A diatribe

I tried really hard not to make my blog one of those political commentary blogs. I am not jumping on the bash-Bush-bandwagon. But I must make a comment.

A minister recently said in Katrina’s wake of devastation, New Orleans had been a sin-filled city. Somehow, they deserved what they got.

I understand that not all ministers are dumbass idiots, that many are intelligent, kind, and true to their belief. If the dumbass minister actually read the Bible, he would have read that God *promised* in Genesis 9:11 (New International Version): “Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (In case the reader does not know, this promise was made with Man after the great flood with Noah & company. And God flooded the earth b/c he was pissed at man’s evil and debauchery.)

It really scares me how certain ministers manipulate the Bible to carry out their misguided agendas. The comment just brought back memories of my childhood. I admit I used to be one of those hardcore Bible-thumpers. I used to go to Bible study three times a week, attend service twice on Sundays, and sang in a praise band. I came in second place in a sermon contest and did not place first only because I neglected to start my sermon with a prayer. I studied the Bible religiously. And yes, that lame pun was intended.

I remember in high school, I attended a particular church. The pastor always spoke of increasing attendance and how we failed in not bringing in more and more people. Each sermon would start out with the reading of a verse, say, the famous John 3:16, and then invariably veer to the subject of church growth. I realized that if I wanted to grow as a Christian, I would have to change churches. So I decided to have a talk with the pastor.

We sat at a faux wooden table and I told him how I didn’t feel I was growing, that he always neglected to discuss the verse listed in our weekly program, and that his constant berating was tiresome. He responded that there was a purpose to his sermons and politely objected to my leaving the church. Then he said how sometimes, the devil fills our heads with ideas.

The devil. It makes me laugh to this day.

Surprisingly yet not surprisingly, the following Sunday, though the verse in our program was about love or something, the pastor spoke of the DEVIL and how the devil tricks us with ideas and makes us think evil satanic things. The pastor unabashedly looked at me throughout his sermon. At least he didn’t talk about church growth again.

[This of course wasn’t the reason I departed from Christianity. I won’t delve into it now, but I studied a good deal of religion and philosophy in college and became the clichéd enlightened agnostic.]

Again, there are so many wonderful Christians out there, Mother Theresa a prime example. I know that Klansmen, Nazis, reactionaries, and child molesters are probably not the intended paragons of Christianity. Still, it is an insult to both secular people and true Christians for these ministers to purport to know God and instead spew this ignorant, hateful nonsense. If there is a devil, they're it.