Lean Left

Running true to a very tedious and familiar form, some nutcase makes waves to prove how Christian he is by proving how crazy he is:

Brothers and Sisters , I have been seriously considering forming a ( Christian ) grassroots type of organization to be named “The Christian National Registry of Atheists” or something similar . I mean , think about it . There are already National Registrys for convicted sex offenders , ex-convicts , terrorist cells , hate groups like the KKK , skinheads , radical Islamists , etc..

This type of “National Registry” would merely be for information purposes . To inform the public of KNOWN ( i.e., self-admitted) atheists . . . .

Now , many (especially the atheists ) , may ask “Why do this , what’s the purpose ?” Duhhh , Mr. Atheist , for the same purpose many States put the names and photos of convicted sex offenders and other ex-felons on the I-Net – to INFORM the public ! I mean , in the City of Miramar , Florida , where I live , the population is approx. 109,000 . My family and I would sure like to know how many of those 109,000 are ADMITTED atheists ! Perhaps we may actually know some . In which case we could begin to witness to them and warn them of the dangers of atheism . Or perhaps they are radical atheists , whose hearts are as hard as Pharaoh’s , in that case , if they are business owners , we would encourage all our Christian friends , as well as the various churches and their congregations NOT to patronize them as we would only be “feeding” Satan .

Middle-aged white guy: Check. Southerner: Check. Bible College student: Check. Weirdly medieval Bible quotes (“The Lord is . . . my buckler, and the horn of my salvation”): Check. Childishly triumphalist evangelical-Christian imagery (the King James Bible, wearing a crown, on top of a mountain, with volumes of Socrates, Plato, “Netzche”, and Bibles that are not the KJV in a valley below): Check. Request for money: Check. Linked YouTube video of pixellated sinners falling into the flames of Hell while screaming: . . . uh . . . OK.

And, of course – dubiously paranoid sense of embattlement vis a vis perfectly normal aspects of society that aren’t just like him, and which he therefore perceives as threats (“We MUST Win This War With Islam!” “Darwin’s BIG Evolution LIE!”): . . . do I need to say it? So, lumping atheists in with child molesters, the KKK, and “Islamists” (who clearly have a lot in common with atheists) requires no particular excursion from the pathways of logic most familiar to him.

Here I am faced with a familiar quandary: I know, and agree, that not everyone from a particular group thinks the same way, or is guilty of the same things, as the worst or craziest members of that group. But still there are two things to be considered: first, crazy is hardly a small part of Christianity, and, second, it’s the crazy parts that are important. Decent, normal, tolerant Christians, I’m willing to agree, are a large part of that group. It’s not clear that they’re a majority, though, and they can’t be a large majority, at any rate, given the prevalence of creationism, homophobia, misogyny, and generic right-wing craziness of every stripe (cf. “Tea Party”), and the support for political enforcement of such views  (cf. “Republican Party”), that exists among Christians generally, in the US at least.

More to the point, these people are crazy and offensive because they’re Christians. There are certainly offensive liberals; they are in nothing like the numbers of fundamentalist and dominionist Christians, and they don’t organize under the banner of liberal causes and behave like this, trying to invade other people’s lives or shut them out of their own society. The crazy and offensive things Christians do, however, are commonly motivated by Christianity, organized as expressions of Christian action, and claimed as justified on the grounds of Christianity. It hardly seems unfair to take them at their word, and attach that kind of behavior to our understanding of Christianity and Christians themselves, even if it’s not a universal characteristic.

If some asshole wants to put me on a public registry for harassment and shunning, because he’s a Christian, I’m entitled to notice. And it’s impossible not to notice that there are millions like him trying to criminalize or stigmatize everything else people do that their religion tells them to disapprove of. So, reasonably, that’s what Christianity means to me: people hassling, outlawing, and at times killing other people – people like me – for making choices in their lives the Christians don’t give them permission for. Nothing else Christians do particularly matters to me or affects me. It’s the hassle, persecution, and terrorism that affects me.

So, here’s more of it, and I’m not in the least surprised. Two things I know, however: Christians are going to be angry at me for not being surprised at the way Christians act; and, none of the Christians who are angry at me for believing what this guy says about Christianity are going to be angry at him for saying it.

Oh, yes – crazy Christian dickhead with an enemies list? Sign me up:

Kevin T. Keith
Brooklyn, NY
http://www.ktkeith.com