I’ve been on both sides of the religious conversation.
For most of my life I was trying to convince others that Christianity was the one true religion. I had been brought up in it, and to everyone around me that sort of evangelism was a virtue. I deeply believed that Christianity was a foundational truth. It was more than just religious conviction. In my mind and my heart I believed that Christianity was at the center of History, Biology, Science, and Philosophy. I also believed that this Truth was so powerful that it would impact people by mere exposure.
I am now on the other side of the fence. And while I no longer feel the need to evangelize I do enjoy having conversations about religion. It was such a big part of my life, and it’s so important to people around me. At first, my capacity for these sorts of conversations felt infinite. I would happily go down any rabbit hole and winding path to try understand someone’s perspective or express my own. It has been helpful, and I’ve had many constructive conversations with people.
But I grow weary.
Theological commitment trumps everything. It outweighs truth, curiosity, and reason. It is a stubbornness that knows no bounds. I sometimes wonder how I escaped it. I think back on the intensity of my conviction and shudder, knowing that if my doubting had been any weaker I would have remained in the faith. I shudder because I cannot unlearn what I now know about Christianity: it’s epistemic vices, it’s empty promises, it’s human origin.
My patience with these religious conversations is drying up. It’s like trying to nail jelly to a wall.
Religon allows people to believe whatever makes sense to them, without regard to truth. It allows them to take under-determined evidence and point it to any conclusion that they fancy. To the faithful, anything is possible. They’re free to make stuff up whether it purports to reality or not.
To them, my perspective is just a fallible human opinion.
To them, their own perspective is backed by The Word of God.
To them, science is a fallible, corrupt, man made, secular quasi-religion.
To them, revelation is a source of divine truth (except if it comes from someone they don’t agree with or it goes against their beliefs).
To them, all other religions, cults, and worldviews are false and demonic.
To them, their own worldview is rock solid.
To the faithful, this life is of little value compared to what they fantasize about beyond death.
These are the bars of the believer’s mind cage. They prevent honest conversation. They make the believer incapable of proper inquiry into the world around them. How is one to find out the truth if they have already made their conclusions and are willing to bend or ignore evidence to suit them? They are unwilling to scrutinize their beliefs.
If God is real, then he has hidden himself from the genuine seeker, and revealed himself to the fool, the prude, the virtue signaller, the vainglorious, the gullible. He shows himself with magic tricks, prophetic nonsense, riddles, and conspiracy. Yet he is bothered if you find his existence dubious. I find it more plausible that he doesn’t exist, and that it is the believer and their ilk that require the trickery and the foolish.
Your scripture calls me an arrogant fool, bound for the fires of hell. Do not be offended that I call you a fool in return. Your intellect is not the problem, just the direction in which it is being employed.
