On Christian Bigotry and Hatred
If you believe conservative Christians don’t propagate a notably strong sense of bigotry and hatred towards those who believe differently than they, then I have some challenges for you.
First, seek out a member of the Ku Klux Klan or any other brand-name white supremacist. Ask that person as plainly as you can, “Why do you hate gays, minorities, and Jews?” Listen to their answer. I’m willing to bet an airline ticket to the Bahamas that the answer will be something like, “We don’t hate them. We hate what they stand for,” or “Those of us who believe in white nationalism are having our way of life taken from us, and we are fighting to stop that.” Or, if the person you are asking is exceptionally well-versed in their bigotry, you may even get to hear a biblically enlightening discourse on Genesis 9:26 and Genesis 11:1-9 on how “God himself enforced subjugation, and put the differences of race between men and women. Who are we to remove them?” Almost never will they say, “I admit it. You got me. I hate those bastards because that’s the way I am.”
Next, seek out someone on the other end of the spectrum. Find some no good race-hustlers, like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, (in this writer’s opinion, two of the scummiest men on our planet). Ask them if they hate white people. They won’t say so. They will emphatically say that they don’t, that they just want equality and reparations for past wrongs, but reading between the lines, one can see the hatred and gut-centered resentment spewing out of their mouths. Men like these have problems; they hold people accountable for things they are not responsible for. So intense is their hatred that it ruined the lives of three innocent lacrosse players by means of character assassination when not a bit of evidence incriminated the boys.
Then, find a radical Muslim, a member or a sympathizer of a terrorist group like al-Qaeda. Ask him why he hates the Jews so much. Chances are, you’ll hear, “We don’t hate Jews. We once lived in peace with the Jews. We are fighting them to win back our freedom.” I am amazed how people can be so damn good at putting soft-peddle twists on hate speech to make it sound less objectionable.
Of course, there are those who are honest enough to admit their hatred, like those of Westboro Baptist Church, who make headlines all the time, telling gays how badly God hates them and wants them to suffer in hell. These mouthpieces of madness spend their waking hours telling teary-eyed families of fallen soldiers that their dearly beloved is in Hell from God’s wrath being unleashed on them because of America’s sins. They’ll tell you in no uncertain terms that “God hates fags” – and since God hates them, how can they not? If nothing else, one must appreciate the honesty! But honesty or no honesty, all these examples are in a clear-cut caste of religion-born hatemongers. The fact that every dimwitted idealist is right in his own thinking does not detract from the message of hate he preaches.
In the case of Christianity, the bigotry comes from the top down, from the condescension that arises when “objective” faith-based standards are proclaimed. There’s nothing wrong with employing objective standards of morality. We do it all the time without any help from religion. The problem comes from believers adding their own brouhaha into the moral mix, creating extraneous laws under the guise of “objective morality.”
These commandments of bologna they consider to be God’s immutable word, and there is no arguing with them. That’s the disadvantage of bowing the knee to a deity and counting on one as your ultimate source of morals: it’s his way or the Hell-way! The reasoning goes a little something like this…
- If God is true and just and right, and cannot be wrong, and…
- If believers in this God are to please him, who is true and just and right, and cannot be wrong, then believers must adopt his ways, opposing what he opposes, while approving what he approves of, and…
- Since God’s truth is absolute, what is true for the believer must also be true for the unbeliever.
~Therefore, if the believer is to please God, he must do all that he can to praise and uphold God and his people who fight for his will, and forcefully oppose those who do not align their conduct and message with the divine revelation.
In other words, when someone believes God is on his or her side, they almost invariably bind those beliefs on others and judge their fellow man by the same standards. Failure to comply with said truths results in shunning at least or persecution at worst. Once one begins this walk, there is essentially no going back; if God himself despises homosexuality, witchcraft, abortion, birth control, or masturbation, then there can be no room for disagreement on the issues. You have no voice in the matter. The faithful must therefore do all that they can (religiously, politically, or otherwise) to ensure that the “one true way” is followed.
If you happen to work as a minister, you preach your message to change the thinking of the masses. If you run a store, you refuse to sell products that clash with your faith, and perhaps even refuse service to adherents of other faiths or no faith at all (like the recent occurrences of Muslim cab drivers refusing to provide transportation to those who purchased alcohol, or Muslim clerks refusing to ring up a customer’s pork at the grocery store). If you are in a politically influential position, you use your “juice” to make some changes that further your cause; if God doesn’t want the faithful to have porn, consume caffeine, or use certain four letter words that offend the ghost they worship, then no one can be allowed to transgress on any point if it is in your power to prevent it.
And herein lies the framework for ages of smothering oppression. Here, you have not only the seedbed for tyranny, but fields ripe for religious bloodshed. Were the years of torture under theocracies not already behind us, we wouldn’t have to wait long for thumbscrews to be brought out and stocks to be put in public squares.
Paying lip service to concepts like “love,” and “tolerance,” and “acceptance” means nothing when your religion causes you to look down in disgust on people who believe differently than you. Regardless of a belief system’s intent, it is easily possible to be a bigot without ever uttering the phrases, “I am holier than you,” or “I am better than you.” And commanding one another to “love thy neighbor” does nothing to bring about love. It’s superfluous, like giving commandments to “have sex” or “eat food.” It is worthless to harp on about love when the principles of acceptance and tolerance end up being killed off by the person’s very own belief system, as is the case with every organized religion I know of.
In a world where petty differences divide us, it’s hard enough to bridge the gaps of disagreements with acceptance and love just being human. We don’t need notions of an authoritarian deity making matters worse. Religion is to be held responsible, in large part, for producing the hatred, which serves as the central precursor to persecution and death.
“The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (Psalm 58:10)
(JH)
First, seek out a member of the Ku Klux Klan or any other brand-name white supremacist. Ask that person as plainly as you can, “Why do you hate gays, minorities, and Jews?” Listen to their answer. I’m willing to bet an airline ticket to the Bahamas that the answer will be something like, “We don’t hate them. We hate what they stand for,” or “Those of us who believe in white nationalism are having our way of life taken from us, and we are fighting to stop that.” Or, if the person you are asking is exceptionally well-versed in their bigotry, you may even get to hear a biblically enlightening discourse on Genesis 9:26 and Genesis 11:1-9 on how “God himself enforced subjugation, and put the differences of race between men and women. Who are we to remove them?” Almost never will they say, “I admit it. You got me. I hate those bastards because that’s the way I am.”
Next, seek out someone on the other end of the spectrum. Find some no good race-hustlers, like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson, (in this writer’s opinion, two of the scummiest men on our planet). Ask them if they hate white people. They won’t say so. They will emphatically say that they don’t, that they just want equality and reparations for past wrongs, but reading between the lines, one can see the hatred and gut-centered resentment spewing out of their mouths. Men like these have problems; they hold people accountable for things they are not responsible for. So intense is their hatred that it ruined the lives of three innocent lacrosse players by means of character assassination when not a bit of evidence incriminated the boys.
Then, find a radical Muslim, a member or a sympathizer of a terrorist group like al-Qaeda. Ask him why he hates the Jews so much. Chances are, you’ll hear, “We don’t hate Jews. We once lived in peace with the Jews. We are fighting them to win back our freedom.” I am amazed how people can be so damn good at putting soft-peddle twists on hate speech to make it sound less objectionable.
Of course, there are those who are honest enough to admit their hatred, like those of Westboro Baptist Church, who make headlines all the time, telling gays how badly God hates them and wants them to suffer in hell. These mouthpieces of madness spend their waking hours telling teary-eyed families of fallen soldiers that their dearly beloved is in Hell from God’s wrath being unleashed on them because of America’s sins. They’ll tell you in no uncertain terms that “God hates fags” – and since God hates them, how can they not? If nothing else, one must appreciate the honesty! But honesty or no honesty, all these examples are in a clear-cut caste of religion-born hatemongers. The fact that every dimwitted idealist is right in his own thinking does not detract from the message of hate he preaches.
In the case of Christianity, the bigotry comes from the top down, from the condescension that arises when “objective” faith-based standards are proclaimed. There’s nothing wrong with employing objective standards of morality. We do it all the time without any help from religion. The problem comes from believers adding their own brouhaha into the moral mix, creating extraneous laws under the guise of “objective morality.”
These commandments of bologna they consider to be God’s immutable word, and there is no arguing with them. That’s the disadvantage of bowing the knee to a deity and counting on one as your ultimate source of morals: it’s his way or the Hell-way! The reasoning goes a little something like this…
- If God is true and just and right, and cannot be wrong, and…
- If believers in this God are to please him, who is true and just and right, and cannot be wrong, then believers must adopt his ways, opposing what he opposes, while approving what he approves of, and…
- Since God’s truth is absolute, what is true for the believer must also be true for the unbeliever.
~Therefore, if the believer is to please God, he must do all that he can to praise and uphold God and his people who fight for his will, and forcefully oppose those who do not align their conduct and message with the divine revelation.
In other words, when someone believes God is on his or her side, they almost invariably bind those beliefs on others and judge their fellow man by the same standards. Failure to comply with said truths results in shunning at least or persecution at worst. Once one begins this walk, there is essentially no going back; if God himself despises homosexuality, witchcraft, abortion, birth control, or masturbation, then there can be no room for disagreement on the issues. You have no voice in the matter. The faithful must therefore do all that they can (religiously, politically, or otherwise) to ensure that the “one true way” is followed.
If you happen to work as a minister, you preach your message to change the thinking of the masses. If you run a store, you refuse to sell products that clash with your faith, and perhaps even refuse service to adherents of other faiths or no faith at all (like the recent occurrences of Muslim cab drivers refusing to provide transportation to those who purchased alcohol, or Muslim clerks refusing to ring up a customer’s pork at the grocery store). If you are in a politically influential position, you use your “juice” to make some changes that further your cause; if God doesn’t want the faithful to have porn, consume caffeine, or use certain four letter words that offend the ghost they worship, then no one can be allowed to transgress on any point if it is in your power to prevent it.
And herein lies the framework for ages of smothering oppression. Here, you have not only the seedbed for tyranny, but fields ripe for religious bloodshed. Were the years of torture under theocracies not already behind us, we wouldn’t have to wait long for thumbscrews to be brought out and stocks to be put in public squares.
Paying lip service to concepts like “love,” and “tolerance,” and “acceptance” means nothing when your religion causes you to look down in disgust on people who believe differently than you. Regardless of a belief system’s intent, it is easily possible to be a bigot without ever uttering the phrases, “I am holier than you,” or “I am better than you.” And commanding one another to “love thy neighbor” does nothing to bring about love. It’s superfluous, like giving commandments to “have sex” or “eat food.” It is worthless to harp on about love when the principles of acceptance and tolerance end up being killed off by the person’s very own belief system, as is the case with every organized religion I know of.
In a world where petty differences divide us, it’s hard enough to bridge the gaps of disagreements with acceptance and love just being human. We don’t need notions of an authoritarian deity making matters worse. Religion is to be held responsible, in large part, for producing the hatred, which serves as the central precursor to persecution and death.
“The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.” (Psalm 58:10)
(JH)