Immeasurable small amount? You know nothing about me! I was raised Catholic in a completely devout family, whose most admired members were nuns and seminarians. Catholic Grade School, Catholic High School, and partially, a Catholic college. I went through long years wavering between the Christianity I wanted so much to believe and the atheism I actually believed. I flirted with other branches of Christianity in the meantime. I've gone to protestant and non-denominational churches. Within all of that, I've read more literature from it and about it than you know. I've read the Bible twice through. I've spent hours and days praying before; I've spent hours saying the rosary. I've done volunteer work in the name of Christianity.
Self-centered? Doing all that, over thirty-four years, was self-centered? I've had a lot of experience with Christians, just in my own extended family. I am the only atheist of my generation. Moreover, outside my family I've had plenty of other experience with Christians.
I broke from it out of principle. The principle: there's no God in this universe. I've seen no evidence, ever, that anything like Yahweh/Jehovah/Allah exists, nor that even the world he/it is described as existing in is real. The secondary principle: sin, especially original sin, does not describe to me the flaw in humankind. If you don't have the disease, don't buy the cure. Do you find those to be self-centered? I could go into other problems I've realized since then, but it's beside the point.
Finally, I had to be truthful to what I observed, and not what other people, including scripture writers, were telling me. Perhaps that's what you mean by "self-centered?"
I've grown passionate about it since that final, intellectual break. You call that hatred. I ask you to read St. Paul, Romans 18-31, and what he says about unbelievers. Now, why is what he says about me passionate and truthful and what I'm saying hateful and lying? Be informed that many Christians take everything he says as inspired truth. Now, if I'm not passionate, where will Christians, inspired by St. Paul, put me? Please be informed that I'm not attacking a minority here. This is perhaps 80 percent of the country in which I live. More if you count other monotheists. I'm not bullying an easy target; I am not bullying at all.
You call me hateful from one single statement. What you mean is that the notion shocked you to the core. You fight against it. I've already explained what it means. I don't know if you read those posts. But in the meantime, you've drawn conclusions about my history that are erroneous in order to backward-engineer your notion of how I developed my thinking in accord with your own dim judgment of me. In other words, you formulated your view of me from ignorance, the exact thing for which you've accused me.
I stand by that statement. Disprove it in the way you live if you can. You'll be a better person if you're able.
And even if you've already made your judgment, Billkile, you must admit, that's not a hateful challenge to give you.
/Zin
