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Why would I do this? I'm not particularly aggressive towards Christians
or people of other religions. I just don't like it when people don't have
the facts of history right, nor when they show disrespect for their fellow
citizens. With this recent Pledge of Allegiance thing I've been really
taken aback by the negative comments of many people. For example, people
who say "atheists" with a physical infliction of hatred. People
who say we're trying to force our views on them or get rid of the Pledge,
when in fact all we're trying to do is restore it to what it was before
the religion, in fact, forced itself on us. People who say non-believers
are some tiny minority who should leave the country, not having a right
to live here, when in fact America was founded for all minorities and
groups. People who say this country was based on Christianity, or "Judeo-Christian
Principles," when in documented fact it never was. In short, people
who use their own lacking presumptions to belittle non-believers from
the point of a "superior majority," while ironically having
very little idea of the huge gift our founding fathers so selflessly gave
us when they freed this country from King George and his religion.
I don't want to see "the experiment" (as our forefathers saw
America) end: I want to see America continue as a free and democratic
country for all of us, where the government stays out of religion and
vice versa. I think we should recognize that we ALL deserve appreciation
and respect. That's how our forefathers saw it. We may grow up on one
side of the planet or the other, rooting with intense fervor for our own
"football" teams... but right down where it counts we need to
respect each others teams, care for the other guys, and cut out all this
selfishness. After all, We DID THIS after 9/11. We cared, shared, and
gave generously. Just as with any disaster, we gave our moral and material
support to our Human Family - because we felt the grief in our own hearts
for what they were going through. Did it take any religion for us to do
so?
I think not... :^)
More...
When I was younger I wanted Christianity to be true. After all, it has
a wonderful message of forgiveness and love in the spirit of Jesus. As
a teen, I joined an evangelistic church with great fervor. I heard my
peers say things like, "You can't trust anything outside of the Bible,"
or "Satan's greatest trick is pretending he doesn't exist."
Yet they'd also repeatedly told me that, "Truth can stand up to anything,"
so I set out to prove Christianity true. After all, with a message this
important I felt it was imperative to get it out, as well as to answer
some of my own questions. I had no doubt I'd find answers, and started
studying the Bible in depth. Surprisingly, this led to shockingly negative
texts I'd not heard mentioned in church before. Not only that, but what
looked to be contradictions as well. Which part should I believe? Which
part could I believe? I'd always held honesty as my highest value, so
how could I accept what looked so negative or contradictory? Surely this
couldn't be right. But then again one of our other teachings was "A
prophet cannot be trusted if only one of the things he prophecies turns
out wrong," the essence being "if there's one thing wrong with
it, you can't trust the rest."
So long story short, though I brought items I found to the attention of
pastors and other leaders I held in esteem, the usual reply was... none!
If anything I was often advised to ask God for answers (to "pray
on it"). In honesty, I couldn't accept this. I only wanted reasonable
explanations, something that could withstand the test of rational argument.
I got the nick "Doubting Thomas" among my peers as a result,
but the more I researched and tried to prove things right for the Bible,
the more I ended up finding wrong.
I found others willing to accept the Bible nevertheless, curiously finding
they chose to believe in only what they wanted, saying they had "faith"
and often translating passages I showed them to mean whatever they wanted
(as long as it came out in their favor). I didn't feel that dicing over
some Greek or Hebrew word for a satisfactory translation was right, considering
we had the English translation right there in front of us. Neither did
I see "praying to God for the 'gift' of faith" an honest way
to go about rationalizing the truth. Blind faith doesn't cut it. If it
did why should I put down other religions? Overall having to reject it
was an isolating experience, but I preferred honesty over becoming what
I later termed being a HypoChristian (saying the Bible was good while
ignoring it's horrors), and I left the church.
As to my window sign, I think most Christians will simply ignore my honest
message (remembering how Christians dealt with my earlier experiences).
I learned quickly that the older people get, the more entrenched in culture
they so often become: too comfortable to want to risk change. Besides,
most people are afraid of the unknown.
It's a little scary having that sign up too: I'm not surprised any more
when I walk to my truck to find things broken (the rear "glass"
is now Plexiglas: the glass was shot out). The thing is I'm willing to
stand up for what this country's ideals began as, and if there're people
out there who still have an open and honest mind, they'll easily be able
to look up the quotes and verify that they're true. Those are the kind
of people I like: honest and secure with themselves. Not dependent on
the majority view. Not afraid to live with wonder. (Someone willing to
root for the Bucs though they live in 9er territory. ;^)
In one way I almost feel as though I'm being comical in a sense: I'm that
dude in the movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" who's running
across the intersection in front of the puzzled Donald Southerland seated
in his car at the red light, yelling "They're coming! They're coming!!"
as I'm being chased by some of the howling invaders (disguised as Humans).
Passive onlookers regarding the whole thing with mystery... But to me
I do see religion as something threatening. Something that in fact does
psychologically invade and reprogram the mind, making it proud, closed,
and insecure. And they just know, by their wonderful emotional sharing,
that they're absolutely right! (Another term: "selfish-righteous.")
Once that happens, especially in American culture... who likes to admit
they're wrong?
Well hey, I honestly explored Christianity, found out it was wrong, and
became stronger for it. The real truth is found in Nature, explored with
as much honesty and logic as we exciteable Humans can muster. The real
"Bible" lies right below our feet: 4 billion years of layered
earthen pages ready to read. (And that's just the Earth's history...)
Religion's gone the way of the Santa Claus: Hey it was nice while it lasted,
but it's time to grow up.
Tommy Gleason |
