thoughts on religion and christianity

༒ religion ༒

So I was talking about the bible with my friend the other day(we are both agnostic atheists). I have never read the book before, only having seen verses and summaries of its contents. However, my friend—whom we'll call  A—has. 

There were a few things A said that still lingered at the back of my mind, and I wanted to share my thoughts on it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am discussing about a specific strain of Christianity, which consists of fundamentalist, literalist and right-winged protestants. I know other Christian traditions explicitly reject some of the things I will be criticizing, so please keep that in mind. Bolded text are from A.

With that out of the way, let's begin:

"Humans will never improve and evolve if religion chains them down. "

Honestly, this is a bold statement on it's own, but it got me thinking. Humans, as a species, wouldn’t chain themselves. 

"Willingly devoting your life, your body, to be a vessel used by God as a channel for his purposes, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth."

We have made ourselves slaves, shackling ourselves to whatever it may be for our ego.

All was once pure till ego came.

That was my idea, at least. That our downfall will be our thirst, that we always want more, that nothing will be enough, and everything should be exploited.

I agree a lot with this and somewhat not. I say though that to me religion is something I might not comment too much on, I’m simply too ignorant.

But I believe that we shouldn’t run our society on them. 

My main issue is how it causes divide. And how it’s so rigid and never changes. Ideas from thousands of years ago translated as law. 

Someone's rights to their own bodily autonomy in the modern day could be determined by a book man centuries ago decided was true, 'A sign of an otherworldly being'. 

An example:

An underaged girl gets raped by a man thrice her age, the girl gets pregnant and receives an abortion, understandably, severely traumatised from the incident. 

Statistically, if not caught, the man would face no charges for his crime. However, the underaged girl would get called a 'murderer' and a 'killer' for the 'sin' of aborting an unborn fetus. According to the bible(one interpretation of some passages filtered through centuries of power structures.)

In the eyes of God, if the rapist repented for his sin, they would be forgiven, and receive little to no punishment.

"As long as you believe and accept Jesus Christ as your lord and savior, you will receive salvation no matter what. Salvation cannot be taken away."

By that logic, a child who was raped and had no other option but aborting her baby, and her Christian rapist who had 'atoned', would be no different. They would all be considered heinous sins. At least in God's eyes they are.

If a belief system: condemns a raped child, minimizes the harm done by the rapist, prioritizes abstract 'sin' over lived suffering, then it deserves ethical scrutiny. 

"Jesus consistently sides with the vulnerable legalistic religion is exactly what he condemns in the gospels."

Ironically, Jesus’s harshest words are for religious authorities, not sinners. So when religion is used to shame victims, excuse abusers and enforce control over bodies, it just shows how often religion has been weaponized.

If the decision of one's path to Heaven and Hell is determined by the figure they worshiped, and not the life they lived, is it even worth living at all?

By not being a believer of Christ, in the eyes of God, the girl would go to hell because she had 'sinned', and because she had the chance to believe God but didn't.

I feel like it’s unfair, isn’t it? I have always assumed God is fair, like with most Christians I've spoken to.

If belief matters more than actions, then morality itself becomes meaningless.

Who wants to spend an eternity in Heaven with pedophiles? Either the system is unjust, or God’s morality is alien to ours.

I must admit though. I don’t know enough about the subject, let alone a whole religion.

Still, I find it absurd how good people get sent to hell just because they don’t believe in a certain God. The belief that an innocent would be punished for the sin of not worshipping the 'right God' disgusts me.

"We made God, to cope with the reality of having no life after death. 

We made God, to excuse and downplay real, unforgivable acts committed. 

We made God, to control others. "

A's claims really messed up my perception of religion as a whole.

If the books are true, I guess that's how it is. We aren’t God, we don't make the rules.

If the books aren't true, and were fabricated by mankind to excuse their actions, then we do control the rules. We are able to bend and shape it into what ever we desire, we are able to instill a flawed belief system onto generations to come. That by just believing in a God, they would be granted eternal peace in the afterlife. I see it as a form of coping for them, comfort after death. 

That begs the question though.

How can I be someone good, but if I don’t believe, I get punished.

But if someone does bad but believes in him, can be forgiven and given heaven.

I've been asking myself this for a while now, and yet I still can find a conclusion that sits well. This isn't my usual style of content, mainly because I'm not educated enough on the topic.

I plan on reading the bible someday and reflect on my thoughts, perhaps they will change, perhaps they will not. 

Currently, one of my goals is to write a short series loosely based on religion and finding purpose, without a god or a figure to guide you. A vessel if you will, open and empty, kept alive to be filled by God's spirit, emptied of self-centered desires, ready to be used. That has, unironically, been the driving force to this rabbit hole.

Though, I really want to hear other's thoughts on the topic. Heck, maybe if I could, I might finish the series.

And to the Christians, I don’t see God as morally good based on how he’s portrayed in the bible and from others, but I don’t think that makes any you a bad person. We should not judge someone based solely on their religion, I respect Christians who don’t harm others and who focus on empathy and helping others rather than to justify control. You guys have been there for me at my lowest, to which I appreciate your kindness.

Love y'all.