Godless And Wild

[Jessie]

So, I was reading through reviews on Netflix for a documentary on religion (religions - all religions, even ancient ones - are something I've always been interested in), and I read this review at a film that attempts to prove there is a god:

 

I AM IN SHOCK! SPEECHLESS! Satan is hard at work here on the review pages...I can't believe any of these people really watched the whole show if at all Why is it so hard to believe in God? I think those who choose to believe the way they do is because it would mean they would have to change the way they live each day...they think it is too much work to be a Christian and they won't have any more fun. Oh no! no more porn! no more getting drunk! and so on. Satan is hard at work grabbing as many followers he can to take down with him even more so now when it is so close to Jesus Christ return!

 

I suppose that this sort of thing is what irks me the most in my new status of non-belief, even more than the proselytizing to win you back. If you're an atheist, it is automatically assumed that one of two things (or both) are true:

 

1. Satan has deceived you.

2. You do not believe in god because you want to be (and are) immoral.

 

I cannot begin to convey how much this annoys me, because even as a Christian, I never said or believed things like that about atheists or people of other religions. So I don't understand it, and I don't understand what sort of place it is coming from.

 

My theory is that they are willing to believe this because it is easier than acknowledging that some people have real, valid reasons to not believe in god and that they can be a good person without him. To acknowledge this about atheists is damaging to the Christian's own faith. If you think someone might have a valid reason not to believe, that thought might disturb you and make you wonder what that reason is. It is much easier to sing "Our God is an Awesome God" and write off the questions as Satan's deception than it is to be honest.

 

I am the same person morally that I've always been. I try to treat people with respect, not because a god tells me to or because I'm afraid of hell, but because I think, unless proven otherwise, that people deserve respect and kindness. I didn't go out and drink and party as a Christian and I still don't. I refuse to believe that the people my age who do are all atheists, or even an atheistic majority. But some Christians turn a blind eye to reality. They talk about an immoral society without, even once, recognizing that their belief system is the majority in this country. I'm not saying that some atheists don't raise hell and party, because that would be lying. But we don't make up enough of the population to account for all of it, even if every single one of us were wild Dionysian party-goers. They'd like to paint that picture though.

 

It bothers me. I'm bothered that I am unjustly stereotyped as being immoral when I try to be as good a person as I can, for its own sake. I'm bothered that the word "Godless" has connotations added to it, other than simply being "Someone who has no god." And worst of all, I'm bothered that people think I'm stupid enough to be deceived by something that doesn't exist!

[mymistake]

Ah, godless and wild . . . that is how I like my coffee.

 

It bothers me. I'm bothered that I am unjustly stereotyped as being immoral when I try to be as good a person as I can, for its own sake. I'm bothered that the word "Godless" has connotations added to it, other than simply being "Someone who has no god." And worst of all, I'm bothered that people think I'm stupid enough to be deceived by something that doesn't exist!

 

Yeah it bothers me too; so much that I haven't mentioned my new religious views to anybody offline. But what can we do? We can't drive the hate from all Christians. And I think you are right they do it mostly to justify their own faith. I think the best we can hope for is to be a good ex-Christian example to those who are close to us and then maybe they will realize that all these prejudices are misguided.