The Cross endorsed a barbaric practice

By Michael Runyan ~

Christians luxuriate in the romantic idea that Jesus died on the cross as a way to vicariously accept the penalty for their sins, thus providing them access to heaven. What is commonly overlooked is that by accepting this theology one is by default acquiescing to the legitimacy of the ancient practice of killing innocent animals as a means to gain propitiation from the gods. The Cross blatantly continued a theme that no longer makes sense nor meets modern moral or ethical standards.

In other words, to be a Christian and also be consistent, you have to agree that at one time God ordered or accepted the sacrifice of animals as the principal method for forgiving human sin. After all, Jesus was the ultimate ‘animal sacrifice’ that obviated the need to continue the practice going forward. It would seem far more likely that the idea of sacrificing animals to appease the gods originated in human rather than divine minds (and indeed this practice preceded biblical times). Thus, the central dogma of Christianity is mired in this same primitive conceptualization -- one that lets us know that it, too, is a product of human minds.

Christianity could have escaped this embarrassing problem by getting rid of the crucifixion, it wasn’t needed. Instead, separate itself from the idea of sacrificing innocent life. End the gospel as follows:

When Jesus had finished his meal, he looked upon his disciples with compassion and said, ‘My mission is now at an end and I will return to my father. Go now and spread the words that I have spoken. Those who heed my words will receive great reward in the life to come.’ With that, Jesus
suddenly became invisible and the disciples were left bewildered, but yet emboldened to spread the word to the rest of the world.

This would have solved two problems: getting rid of the ridiculous idea of killing innocent life to forgive the guilty and eliminating the dogma that what a person believes is more important than what they do.

With These Thoughts I Leave You Part 1

By Carl S ~

If a country is “Under God,” the citizens of that country will never be truly free. Not as long as its citizens accept that slogan and “everyone trusts in that god. As long as “the will of God” justifies those who make the legal decisions imposed on its citizens, they are not free. And they are not free to the extent they continue to remain “God-ly.” A murderer's defense based on a claim of, “God told me to do it, and we can't disobey God, can we?” is no different from any other made in history to justify an immoral act. In any court of law. And, “God commanded me,” is unacceptable by law, since, without presence, “God” is not evidence but “hearsay.” “God” is the emperor’s new clothes.

Since “supernatural beings” are accepted by a jury as fact, then they must deal with the defendant's claim to justifiable homicide, since “God” commanded the criminal action. The jury looks to the judge. On the wall behind the judge, in dominant letters for all to see, are the words, “In God We Trust.” The jury is persuaded to free murderers based on a belief individuals can't be found guilty if they sincerely believe they are acting on orders from higher powers. It's the sincere Abraham and Noah defense for committing or permitting murder and every other immoral act. It is the same historical defense for all anti-human decisions made “in God's name.” Being under God is being under the choices of those who accept superstitious belief in the god as unchallengeable by all citizens.

Since true believers believe in “God,” and “Satan,” if they're told to do something evil, how can they know if that comes from “God” or “Satan?” They don't. What if their Satan was ordering the denial of legal rights and lives to citizens? If “God's ends” justify the means, what are the limits of following “his orders” in their heads, if not in deaths and incarceration? This inquiry raises a question. Does God = Satan? Should the jury listen to “agents of God” who insist no human has the right to challenge their “God told me to do it” tradition, or must it decide using moral and legal guidelines?

Next: World War I commentator: “Each country prayed to the same God for victory.” Lincoln made the same observation regarding both sides in the Civil War. All Christian nations in WWII prayed to the same God for victory. Add six million Jews. Gypsies, gays, political dissidents, etc., made five million more. So, 11 million victims there alone prayed to the same God for deliverance. Just think about the power of all those prayers! Christians explain it this way: “Well, sometimes God's answer is “No!” As Anatole France noticed: “The impotence of God is infinite.”

You got “faith” as a gift. You didn't ask for it, but that's the way it went down. The givers might have hung around to make sure you were using and taking care of it. You noticed after a while, it not only didn't work for you; it didn't work for them either. They just didn't notice it. The givers meant well. “We just couldn't live without it.” They didn't own it; it owned them. Go figure this: people who wouldn't dream of telling you to drink the booze they enjoy have no problem telling you that you must accept beliefs they enjoy, or you'll be punished. My own in-laws and a few friends are still using that “gift.” Although I may respect and appreciate them, I sure don't want to be like them in that way.

11 million victims [...] prayed to the same God for deliverance. Just think about the power of all those prayers! Christians explain it this way: “Well, sometimes God's answer is “No!” As Anatole France noticed: “The impotence of God is infinite.”Those “eternal” faiths are obsolete. They're the eight tracks of the digital age. Do televangelists travel by oxen driven carts? Those vehicles and their times are where there morality comes from. Churches have to keep adapting core dogmas by using hyper emotion-stirring entertainment. Faith is down to the nitty-gritty of what it's always been about: feeling. Hell, anyone can have great feelings in living with real people, not fantasies. Most humans live well without the Christian “gift.” Many billions of happily unsaved people on this planet don't accept Jesus as a god.

If you ever had an old car that kept breaking down, you eventually realized putting out more effort and money to keep it running until the next breakdown wasn't worth it. That goes for faith. You're told to persist in having faith in faith and eventually you won't have a problem! Oh yeah, sure. Uh-huh. If a chimpanzee repeatedly tries to fit a square peg into a triangular shaped hole, everyone laughs at the chimp. We can relate to its frustration. Ah, but faith is different! Faith teachers tell us, when a human can't fit a comparable square of belief into the triangular shaped opening of reality, then blame the person or the reality for the un-fit, not the faith square peg!

Where did my primary family's faith come from? From their countries of origin, my grandparents brought the historical infection of faith, those traditions of repudiating thinking and questioning. Included in their faith-baggage was the subjugation of women, the belief in blacks as inferiors, gays as perversions of nature, Jews as sneaky exploiters, and the beating of children. These they gifted to my parents. By the time the gifts came to my one remaining brother and me, they died “not with a bang, but a whimper.”

Religious beliefs have been in the cold case unsolved files for thousands of years. It's time to shred those files for good. All the actors and the “revelations” (to them alone), if any of “them” really existed, are long dead and their visions irrelevant to our times. Christianity's a death cult. It teaches one man's death was the only meaning for his life. As a wise Jewish man said recently: Christianity says this man will return to Earth for a second time when he wasn't here a first time.

Losing my religion

By Free Unicorn ~

I've been rummaging through the internet trying to look for answers to my questions and I'm so glad my quest brought me to this platform. I'm currently going through my deconstruction. I didn't even know the meaning of deconstruction from Christianity until I saw a post by the famous Joshua Harris who is no longer Christian. Here's my background. I'm from Kenya, Africa. Around here, religion is literally the foundation of everything - we are a very religious group of people is what I'm trying to say. So, of course, I wouldn't know who to share this with because I know how it would be received. My story is probably all over the place here but please understand that this is the first time I'm trying to gather my thoughts and explain my process.

I grew up in an incredibly religious home - born and bred in the Anglican church. We hosted missionaries and church people in our home and I even went on missions at a very young age. My mom is "Super Saved" and I remember watching her worship and praise around the house when I was younger. Needless to say, children learn by observation because that's who I became. My parents told me when I was about nine years old that I saw Jesus in the living room - all dressed up in a white robe, a sling bag, and a shepherd stick - oh and he was Caucasian with long darkish brown hair. Now that I look back, I think I was watching the tape of "Jesus of Nazareth" way too many times and it's only normal that I thought I saw him in the room. Christianity was not forced down my throat through threats and consequences unlike in other African homes but I can see how I was indoctrinated into it. I went to boarding Christian schools and I served in the church section in them - as an usher, a worship team member and a High table servant (serving Holy Communion). I was the Jesus Freak, straight A-Student, and the most obedient child. I did everything right, according to the Bible and to my parents. I carried that into University although I 'backslid' for a while then, of course, got saved again and baptized. I started a blog where I documented my relationship with Christ and it opened up doors for me on TV and radio - I also connected with many people who said my writing encouraged them. I was the model Christian girl and I thought I had my shit together!

To backtrack a little bit, my parents have a very dysfunctional marriage. I discovered my dad was cheating when I was barely thirteen - Literally bumping into text messages from other women on his phone. I guess he forgot that they were there. My dad had always been my hero and we were a perfect family from the outside looking in so when I saw the messages I was confused and I told my mom about it. She told him that I knew and life has never been the same again. He radically changed as if he was waiting for a trigger to show us who he had always been. My mom has since defended him and his actions claiming that he's under the devil's spell and other women have bewitched him. I have heard that story retold my entire life until today - like a broken record.

Over the years as things got worse, I urged her to divorce him but she said she stayed because of me (I'm the only child) - this is common in many homes where the woman stays in her marriage for the sake of the children. So I completed University and got a good job and I told her she could leave now since I was no longer under the custody or mercy of my dad and again she held on to the witchcraft story. Even worse, claiming that God hates divorce and that she's fighting for her marriage. Honestly, I believed her until it no longer made sense to me just recently. How can a good God not want you to be happy your whole life? Is it more important to protect a command at the expense of your own life? I don't remember a day where my mom has been fully happy - She's either always depressed or anxious and worried about something and she spends a lot of her time in church. She did everything by the book - waited until marriage for the one (my dad was an evangelist then), submitted and served her husband, literally gave up her life to serve God, Tithed and Sowed seeds of faith over the years for doors to open and many other things. The disconnect for me came in when I couldn't understand why her beliefs tied her to unhappiness and misery and because the bible says so, we were under no circumstance to question the suffering. Was I missing something?

Christians really glorify and romanticize suffering if you ask me. Where does rationality step in and religious fanaticism stop? I was angry that Christianity had depraved my mother of so many things simply because "It is written". This would be a very emotional reason to drop a whole religion and I didn't want it to be but it sure was the start of my questioning but I didn't dare entertain thoughts like that at the time and this led me to depression.

I was having a conversation with my best friend when she told me she wasn't sure she believed in the Bible anymore and the whole waiting 'till marriage to have sex. Of course, I was so triggered and I almost got defensive about my faith and purity until I realized that I had nothing to say that would justify anything I believed in. At first, I felt like I was going crazy. How do you even begin to question God Or His perfect will for your life and that of your family? I felt guilty for it because I was the last person I'd expect to ever think of such things. I was all Jesus or nothing at all. My social media was godly and super saved. I listened to sermons, Christian radio and read christian books. I never entertained the thought of secularism especially sex before marriage. I believed fornication would definitely lead to a broken marriage. I was celibate and hard on my ex-boyfriend because apparently he wasn't doing a very great job of leading me to Christ - The Christian phrase for it would be, "I did not trust his leadership" Poor Man! Also, no kissing or any form of intimacy until marriage - I wouldn't even entertain any talk about intimacy because it was unholy and would definitely lead to sex. He was addicted to porn and masturbation and as the very holy Christian girl that I was, I left him because of the sin he allowed in his life.

Looking back, some of my decisions and beliefs were plain stupid. When the author of "I kissed dating goodbye" apologized for the detrimental effects of his radical views on purity, I understood how harmful it had been to my own life. We're taught to suppress all these emotions and natural desires in a way that makes us believe that our bodies are the devil. My then-boyfriend was a virgin so I think porn and masturbation was the only way he could release all his sexual feelings, because he was too afraid to have sex.

I think the church does not do a very good job with the purity message. The expectations built in us eventually end in disappointment because we are told to wait for the one God has for us - s/he will be God-fearing, full of the Holy Spirit, you'll share in the same vision and joy of salvation and a lot of other BS characteristics. Give it to these Instagram picture-perfect Christian couples to sell this idea that if you do things the right way then you are bound to find the perfect partner. And I held my exes on that same unfair standard - If you didn't remind me of Christ then well, Boy Bye!

Where does rationality step in and religious fanaticism stop?Now that I'm deconstructing, I am more open-minded and welcoming of other people regardless of their religion, background or sexual identity. I'm from Africa so reading about how Christianity was used to brainwash and destroy my ancestors has been very hard to accept. It was used as a form of mind control and I can bet you that Africans are more religious than anyone you'll meet. What we were taught in History class and what I'm learning are very different things meaning that the system really never wants us to break free and use our brains.

I'm currently reading the book "Sapiens" by Yuval Noah and it's giving me perspective on who we are as humans and where we came from. Of course, evolution is considered a lie from the pits of hell in Christian circles but It now makes the utmost sense to me compared to the story of Creation in Genesis.

From the outside looking in, the whole Christian charade is absurd - the myths and legends are completely absurd with little to no evidence of their occurrence. Correct me if my reasoning is flawed but if Christ came to abolish the law why then must we continue to live by it so much so if we don't, we'll end up in hell for it? It all looks very legalistic to me and most of it is to sell fear and limit people. Why do we need saving as humans? If God loved us so much why would death be the only option for him to save us? This whole saving concept confines us and makes us think that we will never be good enough on our own and that's how we end up not living our lives to the maximum. We only have a few decades on this planet and living in fear of burning eternally and actually living is not an ideal way to spend our lives. Christians are some of the meanest people around - don't even get me started on the hypocrisy.

I guess I got tired of trying to be the perfect Christian because I just could never be no matter how hard I tried. I'm still ironing out my thoughts and I'm definitely gracing myself until I come to a conclusive answer of what I believe in but I definitely do not identify as Christian anymore. This process started with me questioning why my mom is unhappy under her Christian umbrella but it's led me to this space where I'm actually opening my eyes to the reality of things and I have no regrets.

No More Fear

By Colin ~

I live in England and since my late teens have been believing in Christ. I recently turned 61 now and I can see that I’ve been fooled. I am or have been angry with myself and with the preachers and the church.

I grew up around the Jesus "One Way" movement, including "Spree 73" with Billy Graham, Johnny Cash and Cliff Richard. I must say I am somewhat thankful that my whole heart and soul was not 100% into all this over all the intervening years, though for the last 18 years I have been a devoted believer.

I lost my mum recently. She had a real shit couple of years before she passed away with numerous medical conditions. In and out of hospitals constantly, though I regularly prayed for her to get better. My bigger, much larger concern was for mum to be saved. After all, wasn’t this God's will? However, all the praying never changed a thing, not in healing or in becoming saved.

Then after my mum's funeral I was attending the evening service at Gadebridge Baptist Church singing "What a friend we have in Jesus," hearing that God – for the millionth – time loves me. (Here was another hymn that said I was among the scoffers that nailed Jesus to the cross.) The sermon that Jesus/god wants my all my praise. I’m grieving the nightmare in my head is the person that really really loved me (my mum) is in some Hell because God didn’t see fit to save her.

I’ve tuned into Andrew Wommack and Joyce Meyer over the years. I have gone to KT Temple in Kennington in London and listened to the sermons there (Colin Dye) more exciting that a Baptist Church.

I’ve brought into this and couldn’t understand how Isaiah 53 could be anything other than the prophesy about Jesus,

Listened to Andrew Wommack talk about how you just need faith. Alarm bells started going off with him when he was in Scotland and said not only was his son raised from the dead but now his wife also.

Joyce Meyer very very convincing but a multi millionaire. Every week I go to my local baptist church thinking I wished we were more like KT Temple or the Joyce Meyer people. So, so glad I wasn’t in an environment like that because I'd a be hurting more than I am now.

John Loftus, thank you for asking if  I fear the hell in Allah's world.

This writing of mine isn’t great, as I’m still upset, angry, grieving the loss of  God and my mum. But I'm not currently living in fear. I’ve great friends in the Christian world, but dunno what I’m going to talk about with them now. Friends outside the church? Can’t really talk about how I feel about the Bible and Christians, the church, "the truth..."  Me and my thoughts are a complete mind scrabble. My new horizons are life nature, Richard Dawkins, the Jurassic coast of England, that people’s sexuality is okay, what ever it is. Most people are okay.

We all look after ourselves, but most do care for others beyond just themselves.

Job Security

By Carl S ~

Suppose an original, unexpurgated, ancient scripture was discovered in the monastic library of EinsIedeln, Switzerland. Further on, let's say this fragment was authenticated by biblical and secular scholars as dating from 21 BCE. Let us follow then, the translation of this scripture:

“And Peter said unto the apostles, ‘Hear the word of the Lord. On the night before he died, Jesus spoke to me in the Garden of Gethsemane. Others, who pretended to be asleep, also heard his words. Jesus said, ‘I was wrong and Epicurus was right. This is the only life we will ever have. My talk of eternal life and the coming end of this world have been mistakes. Therefore, I adjure you, obey these my last commands. This is the Good News. Live this one life fully, to do no harm to others, and to love one another as I have loved you. This is the fulfillment of the law and my mission.’”

Any man who does not write his own words gives up control over what is attributed to him after he's dead. Paul was preaching a different interpretation of Jesus to the gentiles, with much success. He knew where the money was. Were they to preach what Jesus commanded, the wisdom of a pagan philosopher? So this was their problem: As his spokesmen, how could they throw away all they gained through living with him? They can't allow this. These, his final words, had to remain their secret.

Let's assume this really happened. What would have been the consequences if Jesus had changed his mind? (He might have, after all. No one else would hear of it.) Well, history would have unfurled much differently: there would be no persecutions and slaughters, no wars, over “faith,” and no “heretics” to torture and kill. Understanding the natural world and humanity's place in it through the observations of Epicurus would open up human minds, rather than cage them in blind orthodoxy. Think of the results if the Enlightenment began 1600 years ago. The Epicurean philosophy has been criticized as being selfish, but it can be extended to include all of humankind.

Originally, the mission of Jesus was for the Jews exclusively. But the Romans were ripe for the exotic religions with their mystical revelations, miracles, signs and omens. It was time for something really new, influenced as they were by exotic cultures in the empire. We observe such influences in our own times. That dusty Jew preaching heresy to faithful Jews was radical, but nothing special. Turning him into something he wasn't required some manipulation, so his becoming “Christ” was really different. Paul of Tarsus was a Roman citizen who emerged preaching of a man who conquered death, and offered a communal great society where everyone would live in harmony only when they agreed to believe what he said. It was a career with respect he wouldn't have gotten otherwise.

Long before James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Michael Jackson, Paul of Tarsus and his cronies realized that some people are worth more after they're dead than they were alive. They become idols, and eventually, representations, so they can be trademarked. If they're popular enough, those who claim to have personal, intimate, experiences with the celebrity, have no problem doing “tell-all’s,” even if what they say is not true, if they know what their audiences expect. Get enough people who want to believe, and hold on to the good stuff about the celebrities, and you can keep the money flowing in. And so began “Christianity,” Paul's creation. All religions begin with the “revelations” of single individuals.

Maybe the apostles came to realize there was something to be gained by sticking to those old statements of Jesus. They weren't living well with Jesus, but they didn't have to work, and they got used to it. Maybe they could do better? Knowing people already believed what they claimed Jesus preached, they might continue to add more, newly invented, “sayings of Jesus.” And as for explaining their “truths” through apologists; well, each person's interpretation of lies and fantasy is still lies and fantasy.

At any rate, they would be the authorities, improvising any beliefs they wanted without debate or opposition. Without constraints their words became “inerrant” texts. Now Paul and other con men (all prophets are salesmen), speaking in “Jesus' name,” can quote their words, and be “experts on the Truth!” Inerrancy guaranteed more jobs: conned disciples were required to explain the texts, to shovel the shit with absolute insistence the texts can't ever be wrong! It's been job security ever since.

Of course, everyone who's ever been employed understands there are secrets in the workplace, and the higher up the authority system, the more secrets there are. Some of those secrets might be little white lies or office scandals, but others may cover major human rights abuses.
I once worked for an outfit in California. One day the boss' wife asked me a question about verses in Judges 7:5, regarding separating individuals who lapped water from a stream from those who knelt and cupped it in their hands to drink. She wanted my input on the reason why the Lord preferred one kind of person over the other. She was expecting an answer that conformed with her faith. As a practical man, I answered, “It probably was related to a health issue.” Later on, staff members urged me, “You should apologize to her. She takes those verses seriously.” I said I was only being honest, so there was nothing to apologize for. Now I'm thinking how fortunate I was. The boss (in his 60's), and his sons and close aide, were all freethinkers, so this incident washed out with the tide. If they hadn't been, I might have been out of a job.

Back in my monastic days, scriptural and Christian commentaries were read during meals. Sometimes, there were historical missionary accounts. I remember those, “And the king (or lord) was converted and baptized, and all of his household.” This meant his servants had to be included. I was impressed. Now I think, Sure, that's the way it was, or else you'd lose your livelihood.

Paul was preaching a different interpretation of Jesus to the gentiles, with much success. When Henry VIII decided to dump the pope's power in England, he told the Catholic prelates either to become Protestant or face the consequences. They decided to reject the “One True Church founded by Christ, with his successor to St. Peter, the pope.” History records what happened next, most noted, the execution of Thomas Moore, who also lost the support for his family and servants with his decision. How many of those “converted ones” over two thousand years were people who'd lose their livelihood or lives if they didn't convert? How many of those glorious cathedrals, were built by people who could find no other employment? Millions of human beings have been forced into the position of “believe or else” lose your job, property (if you have any), or life?

How many secrets must clergy cover up in order to keep their jobs? Secrets like ignoring or eradicating scriptural texts and passages that might call authority into question? What about cover-ups of child abuse and rapes, pregnant nuns, burials of hundreds of out-of-wedlock babies? Millions of donated dollars to religions are used to keep pedophile rape victims from revealing secrets. Christian job security depends on keeping mouths shut. What about those who preach from pulpits and on the stages of megachurches, who don't believe in what they say? They would lose power and prestige in the community, and financial security, if they admitted it's all bullshit.

Thousands of clergy would be out of jobs if they openly changed their minds. Wouldn't it be worth it for the good of all? But we aren't dealing with what's good, but what prolongs the system. Meanwhile, why should the non-Christians and non-believers be forced to support them with taxes on our hard-earned wages? Exemptions for preaching?

People are talking on cell phones, using their tablets, accessing the internet 24/7. Up above Earth, there are no gods, no heaven, but there are satellites and a space station on which human beings live and work. Every day, new discoveries bring ever more to marvel at. But superstitions are still entrenched and even respected. Why? Maybe one reason has to do with tradition. Religions set up the original system for “Star Wars“ fantasy mass merchandising, and fantasy is a very lucrative market.

Who would have imagined that in the 21st century so many would be making their living by claiming to know what nobody knows?