I sincerely believe that the universe has been 'created' and I fully admit that this implies a belief in a 'creator', but I see little reason to believe that this creator is the God as described in the bible. If there is a God of any kind, then I imagine his purpose and nature would be far beyond our capabilities to understand and I see no evidence to suggest that we occupy any particularly special place in his/her/it's plans. Certainly I see no reason to believe to the contrary and it thus follows that the loving relationship Christians claim to enjoy with their God is, in fact, a delusion based upon our shared uncertainty regarding death. Few of us can bear to admit that everything we have worked for will eventually amount to nothing more than a soon forgotten corpse rotting in the ground, so we seek divine intervention to save us.
Perhaps we can best understand the Christian God if we look at the relationship that his followers claim to enjoy with him. Prayer is the main conduit of communication between the faithful and their God and they frequently refer to its power, both as a means of explaining and ignoring events. When, for instance, it is felt that a prayer has been answered, they praise God for his love and mercy. When, however, a prayer is NOT answered they still praise God for his love and mercy and believe that his failure to answer is either their own fault or an indication of God's hidden purpose. When taken to the extreme this belief can manifest itself by the total acceptance of even the most devastating of events.
A fine example of this delusion can be seen if we look at the horrifying case of Larry and Lucky Parker and their unfortunate son, Wesley. This American (where else) family's story would be laughable were it not true. With the encouragement of their fellow Christians, Larry and Lucky turned their backs on conventional medical treatments and instead prayed for Wesley to be cured of his serious diabetic condition. Predictably, Wesley died and his parents were tried and convicted of manslaughter and child abuse.
Whilst the death of Wesley is undoubtedly the most horrifying aspect of this story, it is by no means the most amazing to the rational mind. Even when faced with the incontrovertible truth of their son's demise, Larry and Lucky refused to have their faith shaken and went on to conduct a resurrection service rather than a funeral, both believing that Wesley would be raised from the dead, Jesus like, through the power of prayer.
Wesley stayed dead and didn't get any less dead as time went on. His parents, however, became a little less dead between the ears and in 1980 their book, We Let Our Son Die, was published.
If there is a Christian God then surely his followers must be right in their belief that he answers their prayers. If there is no Christian God then prayer is unlikely to have any observable effect upon events. I therefore challenge anyone reading this to present evidence which proves to me that people who have been prayed for and/or who have faith enjoy any greater fortune, either physical or material, than those who pass through life's veil of tears Godless. Do Christians die at a greater age than the rest of us? Do they suffer less illnesses and misfortunes than the rest of us? No! Death and misfortune come to us all with equal ferocity and our only protection is luck.
Christians claim to be full of love and mercy for their fellow man, but history reveals a different story. Can we afford to ignore the atrocities of the past when thousands and thousands of people were killed in the name of Jesus?
I truly believe in the inherent evil of many Christians and their capacity to provoke and/or carry out acts of terrible wickedness in the name of their faith. On balance, I believe that there is more evil carried out in the name of Christianity than there is goodness and that belief is what makes me take sides against the mainstream Christian church. By way of example I can only refer people to the Christian chat rooms on AOL, especially the American ones. There you will find Christianity at it's savage and judgmental worst with people who do not rejoice in the promise of salvation so much as delight in the hope of damnation for those who are not "saved".
In times gone by Christianity may have had some real purpose, but it lost it years ago during the industrial revolution. As society has moved on, so the churches of the world have largely tried to stay behind in the dark days of superstition and fear. As such, I see their role as that of the oppressor, desperately trying to regain their strangle hold on our hearts and our behavior. If the church (especially the Catholic church) did regain its power, it would quickly revert to fundamentalism and enforce it with the same level of ruthlessness that they used in the past.
There are only two types of Christian: Those who would instigate modern day Salem witch trials and those who would stand by and watch it happen. There are Christians today who openly defend the idea of killing people that disagree with them AND claim that it would be God's work to so do. By way of example, ask any Christian about 1 Kings 18:40, where Elijah kills 450 people in the name of God, and see how they justify it. Then consider the dangerous and evil members of the Christian right in America who have taken control of the most powerful country on earth. These powerful and influential Americans are killers in waiting, men who would not look out of place in jackboots.
Contrary to what many people may think or assume, I am not an ex-Christian who has some axe to grind against the church. I have never been baptized and, other than one family wedding and a couple of funerals, my parents never on even one occasion took me to church. I can honestly claim, because the subject rarely comes up in casual conversation, that I had little or no contact with Christians, or people of any other faith for that matter, until very recently. My beliefs are a direct result of the nausea I instinctively feel when reading most religious works and my love of personal freedom.
It is my personal belief that we, as human beings, have a duty to future generations to extend our fields of knowledge, but to do so in a spirit of love and compassion for our fellow men. Centuries ago Christianity was the only light in a dark world. Now man should learn to follow the light in his own heart without resorting to mumbo jumbo.
Coming soon!
© Religious Truth 2001