Why are you not a Christian?

Question

A lecture, Why I am Not a Christian, was delivered by Bertrand Russell in 1927. It was later published in a pamphlet and then also published in a book of essays. It is good reading: http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/russell0.htm

So.... why are YOU NOT a Christian?

Answer 1

Consider the possibility that you were born somewhere without any religion, but were given the opportunity to read about them as a cultural education. You were also taught language, science, math, philosophy, and critical thinking skills.

Then one day, you were introduced to a Christian who, following the evangelizing call, said to you that he had a story about God and humanity that was wonderful and would change your life. The story was in his Bible, and he proceeded to lead you through it.

The first thing you heard was that you were condemned by God because of some actions taken by a pair of naive progenitors. Nothing you did caused it; you could not have prevented it. But God condemns you and everyone you know.

Then God decides to choose a particular group of people to rule over called the Jews; the story continues with the history of their bloody, unmerciful battles and their leaders of highly questionable ethics. The Jewish people are carted off to various slaveries from their homeland, which, by the way, they have violently stripped away from earlier residents.

Various messages from this God are transmitted through prophets, whose words are mystical, incomprehensible and frequently full of condemnation (unless the people are suffering, and then they promise some later relief to be brought about by God at some distant time). There are also songs that describe how great this Jewish God is, there are suggestions of how to live, there is a sexually charged poem, and eventually the first part of the book ends, not with a bang but a whimper.

Then, in the second part, suddenly there's a story that says that God has somehow changed his mind. He's going to give a loophole in his condemnation. He's going to send himself/his son to teach things to this nation he has chosen. But from the beginning, The Bible notes that this God-man will be killed and raised from the dead, and he promised to raise others, too. (Not a bad outcome. Death is pretty frightening.)

However, the stories of this man, Jesus, do not make him sound overly attractive. He's a little pissy sometimes (killing a fig tree because it happened to be barren, chastising his disciples when they don't understand his strange way of speaking, manipulatively refusing to answer questions directly). He continues passing out judgment and condemning people to hell, and although he teaches some elements of love, you know people in your own life who act more loving than he does. He supposedly performs miracles, but you know from your studies that miracles were ascribed to almost any hero in the ancient world.

Anyway, as you were told, the story of his death and resurrection are told 4 times. There are some contradictions before the death, but the story holds together pretty well. But after the reputed resurrection, the story flies apart. Suddenly there are loads of contradictory accounts. The man appears in locked rooms, which doesn't sound like life on this planet. The man is not recognized by close friends who walk with him on a road. He's no longer flesh and blood, but you can touch his wounds. Suddenly things take on a fairy tale quality. And then, rather than hang around, this once-dead-now-raised person skips town, leaving a few people who believe he's alive.

The rest of the book is a bit of history, but mostly letters between early believers, trying to keep the flock in line, and always promising an end to death. One prominent member of the group named Paul decides that God no longer just means to claim the Jews for his special friends, but opens the deal up to the entire human race. The last book then once again goes back to describe horrors perpetrated by God and others. It sounds like things are as they were, with God back to his condemning ways. (Except for those who believe in the resurrection of his son.)

So now you know the story. The deal, in summary, is this. You're still condemned. You can get away from being condemned if you believe in this miracle of resurrection. If you don't, no dice.

Your mouth is agape. The story sounds grizzly and intensely pessimistic, except for that never ending life part. But you've studied history, religions, language, science, math, etc. You know that we are flesh and blood, just like the animals that we kill and eat. You love justice and cannot see the sense in condemning someone because some distant forefather happened to nibble on fruit or learned to think for themselves. You do not believe that you, your family, and your world are condemned. (You know we all suffer on occasion, but pain and suffering effect everyone, regardless of whether or not they believe in any one religion.)

Studies have taught you that there are lots of religions, each offering their special access to the benefits of belief if you turn off your rational mind and replace it with faith. Most of these religions have faded, but enough remain. And in truth, there is nothing special in the story you have heard about God, the Jews, Jesus, Paul, and the rest. They are just stories, a way that a primitive people tried to make sense of the ambiguous and the incomprehensible.

When you shared these thoughts with your evangelizing visitor he accused you of being arrogant and closed minded. But having looked at the world through a wider lens, you cannot see this story as any less mythological than any other told to justify religion. The tale is designed to keep people in line ethically and to relieve their anxiety about dying. You are willing to listen to suggestions, but you already do well in making thoughtful, ethical decisions. And because you have already considered death, you readily acknowledge that it will come. Its stark reality makes life's moments all the more precious.

That is why I am not a Christian. The book, the story, the mythology, are all patently irrational and non-relevant to modern life. Witness how people who adhere to it wish to return to less free times. Christianity has nothing to say that would help me in my life, and those who follow it closely tend toward superstition and non-reflectiveness.

Answer 2

Well, first, I do believe in a higher power, but I believe that it's much more graceful than the Judeo-Christian God is portrayed. To me, God is an awful lot like 'the Force', and being omnipresent, everything in the universe is an aspect of God. It seems to me that God favors diversity. This is evident throughout the natural world.

Christianity has a lot of good points, but the big rule is that the only way into Heaven is by accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior. I don't really believe in Heaven either, but let's just assume that it's metaphorical, and means spiritual enlightenment. This is basically saying that Christ is the ONLY right answer to the biggest question there is. Which is silly, no question worth asking has a single right answer. Also, if Christ were the only right answer, that would not lead to diversity, it would lead to everybody being Christian.

To sum up, the natural world is clearly the work of God, and can be interpreted as the 'Word of God'. The risk there is that I might misinterpret. The Bible is said to be the 'Word of God', but has clearly been tampered with by men. Between the two, I'd rather live with my own misinterpretation than someone else's.

Answer 3

A messianic Jew is a Jew that believes that Jesus is the Messiah. Christians and Messianic Jews believe that Jesus is the Messiah. They are Jews. The point of view of the anti Messianice Jews is best summed up by Mark JPAS when he said "it is acceptable to blend some degree of foreign spiritual elements with Judaism. The one exception is Christianity, which is perceived to be incompatible with any form of Jewishness. This is the double standard that is applied to Christianity even though Jesus is considered the Jewish Messiah in Christianity. Messianic Jews are looked at with even greater disdain. Why? its a cover for there own deviations from Judaism. Some Jews need to maintain a connection to Jewish family because they have deviated so much from traditional Judaism that many Orthodox question their Jewishness. They need find some way to distract attention because of there deviation from the Torah. This is done by pointing their finger at others to direct attention away from their own actions. You can't give yourself a title and expect that it makes you something. This is the argument that has been used against Jews that decide that Jesus is the Messiah. We are told that the mere belief of a different nature of God immediately invalidated a Jews Jewishness. At the same time Jews that become atheists, pantheists or stop practicing any element of their religion we are told are still Jews. They say that you can believe in anything but Jesus. Jews call conversion "joining the tribe". Things that would never fly in Orthodox or for that matter Messianic Judaism can be found in the Reform and Reconstructionist movements. A good example of this is a previous question asked here. The person asking worshiped the God Ferris but did not believe in him or the Jewish God. The focus of the question was" ...would you PERSONALLY feel comfortable welcoming me not just as a fellow congregant at your Synagogue, but as a member of the Tribe?" (so he was clearly asking about converting to Judaism). The response was "Reform Judaism covers a wide swath of beliefs and practices and I am sure you will be wholly accepted. ... I personally would accept you whole heartily as a fellow Jew." So some Jews will accept all kinds of deviations from the Torah but not belief in "Jesus". Let's not forget the Reform movement wanted to change the sabbath to Sunday to be more like Christianity. Most Messianic Jews are Torah observant yet you can become an atheist, stop practicing their faith, become a Buddhist, join a Unitarian Church and still be a Jew in the eyes of Reform/Reconstructionist Jews. Most Orthodox when asked about other Jews will say they don't know what non Orthodox Jews are. The same applies to the other sects. Speaking of sects Jews will tell you there are no sects but its not true. Rabbinical Jews follow an understanding of their faith that was established 1,900 years ago. They have their own canon of Scripture. There are also non Rabbinical Jews such as the Ethiopian Jews that follows the pattern of the Christian Old Testament and they have many additional books that they consider to be scripture. A group called the Karaites is the opposite of the Ethiopian and only believe in the 5 Books of Moses. Rabbinical Jews call Karaites "a sect of Judaism". You can goggle it and see for yourself. Don't let anyone tell you that there are no sects in Judaism. They say the the teachings of Jesus are very different from Judaism. They also claim that Jesus taught nothing new from the rabbis before him. Then they we tell you that there were no rabbis until a hundred years after the time of Jesus. Its all about winning the argument to them not about what's true. The problem is not differences but similarities. You should know ALL the writers of the Christian Bible were Jews but one. Much of our Scriptures are shared. The vast majority of early believers in Jesus were Jews. So when you hear the exact opposite you need to keep that in mind. A Jew can believe in Jesus and still be a Jew. Edit: those that make personal accusations should include links or shut up.

Answer 4

Specifically a Christian -

Because an all powerful, all knowing, and all loving god is in contradiction to the universe and the world I see today.

Any god -
Because there is more evidence for unicorns, dragons, mermaids and the celestial teapot than there is for the existence of a god.
Being reasonably rational, and not believing in unicorns, dragons or mermaids I therefore do not believe in any god.

I am agnostic towards the teapot though. LOL

Answer 5

A better question would be "Why are you a Christian?" 67% of the world is not Christian. Seems to me like either Christians are wrong, or God sucks at getting his word out.

Answer 6

i cannot believe in a god such as described in the bible... nor do i have any proof. so i both lack belief, and dislike the general idea. however, i realize that people have a right to believe what they want. just because i don't share their beliefs doesn't make it wrong. it just makes it different. as long as they're not hurting anyone, it doesn't matter. and since most don't, i generally don't have a problem with them. i simply lack belief myself.

Answer 7

Because there is no evidence convincing me that the claims made by the Bible are factual. Oh, and let's not forget the fact that their god thinks that it's LOVING to burn people for eternity, who don't rationalize away anything that disagrees with their beliefs.

Answer 8

Because I know the truth about Christian mythology.
http://www.medmalexperts.com/POCM/getting_started_pocm.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_as_myth

Answer 9

I do like Bertrand's quote about what he'd say to God at the pearly gates:

"Not enough evidence, sorry".

Answer 10

Because I'm an atheist.
All religion is ridiculous.
Interesting, but mutually ridiculous.

Answer 11

I am not a believer in religion in general because any omnipotent god would not have created a world in which there was any kind of suffering. He would have created a world without suffering and then made that "the perfect world".