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Joe Bill (c)3/5/2001
I believe the morals of Christianity and the so-called benefits of Christianity are askew and do not outweigh the negative outcomes that Christianity can harbor so easily.
Let us examine the core belief of Christianity for a moment. Many Christians believe we were initially created perfect, which would be a statement that would imply that we would act in accordance with this perfection. At the same time, we must have been created with a sinful nature, because that it precisely what we did. In the statement we were created perfectly, we have to acknowledge that sinning is part of that perfection, (because after all we were perfect and sinned) or we have to assume we weren�t created perfectly. In either case, we inherit this sin and are consequently punished for it.
Why we inherit sin is a mystery. I am certainly glad we don�t practice this in the present. If my father committed a crime, I certainly wouldn�t want to be put to death for his mistake. I have heard the argument that we are all human, and all human nature is to sin. Of course, this completely ignores the statement that we were created perfect, and it would seem that our nature should be to be perfect. Even if this were our default nature, is it justice to punish something for what it is? It would be impossible for a human to be anything but a human. I certainly wouldn�t punish a wild animal for being wild, that would be inhumane. The Christian philosophy gives us an opportunity to escape this unfortunate turn for humanity. It is tethered to forgiveness and consequently Jesus.
So what we have thus far is a human born into badness, condemned to an eternity in hell unless they welcome Jesus into their lives. The contention alone that we are all horrible, depraved people in need of some kind of God sets the stage for guilt. Christians are going to be inclined to feel that their every action is bad, since the Bible says that is their nature. Christians are expected to live in some twilight zone where how they are expected to live cannot resemble their nature. They cannot judge, yet each day we have to make judgements. They cannot sin, and sin covers such a panoply of activity, I cannot begin to cover it all here. Most annoyingly, questioning faith, or doubting faith is looked upon unfavorably. Absolute truth is promoted, and Pride is discouraged. It took me quite some time to figure out why pride is looked upon so unfavorably. Christians often say � I sense pride in you.� Usually this is said when someone has asked a genuine question. What does this mean? Most of us wouldn�t look at pride unfavorably. Boastfulness perhaps. We take pride in our work, and our children. Herein is the problem. Pride promotes individualism. It would be difficult to hold the beliefs of Christianity together, if each person approached the subject as a thinking individual.
We have established that Christianity makes us think negatively of ourselves, and that we must deny some of our impulses. The most striking case of denial in Christianity is sex. Sex is a subject that has all sorts of taboos associated with it. In fact, the Bible seems to prefer celibacy, failing that, it is all right to be married and having sex. It isn�t permissible for two unmarried people to have sex, or to live together. Adultery is super-impermissible. First of all, psychologically when people are expressly forbidden to do something, that something becomes more desirable to do. The more repression that takes place, the more intrigued that person is by what is deemed forbidden. Secondly, the moral implications of premarital sex and living together are dated. I do not mean to promote premarital sex, or living together. Clearly, there are circumstances where this is undesirable. However, I would much rather two people live together for a while and find they don�t like one another than to get married and have kids and find that same thing too little to late. Adultery is something else that I don�t necessarily see as morally wrong. If a man is consumed by lustful thoughts of someone else, and his ambitions are set on that someone else, his marriage is probably going to suffer under the strain of the object of his affection. Though his wife may not know he is infatuated, communication may suffer, sexual desire between the two married people may suffer, tension may form, and fights may erupt, while children look on. If the affair was had and done, and ended (as most seem to do) unfavorably, then the man has rid himself of his infatuation and can carry on. As I have said, I am not promoting adultery, but is the antiquated belief of it always being incorrect really applicable today in every instance? Furthermore, why should a Christian code of morals be different than that of a non-Christian if there are, as Christians say, right and wrong?
Ideally, impulses that would end up hurting some other individual would be avoided. But this isn�t the case. There are many shades of gray. Take for example the commandment, �Thou shalt not kill�. That sounds pretty straight forward. But consider for a moment that your children are being raped, and their throats are about to be slit by the rapist. Most of us would say that killing the rapist isn�t wrong in this circumstance, because of the harm he is causing. However, the commandment says, �Thou shalt not kill�. Is that applicable in that situation?
Perhaps the most annoying facet of Christianity is the claim to absolute Truth. Each time in history, when man has presumed to have absolute truth, we have had things like the Crusades, The Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, and a host of other progress- blocking impasses and cruelty. If the church had had its way, we would still believe the world to be flat. When we presume to hold absolute truth in our perceptions, then and only then are we truly capable of heinous acts that we can justify in the name of God. Most Christians have logic sitting there waiting to be utilized, but only to the extent that it doesn�t disprove their beliefs. Why not tap this logic? Why not ask questions to a wide sampling of so-called men of God? Why not question what we hold to believe to be true, unless we are afraid of what we might find?
It is said that with God all things are possible. Of course, to Christians this seems to rule out that God doesn�t exist as a possibility. Maybe a more accurate statement should be �Without God, all things are possible.�
Joe Bill
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