Why I’m Angry: An Anti-Theist’s 78 Reasons

21. I am angry that due to years of being brainwashed by Christian ideology, you are given several “trigger” words put in your mind by expert pursuaders and manipulators, and that these trigger words (like “evil,” “mocker,” “sinner,” and so on) get assigned to you immediately upon announcing your deconversion, and that any negative reaction to those trigger words is used to guilt-trip you into coming back into Christian ideology.

Guilt Trip – Think Atheist
A question on a message board leads into a discussion on the guilt non-Christians feel after deconversion, due to brainwashing in Christianity.

“The hardest thing of all is that when we have exposed modern man to his tension [of hopelessness without God], he still may not be willing for the true solution. Consequently, we may seem to leave him in a worse state than he was in before…. We confront men with reality; we remove their protection and their escapes; we allow the avalanches to fall. If they do not become Christians, then indeed they are in a worse state than before we spoke to them.” — Francis Schaeffer, THE GOD WHO IS THERE, at the end of Chapter Two

22. I am angry that many apologetics books (especially those written by presuppositionalists in the tradition of Francis Schaeffer) explicitly train apologists to push their potential converts into suicidal shame and despair in order to make them pliable for brainwashing via Christian ideology.

23. I am angry that some Christian apologists out and out LIE in order to sell books (Frank Turek and Lee Strobel — here’s looking at you), and that the aura of Christianity as fundamentally good in this culture makes them exempt from moral criticism.

24. I am angry that belief in Christianity has caused many to think the world is going to end in catastrophe and they’ll go to heaven as part of God’s plan, making them less concerned about trying to save this world for their children (God’s got it under control, and He’s planning on getting rid of it anyway). This especially exhibits itself in thoughts on global warming.

Limbaugh: ‘If You Believe In God, Then Intellectually You Cannot Believe In Manmade Global Warming |
“See, in my humble opinion, folks, if you believe in God, then intellectually you cannot believe in manmade global warming … You must be either agnostic or atheistic to believe that man controls something that he can’t create.” — Rush Limbaugh

25. I am angry that many Christians simply wear the title without taking the Bible seriously, because they are part of the reason there is so much misery among the confused people who actually do try to live by it. If you don’t take the Bible seriously as a Christian, just be honest and leave the religion instead of disparaging those who do take it seriously.

One in Four Believers Are ‘Christians in Name Only,’ According to Survey
Changing the Face of Christianity Inc, a non-profit corporation dedicated to reversing negative Christian stereotypes, has released the results of a quiz designed to determine how well Christians live the teachings of Jesus Christ.

26. I am angry that today’s evangelism programs teach social pressure (as opposed to doctrine) as the primary motivator of conversion. The whole campaign to focus on relationships as opposed to doctrine seems to me, upon closer examination, manipulation — a tool to control people that needs very little attachment to doctrine — indeed, doctrine is often demeaned and discouraged in more liberal evangelistic churches, leaving the church to be a unit of specialists in creating cults of social control.

Why Hes Not Emergent, by Someone Who Used to Be – John Stonestreet | The Point – Summit Ministries
“The emergents are so sensitive to issues of community, relationship, egalitarianism, and being non-utilitarian in their relationships, that evangelism has simply become a synonym for manipulation.”

27. I am angry that children who don’t believe in God have to lie and say they do when they go to school just to keep from getting bullied.

Penn Jillette with Examples of School Bullying

28. I am angry at the witch trials that are still going on in Africa, as a result of the Bible, TODAY.

29. I am angry at the Christian participation in Rwanda, which was the most Christian nation in Africa when the Rwandan genocide occured (and angry at the Old Testament for giving them the idea).

The Catholic church must apologise for its role in Rwanda’s genocide | Chris McGreal | Comment is fr
Chris McGreal: The Vatican’s reluctance to confront those accused of murder in its midst is rooted in its refusal to face up to the church’s complicity in the events of 1994

30. I am angry at the fact that 40% of Americans will simply not vote for an atheist simply BECAUSE he/she would be an atheist.

Gallup: Atheists, Muslims See Most Bias as Presidential Candidates
Just over half of Americans (54%) would vote for an atheist or a Muslim (58%) for president, the least among nine identity groups. More than nine in 10 Americans would vote for Jewish, Hispanic, Catholic, female, or black candidates.

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