I wasn’t always atheist. I used to be religious and even read the bible cover to cover – something I’m not so sure many professed Christians have actually done. Either that or they just choose to ignore many of the bible teachings that they don’t agree with or that stand in direct contrast to their own actions.
Kim Davis is a PERFECT example of this. She cites the bible in her decision to refuse to issue same sex marriage licenses, yet she herself has clearly disobeyed the bible’s commands in regards to divorce and adultery. Let’s look at the facts:
- She’s been divorced 3 times, married 4 (so much for the sanctity of marriage).
- She had twins 5 months AFTER a divorce (do the math) with a man not her husband at the time.
Here’s how the US News summarized this:
[Davis] gave birth to twins five months after divorcing her first husband. They were fathered by her third husband but adopted by her second. Davis worked at the clerk’s office at the time of each divorce and has since remarried.
Huh? Did you follow that? Kim Davis, who are you again to talk about morality?
Davis is just the latest example of people applying their own morality based on THEIR interpretation of the bible. Most people who profess to be Christians have had sex before marriage, masturbate, have tattoos, watch pornography or violent movies, listen to questionable lyrics, read material with curse words on it, vote, and overall, disregard the bible when they make daily decisions. The bible only comes into play when OTHERS are breaking rules they agree with – like homosexuality and same sex marriage.
How can people be so hypocritical? I think it’s just a huge and gross disconnect. If people really believed the bible or whatever holy book they ascribe to a god, they would not participate in society. Christians would not be involved in politics and national wars, Muslims would not engage in suicide bombings, and no one would hurt another human since most religions claim to teach peace and morals.
George Carlin once said he became atheist once he “reached the age of reason.” I understand that because, in a way, I hit this point after careful study of the bible. Reason allowed me to see that there were many glaring contradictions and that the bible is a book written with control and subjugation in mind. This in turn allowed me to question bible teachings without guilt or fear.
I’ve learned that morals are intrinsic. They are a survival mechanism and help people flourish. They are human constructs. Morality can range across cultures, but for the most part, they help to keep order within those groups. Also, morals exist without religious texts and ironically, reading the bible helped me to understand this.
Religion has tried to monopolize morality and this is so not the case. I looked at the bible and saw that it conveniently allowed for murder, rape, incest, deception, adultery, polygamy, slavery and on and on… so long as you were in control or had some bullshit story about how your actions had god’s blessings. Any human being with a working moral compass will tell you that those things are wrong.
It’s too easy to take the bible apart, but in order to do that, you have to read it. That’s why, unlike most atheist, I invite all (Christians especially) to read the bible cover to cover and see it for what it is, a book that belongs next to the Greek Mythology textbook that you studied in high school.
