The De-Churching of Robin

That little girl with the bangs and the choir robe is me, about age 10. At that age, thanks to a much-loved but rigidly religious aunt, my sisters and I were in the church every time the door opened. I grew up among firm, bible-following believers. I don't think that these well-meaning folks ever realized just what this can do to a thinking child's self-esteem. I spent years judging my insides by the outsides of these "spiritually perfect" people, thinking of myself as falling woefully short of their standards.
Part of this confusion was my burgeoning OCD which demanded perfection or nothing of me. It took me decades to get past that to the point of controlling it. It is still with me in other, less self-demeaning forms. But it also put me on the road to questioning. When I became pregnant as a teen, and was treated as a disappointment and a major sinner, I really just wanted to run as far away from religion as I could. So I didn't attend church, but the indoctrination I received as a child stayed with me and I still believed with reservations.

I finally slipped into comfortable agnosticism. I was open to proof but found none. I started examining my own, perceived "spiritual" experiences and realized that nothing good had come from leaving it all up to the Universe. While I learned that I am not in control of anything or anyone but myself, I also learned the same goes for everyone else. There are no religious leaders with special powers or insight. They are all, as are we all, as human as the next person.

The final push came with the emergence of the "Moral Majority" and the Dominionists and their funding by the rich, old white boys' club. Religion has been used since the earliest recorded history to keep the populace in line. The fact that it is still being used in this way is upsetting. We are NOT a "Christian Nation." We are a nation that refuses, per our Constitution, to regulate the individual spirituality of our citizens. Read that amendment. Read the comments made over the first couple of decades by our earliest leaders. To turn our government into a theocracy would be to take a giant step backwards.

The worst part of this is that the old time religion I was taught as a child bears no resemblance to the self-serving, misogynistic, elitist, racist, homophobic crap I see coming out of the mouths of these, so-called, "good Christian" people. Where is the love? Where is the caring for the poor, the needy, the sick? Guess what? It is not good business, so those directives, supposedly from Christ, himself, are ignored.

Guess what else? Good moral values are NOT the sole province of the Christian religion. They are a matter of human decency and common sense. To act like they have a lock on morality shows that they have an arrogance that exceeds their worth. Their fear of women's strengths, alone, causes them to continue their fevered attempts to subjugate and regulate until their little brains (located about 6 inches below their belts) are fried. Worst yet, are the women that have turned against their sisters for gain or in the name of their fanaticism. Ann Coulter is a conservative whore. THERE! I said it. I pay little attention to the bimbettes on Fox Noise. In fact, I disregard Fox Noise, altogether.

Anyone who listened to that bombastic, ignorant rant by the father of Texas (Canadian) Republican, Ted Cruz, should have a good idea of what we are up against. That rant stirred up the base for these evil people. Their base, poor white people whose religion is their retreat and ignorant people whose beliefs are based on paranoia and misinformation, are then compelled to vote against their own best interests in the name of GAWD.

I make no secret of my atheism. I have found that most decent, thoughtful people, even those of faith, can accept that and have no problem with it. It is the evangelical, fundamentalist, far right-wing fanatics that are clamoring to make what I do or do not believe a matter of public policy and law.  It is hard for me to keep a civil tongue in my head when confronted with this horror masquerading as the ultimate good. The KKK uses Christianity as part of its raison d'etre. Hitler professed to be a Christian. Now we have these nimrods pushing the same envelope.

Any time you see a government trying to regulate the spirituality of its citizens, you are seeing a culture that is doomed. Look at the USSR who tried to force atheism on its populace. I fear we are not far behind them on the "collapsing civilization" trail. In my opinion, this kind of Christianity is as big a threat as all of Islam. I don't think any of it is much good if it takes away the ability of the individual to find their own way, spiritually.

I do not consider myself an "evangelist" for atheism. I am just as turned off by those trying to force their disbelief on the rest of the population as I am by the Dominionist bunch. But I fear that we may not have either choice if things go on as they are. My vote in 2014 takes on added urgency as I look towards what might be looming on the horizon if we don't stop the theocratic, financial and elitist madness.

I am 68 years old. I don't know how much of it I will have to face. I worry about my children and grandchildren. They deserve the freedom of/from religion that our Constitution promised. I fear for their futures. We are losing our middle class and starving children and the elderly in the name of Guns/God Over People. The GOP, with its new brand of theocratic bullshit, ain't so grand, anymore.

For the sake of whatever you believe or don't believe, go to the polls next year and VOTE as if your life depended on it because...it does.