Exposing the bible for what it is.

I’ve been meaning to write this post for quite some time, but I wanted to be sure I listened to everyone’s constructive criticisms from my post on Missionaries. As you read, realize that these posts are part of a personal blog, but I also want to come across more objectively. I realize that posting based purely on emotions will hinder influencing those on the opposite end of the argument. I’m going to try to give credit where credit is do, as well as post intelligent points that will hopefully sway those on the other end of the fence. That being said, as with my last post, I’ll give you some background on my origin concerning the topic of homosexuality, then I will go into the main point of the article.

Homosexuality is a huge issue in the Pentecostal church, as well as most other denominations. I, however, came from a Pentecostal background, so that is the origin of my experience. My father, as well as my uncle and grandfather are extremely homophobic, so I grew up being taught that homosexuality was disgusting and not natural by any means. My uncle and father had a constant schtick where they both played the role of gay men, speaking in effeminate voices to each other and all around giving their perception on how they believe gay men acted. As a young adult I thought they were hilarious. I never thought of the implications of hate and intolerance that underlined beneath their jokes. In fact, the entire family thought this was hilarious. I remember us sitting around a dinner table during an extended family holiday. Everyone would laugh when my father would flamboyantly flip his hand while lisping something like “Oh (uncle’s name) you’re so silly.” Now, this might seem harmless, but there is another part to the equation.

Whenever a man we met, such as a waiter, would speak with a slightly effeminate voice, he was labeled as a ‘freaken homo.’ This of course was said in the most derogatory tone possible. Subtly I was being indoctrinated to hate homosexuals, or at the very least see them as freaks. My family and I used to take annual trips to Disney World. When I was around 12, I remember hearing that Ellen Degeneres came out to the public. I did not hear this from the news, I heard it from my father seeing a billboard in the park with her on it. I asked who she was, and he replied “She’s a dyke (followed by arrogant laughter.)” My father also had a huge issue with Disney sponsoring gay parades. I specifically remember him mentioning this and how disgusted he was with it. Before I continue I want to clarify something: The reason for this post is not to attack my family. Several of us are not on speaking terms, but hopefully this will give you insight into the mindset I had by age of 21. At that time, I still believed in a higher being, I was still part of the church, and I believed that homosexuality was disgusting and I looked down on anyone that was a homosexual.

At the age of 21 I moved to California in order to pursue my interests in writing and film. As one can assume, this put me in direct contact with a much larger concentration of homosexuality. I met a bunch of friends within the first week of being here, and one of them invited me to go out with them to a club in Hollywood called Tiger Heat. This particular club was mainly comprised of homosexuals, which I did not know. My first experience with witnessing two men make out happened, and I was completely disgusted and felt very uncomfortable. I met many homosexuals that night. I found out that night that they were ordinary just like anyone else, if not friendlier and easier to talk to. This was the night that I began to question what was so wrong about homosexuality.

I am now 26, I’m an atheist, and I am a firm supporter of gay rights. Instead of being disgusted with homosexuality, I’m now disgusted by the persecution they receive from most religions. I’m disgusted that they don’t have the right to marry in the majority of states. There are still areas in America where it is not safe to be a homosexual, mainly the bible belt. While the Muslim countries have stricter penalties, such as life in prison or the death penalty, I think the only reason we don’t have that in America is our democracy and Constitution. The bible is just as harsh about homosexuality as the Koran is. Luckily the Constitution does what it was made for: it protects minorities.

Where does the belief that homosexuality is wrong come from, and why is the church so against it? One verse is the culprit. Others follow after it, but this is the most scathing:

Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” (this is actually the first mention of homosexuality in the Bible.)

Sadly, Christians seem to forget this verse:

Luke 6:37: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

From seeing both sides, I’m well acquainted with the arguments the Christians will throw against homosexuality. All of them are irrelevant and ignorant, and I’ll list a few and explain why.

1. “If we give rights to homos, why not give rights to pedophiles and bestiality lovers?”
This shouldn’t warrant any explanation, but sadly it does. Homosexuals engage in CONSENSUAL sex. Pedophiles and animal lovers do not. To compare these people to homosexuals is disgusting and outright wrong, yet I’ve heard many Christians think they’re so clever in coming up with this.

2. “Marriage comes from the Bible, therefor it should only be between a man and a woman.”
This statement could not be more wrong. Every major culture and religion has had marriage. The ancient Greeks had marriage that was documented in a legal manner far before Christianity decided to coin it as their own ritual. Native Americans had their own method of polygamist marriage before even interacting with Christian settlers. Let’s hypothetically assume the bible DID come up with the concept of marriage. How does this in any way warrant the prohibition marriage of two consenting adults? The bible has no place in politics. Sadly, the reason most states don’t legalize same-sex marriage is because of Christianity.

3. “If they’re gonna kiss and touch each other, they should do it behind doors. Two men kissing is disgusting.”
So it’s okay for a male and female to kiss in public, but if you’re homosexual, you can only show affection behind closed doors? Just because you are ignorant and intolerant, doesn’t mean some sort of rule should be made. This is where an opinion can become dangerous. Luckily there is no law against public affection in America regardless of gender, but in many countries it can land you in jail for life, or you can even be executed.

When I was around 16, we had a man come to our church to teach a seminar on homosexuality. He himself was a former homosexual but was saved by the grace of god and now is married to a woman. He claimed to no longer have sexual urges towards men. Looking back now, this is heartbreaking to me. Homosexuality is natural and most likely genetic, and to force someone to love or be attracted to something they aren’t is wrong. Imagine telling a straight person they can no longer have sex with the opposite gender, they must engage in same gender sex. This is exactly what Christians expect of homosexuals. There is something known as the “Ex-Gay Movement” going on in America. There are several Christian sponsored organizations that provide materials and seminars with the purpose of changing homosexual desires into heterosexual desires. Teen suicide rates are higher in Conservative anti-gay areas than they are in liberal areas. (source: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/04/18/teen-suicide-rates-higher-in-conservative-anti-gay-areas). Why must these people change their natural desires in order to please someone intolerant and ignorant?

I am amazed when speaking to a conservative about this. They actually believe that just because they think it’s wrong, it should not be allowed. What they don’t realize is that homosexuality is a natural occurrence that not only happens with humans, but with around 1,500 species of animals as well. For someone to say that homosexuality is not natural, they are simply uneducated in the subject. Apes, our close relatives, regularly engage in homosexual activity. I’ve found that conservatives tend to not want to know the other side of something. They don’t want their beliefs to be threatened by facts.

Many Christians will say “I’m fine with homosexuality, but it’s still a sin.” This is STILL offensive. They think it’s a polite way of disagreeing with homosexuality. These same Christians believe that homosexuals are going to burn in hell forever simply because they’re attracted to the opposite sex. Yet I guarantee they will agree that the “Fag” haters of the Westboro Baptist Church are crazy. It’s hypocrisy in its highest degree, equatable to those that mocked the May 21st movement yet still believe the world will end in their lifetime.

I must give credit where credit is due: there is a new Christian movement that accepts homosexuality ( http://www.thechristianleftblog.org/ ). I’m very happy with this and they have my support. I still disagree with their beliefs and I think they’re rewriting the bible, but it’s a step in the right direction. I don’t mind Christianity as long as it’s inherent racism and bigotry does not infiltrate politics.

This video is amazing, well worth the watch. Please support the creator!
The Sagan Series Facebook Page

Missionaries do good things. They feed the poor, they help build houses and schools. They give away clothing and money to the needy. This makes them no different from the Red Cross. What  makes them different is their horrific indoctrination of the masses. They take advantage of the lack of eduction and poverty of the people they are helping. I believe this at it’s core is very evil. However, I don’t think the people involved in the indoctrinating know what they’re doing (in most cases). They’re blinded by their own faith and self-righteousness to see the destruction they cause.

The Church I came from (which currently I’ve decided to keep private) practices these very methods. They are a pentecostal church with fanatical roots. They believe the only way to heaven is to be born-again. They believe in speaking in tongues, being filled with the holy spirit, and abstinence until marriage. Most of them are middle-class to high-middle class. They drive nice cars, wear the newest clothing, and live in comfortable suburban homes. The members that obey give at least 10 percent of their income to the church. This is precisely how the church sustains it’s multi-million dollar building with state of the art technology. The workers of the church have top of the line equipment and most of them have iPhones, Macbook Pros, and new cars. This information will make sense shortly, as it’s another subject I’ll be touching on along side of the missionary issue.

This Church goes on an annual missions trip to Africa. Their ‘missions’ statement provided on their website is the following:

God has entrusted us with His message – a message of hope for a world that has no hope. John wrote in his gospel, Chapter 3, beginning with verse sixteen, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.”

So, the primary goal of these Africa Missions trips is not to feed or clothe. The goal isn’t to build new homes or new schools. The primary objective is to use these works in order to indoctrinate the people. Unfortunately these people will not think that is the case. They believe they have a right to fly to other countries and tell people how they should be living. This particular video I find quite frightening:

These are only children, with minds easy to mold, not to mention their education certainly isn’t up to par with even Bible Belt schools. From the beginning they don’t even have the opportunity to learn otherwise.

When I think of missionary trips, I assume these people are helping starving African children:

However, this is quite the opposite case. This particular Church goes to Namibia, where 80% of the population is already Christian. Also, these aren’t poor or starving people. These are NOT the people that need help. I literally had to take a break just now out of infuriation. Namibia is fucking tourist central for Africa. Tourism makes up 14.5% of their GDP and provides 18.2% of their employment. In the UN Food Programme shown below, Namibia isn’t even listed:

All this Church’s missions trips amount to is a glorified vacation for a bunch of suburban kids that want to secure their place in heaven. In fact, after a certain amount of days worked, they go on four-wheeling adventures, safaris, and dune climbing expeditions. Pictures are provided below, faces are blurred to keep privacy.

This picture made me particularly angry. Eat up missionary.

Now let’s compare the children they’re helping compared to the children that need help:

Real starving child in need of help.

Children "in need."

Real starving child.

More children "in need."

Utterly disgusting. What bothers me the most is that these people come back to their church and feel good about what they’re doing while the children that really need helped are starving away. The sad part about all of this is I grew up around these people. Some of these people are part of my immediate family. I was and am friends with many of them. But the more and more I think about this, the more I find them extremely selfish and self-righteous.

Let’s take a look at the ways they indoctrinate children. Surprisingly (yes, sarcasm) they are not different at all from the ways I was indoctrinated as a child. (See the Documentary “Jesus Camp.”) They use puppets, human videos (essentially live plays), balloon animals, games, etc. Here are some pictures:

Hi we're puppets! Believe in God, it's fun!

A strange Karate, Superman, good vs evil sketch.

Why must there be strings attached? Why can’t these people just travel to Africa and help the needy out of the goodness of their heart? They’ll tell you it’s out of the goodness of their heart, but that’s not the case. They do it because the scripture tells them to. They do it because if they do, they’ll be rewarded in the afterlife. They do it because they have a burden to. They’re told that if these people aren’t taught about God they’ll burn in hell.

Something that disgusted me yet even more: the Church in this article flew a group of the African children to the US in order to have them sing in front of the congregation. So they spent thousands to fly these kids halfway around the world just to showcase them like zoo animals. What that money could have done to hundreds of needy people I don’t know.

There’s an almost racist sense when it comes to how the Church views itself compared to those they’re helping. While there are millions really starving, they feel content with helping the suburban kids of Africa, and they love posting themselves surrounded by them. Why do these people need more help than those in our country in similar circumstances? Does being a “missionary” mean you just need to help poor black people in one of the best off areas of Africa?

I currently donate to the Red Cross because I know it won’t go towards indoctrinating people. I know it will help the real starving and suffering people of the earth. Keep in mind I’m an atheist, I’m not doing this for reward or some sort of karma. I’m doing it because I value humanity and don’t want people to suffer. If you are reading this and you’re part of the problem I have laid out, please open your eyes and at the very least think about what I’ve said. My purpose here may seem like a vendetta against the Church I’m from. I assure you, my intention is to open eyes, not cause anger. I am certain, however, that people will get angry from this, and those that are probably won’t even read this.

Don’t spend money to send these people on vacation. How much of the money spent on four-wheeling or safaris could help the real starving people of Africa?

For those of you that partake in this indoctrination, you should be ashamed of yourselves. I’m all for you believing what you want, but you’re taking advantage of people in worser circumstances than yourself.

If you want to really help people in need, please go here: Red Cross

I’ve noticed a trend lately with Christians regarding their view on atheists which has been especially prevalent online. They call atheists who speak their minds “militant.” I myself have been referred to in this terminology. Why have I, in particular? Simply by posting verses from the bible on my facebook that shine a bad light on Christianity. I’ve been called argumentative, offensive, and stupid. When I told my own father I don’t believe in god his response was “You’re stupid if you don’t believe in god.” Why is it that as an atheist you can’t voice your opinion without getting a shit-storm of negative responses, but as a Christian you can post verses, prayer wishes, control the media, and be all-around untouchable?

Call me militant, because I’ll agree with you on that. But let’s compare and contrast a militant atheist with a militant Christian. I’ll speak from the point of view of an atheist first. I believe everyone has a right to practice and believe anything they want. I believe gays should have the same rights as us. I think it’s horrifically wrong how Christianity effects American society in almost every facet. I’m strongly against missionary teams. I’ll go into greater detail concerning this on a future post. But the main reason I have an issue with missionaries is that they will feed the poor, with the requirement that they be indoctrinated.

A Christian militant is far more dangerous. They will prevent gay marriage, which I believe at it’s very core is evil. Imagine loving someone and not being able to marry them because someone told you they don’t believe you’re right for each other. That’s exactly what Christians do. Most of them are pro-life (I hate the term. I don’t believe abortion is murder. Calling themselves “pro-life” makes them seem right from the start). How many women who have been raped or used failed protection are forced into a lifelong commitment because of this?

The media has been hugely affected by the militant Christian. Just look at parental ratings. They are extremely strict. God forbid a child sees a woman’s breasts. They’ve made us ashamed of our anatomy from childhood. The naked human body is a beautiful thing (assuming you come from good genetics.) Why is it such a bad thing to see a breast or a penis? But wait, you’re allowed to show the buttocks on television… What right does a panel of Christians have to tell us what our children should or shouldn’t watch? It just doesn’t make sense.

I don’t think there’s much else to say about this. The militant atheist is harmless and fights for reason, while the Christian atheist fights for control over the masses. As time progresses reason will speak for itself. That’s the only hope I can cling to right now in this Christian controlled nation.

Yes, it’s true. According to the Bible, God owns your genitals. You are only permitted to do certain acts with your own body part(s). If you do otherwise, you are in danger of hellfire, that is, unless you repent (A Christian’s easy way out of sins, which I’ll discuss in another post). One of the most amazingly backward issues in the Bible is how it treats sex. The beautiful act of sex is treated with extreme taboo.

It is true that most of these verses concerning sex are in the Old Testament. One of the largest arguments on the side of the Christians is that the Old Testament was a different time where different rules are applied. These believers are forgetting that the ten commandments are from the Old Testament. Also, how is it an argument to say that those were different times? So just because it was several thousand years ago we had the right to condemn a homosexual or adulterer to death?

“If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination.  They shall surely be put to death.  Their blood shall be upon them. ” (Leviticus 20:13)

The above quote specifically has to do with homosexuality. Why is it that we choose not to follow these verses, or in most cases we completely ignore them, but we pick and choose other parts of the Bible? The majority of Christians believe that Homosexuality is wrong, but they don’t believe in condemning the perpetrator to death. In this case they’re simply choosing to follow half of God’s word, and ignoring the part about putting them to death. Below concerns something even more fearful. It has to do with thought-crime, or a crime committed in the mind but not in the physical realm. Also, it’s from the New Testament. (Minority Report anyone?)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30)

I would go as far as to say all of us would have our right hand cut off if we chose to follow this verse (maybe a few lefties). This verse in particular causes extreme sexual repression. As humans we are MADE to mate. Abstinence spawns almost purely from religion, and it causes far more harm than help. Instead of preaching abstinence, why not preach safe-sex? While I was a member of the Church, at least a handful of the youth became pregnant. Why? Because they were taught abstinence. So when they time came and they were getting heated with their partner, they didn’t have the right tools to prevent pregnancy. I don’t blame them for having sex. I wanted to many times, just as many of the other youth did.

What baffled me was the amount of hypocrisy in the Church itself. There weren’t too many members that practiced what they preached. These people would also be those quickest to judge another member. The majority of my family has fornicated or committed adultery, yet when they found that I had left the church and was fornicating on my own, it was ME who was wrong, not them. They chose to ignore what they were doing and focus on the bad seed. Why is this? I suppose because they can say “sorry God” and I can’t. They receive forgiveness from an imaginary friend but since I don’t believe in him, my sins will never be atoned.

So, as an atheist I can gladly say that I own my own genitals, and I’ll do with them what I please.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). This single sentence is the proof by which Christians justify their belief. God created the earth because a book said he did. There is no other proof aside from this single anecdote. The Christian argument to this would be “There is proof all around us, just look at the trees, the flowers, the animals!”

This, however, still assumes that what the Bible tells us is true. Without the Bible telling these believers what to believe, there would be no such story of our origin. Contrast that with Evolution, which is a scientific theory tried and tested now for over a hundred and fifty years. Evolution does not rely on one single reference of evidence, it is comprised of huge amounts of fossil and genetic evidence.  Nowadays many Christians will say that God used evolution, and that Genesis is simply a parable or symbolic explanation of evolution. The fact of the matter is that religion MUST evolve in order to stay relevant. As science improves and we learn more and more about our beginnings, religion sounds more and more ridiculous. Because of this, they need to stay mainstream and try to coincide with science. which is virtually impossible. Those who think an intelligent designer such as God used evolution, simply do not understand how evolution works.

Ask a Christian if God is merciful and loving. They will always say yes. Why then would this loving God use such a horrific method as evolution to create us? Millions upon millions of organisms before us have died just so that we can evolve into what we have today. A Christian believing in evolution would throw God into the same spectrum as Hitler. (actually worse, as Hitler only killed 9 million and God would have killed billions.) Some might be offended by this comparison- but that does not mean it’s not true. Hitler believed in a superior race, and to get that superior race the weak had to be destroyed. He viewed the Jews, gypsies, gays, and mentally-handicapped as weak. His answer was to create concentration camps to kill them out. How is this any difference from God using evolution? Millions of prototypes before us have died to create what now is the ultimate human (we continue to evolve, but we are on the top of the food chain at the moment, and most likely always will be.)

I’ve presented why I believe God and Evolution can’t coexist, now I’ll go to the opposite end. The fundamentalist Christian believes that God truly did take 6 days to create the earth (resting on the 7th, which is strange in itself. Why would an almighty God need rest?). They also believe the age of the earth is less than 10,000 years old. I’ve found that you cannot argue with this type of believer. They refuse to accept any evidence and blindly believe in a man-made God. That’s the most simple way Christianity (and all religions for that matter) can be broken down. It is man-made. Thousands of years ago we did not understand where we came from, and we didn’t have modern day science to explain the world around us. So, our ancestors would look at a chair, knowing that it had to have a creator. Without science to explain anything, the logical thing to assume is that we also must have a creator. Gods come from the lack of ability to explain our surroundings. Now we know Evolution is a fact (scientific theories are far difference than the standard definition of theory. When a Christian says “Evolution is only a theory, it’s not fact” they don’t know what they’re talking about). We know how it is possible for life to emerge from stardust (see: abiogenesis.) We have thousands of fossils tracing back to different versions of animals while they went through the evolutionary process. Our genetic code proves that we all have a common ancestor.

Yet, with mounds and mounds of evidence, Christians still cling on to an Almighty God in the sky that is constantly watching over us. I’ve yet to understand why this is the case, but I have my inclinations. Death is hard to cope with. People want to be comforted in knowing there’s an afterlife. Religion provides that comfort. I prefer to believe that we’re here once, so we must make of it what we can. Why waste your life on earth, missing out on countless opportunities because you’re banking on there being an afterlife?