One of the more troubling doctrines of
Christianity is its tenet of evangelism which is an often invasive and downright obnoxious means of trying to gain new followers. One such Christian organization, the Israel Restoration Ministries
has been targeting Jews in St Louis, MO with solicitation phone
calls promoting the "good news"about Jesus, and urging them to convert. The recipients of these annoying calls
BTW were selected from the phone book based on Jewish sounding names. On a larger scale, Christian extremist Pat Robertson, through an organization called the Brazilian Center for Law and Justice, has made inroads in Brazil using religion as a front for right wing political activity in that country.
Why
can't these fundamentalists get it through their arrogant skulls that
there are billions of people in the world who have never heard of Christianity
or who know about it but want no connection (Think China and
Japan for example) and who are doing just fine with their own beliefs. Do Christians think that they're going to be able to reach and "save" each and everyone of these "heathens" when they have no business trying to convert even one? Moreover,
if the Christian deity is a god and Jesus a savior whom everyone must accept or otherwise be condemned to hell, why
did he and his son supposedly reveal themselves to only a very small portion of humankind, and only for a brief era centuries ago?
If there's no way that those who have never heard or never will hear
about this dynamic duo, then they are damned for eternity through no fault of their own?
How can anyone in their right minds be persuaded into worshiping such extortionists?
And the upshot is that there is of course no more
proof for the existence of the biblical God and of Jesus as a divine messiah
than there is of the numerous other ancient deities of legend such a Zeus and
Woden, just to name a few. Nor is there any physical evidence of any of the miraculous events narrated in the scriptures. Furthermore, the theme of a man-god rising from the dead is not even a Christian original. It occurs in pre-Christian religions too,
So in order to counter the sectarianism that Christians try to force on others in American society, including public elementary and high schools where they try to impose prayer and creationism, I propose that colleges and universities—especially the secular ones— in the U.S.form and offer courses
in Christianity as mythology just as they do for the religions of ancient Greece and Rome. By doing this, these institutions of higher learning would be officially placing the story of Jesus into the category of fiction which it really is anyway. And despite the firestorm of protest they would likely encounter from believers, scholars would be taking an academic step that's long overdue. And hopefully, this reassessment of Christianity would catch on in other countries as well.
Importantly, this relegation might prompt enlightened Christians to reconsider their beliefs. Who knows, it might also well take some of the wind out of the sales of Christian evangelism if it is officially categorized at least by some authorities as a relic. In any event, there's no reason for believers of this religion and its practices to continue receiving the privileges and deference that they have been afforded for entirely too long.
