Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The Resurgence: 8 things that didn't compel me to reject Jesus.

http://theresurgence.com/things_that_might_compel
The Resurgence is an attempt from Christians to restore faith in Jesus in America- as if there is a serious lack of faith happening here. We're one of the most Christian countries in the world, and the most religious first-world nation outside of the Vatican.
So we're got some resurging to do apparently- they've written a blog post about 8 things that might compel you to reject Jesus. These are listed below, with appropriate responses from me of course, being that this is my blog.
I'll be going through it, let's see if they can't save my soul by the end of the post, shall we?

1. Theology
This argument is rather weak- the quote is "Don’t reject him theologically." I am not sure exactly what they're trying to accomplish here; the paragraph has little meaning. The point is that Atheists reject theological teachings being that they aren't based in fact, but in speculation about ancient literature.

2. Control
The author attempts to make the point that people in Nazereth were desperate for miracles and divine intervention, and sought help from Jesus when he came by. He declined to do miracles and that was because he didn't want them to believe they had controlled him- and that this opinion is carried over to today, where, when Jesus or God aren't what we want them to be (kind, all-loving, consistent in their instructions?) then we get mad and throw a fit.
The supposed situation in Nazereth brings up an excellent point. People were poor, hungry and suffering from plagues. What they did was ask for help from someone who they were told, could help. If your child was dying of a disease and you had no hope of saving them, and a mysterious stranger rolls into town claiming to be able to heal the sick, what is the first thing you're going to do? Beg for help in the way you know how to, or that is culturally appropriate to you.
This is apparent given the hysteria surrounding the Autism Spectrum, people are jumping on the idea that vaccines cause Autism because we want something, anything to blame and some kind of control over the destiny of our children, and feeling like there is nothing that could have been or ever could be done is absolutely shattering. 
A desperate situation, and the savior of mankind walks in to town and is offended by pleas and demands for help? Especially when he seems to be uniquely in the position to lend support? 
Humans want things. We want to be able to live, and we want to be happy, and we have a strong desire to reproduce. These drives are what cause the cooperation of our civilization. If your neighbor had a cure for a disease ailing someone in your family, and he didn't share it with you, or tried to coerce you in some way with it, he would be regarded as an evil person.  Yet, when someone who claims to be God Himself refuses to help- this act isn't evil, it's him trying to teach us an important lesson about control.
The analogy drawn with Christianity is generally the parent-and-child one- so let's use it. If your child is trapped screaming under a pile of rocks, this is not the time to teach him to use his inside voice.

3. Greed
The foundation of society is Greed. It's the reason we have capitalism. Most of the Christian right hates socialism with a deep passion that rivals only their faith in the creator, but we'll try not to lump all Christians in one political pot for now.
Fighting against your strongest instinct- self-preservation- is hard. It's usually only possible when the life of your child is at risk, and so "to eat of her final meal before she starved to death." is an illustration that might be... inaccurate, to put it politely. But hey, it's a tenet of your religion, so let's work with that principle too.

So let me get this straight- Some guy tells you he's God. He won't help you not starve to death, and he seems to be a bit down on his luck. He also says not to be greedy, yet he takes food from a starving widow. In what universe does this make any sense at all? Let me reiterate- Jesus Christ Himself visits a town stricken with poverty and disease and uses as his ultimate test...hospitality?


Would you go to Haiti right now (sorry to use you like this Haiti... Please text 'HAITI' to 90999) and base your support on whether or not people hand over their food and water? Go from town to down with secret bags of rice and gallons of potable water but not hand them over until they pass a personality test?
What kind of horrible human being could do that? I forget- the capacity of God is infinite.


4. Selfishness
This paragraph, really, is just a repeat of the last one. Greed is literally a synonym for selfishness. It's used in the definition. So you'll have to forgive me for not wasting your time. See above.

5. Familiarity
I believe what's being stated here is the staycation phenomenon that's sweeping the nation. Grew up in your hometown? Great! Why not visit it through the eyes of a tourist? New yorkers can have a lot of fun, but people in Waco, Texas aren't as lucky.
Basically, this deals with belief that already exists, or people who grew up in church culture that ultimately rejected it. 
I'd love to go into the fantastic amount of detail and environmental, physical, emotional and geographical variables that lead into a decision to reject Jesus, and perhaps I will- or maybe you can just head over to http://recoveringfundamentalists.com/ and read some stories of why people stop believing.
Just know that it's almost never "I just didn't get excited enough".

6. Comfort
I'm sure for some people, it's easier to just be an Atheist. Maybe up north, or out west. I live in the bible belt. I live in Dallas Texas. Within a mile of my house (and I live DOWNTOWN) there are no less than 38 churches. That's just google maps- not every church is listed there.
I have lost jobs, friends, family and even lovers to prejudice. I have been spit on, slapped, kicked out of cars and had bibles thrown at me. My cousin was left at school for three days until child protective services came and picked him up, and had a long talk with my aunt, because he said he didn't believe in God.
Being an Atheist isn't easy. You can't do something bad and ask for forgiveness- you have to live with that guilt until you die. Knowing you're going to die, and that there isn't anything after that is terrifying. Knowing that shit could go south at any moment- the sun could flare, a rock could hit us, a disease could kill us, a supervolcano could block the sun and we'd all freeze or starve- the certainty that Christians have- the ignorance is something I wish I could capture. But I can't. I know how science works, and that a healthy skeptical attitude has saved me from many an ill. Honestly, I don't see what's so hard about being a Christian, except believing in something you have no idea is true or not. Living by a book that's a good 7 or 8 empires old is hard enough, but no one (including the author of "The Resurgence") lives by ALL of it... they pick and choose what is and isn't important. Honestly, if I could be a Christian, I might try it out. But I can't- they haven't met my threshold for proof (which is apparently pretty low- I do believe in evolution after all...) and so I stay abstinent from theology.

7. Embarrassment
Again, apparently NO ONE is a Christian and it just SUCKS. They're completely persecuted and they never get 'cool points'. Oh No. I feel SO sorry for you.
Try saying "No, I don't go to church, or believe in God" at your next job interview. Go on, try it.

8. Religion
I absolutely LOVE when Christians try to make it seem like their faith isn't a religion. It's not a religion, they say, it's a relationship. 
Yeah, quacks like a duck, has feathers and a beak. Floats on the water. 
It's a religion. 
Religion: a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny;
Relationship: a relation between people;
Which one of these defines what you do every Sunday, and what you talk about in scripture, and the book you read from? You're not speaking to a physical person, you're describing how you feel about an abstract concept(infinity) that was supposed to somehow be represented somehow in a person who could be killed- through some arbitrary rules He Himself made up, about how He had to die in order to save us all. 
This is not a relationship- this is a religion- and it makes no damn sense.
And that is why I reject Jesus. 
That, and people who write stupid posts like these.