The Paradox of Tolerance
Harry Potter is demonic with Santa fluffyness
What’s up nonbelievers, doubters, and skeptics?
Happy November! I hope you had a good Halloween. My costume was “guy worried about the future of this country.” I just wore my normal clothes.
Here’s your weekly reminder to VOTE! Even if you think your vote doesn’t count or doesn’t matter, I assure you, it does.
An Atheist Reads the Bible
I was a Christian up until age 26, which was in 2009, and I’ve been an atheist ever since.
Growing up, we went to baptist churches a couple times per month. I never knew that not believing in god was even an option. It never crossed my mind until middle school, when my atheist friend, Justin, was talking about how Noah’s Ark couldn’t possibly have happened.
That’s the first time I remember doubting. That’s also the first time I heard the word atheist (I’m pretty sure).
It wasn’t long after that that I started going to a Pentecostal church. That was quite the experience. People running around the church, speaking in tongues, loud music.
This isn’t stuff that I’d experienced in Baptist churches. How can churches believe so many of the same things yet so many different things, too?
Well, I started going to that church more and more and then got “saved” at 17 years old, and became “on fire” for god.
I carried my bible with me to school senior year and read it between classes.
When I got my first full-time job at 18, I took my bible to work and read it on break.
I was a devout follower of Jesus. I read the New Testament many times.
To be fair, I only read the Old Testament once all the way through.
Now, here I am, 15 years later, and I’m going to read the whole Bible again. But why?
Well, about 5 years ago, I started creating ex-Christian and atheist content online, and I’m often met with accusations that I’ve never read the Bible or that I don’t understand it. I didn’t interpret it correctly.
When people tell me that I’ve never read the Bible, I want to be able to say “oh yeah? Well, here’s a whole damn podcast where I do exactly that. You can literally listen to me read it.”
I also want to sharpen my knowledge of the Bible, so I can be more well-equipped in conversation.
And I just have a lot of questions.
I’m doing this podcast because I want to give skeptics the opportunity to listen along and hopefully laugh and be entertained while examining these 66 books through a critical lens.
These 66 books (not more, not less), that, by the way, were put together several hundred years after the death of Jesus. How did they decide what to include? What to exclude?
What’s literal? What’s metaphorical?
Who wrote the gospels?
Was Moses even a real person?
If God were real, would he want it to be this difficult to understand what he’s trying to say?
We’re going to ask all of the questions.
Next week, we’re starting with Genesis 1 and going all the way through.
I hope you subscribe and come along for the ride!
Comments From Christians
I got sooooo many wild comments this week.
I got this comment when using a Taylor Swift CapCut template. These people don’t understand memes. Or probably most things.
I was on the fence about continuing to post. Thankfully, I now have my answer.
Every single time I make a post about Christianity, I get “Now do Islam” comments. Every single time.
On the surface, this can come across as a kind message, and I don’t think her intent was bad, but it’s the assumptions that drive me insane. I have to be in pain in order to call out religious BS?
She must have been a cheerleader. Goooooooo therapy!!!!
I had to Google to know that these are CS Lewis characters.
Satan is my God? Zoinks!
I’ve been running my IG page for 5 years, and people still don’t get what I do. I’m not trying to get other people to reject gods lol
This guy makes my brain hurt…and not in the way he thinks.
Aww, Satan adores me??
I’ll tell ya what’s tacky and classless: expecting the world to conform to your religious beliefs.
Yes, we’re the ones preaching on street corners and going door-to-door.
I’m not one to normally brag about follower counts because I know they largely do not matter, but “nobody cares” is an interesting line of thought.
I have 76k followers on Instagram, so obviously my posts resonate with quite a few people.
I live a miserable and depressing life? News to me!
I’ve literally never said anything remotely close to what he put in quotes…
Also, there are plenty of atheists in foxholes.
They say “atheists will believe one day” because there’s no way to prove that god isn’t real.
They think I owe them my time, and they also think they can give me parameters on how I should respond. How bout no?
The sin doesn’t fall far from the tree…isn’t that the expression?
Wait, which one of us is self-righteous?
Christian, please ride that horse as far away from me as possible.
I’m so lost.
They make it way too easy. I try not to correct grammar, but when they hit my DMs to insult me, it’s on.
She just couldn’t resist.
I hate this bus analogy. We can literally see buses. Your delusion isn’t my reality.
Um… I do believe there’s a Bible…? Also, they often go back to the trans whataboutism well.
Yes, I believe in facts. Correct.
Ok, this one made me laugh a little.
Don’t get mad at me just because you’re lazy.
Oh, cool. Death threats!
Now seems like a good time to take a small break. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as many crazy comments as I did this week.
I normally post comments from Christians, but the worst one I got this week was from a Muslim. Head over to Patreon to see that one!
If you join the Patreon ($5/month), you get:
Bonus content every month
Access to the 100+ episode archive of Jesus Unfollower podcast
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I’m curious to know what kind of content you’d like to see on Patreon.
If you like what I do, consider supporting my work there!
This was a topic that I talked about in an atheist rant on Patreon last week. It’s quite easy to convince people you’re not there when…you’re not there.
Everyone just put your swords down. There is no battle happening.
He sounds so loving.
Why? Because I think critically?
Did you catch the profile pic? Checks out.
So what?
Damn, they talk about Satan a lot, huh?
I love to look at who people are following because it usually doesn’t align with the life they claim to live.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing is this attempt at a gotcha. Yes, I say goddamn. That doesn’t mean I believe in god.
If you talk about Captain America, does that mean you believe he exists?
I don’t even deserve to be in his presence, tbh.
The whataboutism is strong with these people. I’m very close to hiding any comments that start with “now do…” because it’s almost always this.
If you’re not familiar with the paradox of tolerance, it’s this:
Yes. I believe in all of those things because they’re factual. I’m embarrassed for you, bro.
Thanks for reading these 8 billion comments. I’ll be back next week with more!
Dog Bless You!
Kevin
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