What is it with Christians? Why do they believe that everything has to be about them and their god? Recently the city council of Haven, KS voted to remove the “In God We Trust” logo from their city vehicles because they correctly understood it violated the principle of church – state separation.

But Haven (northwest of Wichita) is a rural town. Predictably, the back-water Christians in the town were outraged and demanded that the logo be restored. After much debate (and verbal abuse from righteous Christians), the council voted 3-2 to restore the logo. But in order to be compliant with SCOTUS rulings from the last few years, they apparently understand that other religions and the non-religious also have the right for their slogans or whatever to also be on those vehicles.

Of course if that happens the Christians of Haven, KS will be up in arms about it. And that’d be typical of the arrogant, uninformed masses that make up the bulk of American Christians these days. They firmly believe that it’s correct and proper for them to expect their god to be shoved down the throats of every person on Earth. And if you resist then you’re a hell-bound baby-eating communist scumbag who should be dragged out and stoned in the courthouse square. Can’t wait to see what happens when reps from the Satanic Temple show up at city hall with a box of bumper stickers.

To be a “true” Christian nowadays you must reject absolutely anything that doesn’t agree with the Bible. In other words, you must openly embrace ignorance, misogyny, bigotry, etc etc. Oh yeah, and slavery. Don’t bother trying to tell me that I’m taking Exodus 21 out of context. You and I both know your Bible fully embraces slavery.

OK back to the topic at hand. Many Christians seem to think that science is some sort of liberal conspiracy to discredit the Bible. Well, no it isn’t. Science is a process through which humanity seeks to better understand our world and the universe around us. Only fundamentalists of the Abrahamic religions are so narrow minded as to see everything as a threat to their faith. Most scientists don’t care one way or the other about what the Bible has to say. And there are scientists out there who for whatever reason still believe in a personal god. Not many, but there are a few.

The screen capture shown here is from some crazy woman who’s buried so deeply in the dogma that she tried to hijack an otherwise civil conversation on Facebook. A few of us were discussing / debating evolution vs creationism. But then “Francis” apparently felt butt-hurt over it all and chimed in with a flood of hate and stupidity.

I see this a lot. Fundamentalists scream at the top of their lungs that there is no evidence for evolution. It does no good to point them to resources detailing the massive amount of evidence that proves it. They’ll ignore it, or claim it’s a lie, or they’ll smugly say, “it’s just a theory,” which proves their ignorance beyond any doubt. I include her comment here because of what she had to say. Once again, it’s all a conspiracy to undermine God’s ultimate authority. People like her truly nauseate me at times.

I have tried to understand where this weird attitude comes from. And I have managed to gain at least a partial understanding of it. Christians believe their god is the “One true god of the Bible.“ The first Commandment states, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Thousands of years ago, this was probably just one primitive tribe’s way of securing the authority of its leaders, since they claimed to speak for this god. But now? American fundamentalists are blatantly seeking to create a theocracy on our soil. And they sincerely believe it’s the right thing to do. They’ve swallowed the “Christian nation” fallacy hook, line and sinker.

Christians also think that if you don’t believe as they do you’ll spend eternity in Hell. Yes, it’s an absurd notion. But Christians sincerely don’t want this to happen to you. So they’ll drive you nuts trying to convince you to change your reasonable ways. But here again, they feel the need to get the message out, so they smear their shit anywhere it’ll stick. There is often a disturbing hint of desperation in their efforts. It saddens me to think of the mental state that drives them to such lengths.

And Christians are still doggedly determined to infiltrate our public schools. And they’ve succeeded on many fronts. They know it’s easier to convince young minds than adults who’ve already learned how to think critically. They will lie, cheat and flagrantly break the law to get at school children who might not be attending church.

President Jeezus

The goal of Christians by and large is in to create a Christian theocracy in America. Many of our ancestors fled a theocracy. Apparently that fact is lost on these narrow minded, arrogant fools who seem to think they have the right and duty to push their damaging beliefs on all of humanity. And that is why it’s all about them. John and Mary the Christian couple might be uncomfortable if Adam and Steve moved in next door to them. So they want to change the law, to repeal hard-won constitutional rights so that all Americans are forced to live in a manner that John and Mary are comfortable with. Fuck John and Mary.

There are a few faint signs of hope. The Kirksville, MO city council recently voted to maintain it’s “moment of silence” instead of a prayer to begin sessions. This provides a chance to pray for those who wish it, while others can quietly reflect or whatever it is you do during such a moment. I see it as wasting taxpayer-funded time, but at least nonbelievers in the chamber are not forced to endure a ritual. And in West Virginia, Mercer County Schools has finally settled a lawsuit filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation regarding a supposedly elective  Bible class they’d been teaching for decades. The class has been canceled.

It’s important to stand up to these people. They firmly believe they occupy the high ground. They believe they’re commanded by their Almighty God to spread the Gospel around the world. Americans have paid a price for it. As the fundies continue to embrace ignorance, our school children fall behind the rest of the developed world in test scores. America was once the world’s leader in countless ways. Now? We’re a joke. It isn’t just the Christian fundies at fault. The far left has done its share of damage. But our failure to enforce church-state separation, especially in our schools, is an egregious fault for which all of us must share the blame.

It’s past time to shut the Christian Right down and make them play by the same rules as the rest of us. They aren’t special. They’re aren’t privileged. And it’s time for them to learn that lesson. It isn’t all about them.