God only cares sometimes...

Repent in the name of Frodo.

What’s up nonbelievers, doubters, and skeptics?

We live in a world where we often see entertainers or athletes—pretty much anyone who wins an event or gets an award—thank God for their accomplishments.

“First off, I just wanna thank god…” or

“I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

That’s my personal favorite.

We hear it after football games every single weekend.

Look, I get it. I know that it’s usually not a statement of “God wants my team to win.” It’s more of people being thankful that they have the talent and ability that they do. Maybe they’re thankful that they didn’t get injured.

But, sometimes it goes a little further than that…like Dabo Swinney’s press conference last year.

“We built this program in God’s name, image and likeness.” Puke.

Imagine being an atheist or someone of a different religion on that team. That’s pretty alienating.

And that leads me into the Neon Hype Train that is Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes.

Here’s one recent thing that Coach Sanders said, according to a 247 Sports article:

"A multitude of kids choose the coach, especially when it's a prominent coach that has had success in their careers," Sanders said in an interview with Taylor Rooks. "I had a parent ask me the other day, 'If you left, do you think what you created is sustainable? I said, 'No. It ain't. I'm not going to lie to you. God anointed me for this time, this season, this era and this moment. He anointed me to coach your son and his son and his son. That's what God has anointed me to do. This is my calling.'"

I don’t have a problem with Deion believing in God, but doesn’t it seem strange that a god would care so much about football? About Deion being the coach for these players?

I mean, shouldn’t he have higher priorities?

Coach Prime’s beliefs aren’t the issue; it’s being so vocal about it in a way that is off-putting to those who don’t share those beliefs.

A LOT of players want to play for Deion (and rightfully so), but that’s not because of his faith. When he left Jackson State for Colorado, he made a pretty big show about getting rid of players that don’t fit his criteria.

Source: The Spun

Now, I don’t think he would kick someone off the team for not believing in Jesus, but what if there are great athletes there that aren’t believers? I’m sure it could be quite awkward.

This article on Religion Unplugged talks about some controversy around Coach when he left Jackson State:

Last March, he became involved in a controversy involving his faith. When he left Jackson State at the end of last season for the University of Colorado job, for example, Sanders was mocked on social media for saying God had sent him to become the coach of historically Black university but he had decided to leave the job anyway.

Soon after, Fox News reported that a group wanted the university to force Sanders to stop preaching his religious beliefs to players.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation sent the University of Colorado a letter on Jan. 24 about Sanders’ references to Christianity and expressed concern that players were potentially being pressured to pray during team meetings.

The letter specifically pointed to one prayer, which read: “Lord, we thank You for this day, Father, for this opportunity as a group. Father, we thank You for the movement that God has put us in place to be in charge of. We thank You for each player here, each coach, each family. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”

The group called on the university to teach Sanders about "his constitutional duties under the Establishment Clause" and to "ensure that Sanders understands that he has been hired as a football coach and not a pastor."

I gotta say that I agree with the FFRF. Coaches shouldn’t be leading prayer before, during, or after games. Not in practice. Never…unless it’s specifically a religious school.

At the end of the day, something tells me that everyone wouldn’t be quite as accepting of this if Deion yelled “Allahu Akbar” after a win.

Comments from Christians

One of my favorite things to do on social media is reply to comments that I receive.

I share a lot of these on my Instagram stories, and that’s not just to be like “look how funny or witty I am.” Sometimes, yes.

But, it also helps to show people that we don’t have to put up with bullshit from theists, AND I have hopes that people can use some of my retorts in their own replies to believers.

Here’s a comment I got on YouTube:

If this person had actually watched any of my videos, they would know that I don’t think God did anything to me. That’s kinda the point.

And they always assume that I’m unhappy. Why? Because I post about religion?

So, does that mean that anytime anyone posts about things they have issues with, they’re an unhappy person?

No. I think they want me to be unhappy.

Ah, here we go again. I’m not an atheist because I’m mad at God…therefore, I believe.

I guess these people have never heard of hypotheticals. There are billions of people who believe this stuff, so, in order for me to refute some points, I need to be able to say “IF this god exists, then (xyz).” It’s not that complicated.

Nothing irks me quite like being told what I believe or what I don’t, so I had to throw a little bit of this back at Rob.

I’m a religious extremist?? That’s a new one.

Again, here’s someone assuming they know me on a personal level because of what I choose to post on one Instagram account.

I know there’s a possibility that I’m wrong. I think it’s unlikely, but I’m definitely not going around claiming that I know the truth. You know who does that? It starts with a Ch and ends with ristians.

Oops. Thorsday is just around the corner. Maybe you should put those crayons away.

Also, A.D. is Anno Domini.

Also ALSO, I guess he’s never heard of CE.

Where have I ever said that I had a bad experience with Christians? Well…except for that time when that preacher grabbed my tongue.

My experience with Christianity was mostly good. It’s not like I wanted to leave my faith.

And, no, I didn’t form a Bond…Christ Bond. I don’t think anyone has a relationship with Jesus because he died 2000 years ago.

I love when they say that Christianity isn’t meant to be a religion when zero people alive today would be Christians if not for religious texts.

It’s the same to me.

Devils? Nah. Sometimes, I wish people could zoom out a bit and realize we’re all just on a spinning rock. Do we have good reasons to believe in gods and devils, or is it more likely that these are things we made up to fill in the gaps of what we don’t know or understand yet.

Some people will say that what I do is pointless or that I should just move on with my life, but I’m reminded daily how many intolerant and hateful people are out there.

Side note: I haven’t heard the “Adam and Steve” thing in quite a few years.

Christian Bio of the Week

I love looking at the social media profiles of Christians online—more specifically: their bios.

I don’t do it to bully try to say that I’m better than anyone. I truly just think a lot of them are funny and corny, and 85% of the ones I post on my story or in this newsletter are the bios of people who have proselytized to or argued with me in my comments sections, so I don’t feel too bad.

It’s mostly in fun.

Ya know, that’s how I came up with the name Jesus Unfollower. If you ever look closely, you’ll see that a TON of Christians have “Jesus Follower” in their bios on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, whatever…

So, I was like Jesus Unfollower perfectly encapsulates everything I want this account to be while also slightly making fun of those profiles.

Here’s this week’s entry:

So, if America is first, is Christ really king? How does that work?

Well, at least the Christian Nationalists are identifying themselves these days.

Bible Verse of the Week

Let’s talk about plundering. Yikes.

@jesusunfollowerPlunder. #atheist #exchristian #exchristiantiktok #exvangelical

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I know, I know. “Those were different times.”

Quote of the Week

This week’s quote is from the late Stephen Hawking:

The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-sized planet, orbiting around a very average star in the outer suburb of one among a hundred billion galaxies. We are so insignificant that I can't believe the whole universe exists for our benefit.

While it would be great if we were more than that, it’s possible that we’re just not. We are a tiny speck on a tiny speck in a tiny speck of a galaxy.

XCC Founding Members

I’m looking for a few more founding members of the Ex-Christian Community! If you join now, you can lock in your rate for as long as you remain a member.

I started this community so that Ex-Christians would have a private space to talk without worrying about trolls or family members getting involved.

I hope it turns into something great. Once we have 25 founding members, we’ll start doing virtual hangouts and perhaps a book club. For now, you can come chat in our private space!

Learn more at ExChristianCommunity.com!

Until next time, remember: You don’t need a god to be good!

Kevin

All of my links can be found at JesusUnfollower.com.