more on why I'll never go to church again

This month's Harper's has an excellent essay by Bill McKibben called "The Christian Paradox: How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong." I read it last night because, well, I have no tv for a week, remember? McKibben argues that as a nation, America identifies itself as Christian, but at the same time it neglects the most fundamental Christian principle: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Instead, 75% of Americans believe that the Bible teaches that "God helps those who help themselves." No, that would be Ben Franklin who said that.

Just got into a discussion with Julia about why I'll never read crap like The Purpose-Driven Life, which McKibben observes is the best-selling of all Christian books in recent years. Julia argues an excellent rhetorical principle: how can I argue against Christianity if I won't read what they're saying? How can I not address the arguments already being made? My closed-minded answer is that I don't want to know what they're saying because I don't want to get angry. Nor do I want to spend my time that way, tv or no tv. If this were my scholarship, sure, I'd read it. But it ain't. So I'm not.

I don't believe that all Christians are represented by the Christian right in this country. I know better than that. But I sure do hate it when religion is used to sell me beliefs I know better than to subscribe to.

The power of the Christian right rests largely in the fact that they boldy claim religious authority, and by their very boldness convince the rest of us that they must know what they're talking about. They're like the guy who gives you directions with such loud confidence that you drive on even though the road appears to be turning into a faint, rutted track. But their theology is appealing for another reason too: it coincides with what we want to believe. How nice it would be if Jesus had declared that our income was ours to keep, instead of insisting that we had to share. How satisfying it would be if we were supposed to hate our enemies. Religious conservatives will always have a comparatively easy sell. (37)

One more thing: I know how defensive this post sounds. I am aware that when it comes to religion, I let go all of my critical thinking, most of my training in constructing sound arguments. That's because this is emotional: and emotion is more persuasive for me in this case than any logic ever will be.