Why do Christians have a licence to be insane? I often wonder that. If any nontheist were to speak and act the way many Christians do, we would be locked up and they would throw away the key.
One of my favorite issues is how Christians “see” things that simply aren’t there. A lady takes a picture of a cloud during a tornado and if you turn the picture sideways, squint and close one eye, you will see Jesus. “I felt such peace when I saw Jesus in the clouds. I knew that he was there to take the people who died to heaven.” I rather thought the cloud looked like the wizard Gandalf. Maybe he was there casting a spell to send the tornado away. The problem here is, if I say my theory out loud, I will be scoffed at. In the meantime the Christian who sees Jesus in the clouds will be looked upon in awe. Both explanations are equally ludicrous. The fact is that the human mind has a need to create patterns out of chaos and you will see what is familiar to you.
Another good one is how Christians are always quoting from one single book in an effort to justify their lives. No matter what the subject matter, a Christian will be ready with some bible reference. “Homosexuality is wrong, God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.” Oh, well that explains it all! People will nod in agreement after hearing a reference from this single book and not even question what they’ve just heard. If I were to start quoting Grimm’s Fairy Tales as if they were fact, people would begin to question my mental stability. Yet in the end, that’s all the bible is, a bunch of Fairy Tales.
A group of children say they saw the Virgin Mary in the woods and an entire cult develops around the story. Millions of Christians have made a trip to Fatima in hopes of seeing Mary for themselves. If these same children had come out of the woods claiming they saw a Leprechaun, I doubt many people would travel from far and wide trying to find the Leprechaun’s pot of gold. The children would probably have been sent to bed without supper for making up such a lie. Yet, substitute the Virgin Mary for the Leprechaun and you’ve got a miracle on your hands.
I suppose in the end we all see and hear what we want to. The difference for most secular people is we choose to apply logic and reasoning. I want to be sure all areas of research have been done before I jump to any sort of conclusion. Most Christians can blindly believe any nonsense, so long as it makes them feel good. They will follow what ever their magical book tells them to. I guess that’s the problem, I don’t have “Blind Faith”, and I am thankful every day for that!
Hello. My name is Angela Christine Byers (yes, my mother actually named me “Angel of Christ”), and I am an atheist.
Copyright © 1996 - 2002 Angela C. Byers
Email comments to:
Angela C. Byers