A clarifying note on religion

In reading over many of my posts here, my own worldview becomes obvious rather quickly. However, I also noted that almost without variance, my discussions of religion in general tend to be particularly negative. I want to (somewhat) modify that. To make that modification, I feel like I need to provide some clarification on my own background first.

Growing up, I was exposed to two polar opposite models of (Protestant) Christianity. The people in my community were, by and large, Evangelicals - principally Southern Baptists - who literally interpreted the Bible, frequently proselytized (even to strangers), had not the slightest hesitation in telling people they were going to Hell if they strayed from a literal application of Biblical standards, and in general were as overt and obnoxious about their religion as you could imagine; I remember a classmate once aggressively distributing pamphlets that proclaimed Halloween to be an effort by Satanists to recruit kids - and no, I am not making that up or exaggerating in the least. On another instance, I recall a person literally breaking into tears of sadness because I did not pray before the start of a meal. Inside of my home, however, things couldn't have been more different. My mother was a lifelong Christian, but her stance on religion - tempered by education, exposure to many different faiths, and a more progressive mindset - was quite hands-off. Outside of church - which we attended at most several times per year - the names of God and Jesus were rarely evoked in her conversations. Her most ostentatious religious remarks were usually things along the lines of "God bless you" or "you'll be in my prayers." I never once observed her trying to "convert" anybody. I never once heard her say that anybody was going to Hell. Never once did she pass judgment on any person for their religious beliefs. When I told her of my secularism at age 13, she initially credited it to teenage angst and rebellion, but never once in my life criticized me because of it. When I outed myself to her, there was not the slightest mention of religious principles - just an incredibly awkward 45-minute conversation about safe sex and AIDS. Nor was she neutral to the religious right-wing, either, as her uses of the term "Bible Belt" were unwaveringly pejorative , as a place full of racists and uncultured Bible-thumpers.

Had the people in my community demonstrated religious behavior similar to my mother - had I grown up in a place such as Illinois or Vermont as opposed to Northwestern Florida - I could have very well grown up to be a progressive Christian in one of the more liberal denominations such as Methodists or Episcopalians. Had these people been able to present logical answers to questions such as "Why can this god exist forever but not matter and energy?", instead of simply deploring me for being a doubting sinner on the fast-track to Hell, perhaps my development would have turned out differently. But it became clear to me, as I grew older, that my mom's stance on religion was some sort of abnormality. Instead, virtually all of my early memories with religion - outside of my household, where it was rarely discussed - were abrasive ones. To this day, the word "religion" instantaneously recalls talk of fire and brimstone, of feminists being intent on destroying America, of evolution as a Great Lie, of Big City Liberals intent on replacing God with Government and fathers with a welfare case worker. The story of the rest of my development in that realm is history. By my early teen years, I maintained a bitter disdain for all religion that did not fade for many years.

Of course, my view of religion over the years has softened around the edges. As I grew older, traveled and lived in different places, I was exposed to non-Evangelical Christians, and people of other religious traditions - people whose approach to their faith did not live up to the stereotypical Baptist of my youth. I learned to differentiate the Fundamentalists from everyone else, but a great deal of animosity still remained beneath the surface, and this still frequently surfaces in my expressions of belief. I feel as if I need to clarify my beliefs in writing for the sake of myself, as much for my non-Fundamentalist, non right-wing friends whom I may have hurt at times.

One last series of statements must be made extremely clear before proceeding. My views of religion as an institution and a philosophical doctrine are overwhelmingly negative, and always will be. I have not, am not, and will never endorse or promote a belief in a god, church, or any metaphysics rooted in the supernatural. It is my strong, firm, and long-standing conviction that the net effect of organized religion on humanity has been unquestionably negative, leading to the oppression if not outright slaughter of millions of people, a rejection of progress, and an overall worsening of the human condition. It is my strong, firm, and long-standing belief that a metaphysics rooted on "creation" is a contradiction in terms, as one cannot create "something" from "nothing." As a person born and raised in a secular democracy derived from the ideals promulgated in the European Enlightenment, I find it beyond ludicrous that blind faith can ever, in any realm of inquiry, be seen as superior to reason, science, and logic. As an African American, I know that Christianity and the Bible were used in unequivocal defense of the morality of the institution of slavery, and later in moral defense of the sociopolitical subjugation and subordination of Black peoples across the world. As a gay male, religion and Fundamentalist Christianity in particular wish to efface me from the face of the Earth as quickly as possible. As a person who believes in progress through science and technology, I have seen firsthand the tremendously deleterious effects that blind religious faith have had on any attempts to better understand our world, from well before the advent of the heliocentric theory to present times.

With all of this said, I feel as I must speak directly to my non-Fundamentalist, progressive religious friends, be they Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, or any other persuasion. What is undoubtedly true is that we have a fundamental worldview disagreement, but this does not make us bad people, nor should it affect our friendships and bonds. Unlike the bigots and Fundamentalists, the Tony Perkins and bin Laden's of the world - people with whom my and most secularists' differences are far too great to ever reconcile amicably - I believe that we have far, far more in common than what differentiates us. And I apologize deeply if either through my words in person, here, or elsewhere I have ever offended you or seemed to suggest that you were a bad person because of your faith, or that I thought any less of you because of this core part of your being. When you make statements critical - even strongly critical - of secularism or atheism, I understand that they are not personal attacks against me, but rather logical attacks against a system of thought and belief with which you have fundamental disagreements. I understand that your faith is not a weapon that you wield to arbitrarily do harm against me and others like me, but rather something that sustains you, adds value and meaning to your life, and supports you through your darkest times. In fact, your religion is a total non-issue to me. None of you have ever attempted to "convert" me, judged me because of who I am, or thought of me as less of a person because of my beliefs. Why, when Prop 8 and Amendment 2 passed, whenever some backwoods school district attempts to ban the teaching of evolution, whenever politicians ostentatiously flaunt their religion to win votes, you are just as, if not more, disgusted and disturbed than I am!

To my progressive religious friends, there should be no question in your mind that I love you, I respect you, and your beliefs are a non-issue to me. My war, and the war of all secularists, is a war of ideas with the Fundamentalists, the intolerant, the bigots, those such as Pat Robertson who wish to break down the walls of secular democracy and turn our country into a Christianized version of Iran with science out of classrooms, religious dissent outlawed, women as secondary citizens, and gays hung in the streets. To them - to the far-right, the hardcore Southern Baptists and Pentecostals and Mormons - I offer no apologies at all. This is our country, not your goddamned church. It's high time that you focus on your own families, and learn to leave the rest of us - and our Constitution - alone. (Also, please do me a favor - read the Constitution and count precisely how many times you find the words "God" or "Jesus" or "Christian." It might be a real shocker.)

Going forward, I felt that it was imperative that I made that clarification. Some of my very closest and best friends are of varying non-Fundamentlist religious backgrounds, and I felt it highly necessary to let them know how I feel - that just as they have never judged me because of my beliefs, so will I never judge them because of theirs.