Faulting the Default

 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION is the default mind set in America. When in doubt, get saved, from whatever. Not from climate change nor capitalistic poverty and inequality, but from something or other, something mental, somethin imaginary, like, say, the burning pits of hell.  If a Christian approaches a pantheist or atheist, bringing the good news of Christ, witnessing for the lord, he or she is widely considered to be doing a great service, a good thing, doing "God's work", leading someone to salvation. If, on the other hand, an atheist or pantheist approaches a Christian and advocates for atheism or pantheism, he is making trouble, even though he is doing exactly the same the Christian is; trying to convert another human being to  his religious beliefs. Good citizenship or good humanity is not predicated on any particular religion, or on religion in general.  The playing field should be level, especially in a nation of religious freedom, tolerance, and equality, and it is most certainly not.  The Christian religion began to seem strange to me not long after I was first introduced to it, in third grade. It seemed unreal. Genesis seemed too simplistic, in conflict with science, and science made more sense. The version in which the solar system was formed billions of years ago over a long period of time by the condensing of a cloud of small chunks of debris from a stellar explosion into a star and orbiting planets gave me a better idea of how it happened than the phrase "And God said: let there bel light" . To me, in third grade, science books made sense, the Bible made a fun fairy tale. And that's the way it seems to me now. What sealed the deal, as we sometimes say, in terms of my beliefs, was and is the part about torturing a man to death as a means to atone for my sins, conditionally. Those portraits on the wall, of a skinny man with long matted hair in agony, blood dripping from his ribs, a crown of thorns on his head, horrified me, and still does. It made me wonder what my grandmothers were thinking, and still does. I never got past the blood and torture, how cruel and arbitrary it seems and still seems, and I never had had nor have any desire to wash away my sins in the blood of Christ. I would rather own my sins, remember them, learn from them, and experience their consequences. "Only by errors that really irk us do we advance", as Goethe said. I understand Christian atonement and redemption theology. I understand John 3:16. Rejection of an ideal or philosophy does not always result from not understanding it. It can result from understanding it. the Christian religion, said Goethe, began as a political uprising which failed, and turned moral. It is actually an ancient fertility cult which took steroids, the main steroid being the apostle Paul. Appease an angry, vengeful, meat eating God with a blood sacrifice, to ensure a good harvest. All ancient cultures had their own version. Christianity is a whitewashed version. The Bible is a comprehensive display of ancient culture, its moral teachings suitable for a primitive, violent culture. Human civilization has outgrown the Christian religion, and is only now beginning to realize it.