Hub to a Christian Nation
By Frank A. Curzi
Why do you believe in God? Take a pause, and honestly ask yourself, why it is that you believe in God?
(Take pause here)
Most people, it seems, don’t choose the God that is most compatible with reality as they understand it, but rather, believe in whatever God their society ascribes to. After all, The Koran claims to be the one true word of God just as the Bible does, and they both provide the exact same amount of evidence for their validity. So then, why is it so easy for you to deny Allah with no consideration at all, and yet, the God of your land is to be praised unconditionally? One must see how we are but victims of circumstance in regards to our faith. If you were born in Saudi Arabia, you would be a devout Muslim and quite resentful of Christianity; there can be no doubt of this. Consequently, religions in their very nature view all those unaffiliated to be misguided sinners. And therefore, religious people tend to be indifferent towards other belief systems, and thusly, toward other people. It is not a mere coincidence that so many Christians believe that Muslims, non-believers, and homosexuals are innately immoral. Nor is it a coincidence that so many Muslims call for the slaughter of Jews. These unreasonable prejudices are directly linked to faith in a God. Indeed, 1st century understandings of humanity are guiding the current morality in the modern age.
In 21st Century United States, Christianity permits bigotry to be in the face of normality to the point where homosexuals are just now being allowed the right to get married. There is no reason to treat homosexuals different than heterosexuals, and yet, Christianity’s persecution of homosexuals paved the way for the bigotry of homosexuality to be the norm in modern America. Most Christians consider themselves moderates. But the fact remains that most “moderate” Christians gladly refuse homosexuals the right to marriage. There is nothing moderate about a morality that segregates homosexuals based on a 2,000 year old book, whether it is based in truth or myth.
The Bible dehumanizes homosexuals, and in response, Christians don’t repudiate the claim, but rather, attempt to obscure the obvious homophobia of God by calling him mysterious. For “moderate” Christians to shrug and say “Those bigots don’t represent God” is to ignore the fact that groups such as God Hates Fags interpret the Bible more accurately than the “moderates” themselves. Religious values change, the Bible was written when people believed the world was flat and long before they mastered the art of witch burning. Slavery, infanticide, child abuse, and countless other atrocities were all amended out of the “Good Book.” The Bible has been edited and rewritten numerous times so that it can remain compatible with the changes in morality brought forth from social and technological revolutions.
Thus, I propose the following to my Christian friends: Your morality does not derive from the Bible; The Bible is continuously edited and still endorses slavery, child abuse, homophobia, etc… Rather, the Bible stands as a symbol to you. When contemplating the Bible you should think of Satan, plagues, and the ambiguously short history of the universe. But I believe none of those concepts manifest in your imagination when you think of the Bible. I would bet that most Christians view the Bible as a representation of a universal morality. That is, when considering the Bible, people don’t read it and then interpret meaning, but rather, view the Bible in and of itself as a symbol of what’s best in all people, including their self. What you as an individual believe is moral becomes projected as the symbolism of the Bible. In essence, you feel as if your idea of a moral life is reflected as the Bible’s idea of a moral life. It isn’t. Any person who truly gets their morality from the Bible is in prison or evading captivity. Modern Christians don’t follow the Bible literally, which must hint at the fact that there are larger principles that guide our morality in spite of the Bible. There is simply no reason for us to believe in impossible claims in order to treat each other morally. No miraculous events need to have existed so that we can define what it means to be “good”. We need only understand that the only sacred thing to exist is human beings, and when we treat each other based on a human morality, rather than Christian or Muslim morality, then, and only then, we will be able to define and seek peace. However, Christianity has been so deeply imbued into our society that even bringing attention to its obvious absurdities is to become a pariah; this is not a recipe for intellectual growth or ethical reasoning. The most important questions we can possibly ask in order to obtain a human morality go without mention. The question of “Is there a God?” is paramount to understanding morality yet we have come to the de facto consensus that it can’t be answered. There are, of course, other questions that should be pursued in attempts to better understand how we might come about an answer.
How has science disproven so many claims made by an infallible God and what should that imply? Why does God command us to believe in him with no evidence given the fact that he could provide it at any time? Why does God impose such impossible obstacles onto so many of us, even with the foresight to know that it will lead to an eternity of pain and suffering in Hell? Why has God purposely given the wrong religions and sacred books to the mass majority of humanity, as God is aware it will inevitably lead to their damnation? Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions. I don’t believe in God, the concept is incompatible with reality as I see it.
Consider for moment what an “all powerful” supreme being is capable of, consider the multitudes of consciousness and existence that the infallible creator of everything could spring into existence if God worked on it for more than 6 days. There would be no death, nor pain. There would be no heaven or hell, as there would be no need for either. In essence, “Life” would consist of each of us being as powerful as the God we envision. Yet this is not the reality we live in. The supernatural explanations for existence given by our ancient books seem entirely disconnected from the all too natural explanations we now understand. Human beings don’t need to believe in a God to behave morally. And the lack of evidence for his existence coupled with the history of religious violence should lead us to believe that there are better answers to the most important questions that can be asked. I believe when it comes to religious inquiry, Thomas Jefferson said it best: “Question with boldness even the existence of a god; because, if there be one, he must more approve the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."
