Some of the most Christian-like people I know are atheists.
To phrase it differently, if you were to look at the primary tenets espoused by Jesus Christ in the New Testament — charity toward the poor and the sick, love your neighbor, a rejection of material pursuits — then my atheist friends very often hew more closely to these values than do many of my more pious Christian friends.
To use two examples: Jesus never mentioned gays or guns, so why are so many MAGA types fixated on those two issues?
Stepping into the morass these questions create is Washington Post contributing columnist Kate Cohen in a piece this week:
How do we fight the growing power of the Christian right?
One way is with other religions. A Florida synagogue recently sued the state over its abortion ban, arguing, in effect, that its God has different rules. (In questions of abortion, Jewish law prioritizes the woman’s life and well-being.)
It’s gratifying to watch Jews take on this legal battle, daring the courts to say out loud that one religious perspective deserves more protection than another.
But even if that works, it would mean that every time the Christian right tries to force the rest of us to live by their God’s rules, we’d have to find another Certified Religious Group to fight back. Okay, listen up: Whose God specifically endorses same-sex marriage? Can anyone cite scripture sanctifying contraception?
We shouldn’t have to use one God to fight another God. We shouldn’t have to be religious to be free. What we need — and what our Constitution conveniently provides for — is freedom from all gods.
I’m a little wary of turning the culture wars into a believers vs. non-believers contest, if only because there’s a fine line with believers thinking it’s OK to question certain parts of their Christian teachings, and believers thinking you’re attacking their belief in God.
And, let’s face it, a lot of atheists can pretty quickly pivot from questioning religious dogma to telling believers they are sheep and idiots for thinking there is a “magical being watching over everything.”
Nonetheless, Cohen’s column is interesting.
You can read the rest of it here.