Saturday, January 5, 2008

thought of the day.10

Once the bible is accepted as “The Truth” its content ceases to matter. For the True Believer can reconcile every contradiction, justify every injustice, believe every absurdity, and make holy every horror.
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2 comments:

Janet Greene said...

This is what is so discouraging. I have spent many, many hours rehearsing debates with my evangelical pastor/father - and I always "win" the debate in my head! It's like I've been practicing for the greatest speech of my life - the one that will finally save my life. This might sound melodramatic, but I feel so oppressed by christianity, the thought that my parents believe in this stuff makes me feel sick and overwhelmed.

The problem is just as you said. No matter what I say, the horrors are spun and twisted to mean not what they say, but what christians THINK they say. Which makes me wonder - why would a perfect god choose to reveal himself ONLY in a book that is so hard to understand, it's like a code that only very few will be able to make out. Fortunately, just like the movie "a beautiful mind", the code that religious people work out so intricately is all in their heads.

But it makes it very hard for we atheists who love people who are christian. Our voices are silenced. If I speak about my beliefs, my parents will think I'm going to hell and start preaching intensely. Or we will end up in an argument - I do not want to argue with my elderly parents! This is the result of religion - I have no voice with them at all. My entire extended family, for the most part, is christian. I feel like an alien at family gatherings. I'm so grateful for my son, my sisters, nieces and nephews who have almost universally rejected the belief system of my parents (which is heartbreaking to them, however).

January 15, 2009 at 11:28 AM
john evans said...

The Crusades, the Inquistions, the burning of heretics and witches, the enabling of slavery, the oppression of women, the hindrance to science, the sexual abuse and the may wars are all well recognized crimes of the Church.

But my guess is the greatest suffering that can be attributed to Christianity never makes the history books or news casts. Stories like yours—stories of alienation, divided families, fear, confusion, pain.

When I hear how this ridiculous belief has hurt someone, and I hear it a lot from both Christians and ex-christians, it just really pisses me off and always re-energizes me, makes me recommit to doing all I can to lessen the hold of these toxic mind viruses on the world.

January 16, 2009 at 7:59 PM

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