I grew up in a Christian family and went to a Christian church. I was even very involved in a Christian organization in college. My family and my friends were and are still Christians. And when I say Christian, what I really mean is Fundamentalist Christian. These were my influences as I was developing my morality and worldview. And I was deeply committed, even skipping spring break to go to another campus to do evangelism.
And I believed they were good, caring, morally up-right people. I knew they weren’t perfect, just as I wasn’t – afterall, no one is perfect. I did see cases of “unintentional” racism, but I have been guilty at times too. There were guns, afterall it was the South and hunting is common, but it was never more than that. And I always heard that the best way to “win” others to Christ was to live an example of love, i.e. be Christ-like!
So what the hell happened? The racism is now clearly much more than “unintentional”, although they deny that. But I heard the words over and over again about Obama, kneeling NFL players, illegal immigrants, Muslims, and more. Unintentional was never a good enough excuse, but they crossed even that line long ago. What happened to their brown Jesus that demanded that we love the least of these and not be like Pharisees?
I get that they think homosexuality and transgender and abortion is “sinful”. They have always said hate the sin but love the sinner – yet they are so clearly not loving anyone that is different! And guns – how did they become so glorified that we have mass shootings nearly every day, yet no ability to discuss gun control? Meanwhile they excuse their own of all their failings since somehow they believe their God is using them!
What happened? Not only are these people not at all Christ-like, but they are actually driving people away from their God. I personally never became an atheist because of science or other “worldly” influence. I accepted my atheism when I finally realized I would rather be in hell with the sinners than be in heaven with these people. So how did my very own Christian family and friends become so un-Christ-like so quickly?
The Spiritual Atheist 