Christians Beware: You are only 12 Questions away from being an atheist.
Creative Strategy #12: Ask the hard questions.
What is a cross?
It is a torture device. And it is a warning. Specifically, it was the punishment for sedition, and Christ’s cross was placed near the Town Gate, so that everyone could see how Rome dealt with enemies of the state.
How did a torture device become a symbol of Love?
The lamb lies down voluntarily? Christ lays down his life for us.
The ultimate sacrifice.
What is sacrifice?
It is an ancient practice usually involving killing of animals or people in order to appease an angry god. Blood magic.
How does that work, exactly?
I have not a fucking clue.
How many resurrections have you seen?
None. See? It isn’t that hard.
Why is cannibalism ok?
It’s only a metaphorical cannabalism.
Why is metaphorical cannabalism OK?
I have not a fucking clue.
What is sin?
I used to think it was black stuff like a stain. Anyway because of
this black stuff, we are punished. By threats of torture.
Why is hell a thing?
You mean: What psychopath creates an eternal torture chamber?
I have not a fucking clue.
How many miracles have you seen?
Me, too.
Why is the first commandment so Insecure?
“Honestly. I’m The God. Me. Nobody else.”
See what I mean? That was his first shot off the Mountain?
What if it is all a lie? Everything. All of it.
What if we don’t deserve eternal torture?
What if “the hot place” proved a very effective scary story to tell children.
And it got out of hand. When a religion runs out of ideas it says: Trust me.
The world isn’t burning. You are being punished for being bad. Why?
Because you are depraved. God fixed that: Killed his son. Wiped the slate clean.
How does that work exactly? Not important. You get eternity and happiness. And your enemies suffer eternally.
It does sound really stupid when you put it like that, doesn't it?
But it is a scary story. And scary stories can motivate scared people to do scary things—like mob the Capitol. Or worship a religion based on nonsensical blood magic. Or decree women control their bodies in only some states.
—Patrick O’Leary
We've talked about this recently, but here's where I find some core of a story worth keeping alive in my own reading of the choices that Jesus made with his crucifixion, Patrick. It won't really unravel any of your well landed points about sacrificial atonement, but it does provide me with something that I hang onto with some sense of hope. It boils down to just this -- No matter how we are treated, it's simply not worth our becoming the essence of hostility that we will quite likely be faced with from people who hate our embrace of the beatitudes. In the long run, in the greater scheme of things, maybe, just maybe, I can dream, with Martin, that there is a long arc of the moral universe bending toward justice. And if I pass, like a wisp, for that hope, it would be a help to the bending of that arc in a direction that I cherish, to have passed doing that hope no harm and instead having some peace in willing my own self and history to be a part of a bigger dream to which I aspire.
I grew up in the Methodist/United Methodist church where the pastor told us the Israelis did not deserve to get the land of Israel back because all the tribes disobeying God. Sounded reasonable to me, but my church requested a new pastor. My last church was a Missionary Baptist church, which was the far side of the UMC. That was 25 years ago. I don't belong to any church, because I think all churches should be paying taxes and churches/any religious organization who spreads hate should be paying out the whazoo for their hate speech about anyone and pay more to waste education time to abuse/and not treat learning any religious history like…history.