“The
Bible should be taught, but emphatically not as reality. It is fiction, myth,
poetry, anything but reality. As such it needs to be taught because it
underlies so much of our literature and our culture.” Richard Dawkins
By
Alex P. Vidal
IF
we get a chance to have a tete-a-tete with Pope Francis in a no-holds-barred
discussion during his visit in the Philippines from January 15 to 19, we would
be asking him the following myths about Christianity:
1.
Christians force their morality on others.
-According
to this myth, Christians are judgmental and act as society’s moral watchdogs.
And they try to censor everything from the arts to sex education.
2.
Christians suppress women.
-According
to this myth, the church through the ages has stifled the voice and gifts of
women and has treated women as second-class beings.
3.
Christians caused the ecological crisis.
-According
to this myth, the Christian religion is alienated from the natural world. The
Bible says to subdue the earth, and Western Christian culture took that as a
license to exploit nature.
4.
Christians are anti-scientific.
-According
to this myth, the church has historically suppressed learning in general and
scientific inquiry in particular. Christians even promote pseudoscience by
trying to force science to fit a literal interpretation of the Bible.
5. Christians have done
terrible things in the name of Christ.
-This
myth cited the wrongs that have been done in the name of
Christianity—everything from the Crusades to televangelist scandals.
DESTROY
6.
Christian missionaries destroy native cultures.
-According
to this myth, Christian missionaries force indigenous peoples to give up their
unique culture. Christians don’t respect the spiritual value in native customs
and religions.
7.
Christians are arrogant.
-According
to this myth, all religions teach basically the same thing, but Christians
insist their religion is the only one that’s right. They arrogantly claim that
Jesus Christ is the only way to God. That may be true for Christians, but it isn’t
true for everybody.
Freelance writers Dale
and Sandy Larsen of Duluth, Minnesota, ask if Christianity is defensible amid
these myths.
“Isn’t
it a backward religion based on primitive ideas that have no place in today’s
world? Isn’t the Bible hopelessly out of date? And yet Christians insist on
forcing their morality on other people!” they intone.
“And
worst of all, isn’t Christianity the cause of so much pain and suffering in the
world—from destroying native cultures to suppressing women to causing the
ecological crisis?
“How
can anyone take seriously a religion that is promoted by sleazy televangelists
and that once sponsored the Crusade?
QUESTIONS
“These
are honest questions that deserve straightforward answers. Separating the
beliefs and actions of some Christians from our Christianity can be difficult.
We need to go below the surface, see how these problems developed historically
and go back to the Bible for the full story.”
They
believe that there is "element of truth" in the above-mentioned
myths.
"Some
Christians are arrogant. Some Christians have made their faith into an
exclusive club. But God's forgiveness always reaches out to be inclusive,
touching everyone who acknowledges need and and responds in faith to his
mercy," the conclude. "Anyone who has been hurt by Christians'
arrogance will need to summon extra courage and open-mindedness in order to
take another serious look at Christianity."
We
must examine our heart. Are we willing not only to look at Christian faith but
to find it true and begin to live by it?
Let's
examine the heart of Christian belief.
Let's
examine the credibility of Christianity.
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