, as have others recently. The discussion turned to why I'm often critical of Christianity.
So, why am I critical? Bad ideas. I'm critical of what I find to be bad ideas. Especially bad ideas I once embraced that cost me so much and I found to be hugely damaging. I'm critical of bad ideas that I find damaging to others and I advocate their reconsideration.
But criticizing Christianity as a whole is too broad. I have many friends who practice various forms, hold disparate views and by no means find all of their views completely devoid of good fruit. But I definitely take strong positions against the form I was taught. What are some of those elements?
The notion that we should not rely upon our own understanding is chief among them. Somehow we're supposed to divine the mind of God and rely upon an intelligence outside of us. This cost me hugely. For much of my life, I pushed all-in, abandoned my education and life experience and saw everything as a "sign from God", that I was supposed to "let go and let God", and trust in that faith. That was just dumb, yet I did it, over and over again with predictably bad results.
But this wasn't the catalyst for the post. My observations in recent years regarding Conservative religion and politics has led me to find that many of the policies that lead to war, poverty, and injustice of all sorts are very often advocated by those who claim the same belief system I abandoned. I find it hugely contradictory that people claiming to be led by an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful Holy Sprit, father God and Jesus (that they claim knowledge of and experience in) advocate things so completely destructive to humanity, our fellow inhabitants, and our habitat. In the end, I don't care what they believe, only how they behave, but the common thread of their religious beliefs cannot be ignored. Something's wrong when the fruit is so bad. If there's anything good to be plucked from the books they hold sacred, surely these good things are contrary to these destructive policies. If they have their way, there will be a self-fulling prophesy of the end of the Earth as we know it.
I find it to be a very bad idea to teach a child that they are born completely depraved due to Original Sin, due to a challenge setup by this same God, where a rib ate an apple after being swayed by a convincing argument by a talking snake, thereby plummeting all of humanity into eternal damnation unless they accept the narrative that the same God impregnated a teenaged virgin with himself, so that he could be born to be later sacrificed to Himself as a price for the Original Sin He allowed, that was outside of the child's control. I find this tantamount to child abuse, but I also accept the right of individuals to believe what they want and raise their children in that tradition if they so choose. I would prefer children be exposed to such mythology once they reach the age of reason and make up their own minds regarding evidence, but that's just me, Mr. Vegas.
I find it to be a very bad idea to force religion into government and public schools, especially as science. Religious beliefs and teachings belong in church and private venues, not forced upon individuals who do not share a particular faith.
I find it to be a very bad idea to deny equal protection of the law to people of different sexual orientation.
The list goes on and on. The following is just a short list of things I find Conservatives Christians have been on the wrong side of (taken from Salon: http://www.salon.com/2013/11/09/10_things_conservative_christians_got_horribly_wrong_partner/)
So, why am I critical? Bad ideas. I'm critical of what I find to be bad ideas. Especially bad ideas I once embraced that cost me so much and I found to be hugely damaging. I'm critical of bad ideas that I find damaging to others and I advocate their reconsideration.
But criticizing Christianity as a whole is too broad. I have many friends who practice various forms, hold disparate views and by no means find all of their views completely devoid of good fruit. But I definitely take strong positions against the form I was taught. What are some of those elements?
The notion that we should not rely upon our own understanding is chief among them. Somehow we're supposed to divine the mind of God and rely upon an intelligence outside of us. This cost me hugely. For much of my life, I pushed all-in, abandoned my education and life experience and saw everything as a "sign from God", that I was supposed to "let go and let God", and trust in that faith. That was just dumb, yet I did it, over and over again with predictably bad results.
But this wasn't the catalyst for the post. My observations in recent years regarding Conservative religion and politics has led me to find that many of the policies that lead to war, poverty, and injustice of all sorts are very often advocated by those who claim the same belief system I abandoned. I find it hugely contradictory that people claiming to be led by an all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful Holy Sprit, father God and Jesus (that they claim knowledge of and experience in) advocate things so completely destructive to humanity, our fellow inhabitants, and our habitat. In the end, I don't care what they believe, only how they behave, but the common thread of their religious beliefs cannot be ignored. Something's wrong when the fruit is so bad. If there's anything good to be plucked from the books they hold sacred, surely these good things are contrary to these destructive policies. If they have their way, there will be a self-fulling prophesy of the end of the Earth as we know it.
I find it to be a very bad idea to teach a child that they are born completely depraved due to Original Sin, due to a challenge setup by this same God, where a rib ate an apple after being swayed by a convincing argument by a talking snake, thereby plummeting all of humanity into eternal damnation unless they accept the narrative that the same God impregnated a teenaged virgin with himself, so that he could be born to be later sacrificed to Himself as a price for the Original Sin He allowed, that was outside of the child's control. I find this tantamount to child abuse, but I also accept the right of individuals to believe what they want and raise their children in that tradition if they so choose. I would prefer children be exposed to such mythology once they reach the age of reason and make up their own minds regarding evidence, but that's just me, Mr. Vegas.
I find it to be a very bad idea to force religion into government and public schools, especially as science. Religious beliefs and teachings belong in church and private venues, not forced upon individuals who do not share a particular faith.
I find it to be a very bad idea to deny equal protection of the law to people of different sexual orientation.
The list goes on and on. The following is just a short list of things I find Conservatives Christians have been on the wrong side of (taken from Salon: http://www.salon.com/2013/11/09/10_things_conservative_christians_got_horribly_wrong_partner/)
- Slavery
- Women's suffrage
- Evolution
- Pain relief for child birth
- Abortion
- Contraception
- Prohibition
- Segregation
- School prayer
- Marriage equality
Add to the list the current, completely absurd notions of corporations as people, money being free speech, campaign finance, denying improved benefits to veterans who fought their wars, tax cuts for the wealthy while cutting benefits for those most in need, all while funding their litany of pet projects, and you're left with a struggling society, declining middle class, growing poverty class, and an evermore privileged elite.
None of this means I dislike many of the people who hold these views, but I find it interesting how sensitive they are to having their ideas criticized. Hold your views, speak your piece. You're free to do so, as am I. You can remain assured I will. I served in the military in part to protect your right to hold whatever view you desire, but not your position that I must respect it or abide by it. I respect people who are worthy of it, according to me. I respect ideas supported by evidence that I find compelling, my reason and experience, not that of a Bronze Age collection of books and a theistic God I find no reason to believe in and certainly not ideas I find lacking or abhorrent.
OK...who wants pie?
Peace friends.
Comments
Post a Comment