Christians, Stop Pretending Other Religions Don’t Exist
It’s ignorant to reason as if there is either no god or just Christian God
Coming from a culturally diverse background, it is natural for me to consider different cultural and religious values. I also know a lot of people who do the same in their reasoning. But somehow it is hard for many Christians to keep it in mind when they reason about religion. (I imagine other monotheists would be the same, but I have less exposure to Jews and Muslims, so I will stick with talking about Christians.)
I wonder why.
Well, not really. I was a Christian for twenty-plus years, so I am well aware of the fact that Christian religion tends to encourage believers to be self-centered.
I can see Christian readers wanting to protest at this moment, but please be patient with me, and let me explain. Of course not all Christians exhibit this behavior, so don’t accuse me of generalization. but the phenomenon is common enough. Even if it does not apply to some Christian readers here, more likely than not, they are familiar with it.
In this article, I present two ideas that Christians often use as if no other religion exists. (There are more, but space does not allow it. I may write a sequel later on.)
1. Employment of fear tactic
I heard it a lot, sometimes more than twice a day. Here are some recent examples on Medium. These statements were directed to me as a response to my article or comment.
You have the right to choose your belief system that works best for you. But I caution you strongly not to discard Christ, as he is the only Source of the salvation of our souls. Ask yourself this question: ‘What will happen to my soul when my body dies?’ — Pastor Paul J Bern, Oct 14, 2022
I presume that you also know that if God does exist and you reject his means of salvation, then the consequences could be very great indeed. — David Knott, Sept. 28, 2022
Now as you have put it, you’re not certain there is no God, so you’re not sure that you’re sending yourself and everybody you convinced to be like you to eternal punishment, are you? — Chris Windes, Sept. 30, 2022
There are others, but these three statements are sufficient to get my point across. Intentionally or not, these people tried to invoke fear in me. They are essentially saying, ‘Hey, you have a lot to lose if Jesus is real and you deny him.’
Oh wow, so I should react like the image below?
But fear should play no role in the business of discerning what is real, true, or factual. Only evidence, logic, reasoning, and cool head help.
When was the last time you see scientists use fear tactics to get you to believe their scientific theory? ‘Hey, if you don’t believe in string theory, you will be sorry down the road,’ said no scientist ever.
More importantly, this threat makes no sense in view of the multitude of religions and deities out there. When you believe in one religion, you effectively ignore or reject other religions. Why don’t Christians play this fear tactic on themselves for not believing in, say, Buddhism or Jainism?
After all, they also have a lot to lose if any of those religions is true, right?
This self-reflection rarely enters these Christians’ minds. But they expect non-religious people like me to be stupid enough to be tricked by it. How insulting that is!
What if Baal was real, but Yahweh was not? What if Baal hates Yahweh worshippers so much that he will send Christians to his version of hell, but let others enjoy bliss in paradise?
What if the real God never revealed Himself to humanity purposefully, and rewards those who have the courage to stay agnostic or atheist for lack of evidence, but punishes those who deceive themselves and sell their soul to man-made religions?
The possibilities are just endless.
Even if Christianity is broadly correct, you still need to decide which denomination or theological tradition got it right. But how can you be absolutely sure that the denomination you are in has not got some core theological concepts wrong? What if the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons were right?
Most Christians never worry about these things and just assume that their denomination is the most accurate one.
Let’s read what this Orthodox Christian has to say to me:
All your articles about Christianity clearly demonstrate that you do not know the beliefs of the original Christian Church, the Orthodox Church. Your articles are responding to modern Western Protestant/Roman churches whose theology has gone rather astray. — Taminad Crittenden, Oct. 14, 2022
Or this person:
Seems like you haven’t met real Christians … — P.B. Lindberg, Oct. 12, 2022
Maybe we should gather them into a room so they can sort it out among themselves who has the most correct belief.
In case you have not realized, this is why Pascal’s Wager fails.
Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas if God does exist, he stands to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (an eternity in Hell).
Yet, the choice is not just god or no god. Even if you choose god, you can end up believing in the wrong god and get your soul punished after you die.
Furthermore, do you think God will be impressed if your belief is just some kind of insurance policy or a bet?
2. Asking people to search for signs of God in nature or in themselves
When Christians say they can feel God in nature or they could sense Holy Spirit moving in them, I am tempted to roll my eyes.
Where do you find God? The answer is wherever you are, he is. The only thing we need to do to find God is to practice the discipline of noticing. It is not the presence of God that is missing as much as it is simply our awareness of his presence. — Dan Foster, Oct. 14, 2022
Christians, you do know that these kinds of feelings or experiences are also present in other religions, right? There are a lot of people bearing ‘testimony’ to the power or vision of all sorts of deities, spirits, deceased ancestors, or mystical forces.
Millions of practitioners of Falun Gong say they feel the power of the Dharma Wheel in them, and are willing to stand persecution from the Chinese government.
I have Buddhist friends telling me how peaceful they feel when they meditate, and how they are able to reach a higher state of consciousness through their religious practices. Yet Buddhism does not claim those feelings are from any particular deity. They arise from within the self.
Christians, how do you know that your feelings are a reliable source of information, pointing you to the ‘truth’? When you consider other people’s experiences, you should not be so sure about your own.
Does Christian faith affirm religious experiences from Islam, Hinduism, or Scientology? Of course not. So how do you know your interpretation of your experiences is right?
The point is, the signs, feelings, experiences, and senses that Christians think are ‘obvious’ pointers to their God, become more fuzzy and unclear when one takes the experiences of people from other religions into consideration.
And don’t forget the possible explanations of those feelings from research in neuroscience. A surge of dopamine or serotonin level in our brain can produce positive feelings like pleasure or euphoria, and there are ways to manipulate secretion of those chemicals.
Many of the so-called out-of-body experiences can be understood as a form of dissociation, our brain’s inbuilt coping mechanism to trauma. It could feel supernatural, but it can be explained by science. The book, What Happened to You?, authored by Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, is a good introduction to this psychological phenomenon.
Takeaway
We are all limited by what we know and experience. There is no fault in that. But when some system of thought encourages us to be self-centered, to be stuck in a particular mindset or way of thinking, it can be hard for us to grow and learn. I encourage Christians to reflect on their belief in consideration of the plethora of ideas, experiences, interpretations, and viewpoints out there in the real world.
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