My friends, bear with me. I spent until 2AM listening to this sermon, and then replied to the lovely person that sent it to me to critique. Here was my response:
So many thoughts. I'm very glad I left religion behind. Especially his horrible god.
He listed aaaall these mercies that his god bestowed upon David and yet he kept overlooking a gaping hole in his logic:
David's son still died. Where was God's mercy there? Why the hell do we sit back and nod our heads, agreeing with the theology that, when a sin is committed, death logically follows? Christianity is based in blood. It's barbarism. We live in 2014 and we still worship a being who values life only as long as he can balance it with equal death.
This preacher kept conflating so many theological ideas and acting like they neatly fit together. It irritated my sense of order and reasonable logic. I was born and bred on literal biblical theology. I hate fast and loose, sleight of hand with it. I see anti-religious people doing the same thing, often.
Today, we had a fire. A big fire. Fred (9) was so excited. He loves life. Fire especially. Marshmallows, the noise, the smoke in his eyes. His giggle and smile is so contagious. I would build fires every day, just for him.
10 pm rolled around...
Mommy told him to go to bed.
Every few minutes, he would pop up by the fire again, sneaking a peak, fondling a marshmallow stick, talking with the friends we have living with us, and just being my beautiful Frederic.
In short, he was disobeying his mother.
My reaction was this:
"My son has sinned! Someone must die! I need blood to assuage my wrath!!!!"
So I found a squirrel, caught it with my bare hands, mutilated it for a few minutes, then nailed it to a tree, right outside his bedroom window, so he could see what his sin had wrought, and be grateful that I didn't slit his throat instead.
Right?
I'd be in prison for that reaction.
No...
I took him by the hand and walked him up to his room, talking to him the whole way about whatever I cared to talk to him about. He is now sleeping softly, un-terrorized, knowing that I love him.
And yet we worship a god who resorts to the squirrel mutilation. Blood as his first recourse. Sure, one would argue that Jesus' sacrifice means no squirrel is necessary, but then, we're just talking in circles. The fact is, that god is evil, however you slice it. And I want no part of him.
Jesus did not have to die for your sins. He didn't actually. He was a simple criminal according to Roman law, his death then captured and marketed by a new religion. Many hip religions were popping up in that age. This one just caught fire, just like Islam.
You're actually good WITHOUT needing a sense of eternal guilt to be forgiven. No, sin does not dirty you, rather, goodness makes you good. Goodness hides the bad things you may have done. But forget about those. Toss off any guilt from your past and live, dammit!
