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I’ve been moving house for the past few weeks, and part of that enormously intensive project is dealing with my collection of books. As many of you must also feel, I am emotionally connected to my books because I have memories, experiences, and much of my past life wrapped up in their pages.
One of these volumes from my past is the only devotional I truly enjoyed as a Christian: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers (1874-1917). I wasn’t one for fill-in-the-blank Bible studies with banal questions and cookie-cutter insights. Chambers seemed challenging to me at the time because he wasn’t part of the current generation; his thoughts (though nebulous at times and without organization) weren’t bogged down by current culture and the trends of the most modern Christian movements.
So, in a nostalgic tribute to this former chaplain and my former life, I’d like to quote two passages I used to agree with and now critique.
Read the Rest! Post a comment (2)Last month, a man named John Hunt won his battle to have his record of baptism removed from the church history. This raised some questions, and I hope you’ll tell me what you think.
First, some history.
I was baptized into the Roman Catholic Church as an infant. My mother was Catholic and my father was Protestant, but they agreed to compromise; before you knew it, the stain of original sin was removed from my soul. Or so they believed.
Today, I’m a godless heathen who doesn’t care whether I was baptized, initiated, confirmed, or whatever else. I have left religion behind and I do not believe in a spiritual reality. That baptism was for my parents; in my eyes, it had no effect on me.
Now back to Mr. Hunt. Why do non-theists care whether they were baptized or not? If you don’t believe in a spiritual realm, afterlife, or sin, why is baptism anything more than a splash or dunk of water? It’s an empty religious tradition, isn’t it? Why the fuss about removing it? The only reason I can dream up is that it affects your social status and you don’t want to be identified with that group for legal, political, or safety reasons.
I’m sorry folks, but you can’t undo the impact religion has had on your life; you can’t change your past. I don’t mind if one feels a personal drive to be de-baptized, but all I ask is why?
If I was living under Mosaic law today, here are the offenses for which I would be put to death:
Cursing Parents
For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him. Leviticus 20:9
– What can I say? I’ve been angry at them before.
Working on the Sabbath
Whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Exodus 31:15
– I’m pretty sure I’ve played Pick-Up-Sticks on the Sabbath before 
Premarital Sex (girls only)
. . . If, however, this charge is true, that evidence of the young woman’s virginity was not found, then they shall bring the young woman out to the entrance of her father’s house and the men of her town shall stone her to death, Deuteronomy 22:20
– What if I get hymen replacement surgery so nobody will know? Oooh, sneaky.
Worshipping any god but Yahweh
If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the LORD thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that . . . hath gone and served other gods, and worshiped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; . . .Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die. Deuteronomy 17:2-5
– Atheists are totally immune to this. Godless heathens FTW!
Girls who are Raped within the City Limits
If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city . . . But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. Deuteronomy 22:23-25
– On a serious note, I was date raped when I was 18. I wasn’t engaged to be married, but I didn’t cry out for help. Does this mean I would be put to death?
Blasphemers
And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death. Leviticus 24:16
– Oh come on, duh. I’m totally irreverent these days.
Anyone Who Tries to Deconvert Yahweh Worshipers
If anyone secretly entices you–even if it is your brother, your father’s son or your mother’s son, or your own son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your most intimate friend–saying, “Let us go worship other gods,” . . . you shall surely kill them; your own hand shall be first against them to execute them. Deuteronomy 12:6
– Does it count if I just try to make them think? Another win for Godless Heathens!
Check out Debunking Christianity for a list of offenses (from which i stole these references) for which you might be stoned. It’s like a sick game of BINGO.
Dear Previous Self,
I love you, chica. You’re delightful, passionate, curious, and charmingly sardonic. And whatthehell, you’re me; of course I’ve got a soft spot. But oy, you have got to break out of that slump of blissful ignorance you’ve been stuck in since that first felt storyboard in Sunday school. There are some things that must be said. They may not convince you or influence you, but what kind of Future Self would I be if I didn’t try to knock you upside the head?
1) You were not born a Christian. No matter what your family is or was culturally, you are only a member of a religion once you choose to be. Unfortunately, parents don’t trust their children to think and learn on their own, and the word “indoctrination” should be used for what inevitably follows.
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Chris on 
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