God is Good All The Time

 My aunt shared this meme today:

I used to buy into that notion. That I was born broken and bad and anything good that happened to me was in spite of how awful I was, inherently. That I deserved every terrible thing that could potentially happen due to the brokenness that was out of my control. But, God was so good he would forgive me anyway, protect me anyway, bless me anyway...

I ran into a guy yesterday who is a known over-the-top Christian. Always trying to connect with the youth. Always trying to be a teacher of the Word. Always trying to live according to what God wants him to do/be. The last conversation I had with him was a couple of years ago, over lunch. He had questions for me about self-publishing a book and marketing. But the conversation turned more to him interrogating me on some of my religious opinions and I could tell he was NOT a fan of my answers. I was one foot out the door then, regarding my faith and I think he picked up on that. It turned into him preaching to me. It was awkward. 

Anyway, I ran into him yesterday after not seeing him since that lunch. He said hello and we exchanged small talk. I think he is a youth pastor now at the Sunfield UB Church. After I got home I started thinking about what a lunch with him would be like now. Now that I am fully deconverted. What would he ask? How defensive would he immediately get at my assessments and conclusions regarding Christianity and the Bible. How venomous would he get?

Because that meme above would be a perfect slice of his perspective on "who" God is. Whereas I would say that, though I now see Christianity for the mythology it is, in my estimation the God of the Bible is neither all powerful nor is he all good. I would even argue that the God of the Bible is actually an evil deity and in no way deserving of worship. The Bible itself is riddled with inconsistencies, logical impossibilities and blatant contradictions. Christianity is popular, not because it is the one true religion, but because the winners of wars over the year and colonization/forced conversions, made it the most widely accepted mythology. How would he take that? 

How would he take the declaration of Man creating God and it not being the other way around? I had a whole hypothetical conversation in my head. When I saw the meme my aunt shared, I had to shake my head. It is a shame that so many people believe themselves to be inherently evil through no fault of their own. Born sick so they can be sold the cure.