Crazy (likely offensive) question I know, but please hear me out!  This question isn’t even really about Jesus, it’s about you.  It’s about the church built in his name and their emphasis on the concept of atonement.

I will qualify at this point that I do not identify as christian for the reasons I am about to express and I hope that information doesn’t immediately alienate my opinion from any possible semblance of validity.  I do not identify with any religion and it is for precisely the opposite reason that most people refuse to identify with any religion.  I am under the impression that most who claim agnosticism or atheism do so because they have found no valid information in any of the religious customs they have encountered.  On the contrary, I do not identify with any one religion precisely because I have found so much truth and so much wisdom in all of them, and throughout my study of religion, I developed an incredibly deep and profound respect for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Firstly, all of the great prophets of history have a few things in common.  First, they all teach love. Period.  Secondly, there seems to be a trend towards spending roughly 40 days in some sort of removed sabbatical from mundane life.  Moses spent 40 days at the top of Mount Sinai while receiving the stone tablets from god.  Noah spent 40 days and 40 nights at sea during the flood.  Buddha spent 49 days meditating underneath a tree ultimately culminating in his enlightenment.  And immediately following the baptism of Jesus Christ and the descent of the white dove of God in to his spirit, he spent 40 days in the wilderness where he encountered and resisted the temptation of Satan.  But it is not the purpose of this essay to talk you into following other religions.  I was only attempting to explain why I find it expedient to follow so many.

As for the gospel of Christ, one of the most powerful philosophies it shares with the other great teachings is that it teaches empowerment.  In one single phrase, Jesus conveyed the idea perfectly.  “Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.”  He goes on “ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”.

So this is where the conversation usually alienates people.  It is my duty to the Gospel of Christ to inform you that there is some severe contrast between the Gospel of Christ, and the Christian Gospel.  This is where we have to bring up the concept of the atonement because there is no idea I have found in any religion that is more limiting of the human spirit than that of the atonement.  It is taught that we are born guilty of this original and inescapable sin.  We are taught that because we are human, we are sinners and consequently it is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that we can be forgiven by God and return to heaven.  This is irreconcilable with the teachings of Christ, who taught us to strive for holy action and to follow in his footsteps.  Christ wanted us to live as he lived so that we could see what he saw, but then at the same time, we are told that this isn’t possible because Jesus was perfect and we can never be perfect like Jesus.  So the question I beg is why would you, or anyone else for that matter even attempt to try?  We are born with an inescapable sense that dictates, “if it can’t be done, don’t do it.”  and that’s where christianity falls apart.

If I’ve ever seen the word “Atonement”, I’ve seen it more in the last week than I can ever remember.  Part of that is because I am currently reading the book of Exodus.  The rest has been scattered throughout the written world and could be sheer coincidence.  Could just be that I’m noticing it more because it’s on my mind, and it’s stuck there because it’s pulling my mind apart.  Growing up, my mom always told me that the God of our (now just her) church is not the kind of God that requires a blood sacrifice as the medium of currency for atonement.  Having read it for myself, turns out He was, and further, essentially still is.

In the book of Exodus, God directly describes to Moses both the purpose and exact process of slaughtering animals and sprinkling their blood all over the alter and the priests performing the ritual, and then he tells him that the animals will be slaughtered as payment, and atonement for the sins of the people.  Then it occurred to me, that they were essentially talking about Jesus.  The primary function of Jesus, according to the vast majority of modern Christianity, was to be slaughtered to atone for the sins of man, all be it a more permanent atonement.  The problem is, nobody ever told me why?  Why did Jesus have to die?  What is it about the nature of God that makes it impossible for him to forgive our sins without murdering something?

Then I remember how much I dislike the God of the old testament, with all the fire and brimstone and wrath.  The pillars of salt, the inexplicable killing of people who refuse to impregnate their widowed sister in law.  Torture, punishment, anger, all of it.  I mean, at one point Moses had to talk God out of Killing all of the people of Israel because he would seem mischievous to the people of Egypt, whom he’d slaughtered untold numbers of for the sake of freeing the people of Israel.  I should qualify that I have an incredibly close relationship with something I am obliged to call God and the thing that I know is in no way shape or form like that.  

So there’s some spillover that needs to be explained here.  Christ taught his people about a loving, kind, understanding, wise, omnipotent, omnipresent God, nothing like the character described in the old testament.  I’d like to think those differences include the lack of need for blood sacrifice.

So there’s the first part.  I disagree with the concept of Christs atonement based on the notion that the God who required blood sacrifice for the sake of atonement (the God of the Old Testament) was not the God that Christ spoke of.  I like to think of God as being powerful enough to forgive people just for the sake of forgiveness, without the ritualistic spilling of blood.

On to the second part.  We are born with a notion in our mind that all people tend to follow.  It is the most basic of common knowledge.  “If it can’t be done, don’t do it.”  So many people won’t even attempt to do something they can do.  Very few people attempt to do something, knowing full well that it is completely impossible, and most of those who do anyway are certifiable.  So what does that have to do with this?  Sin.  According to the church, we are born in to sin and it is inescapable, but through the power of the atonement of the son of God, we may be forgiven if we repent.  Now how exactly do expect people to act if you tell them that the quintessential characterization of goodness is impossible to achieve?  No wonder you don’t hear of anyone acting, much less living, like Christ!  You tell them out of the gate that it’s impossible!  Furthermore, the only way to get to Heaven is to blame him for all of your mistakes.  This just seems too backwards for me to comprehend.

On the other hand, I have an incredibly deep and profound appreciation for the teachings of Christ.  What he taught about love, understanding, compassion, and life in general was nothing short of godly, and that’s where I believe the true value of Christ lies.  If you follow his word, he tells you plainly that you can follow in his footsteps and that heaven is attainable through him, not because he died for you, but because he lived for you.  All you have to do is turn your back on notions like original sin and the atonement, and you become empowered to live a better, kinder, more loving and compassionate existence because all the sudden you realize that it’s possible!

But let’s say I’m wrong.  It happens often enough.  Let’s say that the atonement is real.  What would happen if you turned away from it anyway?  You still end up growing that much closer to Christ by following the path he led.  You live more righteously because you know it’s possible and you take responsibility for your own sins upon yourself and you still get to go to heaven because God isn’t stupid.  He knows you, and what you’re capable of and if you lived half the life Christ lived, you’d realize you don’t even have to wait to die before you go to heaven.  It’s here!  You can find it!  But even if I’m wrong and you make all that effort to live as Christ lived and are better off for it, I promise you, there is not a person in the universe that has ever lived that would ever be more glad to have died for nothing.

With all the love I have…

Thanks for reading!