And (as someone that doesn't give a shit about religion) I wish atheists would quit treating Christians like they're mentally handicapped. This article reeks of "lol dumb cristians," and a lot of anger from being forced to go to church as a child.
"When I look at Christianity, I see a bunch of people trying to be permanent toddlers to an eternal Father..."
"And Christians glory in this infantilization."
" It might feel good for Christians to imagine that there’s a Cosmic Daddy Sky God out there to rescue them, to make everything aright, to solve their problems, to tell them what to do, to comfort them when they’re sad, and to deal much-deserved punishment to their enemies eventually, but imagining this figure doesn’t help them to grow and mature spiritually. To the contrary, it keeps them childish."
Seriously, the author says these things, then tries to say:
When I listen to Christians talk about non-Christians, the thing I’m struck with most is how contemptuous they are of us.
The tone of this entire article is of disdain and condescension, calling Christians "toddlers" to a "Cosmic Daddy Sky God." That odor of the smug "I'm better than these idiots" feeling that the author probably had when they were writing this article is the most striking thing about this article. You know why people dismiss young, militant atheists as rebellious assholes? Because they can't debate anything without turning the point of their argument from "Why I have issues with these problems that Christianity has," to, "This is why I hate Christians and think they're all stupid."
Even then, the main argument of the article isn't even really parallel to the issue that the author has. The author states:
I’m getting way over this trend of Christians treating non-believers like we’re their toddlers and they’re our parents. Today I’m going to show you why they do it.
First of all, this implies that all Christians, or at least enough to make a generalization, think that they're more morally apt than everyone of different faiths, and that they try to shape the world around them to suit their feeling of self-righteousness. The number of modern Christians that actively try to use their faith to control the world is very small. When people look at old laws based on faith, they think "How is this even a thing?" rather than "I guess even 200 years ago they were right." On top of that, if the majority of its followers put their religion over any other power, then they would still be enforced. There's small groups that try, but if anything in society is to tell, then things would be a lot different.
The rest of the article takes this idea to an absurd level, which completely removes any congruence between what the author claims is happening, and what's going on in the real world. There's a lot of broad and over-reaching assumptions in the ideas of what exactly Christians think and do, as noted in these snippets:
Christians try to recreate this paternalistic relationship because they seriously think that the relationship of Jesus and the church is an ideal that should be mirrored in their relationships with their own spouses, in a pastor’s relationship with his parishioners, and in Christians’ relationship with non-Christians generally.
What such a Christian really wants when voicing that desperate cry for “the way things used to be!” is a return to the days when they think Christians were treated like society..
And (as someone that doesn't give a shit about religion) I wish atheists would quit treating Christians like they're mentally handicapped. This article reeks of "lol dumb cristians," and a lot of anger from being forced to go to church as a child.
"When I look at Christianity, I see a bunch of people trying to be permanent toddlers to an eternal Father..."
"And Christians glory in this infantilization."
" It might feel good for Christians to imagine that there’s a Cosmic Daddy Sky God out there to rescue them, to make everything aright, to solve their problems, to tell them what to do, to comfort them when they’re sad, and to deal much-deserved punishment to their enemies eventually, but imagining this figure doesn’t help them to grow and mature spiritually. To the contrary, it keeps them childish."
Seriously, the author says these things, then tries to say:
When I listen to Christians talk about non-Christians, the thing I’m struck with most is how contemptuous they are of us.
The tone of this entire article is of disdain and condescension, calling Christians "toddlers" to a "Cosmic Daddy Sky God." That odor of the smug "I'm better than these idiots" feeling that the author probably had when they were writing this article is the most striking thing about this article. You know why people dismiss young, militant atheists as rebellious assholes? Because they can't debate anything without turning the point of their argument from "Why I have issues with these problems that Christianity has," to, "This is why I hate Christians and think they're all stupid."
Even then, the main argument of the article isn't even really parallel to the issue that the author has. The author states:
I’m getting way over this trend of Christians treating non-believers like we’re their toddlers and they’re our parents. Today I’m going to show you why they do it.
First of all, this implies that all Christians, or at least enough to make a generalization, think that they're more morally apt than everyone of different faiths, and that they try to shape the world around them to suit their feeling of self-righteousness. The number of modern Christians that actively try to use their faith to control the world is very small. When people look at old laws based on faith, they think "How is this even a thing?" rather than "I guess even 200 years ago they were right." On top of that, if the majority of its followers put their religion over any other power, then they would still be enforced. There's small groups that try, but if anything in society is to tell, then things would be a lot different.
The rest of the article takes this idea to an absurd level, which completely removes any congruence between what the author claims is happening, and what's going on in the real world. There's a lot of broad and over-reaching assumptions in the ideas of what exactly Christians think and do, as noted in these snippets:
Christians try to recreate this paternalistic relationship because they seriously think that the relationship of Jesus and the church is an ideal that should be mirrored in their relationships with their own spouses, in a pastor’s relationship with his parishioners, and in Christians’ relationship with non-Christians generally.
What such a Christian really wants when voicing that desperate cry for “the way things used to be!” is a return to the days when they think Christians were treated like society’s tenders and keepers. They want to be society’s controllers, its shapers, its deciders, its civilizing influences, its sensibilities, its moral center, its shepherds, its masters.
Indeed, the same people who are convinced that “Jesus” guides their lives become feral children the second they think nobody’s looking.
Christians may not realize that they’re trying to live out this saying, but they most definitely are. The way they imagine Jesus interacts with them is the exact same kind of interaction they try to use to engage with non-Christians–even though they aren’t Jesus themselves. I snarkily called this “the attack of the mini-Jesuses”
It would be easy, but tedious, to point out all the flaws in the article. I've grown up around, raised by, made friends with, worked with, and studied with many Christians - yet I've never really felt that they were trying treating me like a "toddler" (Well, I guess when I was young; you know - when I was actually a toddler). Even then, a person only really become someone's child if they let themselves assume that role. The best approach would be to let others do themselves, and to not really subscribe to the opinions of others in conversations dealing with how to live life. After all, reaching adulthood is marked by independence - both in terms of societal roles and individual thought.
And (as someone that doesn't give a shit about religion) I wish atheists would quit treating Christians like they're mentally handicapped. This article reeks of "lol dumb cristians," and a lot of anger from being forced to go to church as a child.
Seriously, the author says these things, then tries to say:
The tone of this entire article is of disdain and condescension, calling Christians "toddlers" to a "Cosmic Daddy Sky God." That odor of the smug "I'm better than these idiots" feeling that the author probably had when they were writing this article is the most striking thing about this article. You know why people dismiss young, militant atheists as rebellious assholes? Because they can't debate anything without turning the point of their argument from "Why I have issues with these problems that Christianity has," to, "This is why I hate Christians and think they're all stupid."
Even then, the main argument of the article isn't even really parallel to the issue that the author has. The author states:
First of all, this implies that all Christians, or at least enough to make a generalization, think that they're more morally apt than everyone of different faiths, and that they try to shape the world around them to suit their feeling of self-righteousness. The number of modern Christians that actively try to use their faith to control the world is very small. When people look at old laws based on faith, they think "How is this even a thing?" rather than "I guess even 200 years ago they were right." On top of that, if the majority of its followers put their religion over any other power, then they would still be enforced. There's small groups that try, but if anything in society is to tell, then things would be a lot different.
The rest of the article takes this idea to an absurd level, which completely removes any congruence between what the author claims is happening, and what's going on in the real world. There's a lot of broad and over-reaching assumptions in the ideas of what exactly Christians think and do, as noted in these snippets:
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