✶On the the stunning selfishness of Christianity✶
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Five years of deconstruction in, this is the thing that still boggles my mind: The utter self-centeredness of Christians and Christianity.

To be clear: I'm not talking about the Christians whose God is somewhat universal and inclusive, and whose faith motivates them to make the world a better place.

I mean the Christians whose worlds revolve around their Own Personal Salvation ... and their own fantastic parking spaces.

In general, they're Evangelicals. But not always. The attitude has spread like kudzu over the last few decades.

Almost always, these Christians are in a "relationship, not a religion," so they can give glory to their awesome God for helping them find their lost car keys, or that perfect parking spot by the grocery store on a rainy day. (Because God answers prayer!)

The fact that every 10 seconds, someone in the world (usually a child) dies of hunger... or that in the time it took me to write this rant, more than 400 people (mostly women and children) in America were battered in their homes... even though Christians are constantly praying about these issues, doesn't bother them. (But sometimes, God says "no..." for mysterious reasons.)

To me, though, the worst part is this:

Most of these Christians really DO believe in a literal hell, where those who die unsaved will suffer conscious, eternal torment.

This fate awaits the vast majority of the human race, according to their theology.

It may even await their own friends, siblings, spouses or parents.

But the "Good News" is good news for THEM ... because THEY got "saved."

I have discussed this point with a number of them. They have a number of defense mechanisms.

Many just shrug and say they're sad if others "choose" to go to hell, but it's something they can't control. (Nevertheless, they find great joy and comfort in the Lord.)

To me, that's worse than supporting Hitler, even though your neighbors were sent to Auschwitz, because Hitler built the Autobahn (which is really nice!).

Imagine if you truly believed that there was a bomb in your father's car, programmed to explode as soon as he entered the highway. If you loved him, you'd do anything to stop him from getting in. You would'nt say, "Oh well, he wants to drive, so..."

That's why I think very few Christians have really, really, really thought this through. It's one thing to believe in hell ... but to really ponder it, AND BE OKAY WITH IT — to STILL believe that God is all-loving and awesome — seems, to me, sociopathic.

At the very least, it dehumanizes others. The only way to NOT be bothered by billions of people in hell is to think of them as not ... quite ... human...like...you.

Amazingly, some Christians I've talked to have never even THOUGHT about this issue.

A friend of mine, who is well-read and extremely intelligent, became "saved" a couple of years ago (to my surprise). She said she had found great joy, and began prosyletizing on Facebook.

We had several discussions about nonbelievers in eternal hell.

Finally, I asked her about her late parents and husband, who I knew weren't Christians. Somehow, she had never visualized them in eternal torment. Until I pointed it out to her.

She became very upset, and accused me of "trying to hurt her by saying such horrible things."

I pointed out it was HER religion that said so. I never heard from her again.

The cognitive dissodance.

I just can't.

#rant
#Christians
#hell
#damnation
#saved
#jesus
#Christ
#Evangelical