I’m often astounded by the way people conduct themselves in life. Mostly through the comments and posts people make on social media. Sometimes even here on our writing platform.
There are so many wilfully ignorant people spewing the most hateful drivel. Many of them profess to be conservative Christians. I prefer to call them Hypocritical Heathens. When you lead with racism and bigotry, that doesn’t exactly scream, “Follower of Christ.”
It must be exhausting to hate so many things. A close friend of mine is a gay closeted early 30s man who lives with his Evangelical mother in the Deep South. Imagine the stories I hear from him about the evil, hateful things she says. A Trump-supporting MAGA woman through and through, she has no love for anyone who isn’t white, straight, and as “Christian” as she claims to be.
She’s fearful and afraid of everything.
Immigrants. People of color. LGBTQ folks. Liberal Democrats. People who practice other religions than Christianity. She has no problem stating that all of these people are going to Hell. This doesn’t sound like the “Love Thy Neighbor” speech that Jesus made in the Bible.
Sadly, many religious folks take their holy book far too literally. Instead of reading and interpreting it as a blueprint full of parables and metaphors for how to treat others well, they weaponize it and cherry-pick the parts that prop up their selfish, discriminatory agendas. Whether this is due to the fear they have of people who are different than themselves or by the propaganda that is drilled into their heads by religious leaders, one thing is certain:
You are not free when you’re bound by the shackles of religion.
Religion is the most destructive force on the planet. The majority of people who die unnatural, violent deaths are victims of war. Wars caused by maniacs who justify the spread of violence, death, and genocide because their god wills it to be. You only have to look at the Middle East to see this example playing out in real time between Israel and Palestine.
The Crusades caused about 1.7 million deaths in the name of God. Other wars throughout Asia were responsible for up to 20 to 30 million deaths. World War II caused between 70 to 85 million military and civilian deaths, or roughly 2% to 3% of the Earth’s total population at the time. Many of the world leaders and participants in it felt that a religious deity was on their side.
Though most were simply justifying their selfish, greedy thirst for land, resources, and power in the name of God.
I gave up on organized religion many moons ago. I’ve been without faith for almost my entire adult life. I was a much more judgmental person during those first 21 years of my existence. That isn’t something I’m proud of, but I’ve learned to let it go. I choose to judge myself by how much better I’ve treated the diverse people I’ve known since leaving the church.
When you’re born into religion and are raised in church, it’s not easy to be a well-rounded, caring, person. Especially when you’re so young. Our brains aren’t fully formed until we’re 25 or 26 years old. How are we supposed to critically judge and move away from the bigoted messages being preached about people with differing beliefs?
It isn’t easy. For me, higher education helped.
Getting to know diverse types of people throughout my young adult life taught me far better life lessons than I ever learned in my father’s churches. I realized that some of the messages he preached were utter nonsense. As I met and spent time with people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ folks, I realized that we have far more in common than the things that divide most of us.
Choosing not to spend every Sunday morning, evening, and Wednesday night sitting amongst many self-righteous, judgmental folks helped my mental health. Doing more productive things instead of hearing angry, ignorant, bigoted messages was freeing. I had extra time to pursue other interests. I chose to get to know interesting people and enjoyed learning about their cultures, interests, and beliefs.
When you don’t fear Hell and you’re not worried about an angry deity waiting to fire lightning bolts down on you from Heaven, you’re more open to new experiences. I found myself talking to gay people for the first time and enjoying who they were as human beings. I invited Muslim friends into my home without an ounce of fear. I realized that being afraid to spend time around non-believers was quite ignorant.
I read about the massive death tolls from the current wars being waged in the name of God, Allah, or whoever else is being used to justify greed and land conquest, and it breaks my heart. This is all so unnecessary. There are plenty of resources on our planet for everyone, if people would drop their evil agendas that are being propped up by their religious beliefs.
This doesn’t only happen in foreign lands. The Christofascist movement here in the United States is causing political divide and hatred more than any other time I can remember. It’s disgusting to witness the way we are treating our fellow countrymen and women.
If you don’t think this can lead to anger violence, and civil war, you’re not paying attention.
We’ve already seen it in small doses. Politically, religiously-influenced mass shootings. The attempted insurrection of January 6th, 2021. And Donald Trump fanning the flames of racism and bigotry while campaigning to lead our nation once again.
We cannot allow this to happen, as patriots who care about America. We must outvote the Religious Right, the Moral Minority, and not allow religious zealots to take over our great nation. While we have the freedom of religion, we also need to enforce freedom FROM religion.
We won’t be slaves to your preferred religious beliefs. We do not want your self-imposed chains of bondage inserted into our schools and laws. Until US citizens stop catering to the most vocal, wilfully ignorant segment of society, we will never be a great nation.
We must keep our country a democracy. We will outvote the MAGA movement and not allow their convicted con man to push us toward fascism under the ruse of being “A Christian Nation.” Trump demonstrates none of the morals and values that Jesus preached about in the Bible.
And neither do most of his followers. Don’t allow the bondage of organized religion to prevent you from being good to your fellow Americans. We all deserve freedom and justice, regardless of people’s religious beliefs.
© 2024 Jason Provencio. All rights reserved.
We raised two children totally religion-free. The Catholic church ran both of our families out of the church in the late 1960s when they mysteriously learned our mothers (one in the Midwest and the other in the east coast) were using birth control. Both of our children, who are now adults, have never been in trouble with the law, are charitable and kind. Religion is not necessary to raise children to be good people. Religion is not necessary for ANYONE to be a good person.
Very nice article. I’m thankful I live in Massachusetts but my family in MD do accept me. Been married to a woman for almost 30 years and my Episcopal Church accepts us,too. They have no problem with any of us. Many Episcopal churches are like this. But it’s sad when people are so ignorant!!