Why I Am Not a Christian

Feb 13, 2006 Author: Meredith | Filed under: philosophical, religion

A friend of mine posed the following question in his own journal:

I’m doing a project, and I’d like to hear from all of you why you’re not a Christian. I’m looking for thoughtful, heartfelt replies and not, ‘because I’m Buddhist instead’ - why are you Buddhist and not Christian? Also, please do not send ‘because christianity is dumb’ or ‘christians r dumb’ or ‘u r dumb’.

The easiest answer is because my heritage is Jewish, by genetics and by religion. My uncle had a bar mitzvah and my mom was Jewish until she married a Christian (my stepdad) when I was four years old, at which time we converted to Unitarian Universalism because it was a “middle ground” for my parents. (Okay, this is kind of oversimplifying it, but this isn’t the point.)

I was raised Unitarian Universalist, and I’m glad for it. One thing I like about UUism is the freedom to believe. I don’t want a large faceless entity telling me what to believe and how to think. I choose to make those decisions on my own. Having always been an outsider, my perspective on Christianity is that you must believe a certain way, or something bad is going to happen to you. I sometimes entertain belief in karma (do good and life will reward you) but I also sometimes believe that life is just whatever it is, and sometimes you get stuck with crap. Believing in a negative, though, goes against the hope I have for humanity. Nobody is doomed to any fate, regardless of their sins against society. I don’t condone murder, obviously, but I also don’t think murderers will go to hell - I simply don’t believe in hell.

I don’t believe in God, either. Growing up I was always an agnostic, and I deeply questioned the existence of a “big policeman in the sky.” Today I am an atheist, because I don’t believe in any power higher than myself and other human beings. We are all gods unto ourselves, and there is nothing mystical or supernatural controlling the path of our lives.

I will admit, though, that I sometimes wish I were religious, that I did believe in God. I see people blame God for their illness, the death of a loved one, and other bad things. I would love to have that ability to blame someone other than myself (or bad luck) for things like that. But again, I don’t believe in God, so I pretty much have to figure “well, shit happens” if something isn’t going well for me. However, in addition to envying those who can turn to God for support, I also applaud that they can do so. If someone’s child is dying and they feel praying will help the child get better (in addition to medical care), they should absolutely pray. I don’t begrudge religion or prayer to anyone - I think it is a wonderful resource for many people, it’s just not the thing for me.

4 Responses for "Why I Am Not a Christian"

Nina February 13th, 2006 at 3:11 pm 1

VERY well said!
gamma normids February 13th, 2006 at 11:36 pm 2

Hi. I do believe in God, though I don’t believe in the church, and I think that’s the difference with many other young catholics.
See, Pope JPII was perhaps the best example of what a truly catholic is: he was full with joy and life, for instance. Our religion talks about a Jesus who loved children as much as a good party. Yet, the Previous Vatican heads had tried to hide this from us, for reasons I won’t write here now.
So, when sometimes I’ve seen myself in desperate times, I realise that I pray my last hopes to God and in some ways I can hear an answer: whether is God or my own strenght, I can’t tell, but it makes me feel better. Then a question (that you are not forced to answer), when things go wrong in your life, who you ask for desperate help?
(BTW, I also believe in Karma: Catholics have our own version of it, but in the end is the same thing)
Dan Parvaz February 14th, 2006 at 8:57 am 3

I consciously considered, then explicitly rejected the idea of Christianity, opting for Judaism instead, spending a little time in a UU halfway house :-). I don’t think that Christianity or Christians are simple-minded — I know too many Christians (and Jews, and Muslims, and Atheists) who are way smarter than I am — but I cannot live with some of the basic elements of what makes a Christian a Christian.

a) The need for salvation. The belief that humankind is essentially depraved or subject to original sin doesn’t jive.

2) Substitutionary atonement. That a sacrifice needed to be made likewise doesn’t work.

3) Trinitarianism/godhead. Try making sense of the Nicene creed; I can’t. There used to be something called Unitarian Christianity (the original Unitarians!), but the UUs have managed to marginalize that, if not kill it altogether.

There are lots of other issues, but many are not essential to being a Christian: the patriarchy, the historicity of the New Testament and its truth claims, the culture of intolerance found in many (but certainly not all) places. If I could have had faith to resolve the first three major doctrinal points, I might have made a nice Quaker boy. Instead, I’m a Nice Jewish Boy, and loving it.
Dan Parvaz February 14th, 2006 at 8:58 am 4

I just read what I wrote. Check the list out: a), 2), 3.

Egad.