A Critique of American Christianity.
Phuket Island, Thailand, October 15th, 2024.
Salaroche

I have lived in Buddhist Communities like Mandalay and Yangon in the country of Myanmar and in McLeod-Ganj in India. I have lived in Muslim communities like Riyadh and Al Hofuf in Saudi Arabia, Baku, Azerbaijan, and Istanbul, Turkey. I have also lived in Hindu communities like Tiruvannamalai and Kochi in India, and in Christian Communities across the Western world.

I respect the right that all human beings have to embrace the religious beliefs of their choice, just as much as I respect the right we all have NOT to embrace any of the existing religious doctrines. As for myself, I'll say it clear: I’m NOT a religious person. I don’t belong to any religion.

There was a time during my early 20s when I was a Bible-carrying guy, but sometime around my early 30s I just fell out of it. I simply could no longer believe in the dogmas that form the foundations of that religion. In my view, if “god” has any children it is ALL of us, NOT just one and the only privileges any of us may attain in the afterlife will depend on what we DO, never just on what we believe or who we believe in.

In my understanding, the work all of us need to do in order to earn the right to sit in the presence of The Creator when we enter the afterlife realm, is to cleanse our minds of all those lower human instincts and passions such as egotism, selfishness, hatred, envy and the like.

But overcoming all those lower passions does NOT seem to be what a good majority of American Christian-Nationalists are working on, for if they were, they wouldn’t be supporting an arrogant individual who goes around spewing hatred against anybody who disagrees with him.

If the Christ of the Bible really existed, he was perhaps the humblest man to have ever walked this earth, particularly given the supernatural powers he’s supposed to have had. But, if that’s the case, how come millions of American Christians now follow a depraved, unprincipled, convicted felon, consummated-liar who doesn’t love anybody but himself?

It feels as if those Maga Christians were once again choosing Barrabas over Jesus.

Donald Trump is clearly the antithesis of Christ, yet some influential Maga Christians like Charlie Kirk of Phoenix, Arizona, take Christian superstition to the highest levels when they claim that “God voted early on July 13, when he spared the life of Donald Trump” (see here), which is just a highly-biased fantasy.

From the perspective of non-religious guys like me, it could have easily been the Devil who saved Donald Trump that day, so that Trump could continue doing the Devil’s work sowing hatred and division in the world. (NOTE: If I don’t believe in Christ, I don’t believe in the Devil either) In the end, all of it ends up sounding like pure hogwash.

When I was a Bible-carrying guy in my early 20s, my friends and I used to believe in a Christ that was full of love for all of humanity. For us, Christ was the guy who said "Love one another in the same way I loved you” (John 13:34-35) and said "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" (Luke 6:31-38).

Never in his life would Donald Trump dare to say anything like that, as deep in his heart there don’t seem to exist any Christian feelings at all. Yet, the American Christian communities have embraced him as their messiah to the point of some of them calling him “The Orange Jesus” and “The Imperfect Vessel” (see here).

I moved away from Christianity a few decades ago and now, while I contemplate as the American Christian community denigrates itself by basically embracing the Anti-Christ, I can only feel pity for them, even as I hope that someday their god will be magnanimous enough to forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Vote Democrat across the board in November. Save America from the destructive evil forces incarnated in Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Salaroche