“And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:17 King James Version). I like to use this passage on my kids when I hear them speak ill of myself or their mother. As a human being, however; I am disgusted that there are still many people who think that the book this came from is not only something they encourage their kids to live by, but also expect it to be a moral compass. I agree that some passages and messages contained within the text are good examples of living a good life and a great teaching tool for morality; but where do we draw the line?
“So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children.” (Deuteronomy 3:3-7 New International Version) This passage suggests that we judge every person based on the king that rules over them, including the children who are there only by birth and not of their own choosing. Even though this passage suggests they shouldn’t have been, many Christians were outraged when al-Qaeda targeted The World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
“In 2004, the diocese reported that 24 of its priests had been ‘credibly accused’ of abuse, but it did not name them.” (Dennis, 2008) In the mid-2000’s reports like this were in nearly every newspaper, magazine and television. The main spotlight was on the Catholic Church’s dioceses in and around Alameda County, California who not only ignored the situation, but also moved the accused priests from one parish to the next (Lattin, 2004). This is not to say that your children will be molested by a priest or any clergy member; rather, these kids were assumed to be in safe hands when their only credential was being a member of clergy. Day care centers run by churches on church property are not required to have even a single licensed child care provider on staff in most states. Usually the only background checks on the people providing the care revolves solely on church involvement.
Galileo of Galilee and Nicolaus Copernicus were heavily criticized by both the Catholic Church and Protestants of their time for their research into astronomy as being heretics since most of their work went against the common consensus of how the bible was interpreted. Hundreds of years later and even the most die-hard and fanatical Christian doesn’t dispute their work; yet they will be the first in line today to declare the evils of scientific research they feel does not coincide with the preaching of the bible. Stem-cell research and cloning are sciences that could greatly benefit humankind now, but are being stymied by Christian extremists.
If you believe that a higher power created the heavens and the earth, what will motivate you to trying to keep this a place worth living on for future generations? It seems to me that most public authorities who resist change to the things we do that have a negative environmental impact are the same ones who publicly declare they are Christian and/or charged by God himself. As a Christian child, I was never taught not to do my part to save the environment, only that one day Jesus Christ would come back to claim the earth. Believing that, what did I care if the polar ice caps melted or if our oceans flooded? He would make it all better in the end.
My final note about the dangers of Christianity lies solely on speculation as I am not aware of any research to support my theory. I am gravely concerned about the theory of an afterlife. While this theory supports being a good, moral person now will have its rewards later on; it is the most self-centered, weakest link, childish way to force someone do what youthink is the right thing. If everyone thought that this life was the only life you get, how many people would think twice before starting a war, about capital punishment or even suicide. Yes, suicide. Even though it is common Christian belief that suicide will lead you to an eternity of brimstone and hell fire, how many people thought that maybe this wouldn’t apply to them before doing it? Maybe God would understand your mental and spiritual weakness and forgive you. Even though the bible contradicts this, many Christians still believe God is fair and forgiving.
In summation; I believe that most people who follow any organized religion, especially Christians, are weak-minded individuals who can’t think for themselves or even take responsibility for their own actions. When all else fails, blame temptation from the devil in your time of weakness, make peace for what you did with yourself and your God; all else will be forgiven. I could probably fill the library of congress with just news articles and videos of people claiming they killed someone because the bible said they needed to die or that God told them personally to kill that person. For those who do not fall into this category, I believe you are either just afraid of nothing being out there or feel the need to explain why things are the way they are with mysticism because finding the real answers either frighten you or are too difficult to for you to understand.
Benefits of Humanism
Corliss Lamont is often thought of as the godfather of the Humanism movement. He defined humanism as “a naturalistic philosophy that rejects all supernaturalism and relies primarily upon reason and science, democracy and human compassion” (Lamont, 1997). More familiar terms are Secular Humanism or Religious Humanism. The only difference between the two according to Fred Edwords of the American Humanist Association really depends on whether you view Humanism as a religion or a philosophy (Edwords, 2008). Whether considered religious or secular, all Humanists have the same core values.
Humanist’s gets their moral compass from their heart and not a book written and rewritten by people claiming to be of good character or God himself. There is no doctrine of being a Humanist or one person or an elite group of people telling you what is right and wrong. Each person is held accountable for their own actions. There are no entrance rites or approval boards, so anyone can align themselves with the Humanist philosophy. Deep down, whether we believe in a supreme being or not, I believe we are all humanists at heart.
References
Dennis, R. (2008, March 30). Sins, secrets and denial. Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA) .
Edwords, F. (2008). What is Humanism? Retrieved March 2, 2011, from American Humanist Association:
Lamont, C. (1997). The Philosophy of Humanism, Eighth Edition. Amherst, New York, USA: Humanist Press - a Division of the American Humanist Association.
Lattin, D. (2004, August 22). OAKLAND; Key decision expected in priest abuse cases; Debate over when Catholic leaders learned of problem.(BAY AREA). San Francisco Chronicle , p. B1.
