Thread by @EcoTechBro

Imma be totally honest. Shit like this is why it's really hard for me not to hate christianity. This man makes beautiful music. I grew up with this man as a regular part of my musical diet. I'll never be able to listen to his music the same way again

https://twitter.com/BloggedByRain/status/1376988936069873665

So much of christianity is based on what effectively amounts to self hate. A perpetual state of guilt that is used to prevent people from actually embracing themselves in favor of some narrow idea of acceptable behavior.

A lot of christianity is based on the rejection of self worth. After all, human righteousness is as filthy rags, and our own hearts are deceitful. It's the perfect environment to incubate self hatred, victim blaming, and guilt.

Christianity is particularly perfect for this goal, since you don't even need an external source for that self hatred. It is in and of itself a religion of guilt and self renunciation, that, if fully absorbed, can very easily lead to people victim blaming and hating themselves.

Straight, cis people who are comfortable with a conservative lifestyle are unlikely to be able to relate to this. But I can say with some degree of confidence that much of my development growing up was stunted by religious internalization.

Constantly felt guilty over doing completely normal things people do as a teenagers. Over experiencing the wrong kinds of feelings. The very action of doubt in and of itself was something to feel guilty about.

One of my best friends is a tomboy of sorts who I watched have her individuality gradually crushed so she could live up to some ideal standard of the christian lady.

I was lucky enough to remove my mind from that internal prison by my late teens, but I still was unpacking aspects of that self hatred and fear of eternal punishment for a few years after I gave up the beliefs.

That's probably why I'm not as harsh on the standard new atheist types as many others are. They were a big part of helping to remind me of how silly those beliefs were when I initially left the faith.

I remember when I was brought to my pastor a few months or so after I told my parents I was an atheist. And he told me "you're not an atheist, you've just made yourself your own god". When I first heard that it really hurt me

Overtime, this pain has subsided. There's a quote from Stirner that I always think of now that goes:

I love it. I don't need an excuse to embrace who I am. I won't let the chains of the god that were given to me prevent me from actually being myself anymore.

It pains me to see so many people who still will not take up their own cause, instead constantly taking up the cross of christ, not out of joy, but out of fear, guilt, and self renunciation.

I really have trouble envisioning a modern version of christianity that does not still have this problem of fetishizing humanity's fundamental unworthiness. I hope it happens, but my perspective is just too poisoned by self hating, bigoted, guilt ridden christians.

that's the end of the vent