I understand that religion in general is a heated topic, and being as I live in a predominantly Christian nation, not a “Christian Nation” but one with a Christian majority, the agnostic position I take tends to be unpopular. But why must people come by and spout their religious nonsense to me?
First off, why do so many think that I have simply missed a verse of the Bible? If you are a Christian and reading this, would me giving you one line out of Origin of Species or anything by Carl Sagan convince you that there is no God? Then why do you assume that quoting a few lines out of the Bible will convince me the other way?
Believe it or not I’ve actually read a pretty good percentage of the Bible. Of course I haven’t read it all, nor do I intend to, but I believe I have read more of it than many people who consider themselves Christian. I know for a fact I’ve read more of it since leaving Christianity than I did while I was under the false assumption that the Christian God exists. But what’s really important is that I’ve read more sections than just what a pastor wants me to read.
More importantly I’ve studied parts of the Bible, and I don’t mean just reading the Strong’s notes on it. I have taken parts of the Bible and broken them down, looked up the historical significance, and done research on word origins and etymologies. What did I find? The Christian God is nothing more than another myth. Beyond that, I found that He is an abusive, sadistic god. Certainly not one that warrants my worship, or even my respect.
My assumption is that many people who are ex-Christians are in the same boat as me. They have read the Bible, gone to church, prayed, tithed, and talked to others about the “good news of Jesus”. Then one day it clicked that Jesus and the Christian God are nonsensical, much in the same way that it clicks for Christians that every other god that has ever come out of mens’ minds is nonsense.
So why do Christians feel the need to talk to me like it’s just a matter of me missing one or two lines, or a story, or a cliche, and that as soon as they tell me the story of their Great Aunt Edna who prayed for healing and her boil went away that I’m going to drop to my knees and be trapped back in to Christianity? Why are there so many comments on this almost unread blog with phrases like “God loves you” and little else? Why do I have to read comments like “just give it time, God will come in to your heart” and “don’t do anything rash”? It’s absurd.
Christians, I appreciate that your Bible, and by extension God, tells you that you are to go out to the world and be “fishers of men” bringing all of those that have never heard of Jesus to Him. But I’ve heard of Jesus, I’ve rejected Jesus, and I’m not the one to be trying to convert. That said, I actually enjoy the historical context of religion, all religion, and would love to discuss Christianity with you, or any religion for that matter, if you are willing to drop the cliches at the door and talk with an open mind.
