Top Ten Reasons
Why I Am Not A Christian
John P. Lynch, Jr.
From: "John P. Lynch, Jr."
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: TOP TEN reasons why I am not a Christian
Date: Friday, April 13, 2001 7:35 AM
TOP TEN Reasons Why I Am Not A Christian:
Number 10: Other Christians
Ever since the Christians have become state sponsored (Rome 330 AD), they have been persecuting rivals inside and outside their faith. From the persecution of the Gnostics to the burning of books early, to the Crusades, the pogroms against the Jews and the Witch Trials of the Middle Ages, the religious wars of the 17th century over who best represented the Prince of Peace, and more recently -- the support of the genocide in the Americas, the slavery of the Africans and the imperialist domination of the world by the West and maintaining its status quo. Christianity is guilty of enough crimes throughout history to warrant extinction.
(Also, if people like Pope Pius VI, Reagan, Jim and Tammy Baker, Jerry Falwell, and all those self-righteous assholes who try to convert you are going to Heaven, I don't want to go).
Number 9: Archeology
The archeological evidence of the Bible is scarce. In fact, it is non- existent. After 200 years of Christian archeologists digging up the whole Middle East, they haven't found any proof of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, Hebrew Slaves or the 10 Plagues. NONE !!! And this from a nation of people who wrote EVERYTHING down in stone!!! And Sinai has no proof of any large group of people travelling through it EVER !!! The first evidence correlating to the bibical story doesn't appear in Canaan archeology until around 100 years before the Babylonian Captivity (around 600 BC).
(This lack of evidence includes persons such as David and Solomon who should be recorded in other nations and supposedly lived relatively close to those who wrote the Bible in the Babylonian Captivity around 500 BC).
(Any contemporary evidence of Jesus is non-existent. I believe he lived and if I could travel time, Judea 30 AD would be my first stop, but after that, we only have some later reports and the 20 or so gospels. The Slaughter of the Infants didn't happen and there were many "Messiahs" of this time trying to raise the Jews against the Romans and create an even greater empire led by the One True God and his Chosen People - which got them eventually slaughtered and exiled from their homeland).
Number 8: Creation
The Creation Story from the Bible was obviously borrowed from the Sumerians (which is where Abraham comes from), who have a 7 Day Creation of the World, Eden, Adam & Eve, and the Serpent, as well as Noah, the Tower of Babel and Job. Every culture has a creation story (this field of Anthropology is called Cosmogony) and the writers of the Bible incorporated Sumerian mythology (which was the "scientific" knowledge of the day) into their mythology.
(Yahweh, or Jehovah, is also a part of the myth. I believe he was a tribal god of the Canaanites [Judges 1:19], who was elevated to the One True God by the Prophets who were uniting the Canaanites against the Phillistines and led by men such as Saul, David and Solomon).
(Yahweh is as real as Zeus, Osirus, Thor, Satan, & Santa Claus).
Number 7: Evolution
It is obvious to me that I am an Ape and evolved from the Primate branch of the Mammal Vertebrates of the Animal Kingdom (the ramifications of this knowledge is not yet fully understood by humanity, but that is for another time). The story from the Bible is false (see above).
(Actually, no religion predicted the actual size of the universe or evolution from apes. Most of them have a three-tiered world with Heaven above, the flat earth in the middle and Hell below and THEIR culture at the center of the Creation story -- just as in the Bible).
Number 6: No Adam & Eve
Evolution leaves us without Adam & Eve, which means the Fall from the Grace of God didn't happen, which means no need for a Saviour. You can see why the Born-Agains are fighting against common-sense and scientific evidence, because their whole religion is based on the Fall of Man and eventual Redemption. Evolution means no Adam & Eve, no Adam & Eve means no need for Jesus !!!
Number 5: Messiahs
Jesus is not a Messiah (or even a Prophet) to the Jews. A Messiah (or Annointed One) is clearly a military leader who is "annointed" by God to lead his people. Jesus was not a military leader, but the Bible is filled with messiahs - Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, even Cyress the Great of Persia who set the Jewish leaders of the Captivity home was named as a Messiah in the Tanak (the Jewish Bible). The Messiah as Saviour of the Human Race is not a Jewish belief but a clever mix of the two dominant Monotheisms of the day - Judaism and Zoroastrianism.
(Even an assassin is called a Messiah -- see Judges 3:15-31.)
Number 4: Zoroastrianism
It was Zoroaster who invented most of the beliefs Christians hold so dear today. Around 1600 BC, Zoroaster was a priest of the Indo- Europeans who were invading Southern Asia. He had a vision of the one true God of Good, Ahura Mazda, who fights the Evil One, all humans are free to choose between Good and Evil, we will all be judged, and there will come a Saviour to bring the war to a finish (sound familiar). The Christians really only invented the Death-Raised-Coming Again scenario (after their Saviour died) and the Antichrist (advisary of the Saviour). The rest of Christianity is borrowed from Judaism, Zoroastrianism and the some of the various indigenous European religions.
(The Three Wisemen or Kings or Magi are the key to the synthesis of Judaism and Zoroastrianism. The Magi were Zoroastrian priests who were looking for their Saviour. Everyone knew the story because the Persian Empire was a rival to Rome and very close to Judea. Adding them to the Gospels shows Jesus to be a combination of the Persian Saviour and the Jewish Messiah. Zoroastrianism was wiped out by Islam around 700 AD and the Three Magi were only important for their gifts after that).
Number 3: Creator God
The Universe which we can see contains 100 billion galaxies which each contain 100 billion stars like our Sun. That is a lot of mass. To create all of that so we here on this insignificant planet can determine the fate of the Cosmos seems too much of an over-kill. Is it possible that we really don't have a clue about the Universe and we are just clinging on to the delusions of the past to keep us sane?
(False Logic: Creation means Creator -- there are other possibilities.)
Number 2: Revelation
The Creator God must work through prophets, he even sent his own son but all of these messengers don't convince me that he is real and deserves our worship. Why must he hide behind the veil of belief?
(If you say because of the Fall of Adam, see above about Adam & Eve)
and the Number 1 reason why I am not a Christian:
Number 1: Heaven and Hell
This hidden Creator God must coerce his followers to worship him by threatening punishment in the eternal damnation of Hell. We are told we have free will, but if we choose against him, we are punished forever. That is not a choice!!! He is only a vicious bully who gets mad at his toys and takes vengeance on them. I just can't stop thinking about all of the torment we have had to suffer through (how many generations?) until God totally forgives us for the Fall of Adam & Eve and ends it?
(What was that about Absolute Power corrupting absolutely?)
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