A Response!

My cousin finally answered my email. It's a typical response from a typical Christian. You'll see what I mean:

I was shocked and hurt by your statement above. I said what I did intending it to be a humourous statement in much the same way my mother would say she never contemplated divorce but had thought of murder. My mother was not serious and neither was I. I HATE conflict of any kind and will go out of my way to avoid it. My faith in Christ is teaching me to deal with conflict with love and understanding, rather than avoid it. I have never had anyone tell me I am angry/violent until you did.

What is it about Christians that you always look for the worst?

In Christ's love,
Your Cousin

This is my response:

I don't know you or your mother personally and I didn't know that you and your mother are not serious people. I really thought you were being honest and I wanted to know why you felt this way. No offense was meant, just simple curiosity.

Your question really doesn't make sense but I'll try to answer what I think you might be asking.

The beef I have with some Christians is that they don't seem to objectively look at reality. Most things are filtered thru an ancient, outdated holy document and it leaves the Christian saying and doing irrational things. For example: it has been proven that homosexuality is not a choice, yet just because the bible says it's an abomination a lot of Christians oppose same-sex marriage. Rationally, it makes no sense to keep these basic rights from a group of people based only on suggestions made by ancient Jewish men more than two thousand years ago. It also makes no sense in light of the evidence that people should keep this opinion. I say if you don't like same-sex marriage then don't marry someone the same sex as you.

There are the same prohibitions on eating shellfish but I don't see Christians protesting shrimping or serving the delicious crustacean at restaurants.

Another flaw I see in some Christians is the ability to be offended very easily. In all the discussions I've had with you and the others I have yet to be offended. I guess the reason is the information I rely on can stand on it's own merit. You can take it or leave it. I really don't care. Christianity on the other hand calls on you to defend the religion. The Bible demands it of you. It's a personal attack if I criticize God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit and as a small child you are taught to defend this personal relationship. This is what it seems to me based on reactions I've gotten from many Christians. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Now, I do know many Christians that don't behave in this way. Many of my Christian friends are liberals who feel strongly that gay people should have the same right to marry the person they love just as straight people do. Many feel strongly that women should have the right to do with their bodies as they see fit. This is a basic right to privacy. If you don't like abortions then don't get one. Others feel it's a shame our president can't overcome religious bias to help people in the future with stem-cell research. Many more feel our Christian president lied to us to go to war with Iraq and we should get out now. Those are the Christians that have given careful thought to what their religion says and how it should be applied to the modern, real world. Perhaps it's as our other cousin says, they are not real Christians. What do you think?

Sincerely,
Summer

Several things I found wrong with her response. First is her immediate defensiveness and attempt to place the blame of ad hominim on me. Her email to me in which she states if she were God she would've killed human beings many times over should have been prefaced with the statement "Oh, I'm only joking!" We have never joked with each other in the course of our emails so there was no reason for me to assume she was attempting to be funny.

Another thing that bothers me about her email how she ends it "In Christ's love." She knows I'm an ardent atheist and that this phrase is meaningless to me, so I can only assume she's feeling pretty superior and ignores the fact that there's a way to end a note where both of us are happy, such as the way I ended mine.

One more thing about her response; she completely ignores the last email and focuses only on how hurt she is. Oh, the humanity!

I'm beginning not to like her very much.