By James Wilhelm ~
Who was it that said the best case against Christianity are Christians? If there’s any real value to Christianity in terms of helping humanity, why do so many Christians ruin it for so many others?
Having lived the Christian life, I came to know many sincere and devout Christians. However, when I lived that life, I was ignorant of how scant the evidence supporting the truth of any of its fundamental beliefs. Christians argue and twist history considerably, but in the end all that’s left for a their foundation is blind faith. There is nothing especially wrong with a life based on blind faith, but I don’t agree with taking advantage of people by insisting Christianity is "TRUE" when there is no real evidence supporting that belief.
So many believers don’t want to acknowledge that for every person who ends their struggle with the concept of Christianity and God by deciding they are “lost” and must accept Jesus as their “personal savior,” there are just as many (or more) honest and thoughtful people who struggle just as much and yet in the end conclude Christianity is not a realistic or workable way of relating to the world. And their experiences are just as sincere and valid as their any of their Christian peers.
Once we are able to get past the negative feelings from the experience of having been duped by Christianity (and I know many of those feelings are justifiable – and many of us have really been hurt), we should do what we can to show that we can rise above their mythology. We should resist the temptation to indulge in name calling and resentment and focus instead on logic, common sense, and actual human experience. In this way we can better demonstrate to them that one can live successfully without believing in the so-called absolute truths Christianity pretends to provide.
I already know right from wrong. That innate knowledge is part of being human. It protects me and you from each other’s biases. It’s internally wired into all of us by the Universe, not by religion. I also know there are lots of gray areas in life that none of us understand – including Christians. I just wish they would be willing to admit it.
Having lived the Christian life, I came to know many sincere and devout Christians. However, when I lived that life, I was ignorant of how scant the evidence supporting the truth of any of its fundamental beliefs. Christians argue and twist history considerably, but in the end all that’s left for a their foundation is blind faith. There is nothing especially wrong with a life based on blind faith, but I don’t agree with taking advantage of people by insisting Christianity is "TRUE" when there is no real evidence supporting that belief.
So many believers don’t want to acknowledge that for every person who ends their struggle with the concept of Christianity and God by deciding they are “lost” and must accept Jesus as their “personal savior,” there are just as many (or more) honest and thoughtful people who struggle just as much and yet in the end conclude Christianity is not a realistic or workable way of relating to the world. And their experiences are just as sincere and valid as their any of their Christian peers.
Once we are able to get past the negative feelings from the experience of having been duped by Christianity (and I know many of those feelings are justifiable – and many of us have really been hurt), we should do what we can to show that we can rise above their mythology. We should resist the temptation to indulge in name calling and resentment and focus instead on logic, common sense, and actual human experience. In this way we can better demonstrate to them that one can live successfully without believing in the so-called absolute truths Christianity pretends to provide.
I already know right from wrong. That innate knowledge is part of being human. It protects me and you from each other’s biases. It’s internally wired into all of us by the Universe, not by religion. I also know there are lots of gray areas in life that none of us understand – including Christians. I just wish they would be willing to admit it.
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