I figure I have some friends who, since I post my blogs on Facebook, might wonder why I'm not a Christian since I used to claim to be one. For one thing, everyone in my hometown was Christian and it wasn't so much an issue of being afraid to say I'm atheist, but that Christianity was all I knew or rather, the Christianity I grew up with in my church and my mom's family, is the only Christianity I knew. Lucky for me, I wasn't raised with Hell fire and brimstone, but with values of forgiveness, love, and social justice. I'll come back to that in a bit though. After several years of questioning and dancing around the issue, I realized that I was indeed an atheist and that there was no point in keeping up the charade (for the most part...I haven't told my family, nor do I see a reason to. It's more trouble than it's worth on my part).
First, I never even questioned it until I was in college. It just never occurred to me. If someone claimed something that I disagreed with, I more or less decided that they just didn't know what they were talking about. A little arrogant, perhaps, but I've always had confidence in my ability to reason and understand things. I can't know what goes through other people's heads, so my own abilities and knowledge were the only things I had to go on. I also took Christianity as more of a philosophy or a way of living than religion which brings me to my next point, the nature of belief.
I had no idea what it meant to believe in something. I literally did not understand belief. Then I saw Jesus Camp. That was the first time I'd ever seen true belief. That isn't to say that the people I knew growing up didn't truly believe, but I was raised in a church and family that encouraged questioning. I was encouraged to think. At no point was I ever expected to accept something that didn't make sense. I just assumed that everyone thought like I did. I realize that not all Christians are like the people in Jesus Camp, but those who are the loudest and proudest in the media right now are. Those are the people we're dealing with. They have been indoctrinated and brainwashed. They know that if they question what they've been told that they may be shunned completely by their communities. That's a difficult thing to face. I never faced that and I didn't know that sort of thing existed (Honestly. I grew up outside of a small town with no cable and no internet. If there were people of that persuasion around, I didn't know them or they kept it hidden). After seeing what true belief meant, I realized that I'm not capable of it. I'm just not hardwired for belief.
Third, my questions actually started within Christianity itself. I questioned things I was taught and I accepted the most reasonable conclusion I came to and I accepted those answers as a part of my Christianity. For example, one of the biggest questions I had was about the condemnation of Judas Iscariot. If Christ had to die in order for Christianity to exist, I didn't understand why Judas would be condemned to hell for betrayal. To this day, that makes no sense. Even considering that he committed suicide (a topic never covered in my church), it still didn't make sense because of the idea of the greater good. If he was sorrowful for his friend's death, which by god's own prophecy at the time had to happen, then surely god would forgive him. Then I came across other ideas about Christ's arrest. One idea I came across was that Jesus asked Judas to turn him in because he had an in with the Jewish authorities. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar, which made Judas more human and I think painted him in a more sympathetic light (I mean, Carl Anderson was awesome). I also had issues with the idea of Satan. If god is both omnipotent and omniscient, the why in the hell would anyone, especially his right hand man, er, angel lead a revolution against him? If your opponent knows your coming and is all powerful, you're going to lose. Period. So either the story of Satan is wrong or the image of god is wrong. I also remember watching a Dateline special at Easter that questioned some of the events of the Bible. Does it matter if Mary was a virgin or not? Does it change Christ's message? Those were the questions I started with.
I also realized that a person's religion has more to do with geography than god. Christians are Christian because they are born in Christian households and most likely, in predominately Christian communities. If the community isn't predominantly Christian, then the religion is most likely accepted. I would imagine that it is exceedingly rare for a Christian to be born in a place that it is unacceptable to be a Christian, compared to the membership as a whole. I also don't believe that there are very many 'born again' Christians or converts who were raised without Christianity or religion in their lives. Even if their parents weren't religious or were members of a different religion, Christianity is still around, especially in the US. There are churches everywhere. Our politicians are very outwardly religious (they won't get elected otherwise). Religion is on tv, on the radio, online, especially social media sites where a person can easily see what their friends believe. If you're born in Iran, you're Muslim. If you're born in India, you are most likely Hindu. In Israel, you're most likely Jewish or Muslim, if your parents are Palestinian; there's a chance you'll be Christian, but you probably won't follow Shintoism or Buddhism. If you are born in Greece, you'll most likely be Christian, but you won't be Baptist or Catholic. You'll be Greek Orthodox. This is an undeniable fact. Most theists are born into theist families and they most often stay in the religion they were raised in.
The final factor for me was the religionizing (because I can't think of a real word to describe it) of American politics, particularly after Bush the second took office in 2001. I doubt I really need to elaborate on that too much. Unless you live under a rock, you know. I will say that the use of scripture to deny people legal rights in this country has gotten out of control and needs to be stopped. The Constitution is the governing document of this country. Period.
Admitting to myself that I was an atheist was liberating. God is an oppressive idea and that idea is used to oppress people who are too afraid to question what they are told for fear of being shunned by their communities or of going to hell. God was bad for my psyche. I'm prone to guilt and disappointment in myself without the added pressure of a god. I also don't need god to be a good person.
First, I never even questioned it until I was in college. It just never occurred to me. If someone claimed something that I disagreed with, I more or less decided that they just didn't know what they were talking about. A little arrogant, perhaps, but I've always had confidence in my ability to reason and understand things. I can't know what goes through other people's heads, so my own abilities and knowledge were the only things I had to go on. I also took Christianity as more of a philosophy or a way of living than religion which brings me to my next point, the nature of belief.
I had no idea what it meant to believe in something. I literally did not understand belief. Then I saw Jesus Camp. That was the first time I'd ever seen true belief. That isn't to say that the people I knew growing up didn't truly believe, but I was raised in a church and family that encouraged questioning. I was encouraged to think. At no point was I ever expected to accept something that didn't make sense. I just assumed that everyone thought like I did. I realize that not all Christians are like the people in Jesus Camp, but those who are the loudest and proudest in the media right now are. Those are the people we're dealing with. They have been indoctrinated and brainwashed. They know that if they question what they've been told that they may be shunned completely by their communities. That's a difficult thing to face. I never faced that and I didn't know that sort of thing existed (Honestly. I grew up outside of a small town with no cable and no internet. If there were people of that persuasion around, I didn't know them or they kept it hidden). After seeing what true belief meant, I realized that I'm not capable of it. I'm just not hardwired for belief.
Third, my questions actually started within Christianity itself. I questioned things I was taught and I accepted the most reasonable conclusion I came to and I accepted those answers as a part of my Christianity. For example, one of the biggest questions I had was about the condemnation of Judas Iscariot. If Christ had to die in order for Christianity to exist, I didn't understand why Judas would be condemned to hell for betrayal. To this day, that makes no sense. Even considering that he committed suicide (a topic never covered in my church), it still didn't make sense because of the idea of the greater good. If he was sorrowful for his friend's death, which by god's own prophecy at the time had to happen, then surely god would forgive him. Then I came across other ideas about Christ's arrest. One idea I came across was that Jesus asked Judas to turn him in because he had an in with the Jewish authorities. I saw Jesus Christ Superstar, which made Judas more human and I think painted him in a more sympathetic light (I mean, Carl Anderson was awesome). I also had issues with the idea of Satan. If god is both omnipotent and omniscient, the why in the hell would anyone, especially his right hand man, er, angel lead a revolution against him? If your opponent knows your coming and is all powerful, you're going to lose. Period. So either the story of Satan is wrong or the image of god is wrong. I also remember watching a Dateline special at Easter that questioned some of the events of the Bible. Does it matter if Mary was a virgin or not? Does it change Christ's message? Those were the questions I started with.
I also realized that a person's religion has more to do with geography than god. Christians are Christian because they are born in Christian households and most likely, in predominately Christian communities. If the community isn't predominantly Christian, then the religion is most likely accepted. I would imagine that it is exceedingly rare for a Christian to be born in a place that it is unacceptable to be a Christian, compared to the membership as a whole. I also don't believe that there are very many 'born again' Christians or converts who were raised without Christianity or religion in their lives. Even if their parents weren't religious or were members of a different religion, Christianity is still around, especially in the US. There are churches everywhere. Our politicians are very outwardly religious (they won't get elected otherwise). Religion is on tv, on the radio, online, especially social media sites where a person can easily see what their friends believe. If you're born in Iran, you're Muslim. If you're born in India, you are most likely Hindu. In Israel, you're most likely Jewish or Muslim, if your parents are Palestinian; there's a chance you'll be Christian, but you probably won't follow Shintoism or Buddhism. If you are born in Greece, you'll most likely be Christian, but you won't be Baptist or Catholic. You'll be Greek Orthodox. This is an undeniable fact. Most theists are born into theist families and they most often stay in the religion they were raised in.
The final factor for me was the religionizing (because I can't think of a real word to describe it) of American politics, particularly after Bush the second took office in 2001. I doubt I really need to elaborate on that too much. Unless you live under a rock, you know. I will say that the use of scripture to deny people legal rights in this country has gotten out of control and needs to be stopped. The Constitution is the governing document of this country. Period.
Admitting to myself that I was an atheist was liberating. God is an oppressive idea and that idea is used to oppress people who are too afraid to question what they are told for fear of being shunned by their communities or of going to hell. God was bad for my psyche. I'm prone to guilt and disappointment in myself without the added pressure of a god. I also don't need god to be a good person.
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