The Rational Bible
In the last post, My Apologies, I shed some light on the ever vigilant apologetics. Their constant deconstruction of biblical faith, has left the faith more gnarled than when we started. Shouldn’t you be able to pick up the words of God and interpret them for yourself? Well, sadly many Christians don’t even reach that step. Apologetics almost serve as spark notes for the lazy believer. For why would I read the book, when I get book reports on it every Sunday?
The Rational Bible;
When a believer is lost, they often seek guidance through God. This is achieved through prayer, church attendance, reading from the bible, and a multitude of other personal methods. How God talks to you or you to talk to God, is a personal preference. Seeking guidance means you are questioning and to question dampers your faith.
Why do bad things happen to good people? Have I not been a good Christian, Lord?! Don’t forsake me father! Questions are often the gateway drug to a non-religious life style. How could God create some of us, like the homosexuals or non-believers, just to damn us to hell, for choices we had no control over? When you start to inquire towards your own faith, you begin to breach your entire view on the world.
These monuments to spirituality have been built over years of indoctrination and hymns. It is an almost indestructible barrier, reinforced every time your faith is challenged by outside forces. For when you’re troubled by one of the, many, threatening questions to faith, you’re offered a choice. Reject any possibility in a failure of God, or to ponder the issue further. Every time that a believer decides to reject any question(s) to their faith, figuratively speaking, they in effect lay down additional concrete and reinforce the structure further.
These walls are almost indestructible because any outside attacks achieve the opposite goal than originally intended. For faith be a personal identification for many, thus attacks on one’s faith is interpreted as an attack on their person. This results in a reality that without constructive strikes coming from within, the castle will never breached. When a believer chooses instead to follow their doubts, down into the darkness wherever it may lead, they dent their wall. The structure starts to fail and eventually with enough queries and inquires, the gates will crumble into pebbles, that can be swept away, by the believer.
The Church
Since pondering can result in lose of faith, it would serve as good rationale to justify religion’s embracing behavior towards being headstrong as a virtue. Simply, faith is the belief without evidence. When you introduce evidence into the equation, faith is no longer the answer. The institution can not have this happen or attendance will plummet. Logical thinking exists as a single domino wobbling in front of a long series of events resulting in an accumulation of said evidence.
For many believers however, church is as far as their postulating minds take them. Their Sunday pastor preaches to thou on matters concerning the bible. The Reverend intends to share their version of the bible with you. The silent crowd turns to find the exact page and quote of the day. Once the anxious audience can take no more the leader frees them from their anxiety. The preacher can go on a quite lengthy rant on what they believe is the true meaning of God’s divine words. It doesn’t make it the TRUE meaning, but for the majority it is close enough.
This systematic ritual of putting on your Sunday best and sitting through an hour, or so, of a synopsis leaves many feeling they know the bible fairly well. Because of this, rarely does one actually venture into the bible for themselves. The book, when read cover to cover, can and will leave one disoriented towards their idea of God. This is but one of the many things that raise doubt onto people. The Good Book itself.
The Anti-theist is Born
For many reading the bible was the final smack to topple their wall of delusion. This literature’s boon and bane are the very words bound within. The passages have inspired people to sacrifice themselves, whilst leading others to deny God’s existence all together. Those whom have turned from the divine teachings often are compelled to alienate themselves from all things Jesus. This is generally because of the social ridicule they get for coming out as non-believers.
Their family disowns them for no longer sharing their blind faith. Friends forget to call until the phone collects cobwebs, all because you no longer go to church. People in your home town may glare upon you with judging eyes. Harassment takes many malicious forms beyond just social isolation, such as eggings, vandalism, and beatings. For the believers loathe anyone who doesn’t believe. This leaves the outsiders, due to the hostility, not too fond of their former patrons either.
Sadly, the pain felt by the logically confused for being shunned is often directly associated with religion in their hearts. They hate religion for the contempt held in the hearts of believers. “Accepting, loving, caring, HA what humorful falsehoods! Try discriminating, lamenting, and holding eternal contempt for a more realistic definition.”
Pull It
A disconnect from the church starts with the bible and ends with the faith wall. Many come to their lose of faith in remarkably unique ways. A tragedy that has left them wondering how there could be a just and loving God if evil beings are allowed to walk and breath. A religious idol whom turns out to be nothing but a two faced liar. There’s no feasible way to accurately count, how many atheists that the child molesting priests spawned. The immoral behaviors exhibited by some religious followers can purge God from one’s heart all together.
So now you must ask yourself how these ones with more than questionable humanity could feel even remotely justified. Where all the questions have begun, where all the answers are sought, and where all the debates are fought. The Holy Bible. The words have led many to believe that morality is a subjective line. Powerful members of a church can easily be swayed by corruption, to perform what they falsely proclaim to be God’s will.
For the bible does justify alot of innocents to be murdered. God ends the story with a higher kill count than his adversary. When has it been good for your protagonist to be commit more crimes against humanity than your antagonist? Such questions leave many who actually read this piece of archaic literature as atheists. You can see how there is no coincidence that the highest scorers, on average, for a religion test conducted by the Pew Forum were indeed atheists. They are the ones who aren’t afraid to ask the questions, so many shy away from.
“I have heard many times that atheists know more about religion than religious people,” Mr. Silverman said. “Atheism is an effect of that knowledge, not a lack of knowledge. I gave a Bible to my daughter. That’s how you make atheists.” – Dave Silverman, president of American Atheists, in a 2010 NYtimes Article
The bible for all the hype is nothing more than a glorified fairy tale, written far before the concept of coherent plot lines. For when your authors are Bronze Age men whom believe the world to be flat, you can’t expect it to be a work of historical accuracy. Our ancestors lacked basic scientific knowledge, which common folk take for granite. 1+1 = 2 is no longer a revelation. Basic math, science, and what we call common sense are merely objects of ridicule when an individual doesn’t know them. But to one of the many biblical authors, these rudimentary equations would of been as mind blowing as fire to our nomadic predecessors. Despite giving forgiveness and sympathy to the bible’s intellectual failings, the book still is a jumbled jigsaw puzzle, in which pieces are missing tabs and knobs, with a plethora of whimsies whom stand a front to coherency.
I don’t prescribe to the general notion that, IF a Christian were to fully read their holy script it will always equal an automatic enlightenment towards atheism. The faith wall’s make up is only part bible. The good experiences in church and with friends make up a very significant amount. People who associate good with an idea will feel better about it thus, in context, reinforce their faith wall. The problems with religion are many, the issues stemming from the church are more, and the questions found in faith without answers are the most.
There is no concrete way to expose the good book as the incoherent facade of prosperity it truly is. The apologetic has done a great job to further convulte the issue of biblical inerrancy. There is hope with many coming to understand rational thought, through critical thinking over the holy mess. For the Holy Scripture may not always result in an atheist being born, for one doubting God’s divinity, it will always be a great place to start.
–TMF
Thank you for reading this week’s post. Feel free to comment below
Resources and references:
1. Goodstein, Laurie “Basic Religion Test Stumps Many Americans – NYTimes.com” Accessed: 1/20/13 Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/us/28religion.html
TMF-isms 