Sometimes Christians hate people because they're non-Christian. Some Christians -- and I use Christians as an example here because I want to pick on a group I belong to -- use their beliefs as an excuse to treat other people like crap. Some Christians assume that everyone who believes in something else is deluded, amoral, or just plain hell-bound. None of these traits are inherent to Christianity -- they are traits of the individuals who express them, not the whole group.
Any belief, in the hands of the wrong person, can be turned against others. Even the belief that there is no God -- or the absence of belief that there is one -- has acquired a culture of its own. And that culture has developed into an "us vs them" dichotomy that defines itself by what it isn't. And in the wrong hands -- and I am not saying anyone here is "the wrong hands" -- atheism is sometimes used to belittle religion in general and (in this country) Christianity in particular.
Some atheists shake their heads in bemusement at Christians' "misguided" beliefs, our "superstitions." Some atheists think we must be either incredibly gullible or incredibly desperate for a "higher purpose" in our otherwise meaningless lives. Some atheists view participation in any religion as a sign of low intelligence or emotional frailty. And by declaring themselves decidedly "NOT," some atheists think they are above gullibility, desperation, foolishness, and frailty. One of my best friends (who describes herself as "agnostic on a good day") still sometimes displays an air of self-righteousness (if you'll pardon the phrase) with regard to her non-belief. My connection to my religion is a thing she Doesn't Get, therefore, at times, it is a thing she Doesn't Value.
Furthermore, Christians are often labeled as "right-wing," "intolerant," "close-minded," "gay-bashing," etc. Yet how many times have I heard my atheist friends disparage someone as a "fundamentalist wacko" because that person attends church on a weekly basis? Don't you think I get tired of hearing complaints about how "the Christians" are ruining this country? How many times have I tried not to argue with someone who makes the off-hand comment that Prop 8 failed because of "those gay-hating Christians?"
Oh, we don't mean you, they say. You're not a gay-hating Christian, you're one of the good ones. You're educated.
Right. Reminds me of when my grandmother talks about her African-American neighbors. "They're [redacted], but they're good [redacted]. Very clean."
I don't walk around with a WWJD bracelet on my wrist or a Gideon Bible in my pocketbook, ready to thump at a moment's notice. I support gay marriage and would support a constitutional amendment to guarantee it. I support comprehensive sex education in public schools, and I even support the right of schools to teach evolution in science classes. Yet often, people assume I'm part of the "Christian right" simply because I happen to believe in God, the Father almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, his Son, our Lord.
So can someone explain to me why it's become the norm among non-Christians to associate Christianity with ignorance and intolerance? Because I don't remember this Jesus guy suggesting that we all try not to read too many books and avoid people who are different from us. Kind of the opposite, actually.
I wish the vocal minority of Christians who also do happen to be intolerant idiots would just sit the hell down and shut the hell up so that those of us with both a brain and a conscience -- and here I include Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Hindus, Wiccans, Jedi, and everyone else -- can work together on figuring out what kind of place we want this country to be.
But not the Scientologists. Those guys are right out.
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Topic: Inauguration is Historic (Read 14686 times)