Comments From a Non-Believer

Sat, Aug 16, 7:50 AM

Today, my local newspaper ran an article describing the ways that local Christian ministries are attempting to appeal to a younger audience. A great deal of fearmongering is presented, with the evidence that 90% of churchgoers are over 30, and most people younger than 30 are not attending religious services at all. As a twenty-something I see the same trend of younger folks being skeptical of religion, and to be honest I'm rather happy about it.

I went to a Catholic school for most of my elementary years. Attended the mandatory mass each week, sat through religion class every year, etc. By the time I was 11 or 12, I knew full well that I didn't believe a word of it. A virgin who magically conceived a baby? A man who magically came back from the dead? I'm singling out Christianity as it's the focus of this article, but most faiths are replete with magical stories that have no bearing on reality and, frankly, make bad fiction.

As I grew older, I began to notice that a large number of believers are so obsessed with certain (typically heavily-politicized) holdings of their own faiths that they lose sight of the bigger picture. The message of "the Church," whichever church that may be, is always that Christianity is about loving and accepting one another as God's creatures; "Can't we all just get along?" But the actions of the Church's parishioners consistently send a very different message. There's a clear pattern of religious leaders being the ultimate hypocrites, and most of it stems from readings of Leviticus.

How can someone who interprets abortion as a violation of one of the Commandments use that same dogma to justify blowing up abortion clinics and killing doctors? "You shall not murder" is a fairly clear Commandment. That you may believe someone else has committed murder is not, in the Christian faith, justification to murder him back. The oft-used explanation of lex talionis fails the test: "an eye for an eye" is immediately discounted in Leviticus as being unacceptable; instead, the faithful are urged to forgive.

Sex is another point where the pious always find themselves in trouble. Why do so many hardcore anti-gay crusaders get caught soliciting sex from men in airport restrooms and secluded parks? Is it just some coincidence that time after time, religious and political figures who extol the sanctities of marriage and fidelity find themselves defending the exposure of their own lurid affairs? (That's another Commandment, I do believe.) And why is it that so many Catholic dioceses have had to pay out millions of dollars to settle lawsuits regarding child sexual abuse among their ranks?

I've read much of the Bible and I've had the rest of it interpreted for me countless times by teachers, pastors, friends, and co-workers. The problem is, everyone wants to interpret each reading and parable differently, depending upon the particular situation to which they mean to apply it. You can't have it both ways, yet many will quote a certain passage and say that it must be taken literally, then turn around and dictate that a different passage is figurative in nature, a mere metaphor that was not meant to be strictly read.

The most obvious example is that part in Leviticus about "if you lie with a man as you do a woman, that is an abomination." Countless thousands use this to assert that homosexuality is evil. People actually show up for the funerals of American soldiers who have died in Iraq, holding signs that claim the soldiers' deaths are a direct result of the "abominations" that exist in our great country. The problem with that argument is that Leviticus also says eating shellfish is an "abomination," that anyone who talks back to their parents should be put to death, and that you may buy other human beings as slaves. I think that if I stopped by Red Lobster I'd probably encounter a lot of Christians eating shellfish.

The religious types always interpret that first one literally, but attempt to disclaim the others as matters of personal opinion. "Well, no, Jesus' teachings didn't really mean that uttering a curse to your parents should result in death. But he definitely meant that anyone who facilitates abortion should be smitten from the Earth!" This is inappropriate. Either the Bible is the factual word of God, or it isn't. Either you approve of stonings, murder, incest, slavery, and other digusting acts sanctioned in the Bible, or you don't. You can't pick and choose which passages are to be read literally and which may be ignored.

Getting back to the underlying topic - twenty-somethings who aren't religious and the churches who can't figure out how to recruit them - I think I'd refer to another cite from the Bible. Wasn't it said in that book that where they will not hear your message, you should wash the dust from your feet and move on? Where you find those who will not be converted, you should not persist in your attempts, but instead accept the fact that some people will not believe? That the decision should be respected, and that they should be loved and forgiven despite their lack of faith?

There are millions of individuals around the world who love to call themselves "Christians," but prefer engaging in hatred and condemnation instead of love and acceptance. Hypocrites. If "the Church" is wondering why the tallies of the young faithful continue to decline, I propose they look no further than the nearest mirror. As a frequent target of Christian proselytization, I can say with some confidence that the lack of legitimate "hip" ministries is not the reason we don't join you. We stand to the side because of the brainwashed and ignorant behavior typical of religious zealots.

You, my fellow human being, are free to believe whatever you like, and I respect that. How about reciprocating, by understanding that freedom of religion is a two way street, which happens to encompass freedom *from* any religion at all? I've seen the ramifications that a hyper-religious attitude can have on my country and my government, and I don't like them one bit. It looks like the majority of my contemporary demographic agrees. Instead of seeing that as a threat which must be overcome by new "hip" ministries with guys who play electric guitar singing of the evils of masturbation, you might reflect upon why an entire generation of Americans is abandoning the concept of religion.

I'll make it easy: a lot of you make a lot of us sick.