As we Ex-Evangelicals and Atheists become more vocal, it’s time for us to be more careful in our criticism in order to advance a more pluralistic ideal.
When I first left the faith, many years ago, I remember one of my favorite phrases to jump on to was “I hate all religions equally.” That slowly became “All organized religion is a mistake.” I was very convinced, due to my own personal experiences that everyone who followed a supernatural force or deity was deluded and willing to delude other people. It was a stance that made absolutely perfect sense at the time. I came from a church that regularly criticized other religions, pointing fingers at only their worst parts. Our church took it even further by criticizing other Christian churches with similar accusations. It was easy to me to keep finger pointing, and I had the bonus experience of pointing that finger right back at the church I left.
I moved away from those sayings after two events. The first was a trip to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site near Munich in Germany. While the memorial itself rightfully invokes many terrible feelings and displays the ultimate danger of Antisemitism, one thing that sat with me was a signature and note in the guestbook. The signature was from a Turkish immigrant and the message next to it read “At least they haven’t done this to the Turkish Muslims, yet.” It was shocking to me. When I was in Germany as an exchange student, I met several Turkish Immigrants, and even visited a Mosque for the first time in my life. The Imam was very polite. He was a gentle man and I learned quite a bit from him. I also saw a lot of discrimination against the Turkish people and their religion that broke my heart. It was a discrimination that was shared between Christians and non-Christians alike. Being an exchange student from a small town, meeting and making friends with actual Muslims was eye opening to me and allowed me to see them as everyone should be seen, as a complete person, with their religion intact.
The second event in my life was 9/11. I was in college at the time. Without reliving the awfulness of that moment, I can remember the days afterward. Muslim students were scared to leave their dorms and apartments. The only mosque in town closed and the the Imam chained the doors due to threats he received.
A week or so later, I was in a study group for a particularly hard exam. In that group was a young Muslim from the Middle East. During a study group, he told us he needed to pray. There was a study room in the library near us, and he planned to pray there, and asked if we would watch the door for him. He was nervous about praying in a public place, but it was a long walk back to his apartment and we still needed more study time.
For the first time in my life, me, a man who professed to hate all religions and hold them in contempt stood silently reading my textbook outside a study room, to allow someone the safe practice of their religion. The man’s religion was a part of him, and a part of his culture and his heritage. I realized then that those who wanted to take away his religion and his heritage were actually trying to erase a part of his person and replace it with something more comfortable, not for him, but for them.
Religion, like anything, can be used for good or bad. A golf club can be used to win the US open. It can also be used to beat a man to death. The study of biology can give us the ability to grow better crops, or create remedies to fight disease. It can also be used to create biological weapons, and find more lethal ways to kill a person. It all boils down to the individuals that use these the devices.
Like most non-theists from the West, I am a “Christian Atheist.” I think the clearest definition of a Christian Atheist comes from this tweet:
The bulk of my religious experiences come from a White Christian background. I live in a culturally Christian society. Our holidays, television shows, towns, and more are centered around Christianity. Every small town near me has churches near the center, our holidays follow the Christian calendar, and our television shows follow that calendar with goofy holiday specials and constant appeals to Christian faith, with hero actors piously kneeling in churches and police and military raiding Mosques looking for terrorists. Jewish people on television are often portrayed with antisemitic tropes with actors going no deeper than a Jewish deli.
The first time I heard myself called a Christian Atheist, I’ll be honest, my blood boiled. I hated that, no matter how far I ran, I was always going to be wrestling with my White Christian past. However, now it doesn’t bother me at all. I realize now that I have a very particular perspective, very wide reaching privileges that I can to protect the marginalized around me, and I retain the ability to learn new things to respect more people around me.
White Christians, in the west, constitute the bulk of political and cultural power, particularly here in the United States. Jews, Muslims, Hindus, BIPOC Christians, Pagans, Shintoists, and others are lucky if they have a seat at the tables of power. Christians are loathe to give up power, so if we, as Christian Atheists, attack minority religion, we reinforce Christian dominance even if we also attack Christian dominance. We affirm Christian power. When we attack a minority religion, Christian power looks down on minorities and says “See? Even the atheists agree that you are bad.”
Wait! you say, I’ve read the texts, and I have several examples of all religions behaving badly. I’ve seen homophobia, death threats to apostates, murdering of innocents. That’s what I’m condemning. My response is to condemn the individuals performing those actions. Stand between the person doing those actions and their victims. Heck, call the antagonist a raving asshole, but leave bulk criticism their minority religion out of it. Religion is complicated, often has different sects and different types of followers, and it always changing. There are often already people within those religions working to change the system for the better. It’s not your job to condemn all of their religion for the actions a few. When you make an attack on religion with a blanketing statement, you may be hurting Muslim’s like Malala Yousafzai and diminishing her advocacy for women’s education. You may be hurting Jewish people like Justice Elena Kagan and helping white supremacists diminish her Supreme Court opinions.
I won’t deny that many religions have practices and teaching that I don’t agree with and that I personally object to. It is a major contributor to why I haven’t become a part of another religion. However, it is not my place to call those practices out on a less personal scale. There are leavers and stayers from all religions who can call those practices out. I left fundamentalist, Evangelical Christianity. Anyone who knows me is well aware that I am a vocal critic of White Evangelicalism. That is my battlefield, and that is battlefield I’ll stick to. Similarly, the field that you have expert and direct experience in should be your battlefield. Let those from other backgrounds police their own.
Don’t put multiple religions or ethno-religions, such as Judaism, in a box together. I’ve been guilty of this in the past by boxing up Christianity, Islam, and Judaism and placing the label “Abrahamic Religions.” on top of that box. It can be tempting since all three religions have some shared roots and, as former Christians, we may have learned some things about those religions and share texts from similar roots. It serves no greater good, and reduces religions to the most common denominator of the worst of religion, which is most often fundamental Christian beliefs. As I’ve noted, religions are complicated. They aren’t just faith or belief, but include tradition, practice, heritage, and community.
Be specific in your criticism. Several times recently, I have seen people called out for using “religion” when they are speaking of a specific religion. While the context of your words may make it seem like it’s specific, experience shows that even the best intentions can be taken out of context.
Even be specific when criticizing Christianity. There are still large numbers of minority Christian religions that are often the target of hate. For example, Black churches are often targets of white supremacists who dehumanize and kill the worshipers within. Black churches formed as a refuge against the dominant power structure and serve as centers of a marginalized community. To this day, they uplift members of society who otherwise would not have a better chance in life. They often serve as vaults of Black history, as I learned studying some of the wild history of Burnet County in Texas. They have been on the front of the war against dominant power structures. They have often times based their resistance and strength on their community’s beliefs and faith. Unless you are a leaver from the Black church, it isn’t your place to criticize it. It is your place to protect it.
That Church became a center and refuge for the Black People of Burnet County, TX through post civil war reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement
If you get criticized for making a blanket statement, or one that could have been taken out of context, listen to the critique. If the person making the critique is too hostile to have a conversation with, seek out others that may help explain. There are many people willing to have a conversation with a goal of creating a more cohesive society.
Take a deep breath. Typically, as ex-evangelicals and Christian atheists, we tend to see any type of correction of our preconceived notions as negative criticism. It may feel like someone is knocking us down or chipping away at our power. It may remind you of a time that you questioned/abused/beaten into submission by a former parent or pastor. Resist the urge to come out swinging when criticized. Listen to what that person is asking, and if you must engage, engage respectfully.
Make amends. Show that you’ve learned from your mistake. Don’t double down, and don’t make the same mistake again. Someone who takes the time to explain something to you, especially if you show willingness to learn is someone who’s looking at you as a potential future ally. They have volunteered labor in an attempt to help you grow.
Wait just one more time! you say. People from minority religions criticize my atheism and other religions. That’s right, they do. Atheism has it’s share of toxicity as has been noted by others. and is rightfully subject to criticism. Keep in mind that coming from cultural Christianity, we share the dominant power structures that, quite frankly, need to be changed. Minorities criticize from an unbalanced position, often times in an attempt to restore power. Just because your power might seem as if it is somewhat diminished, does not mean that ultimate balance is restored. Move away from the position that loss of some power is discriminatory. Stop trying to hold on to power just because it keeps you in a more comfortable position.
Learn about the religions and cultures you don’t know. One of my favorite pass times now is learning about the different minority religions, the people in it, and the actions they take as a part of their community. It doesn’t require me to be a part of their community, and most are happy for us to learn. It doesn’t require you to place a belief in God. It will allow you to gain understanding of people and the burdens they carry. It does NOT (and I cannot stress this enough) give you a free pass to criticize their religion simply because you learned a little more about it.
Religions and ethno-religions aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. No amount of yelling about belief in the supernatural or appealing to atheism will change that anytime soon. We should instead focus on pluralism, and letting everyone have a seat at the table. Chrissy Stroop breaks down what pluralism is rather nicely in this piece for the Conversationalist. However, I do firmly believe that atheists also deserve a seat at the tables of power. When I talk about pluralism, I’m also speaking for those without religion or faith. As Jim Palmer put it, “Our common humanity is reason enough for all people to coexist peacefully.”
As leavers and atheists, when we criticize religions we aren’t a part of, we dehumanize the members of that religion. Christianity is funny in that, once you aren’t in it anymore, you often don’t consider yourself a part of that culture anymore, even though you actually are. Several cultures and ethnic groups embrace their atheists. What’s more is that White Supremacists, Nazis, and hate groups also see non-Christian atheists as a part of the culture they were birthed into. They will always see them as inferior. Ask yourself if you truly want to go through life looking at everyone is inferior to you because of the religions or beliefs they hold dear. If you are alright with that, ask yourself if you are alright aligning yourself with malevolent forces that want to erase minorities completely.
Addendum: It was pointed out to me that I incorrectly referred to Judaism as merely a religion. Judaism is an Ethno-religion, or ethnic religion. There is a distinctive relationship between both ancestry and religion. This characteristic is important to understand, as causing harm to the religion also causes harm to the rest of those people. As someone who has caused harm, it’s a lesson that hasn’t been easy to learn, especially as someone who can easily mistakenly look only through lens of my Christian background and make incorrect and hurtful generalizations. I apologize for this mistake and the harm I have done through my actions.
The Hill Country Exvangelical 