It is quite common for Christians to maintain that Yhwh is a benevolent deity, who loves humans to such an extent that he wants a special, personal relationship with each one of them. While I'll admit that - at first glance - the idea of being held in such high regard by an omnipotent being seems absolutely wonderful, I would argue that this relationship is not all that it's cracked up to be, and is actually outright harmful. To illustrate, let's take a moment to consider the following scenario:
If you had a parent, who told you that:1) you were born an inherently evil, wicked person
2) you deserve to be condemned to an eternity of misery and despair from which there can be no escape
3) nothing that you can ever do could ever possibly be good enough, and
4) you are so fortunate that your parent loves you, because you clearly don't deserve it,
wouldn't this be an abusive relationship that no one in their right mind could ever possibly desire for themselves?
Yet this is exactly what Christianity teaches its followers every day.
1) The doctrine of "Original Sin" (based primarily on Romans 5:12-21) teaches that all people are born inherently sinful, and in need of salvation.
2) Romans 3:23 teaches that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of god", while Romans 6:23 teaches that "the wages of sin is death" (typically understood to mean being condemned to hell, as opposed to "eternal life" in heaven).
3) Ephesians 2:8-9 goes on to explain that nothing you could ever do could ever possibly be good enough to deliver you from this eternity of torment.
4) Finally, John 3:16 tells us that Yhwh "so loved the world" that he sent Jesus.
To recap: After thoroughly establishing that humans are born wicked, and are deserving of eternal torment, Yhwh comes in and says "But I love you, and I'll save you from this awful fate [that I'm condemning you to] if you obey me without question…". The fact that it's a so-called "heavenly father" - an absentee "heavenly father" no less - saying these things doesn't make it any less of an abusive relationship.This is still an abusive relationship that no one should ever have to go through.
Unfortunately, Yhwh's abusive nature doesn't end there. Just as the Bible claims that the ways of Yhwh are "higher" than the ways of humans, so too does Yhwh's abusive nature surpass the abusive nature of even the most contemptible, manipulative, and controlling sadist. Yhwh is not content simply to demand that you obey his ever whim on pain of eternal torment. He is not even satisfied to command that you should simultaneously love and fear him on pain of eternal torment (the very essence of sadomasochism). Yhwh is not even satisfied to subject you to around the clock surveillance for every waking moment of your life (to include both, before you are born, and after you are dead). No, Yhwh goes one step further, and demands that he should be able to hold court over your very thoughts and emotions to ensure your complete obedience to him.
Yhwh's first demand for control over your thoughts comes in the form of the Tenth Commandment which forbids "coveting" or "jealousy". That's right, Yhwh - who declares his own name to be "Jealous" has the guile to decree that we humans may be judged and condemned for the crime of jealousy! (Curious how Yhwh can never be bothered to hold himself to the same moral code that he demands of his creation.) Yhwh continues to institute a system of thoughtcrime in the narrative of Jesus. In Matthew 5, Jesus is not content to teach the masses that murder and adultery are to be met with condemnation. He is not even content to teach that anger, an emotional response, is worthy of hellfire. He also that states something as primal and innate and ingrained in our being as sexual attraction to another person is a crime worthy of death, and that one should pluck out their own eyes sooner than allow themselves to be sexually attracted to another person.
No sane person could desire this for themselves. No sane person could ever possibly love the god of the Bible. Perhaps someone could love the god that they have made up in their own heads and presume to be the god of the Bible, but no one could actually love the god of the Bible. The god of the Bible is beyond being loved. To say that one loves Yhwh is to admit to suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. It is to admit to loving one's own oppressor. It is to admit a deep-seated desire to be a slave. It is to admit a desire that there should be what Christopher Hitchens called a "Celestial North Korea".
In closing I would like to plead with - in fact to humbly beg - those Christian readers of this post to reconsider their faith. I would like to kindly reaffirm to the reader that you are valuable as a human being all by yourself. You are capable of living a meaningful and fulfilling life without Yhwh. Further, there is no good reason to suppose that Hell is real, and so there is no good reason to suppose that you could be sent there for leaving Yhwh behind. All of Yhwh's threats are entirely idle. You can set yourself beyond his abusive reach. All you have to do is walk away.
I'd just like to tell you - Christian Reader - as a friend and an ex-christian, that you deserve better than Yhwh and Christianity. There are people in this world who really love you without conditions. A religion that teaches that a deity loves you, but that constantly reinforces your inadequacy and unworthiness, does not love you. It is only trying to use you, and you deserve so much better than that.
This has been your Sunday Sermon, go without god.
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