In
early March 1991 a major church college invited the
President to address a large class of students in the
12-16 age group on the above subject. The time
allotted was a mere 20 minutes of which half was
given to questions and answers. This was hardly
sufficient to present an alternate viewpoint and
redress a lifetime of indoctrination but one can only
try. The following is an expanded version of the
material placed before the students.
1. Our primary
reason for rejecting Christianity is that it is
dependent on belief in a universe of supernatural
spirits - the infinite Creator spirit, the thousands
of millions of human spirits called 'souls', good
messenger spirits called 'angels', bad spirits called
'demons' and 'devils' and little spirits called
'cherubims' and 'seraphims'.
None of them can be
defined because the moment a definition is suggested
it is obvious that such an entity does not exist.
Atheists do not believe in the existence of a
supernatural universe of gods, fairies, bunyips,
ghosts, spirits, leprechauns, etc. Christians reject
10,000 gods - atheists reject 10,001. As the extra
one is the old Canaanite god Ya, Christians ought to
reject that one also.
We are all born
without belief in the existence of the god Yahweh so
we are all born atheists but I assume that some of
you would call yourselves Christian. What made you
change? Were you given all the relevant information
and arguments for and against belief in Christianity?
I venture to suggest that it did not happen that way
and even that this may be the first time you have
been presented with the contrary viewpoint. If you
had been born into a Jewish family, a Hindu family or
a Moslem family you would now believe in the Jewish
religion, the Hindu religion or the Moslem religion.
In fact, you would have been indoctrinated since
infancy as, in most cases, your parents and ancestors
have been for many generations.
In some churches
infants are even bonded to a particular denomination
and some male babies are mutilated in response to
religious belief. If your parents happened to be
non-believers you would have been subjected to
constant social, media and church pressure to become
a Christian.
2. It is this
constant coercion in the absence of counter-balancing
information which is the second reason for rejecting
Christianity. It is not a spasmodic or intermittent
effort but the deliberate response to the New
Testament injunction to "go out and compel men
to come in".
Christianity
depends on brainwashing and compulsion. It is even
worse for the British royal family who by law must be
members of the Church of England.
3. Atheists
reject Christianity because the foundation on
which it is based is false and it is dishonest to
promote it as true.
In the words of
Joachim Kahl ("The Misery of Christianity')
"falsification has always played an historical
part in Christianity" and "the New
Testament is a hotch-potch of irreconcilable
opposites".
Even theologian
Rudolph Bultmann admitted that "definite proof
can never be provided for a single saying of
Jesus".
Christianity is
based entirely on the Bible and on the New Testament
in particular, but the Bible is a man-made book
exhibiting all the errors, contradictions, falsehoods
and absurdities one would expect to find in the
writings of ignorant, unsophisticated people. It
contains many myths and folk-tales, snippets of
wisdom, a little history and some excellent poetry
but it is not the infallible utterance of any
supernatural being. Powerful people who believed it
to be so have committed some terrible crimes.
It is wrong
about the beginning and age of the universe.
It is absurd about the origin of humans.
It is immoral in the conception story.
It is contradictory in the genealogy of Jesus.
Incidentally there
is no possibility that a person called Jesus Christ
ever lived and there was no one called 'God' in the
Bible.
An Aramaean peasant
family would never choose the Greek name 'Jesus' for
their child particularly as many of the unpopular
rulers and authorities were from Greece.
'Joshua' was a very
common Jewish name much in favour at that time. As
the early church appears to be very much dominated by
the Greek community the N.T. gospels and letters were
written in Greek and 'Jesus' is the equivalent of
Joshua.
The word 'Christ'
is used by most Christians today as though it were a
surname. In its original form it means chosen' or
'anointed' for a specific office or function. The
word 'Messiah' was the Jewish equivalent and in the
1st century the Romans executed hundreds of
'Messiahs' who saw it as their task to throw off the
yoke of foreign rule. Many would have borne the name
Joshua.
The word 'god' is
of Norse origin and the Bible equivalent appears as
'elim'. 'El' was the chief god of the Canaanites and
was adopted by the Israelites along with 'Ya'. They
appear as 'Elohim' and 'Yahweh' in the Jewish
scriptures and convey the meaning of 'strong ruler'.
The word 'Jehovah'
commonly used in the King James version of the Bible
is a 12th century AD construction derived from
'adonai' which was the word used by the Jews when
reading their scriptures. The New Jerusalem Bible has
reverted to using the word 'Yahweh'.
As the word 'god'
is generic the Hebrew/Christian god should be
identified as 'the god Yahweh' and never as 'God'.
4. Atheists
reject Christianity because the proposed deity
and the situations given are immoral. The immorality
of the deity is exposed in the stories of:
(a) Adam and Eve
where those without the knowledge necessary for
making a vital decision are deliberately placed in
that situation. Not only were they punished but so
were all future generations forever.
(b) The Flood where
only a handful of people are saved while countless
thousands, no less worthy, are drowned together with
millions of animals, birds, insects etc. and all
plant life, except the olive.
(c) The near murder
of Isaac by his father Abraham.
(d) The plagues of
Egypt which are visited not on the pharaoh but upon
all the Egyptians who are innocent and powerless.
(e) The slaughter
of women and infants by Joshua under specific
instruction from Yahweh.
(f) The twin
brothers Jacob and Esau and the profiting from
deceit. The examples could go on and on.
Christians see them
as factual. Fortunately atheists see them as myths
and folklore.
Vengeance is
immoral irrespective of the person responsible.
Morality requires
justice but never vengeance.
The idea of
everlasting punishment is disgustingly immoral and is
rejected by atheists but the Jesus of the gospels
believed in it and used it as a threat to secure
acceptance of his teachings.
5. Atheists
reject Christianity because its basic doctrines
are immoral. The cross is the sadistic glorification
of pain.
The Atonement is a
disgusting extension of the bloody scapegoat idea
where the blame and punishment for wrongdoing is not
placed with the guilty party but borne by an innocent
substitute. It is a bloodthirsty practice common to
many primitive tribal cultures.
Everyone must
recognise that they are responsible for their own
actions and the blame and punishment cannot be
transferred to someone else. To do so is criminal.
An innocent person
may sometimes be punished instead of the guilty or
may choose to take the place of the guilty but can
never be guilty. Guilt cannot be transferred or
expunged by confession. It can be negated by
restitution and reparation.
The Christian
concept of 'sin' does grave psychological damage.
The Bible condones
and approves of slavery and the Christian Church
practised slavery for 1500 years.
The gospel Jesus
threatens people with hell-fire if they reject his
sayings. In other words a person is not permitted to
decide on the evidence. This is the stamp of the
dictator. 'Fear' is a basic tool of Christianity.
The Christian is
required to forfeit reason, self-regard, dignity and
individual decision-making in favour of the perceived
dictates of an immaterial, undefined, super natural
being. These dictates are interpreted and enforced by
the ruling religious clique. Religion is essentially
a system of people control, of ruler and ruled of
dictator and slave.
The myth of the
incarnation is immoral as are many of the parables
and stories about Jesus. The commandment to love is
basically wrong. Love cannot be the result of a
command.
The idea of
personal salvation is intrinsically selfish and Paul
admits that the reason for loving is for personal
gain. I Cor. 13:3.
The basic political
philosophy of Christianity is that of 'ruler and
subjects'. There is no hint of democracy and the most
powerful arm of Christianity has always acted and
still acts as a dictatorship.
Under Christianity
the question of birth control is a matter of
controlling the personal decisions of the woman.
Under Christianity
women have always been regarded as second-rate and
the Church today is being dragged screaming to wards
granting equal rights.
Under Christianity
homosexuals are considered punishable by death.
6. Atheists
reject Christianity because it degrades the
intellectual capacity of human beings.
'Faith' is given
higher status than 'Reason' even though 'faith' is
defined as firm belief in something for which there
is no evidence. Decisions ought to be made on the
available evidence.
All the progress of
civilisation has been the result of the exercise of
reason - from the invention of the wheel to the
latest computer our understanding of the laws of
nature in all its aspects is the result of human
reason.
Christians believe
in the actual suspension and reversal of natural law.
Reason acknowledges four basic forces. Christianity
declares that it has access to forces unknown to
science.
Creationism denies
children access to many professions. Astronomy,
biology, geology, palaeontology and many more witness
to the falsity of Creationism, so entry to these
professions is denied to the believers in fundamental
Christianity. Convictions cannot replace logical
argument.
The Darkest Age for
Europe coincided with the greatest supremacy of the
Christian Church. Basic education for the people was
never seen as a worthy goal.
The world does not
need dogma but an attitude of scientific enquiry. As
Albert Ellis states "Religiosity is a form of
mental sickness". We expect people to act
reasonably on all matters except religion. Bertrand
Russell declared that there is something a little bit
contemptible about a person who cannot face the
perils of life without the help of a comfortable
myth.
7. Atheists
reject Christianity because of its historical
record including the Crusades, Inquisition, heresy -
death, New World butchery, European massacres, Witch
hunts, Slavery, Apartheid, Hitler, Mussolini,
Condemnation and Persecution of Jews.
The last witch was
drowned in 1836 in accordance with the Biblical
command and the last castrati was in 1920 ending the
New Testament injunction that women must keep silent
in church, for women may now sing the soprano parts.
It is somewhat
incongruous that a religion declared to be started by
one who advocated extreme poverty and warned against
wealth should now be one of the wealthiest
institutions in the world.
Cardinal Spellman
defended the war in Vietnam as a war for the
Christian faith.
Anyone wanting to
learn about Christianity should read the Sermon on
the Mount and the history of the death sentence.
8. ATHEISTS
REJECT ALL GOD-BASED RELIGIONS because they are
all divisive and our global village has to be united.
We cannot speak out against the stupidity and
immorality of other religions while we endorse the
stupidity and immorality of Christianity. We cannot
expect to solve world problems while reason plays
second fiddle to religion and we cannot achieve an
acceptable standard of social behaviour while our
ethics are determined by religion.
