u/12231121

I went to a Christian church for 12 years, so I'm not coming at this as someone who read two Bible verses on Google and decided Christianity is bullshit.

The more I think about it, the more the logic doesn't make sense to me.

Christians say the Bible is the Word of God and that God is absolute. Okay. Then explain this:

1. Why are Christians picking and choosing which parts of the Bible apply?

The Old Testament has laws about what you can eat, slavery, punishments, sacrifices, circumcision, ritual cleanliness, etc.

Christians don't follow most of that.

Then I'm told, "That's the Old Covenant. We're under the New Covenant."

Okay. Who decided which rules got replaced and which ones stayed?

Why is eating pork okay but adultery isn't? Why is shellfish okay but other Old Testament laws aren't? Why are some commandments "timeless morality" while others were apparently only for ancient Israel?

If the answer is "the New Testament tells us," fine. But then the Bible itself is telling you that some of God's previous commandments aren't applicable anymore.

So why call the entire Bible an absolute rulebook?

2. The Bible contains some absolutely fucked-up stories.

Lot's daughters get him drunk and have sex with him to reproduce.

Onan has sex and intentionally prevents conception, and God kills him.

Elisha gets mocked by some youths, curses them, and two bears come out and maul 42 of them.

God destroys basically the entire world with a flood.

People supposedly live 900+ years.

There is slavery, mass killing, rape, incest, polygamy, brutal punishments, and child sacrifice stories.

And I'm supposed to believe this is the perfect Word of an all-knowing, all-loving God?

If these stories aren't meant to be taken literally, how the hell do you determine which stories are literal and which aren't?

And if they're just stories that teach a lesson, then again, why are we calling the entire Bible absolute historical truth?

3. The alcohol argument doesn't make sense.

Jesus literally turned water into wine at a wedding.

People weren't drinking wine at the wedding because they needed medicine.

They were drinking because it was a celebration.

Then Christianity says drinking alcohol is okay but getting drunk is a sin.

Where exactly is the line?

If you drink alcohol specifically because you enjoy the buzz, aren't you intentionally seeking the thing that eventually becomes "sinful" if you have too much?

And don't Christians also say you're supposed to avoid temptation?

So why voluntarily consume something whose entire purpose is to alter your mental state?

I'm not saying alcohol is automatically evil. I'm saying the biblical distinction between "acceptable drinking" and "sinful drunkenness" seems arbitrary as hell.

4. The thought problem makes even less sense.

Humans don't control every thought that enters their heads.

You can see an attractive woman and immediately think she's attractive. You didn't choose for your brain to notice her.

You can have a sexual thought pop into your head without wanting it.

You can think about something disgusting, violent, embarrassing, etc. without choosing to.

So when Christianity talks about lust and sinful thoughts, what exactly am I being judged for?

The thought itself?

Because I didn't choose it.

Or am I only responsible for deliberately entertaining it?

If it's the second one, fine. But then why do so many Christians make people feel guilty just for having thoughts?

5. Christianity seems to turn normal human instincts into things people feel guilty about.

Sexual attraction is natural.

Hunger is natural.

Wanting money is natural.

Anger is natural.

Ambition is natural.

Christianity then puts labels on some expressions of those instincts as "sin."

And then you're told you're a sinner, you need forgiveness, you need God, and without God you're fucked.

That's an incredibly effective way to make people feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with them.

6. "God has a plan" seems like a convenient answer to literally anything.

Something good happens?

"God answered my prayer."

Something bad happens?

"God has a plan."

Nothing happens?

"God's timing isn't our timing."

Something completely unexpected happens?

"God works in mysterious ways."

So what possible event could happen that would make a Christian say:

"Maybe God isn't behind this"?

If literally every possible outcome can be explained as evidence of God's plan, then "God has a plan" isn't evidence. It's an explanation that can't be disproven.

Same thing with faith.

"How do you know God exists?"

"I have faith."

Okay, but that's not evidence that God exists. That's evidence that you believe God exists.

7. Why not believe in yourself?

God doesn't pay your bills.

God doesn't take out your garbage.

God doesn't go to work for you.

God doesn't raise your kids for you.

God doesn't learn your trade for you.

God doesn't approach a woman for you when you're looking for a wife.

You still have to do all of that yourself.

So why not put your faith in your own ability to handle life instead of believing some invisible being is controlling the outcome?

Hope doesn't require God.

You can have hope because you believe you can change your circumstances.

8. And this is where religion starts looking like a control mechanism to me.

If you convince people:

You're a sinner.

You're not good enough.

You deserve punishment.

Only God can save you.

We are the people who teach you how to be right with God.

Then you have created an institution that has enormous power over people's fear, guilt, hope and behavior.

And then some churches tell those same people they need to give 10% of their income.

That's a hell of a business model.

I'm not saying every Christian is a scammer or every church is intentionally exploiting people.

I'm saying the system is extremely easy to exploit, and we've seen churches do exactly that.

9. And here's my biggest problem:

Christians tell me I'm "picking and choosing" when I don't accept the Bible.

But Christians are also interpreting, filtering, contextualizing, translating, distinguishing covenants, deciding which laws apply today, deciding which passages are metaphorical, deciding which passages are historical, and deciding which moral rules are eternal.

So who is actually doing the picking and choosing?

If you tell me:

"You're taking that verse out of context."

Fine.

Give me the context.

If you tell me:

"That's Old Testament."

Fine.

Explain exactly why that command no longer applies while another one does.

If you tell me:

"You just need faith."

That's not an answer.

If you tell me:

"God works in mysterious ways."

That's not an answer either.

I'm asking Christians who actually know their Bible:

How do you know Christianity is true, rather than humans taking ancient religious texts, interpreting them however they need to, and using them to explain things they don't understand?

I've heard the Christian answers for years.

I'm looking for an answer that actually addresses the contradictions and gray areas instead of moving the goalposts.

My girlfriend and i recently went to our first aces game and besides the nightmare situation that was parking. (bought parking passes before hand, got there and was told all parking was full... tried convention center, told me my pass wasn't valid, was eventually sent to Excalibur and missed the whole first quarter) However, I loved the crowd everyone was participating and yelling, no one was too cool to clap or stand when the announcers asked it was great, great crowd great vibe. Thing is my girlfriend found the whole "2 shots" chant super cringe and now we randomly say it to each other lol I was wondering if anyone had a recording of this with sound so I can play it back to her to bother her a bit.