Sunday, August 23, 2015

Christian/Hypocrite!

I always try to blog in a non-combative tone when it comes to religious beliefs and Christianity specifically. It was not always this way but if you read some of my earlier posts to those I have written lately you can see a definite maturation as you progress. I started this blog mostly as a means to share my knowledge and experience as a former believer with theists and atheists alike. I have been at times angry and emotional and have been dragged into personal attacks and verbal confrontations with those theists that opposed my views. But that is usually what happens when one has a lot of emotional baggage. I have since let go of all that baggage and have decided to critique religious beliefs from a more logical standpoint. I hope to continue doing so as this blog continues to grow.

I have often stated that in order to be a good Christian one had to also be one hell of a hypocrite. Although I admit that this statement does come off as offensive and seems quite combative I hope that I can make clear my position in this post. Let's start with a biblical citation and then we can go from there.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Luke 6:35

Oftentimes the bible admonishes that one should love their enemies and basically overcome evil by doing good. Yet, this is not what we are seeing out of today's believers. I personally think that calling us enemies because we do not share your religious views and opinions is ludicrous since I personally have nothing against a Christian or what he or she chooses to believe in. I lost an online friend today because she took offense to the saying: "Prayer: how to do nothing and still think you're helping." From this she stated that if I didn't like Christians that I didn't like her and unfriended me and blocked me so that I was unable to respond. 

I treat all people equally and everyone as an individual regardless or race, creed, or color. I don't care really what you believe but I also feel that you have the right to believe and express those beliefs openly. My question to theists is why don't you allow others to do the same? Why do you insist that as nonbelievers whether it be as an atheist agnostic or some other religious group do you demand that we keep those beliefs to ourselves? 

I feel that I have the same rights as you to express my non-belief in those same tenets you hold dear. The difference is that I don't go knocking on peoples doors, stand on corners condemning society and everyone to hell who does not believe as I do. I don't hand out tracts on the street and claim that what I am presenting is the only and absolute truth and salvation of mankind as we know it. Theists believe wrongly of course, that they have know what knowledge, truth, and facts really are. The amazing thing is that they don't have a shred of credible evidence to support their extraordinary claims! 

While the bible say's that you should love your enemies it basically classifies enemies as those that don't believe as you do. Basically, as an atheist I am an enemy of Christianity, Christians, and the church in general. No wonder theists are so sensitive and combative when their beliefs are brought to question and are scrutinized by nonbelievers. 

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.  Psalm 14:1

You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
  James 4:4


It is verses like these that in my opinion causes theists to view the world as against them. Anyone who doesn't share in their beliefs is considered by theistic and bible standards as the enemy. By telling everyone how to live, think, and feel you are basically acting in an unreasonable and dictatorial manner. This is where the hypocrisy comes in. You condemn the many for basically those same things you do. There are many Christians living in adultery, fornication, who masturbate and even engage in secret gay relationships. They think bad thoughts about others and even wish the worst for those that they view as an enemy. 

The good news is that in doing those and many other acts that are not harmful to society you are just being human. Contrary to what your bible says looking at a woman or vice versa and desiring them in a sexual way is not a crime nor is it a moral offense because these are just thoughts and secret fantasies you keep to yourself. When you act on those thoughts in a harmful manner such as rape or sexual harassment then it becomes a problem that can easily lead to criminal behavior. 

I call you a hypocrite not as an offense but rather as a statement of fact. You present this image of being holier than thou and point the finger at others as if they were inferior because of their lack of belief. But in doing so you are the ones who are doing the persecuting and not the other way around. I for instance don't care about gay marriage nor even see it as an issue. I believe that people should live their lives as they see fit and find whatever it is that makes them happy. If that means having a loving and meaningful relationship with someone of the same sex then so be it. I don't see stem cell research as a problem, Nor view the practice of religion as a problem either. I have a very strict live and let live policy. As long as your actions are not harming anyone then it's all good for me. 

But don't tell me that you love me in Jesus name or that you want to save my soul and then come back and reject my friendship because I reject your faith. If that is not a hypocrite then I don't know what is.

 hypocrite
1.a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. 
 
2.a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements. 
 
Note: All biblical citations are taken from the NIV version of the scriptures. The definitions of the word hypocrite are derived from http://dictionary.reference.com/



5 comments:

  1. Abrahamic religions seem almost deliberately structured to require hypocrisy. By setting the taboos in opposition to basic human drives, they set standards which no one can meet. Therefore everyone falls short and everyone needs absolution, which puts them in thrall to the hierarchy which can provide it. It's rather the way totalitarian states design laws that impossible to avoid violating, so they always have something to get you on if they want to.

    If a society truly based on the Old Testament would mean mass murder, a society truly based on the New Testament would mean mass suicide (since it would require non-resistance to enemies). The former is at least survivable for the perpetrators; the latter suggests that any Christian who is still alive is probably a hypocrite.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree, I see the Judaeo-Christian God as a celestial tyrant and those belief systems that fall under his rule as dictatorships. The old love me and worship me or else doctrine!

      Delete
  2. I'm sorry for you very, very sorry. May God forgive your dirty soul and may you find God again I really hope so so you do not rot in hell.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You misinterpret each and every one of those verses you make God sound like some monster but to be honest here you are the monster. You say you used to walk, sleep and eat the gospel so then how did you run away from God?

    ReplyDelete
  4. "I'm sorry for you very, very sorry. May God forgive your dirty soul and may you find God again I really hope so so you do not rot in hell."

    Thanks for demonstrating my point so well in your comment. First you are sorry for my having left God. Then you turn around and hypocritically call me a dirty soul and falsely hope that your god forgives me so that I wont have to rot in hell. Lol you couldn't leave that last part out could you?

    Well, if your god existed at all I would not worship him/her/ or it. If the narratives in the Bible are true then your god is no better than Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, or even Vlad the impaler. He rules with fear and demands love he has not earned with the threat of eternal damnation for not loving and obeying the good tyrant in the sky.

    I hope you will find your way and one day discover that your beliefs are just as true as the worlds ancient myths and fairty tales that man has created throughout our existence on this planet. Your god according to your own book of fairytales has killed more people than the bubonic plague! I wouldn't bow down to that monster even if I did find out in hell that he was real. It is estimated that about 25 million people died of the bubonic plague http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html Your god makes that look like childs play.

    ReplyDelete