This one popped up in my feed. I don’t know about you, but I kind’a hate it when someone takes it upon themselves to tell or explain to the other party what the other party believes. Christians telling Atheists what the Atheists believe and Atheists doing the same to Christians. They usually get it wrong and it isn’t the least bit helpful. I looked up Coyne’s information and I see that he has a PhD in Biology, but I don’t see any academic work in Theology. Interesting.
I had already had my “Jesus Experience” a few years before going to Loyola Marymount as a Religious Studies major. I learned very quickly that it would be foolish to confuse formal academic theological studies with personal/amateur home “bible study,” or what often happens from many church pulpits. They’re not the same thing. It didn’t change my feelings about the Catholic Church, but I had greater respect for the scholars whom I met and studied under. Then when I switched to Protestant Biola University as a Biblical Studies major, I ran into a lot of former Catholics who were still going through their “anger phase” against the Catholic Church for, from their new point of view, not being true to the Bible. Been there/done that. Apparently, some people never get over this phase.
It’s been said that the best way to de-convert someone from Christianity is to have them closely study the Bible. Well, that certainly was a contributing factor for me. I got my B.A. in Biblical Studies, started an M.A. in Theology at Fuller Seminary and then my personal life fell in the toilet. Again, I have the utmost respect for the scholars I studied under at both institutions and my conclusions have nothing to do with the intelligence or honesty or integrity of any of us. It’s just that after 30-years of keeping the faith and feeling like a failure I had to change the rules of the game so I could rebalance the system to be a better human. Whatever I had been doing wasn’t working so I dropped God from the equation to see what would pop up. It wasn’t pretty, but for the first time I was beginning to really own my own flaws and efforts. (Small yay!)
Back to others attempting to define your experience(s)… I remember when I expressed some of my religious doubts to my mom, she quipped something about me thinking that I’m too smart to believe in the church (she was a devout Catholic). Yeah, that wasn’t it. I knew plenty of extremely intelligent people on all sides of these questions, so it had nothing to do with me thinking that I was “too smart.” I’m not an idiot, but I know enough to know that it’s not about being too smart.
But that’s the story that my mother told herself in an effort to understand her son. Now that I think about it, we all had a difficult time when I was 15 and got into the “Jesus” thing and was argumentative with my Catholic mother and Protestant/Baptist father. You’d think that my beliefs would align at least a little with my dad, but it was the 1970s in Southern California and I did not look or act like any Baptist church-goers that my dad knew. Fortunately, I mellowed tremendously since those volatile days. I let them say that they would pray for me and that God was always watching over me. I knew that that was just their way of saying that they loved me and wanted the best for me. They weren’t petty people and I didn’t need to win any arguments and we lived in peace right up to when they breathed their last. They were good people and their faith was part of how they defined themselves. And I’m okay with that.
I get why some Atheists lash out at Christians or Christianity, especially if they were raised Christian. Everyone goes through their “anger” phase. Whenever we get together it’s natural to share ones story, how one came to go against the American norm (especially us “boomers”) and choose to “not believe.” That’s perfectly understandable. Folks need to spend time with like-minded folks. When I was living in Florida, it felt a little more essential for nonbelievers to socialize because there was such a blatant assumption that we were all good Christians. Ugh.
But as I spent more times with my non-believing friends it was pretty obvious that they were just as flawed and wonderful as my believer friends, except that one part about God. Better/not better? In that one area, for me, better, but in all other areas… just the same. That shouldn’t be any great surprise. But somehow it is for some, ‘cause everyone wants to believe that their “team” is the best or better than the other team(s). At this point, I’m tired when I see some post in FB yelling, “Christians are stupid” or the opposite, “America is going to hell because we don’t pray in public schools.” I’m pretty done with someone saying what’s wrong with the other team. I am interested in the story of how you became you, whether believer or non-believer. I find everyones journey interesting, especially those places where one had to struggle to hold on to the things that were and are important. I find that fascinating. Tell me your story. Don’t try to tell me my story or the story of those who aren’t part of your “team.” I’m done with the name calling.
Resources:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Coyne
• Christianity’s Fatal Error by Holy Koolaid (2022), https://youtu.be/w5aZXXx3E6U
• Dumb Things Christians Say to Atheists – Tier List by Holy Koolaid (2022), https://youtu.be/A75-DfCiiBI
