The hardest thing is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there's no cat to be found
Religion, like almost anything else, can be a force for good...or evil
I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow, it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.
Isaac Asimov
There is not enough love and goodness in the world to permit giving any of it away to imaginary beings.
Friedrich Nietzsche, Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits
I never set out to write this, but I’ve felt the need to set some things straight for a while now. Some people of faith may take offense at my message, as if I’m attacking their beliefs. I can assure anyone who might feel that way that I’m not seeking to attack or undermine anyone’s faith.
Anyone who’s read my writing for any length of time understands that I have strong feelings on the subject of religious faith, which I don’t think I need to lay out here. I’m an atheist/humanist, and I’ll leave it at that for the purpose of this newsletter.
I’ll start by saying that I neither hate religion nor disrespect those for whom religious faith is an integral part of their lives. Each of us chooses the rules of the road that guide our journey through life, and what works for me probably won’t work for you. As individuals with free will, we can determine what philosophy or faith tradition best meshes with how we wish to live. I would no more judge you for your choice than allow you to judge me for mine.
If your choice is honest and informs how you live your life, then good on you. Use that power for good, and the world will be better off for it.
I’ve always believed that most faith traditions, at their core, revolve around the same central philosophy- the desire to make the world a better, safer, kinder, and more compassionate place. That may be overly simplistic, but I think it hits most of the critical points.
Whatever path you choose, if you’re doing so from a place of honesty and integrity, I’ll assume you’re doing it for the right reason(s). I'm OK with anyone working to make the world a better place, regardless of the perspective that proceeds from. Lord knows we could use more people turning swords into plowshares.
I detest hypocrisy, in this case the use of one’s religious faith in the pursuit of temporal power. In America today, there’s far too much of what I call “Christofascism.” This is not the worship of Jesus Christ, nor is it the effort to live a Christ-like life. It’s a false, papered-over version of Christianity that represents the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the same way I’m a Premier League goalkeeper.
Christofascism puts America first and the worship of Jesus Christ second. It elevates Donald Trump as having been chosen by God to lead America. It preaches that, within America, there are certain inalienable “God-given” rights- chief among them the right to own a gun.
Christofascism elevates the 2nd Amendment to holy writ. It is nothing of the sort.
So, no, I don’t hate Christians or Christianity. I detest
hypocrisy and those who’d use Christofascism to destroy the separation of Church and State
claims that America is a “Christian nation” (it IS a nation where you’re free to be a Christian if you choose that path)
assertions that the Founding Fathers intended for American governance to be Christian (this completely ignores the separation of Church and State)
the belief that Jesus Christ was White (and, for some, American)
hatred of those who aren’t White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexuals
the idea that Jesus Christ is a Conservative, hard-Right, anti-abortion, gun-loving Republican
Christofascists have a distressing tendency to project their prejudices and hatred onto their vision of Jesus. The Christ they worship is, in effect, a mirror image of themselves. Thus, they obtain validation for their beliefs and prejudice, and their “faith” becomes a self-gratifying, never-ending, self-sustaining circle.
I may be an atheist/humanist, but I remember enough of my Sunday School lessons to know that the Jesus Christ I was taught about stood for qualities like love, tolerance, acceptance, inclusion, compassion, peace…it’s a long list. The short version is that it was about making the world a kinder and more compassionate place.
That’s the version of Christianity I was taught. While I may not share the belief in a supreme being, I do believe in those qualities, and I still trust that they can create a better world. For some folks, their religious faith compels them to live Christ-like lives that mirror those qualities because that’s what Jesus taught. But people from other faith traditions can and will do the same for similar reasons.
I don’t care where you plant your feet or what your motivations are; if you’re endeavoring to make this world better, safer, kinder, and more compassionate, I’m on your side. We need more selfless souls like you. Whatever your faith tradition may be, you’re doing the right things for the right reasons, and that’s beautiful. There can never be enough of that in a world too often filled with tragedy, division, hatred, and senseless slaughter.
So, no, I don’t hate or disrespect Christians- or anyone who calls any faith tradition home. Could I do a better job of expressing my disdain for Christofascists and the impacts of their disgusting and irreligious hypocrisy? Absolutely. I could always do things better, and I’ll try to keep that in mind. Sometimes, my passion gets ahead of my typing fingers.
Sometimes I get a wee bit wound up (mea culpa). I’d ask that you consider what I’ve said here and keep in mind that I try to understand sensibilities on both sides of the divide. I have many people in my life who are committed Christians and whom I love and respect deeply. I recognize that their faith informs how they live their life, and if that works for them and helps them to be better, more fulfilled people…well, you go, gurl.
How could I not respect and admire that? They’re trying to be better people. What’s not to cherish about that?
I support anything that helps someone lead a better, more fulfilled life and leads them to work toward making this world a better place. It’s not like this rock is suffering from an oversupply of kindness, acceptance, and compassion these days. Every little bit helps.
Keep in mind that when I call out religious hypocrisy, it shouldn’t be taken to mean that I hate religion…or the religious. It should be taken to mean that I hate hypocrisy and the use of religion in the pursuit of temporal power.
Please excuse me as I step gingerly off my soapbox. I’ve already overstayed my welcome….
(All of my posts are now public. Any reader financial support will be considered pledges- support that’s greatly appreciated but not required to get to all of my work. I’ll trust my readers to determine if my work is worthy of their financial support and at what level. To those who do offer their support, thank you. It means more than you know.)
I really don't think you've ever had anything to apologize for on this subject. I've found you very careful and clear about what you believe and what it is that you object to.
The people who are raising a fuss are like the histrionic hypocrites who scream "all lives matter!" when they encounter a "Black Lives Matter" slogan. No matter how many times it is explained to these racist half-wits that it is not a zero-sum game where the only way one person can have their rights respected is if someone else's rights are degraded, they still assume that one cannot respect black lives except by denigrating other people.
It strikes me as much the same with supposedly religious people who delaminate whenever someone criticizes the grotesquely neo-fascist excesses of Christian Dominionism/Nationalism. It stands out even more starkly given how careful you've always been to contextualize and bracket the scope of your criticisms.
I too have been down this path of hypocrisy. Grandpa was a loving democratic reverend, but he left the gospel at the office. Grandma used to tell her three boys, “don’t play with that, you’ll make it sick.” Dad got fired from his job conducting the choir, because he did a jazzy version of some song at the Christian church. Apparently Jesus is atonal. So the Red Sea parted and we made an Exodus to the land of free thinkers, Atheism. So now we’re just guilt free hedonists. Amen!