“…the Christian Church … Breeds Hate and Intolerance and Fear”

Christianity Almost Seems Like This Dark Cloud

Admittedly, sprinkled among the comments were occasional positive remarks about a specific aspect of Christianity or acts done by Christians. But these comments were few and often subdued. One participant noted that her relatively positive experience contrasted with that of others:

“I think of a lot of my former friends because I used to be involved in the church. A lot of my former friends are more like, I don’t know, medium-tempered Christians. That was my experience with it, so I think of them. My first reaction is like, ‘Oh, my old friends. I wonder how they’re doing.’ It was a part of my past so it’s almost close to me—but part of me is also—because of my history with it—it’s like half ick, half I could understand it.”

One of the Austin women had a catalogue of negative thoughts about Christianity:

“I feel it’s very stifling and it’s not very open, and it was almost designed to be a group of people to go against a lot of other types of faiths. I think a lot of times Christianity is just this overarching thing that is almost like something to be scared of because of what the Christian church has done…. It breeds hate and intolerance and fear. You’re teaching children that if you mess up you go to hell. You’re teaching people to help other people so that you don’t go to hell and to ostracize people.”

She continued, “I think when you go into a place that Christianity is the major influence it’s not that everyone is super nice and sweet and friendly and living the way that Jesus taught you. I don’t think that Jesus really even has that much to do with Christianity now. I think that a lot of times it’s judgment, and that people who have nowhere else to go to answer these questions. Instead of looking inside themselves, they look for authority in the church. I think that it gives people an excuse to be hateful to other people and to feel like they’re better than them…. And the rules of how they treat women too—it’s very overwhelming and I think that’s why Christianity almost seems like this dark cloud to me when I hear it.”

The responses from the other focus groups for men and women in other places were similar. Christianity was “a turn off” and “a bunch of rules.” Others said, “Conversion, coercion, it’s the same.” One added, “It’s like radical Muslims in that there’s no talking to them. Nothing is up for discussion.”