May I share a funny aspect of being a “faith-based” podcaster with you?
When you have a show like The Bible Binge that 1) doesn’t take spirituality very seriously, and 2) does not typically give quarter to the toxic aspects of the Christian Industrial Complex™️, you will sometimes get emails from people who stumble across your show, thinking it’s one thing. These people then listen and discover it is indeed, another thing altogether.
Then these people will go to your website and find your email address and compose a lengthy email to you about how they don’t really like what you’re doing and how you could do it better, and have you considered how you might be leading people astray? And almost always, they all include some version of this question:
“If you hate Christianity so much, why are you still a Christian?”
To be fair, I don’t get a ton of emails, but a version of this question started popping up in my inbox and in my real life so much that it felt as if it was begging for my attention.
“Why AM I still a Christian?”
Knowing all the things I know about the history of Christianity. Understanding how we got the Bible. How scripture has been weaponized. The way empire and my belief system have been inextricably married. The annals of abuse. The records of trauma, perpetuated in the name of God. And what about God anyway? An Old Testament narrative of vengeful exploitation, dashing babies on rocks for fun and saying it was because you can’t possibly understand because I’m too good, too holy for your little human brain.
Actually, this is a good question. Why exactly AM I still a Christian? And I started having a lil panic attack.
And then earlier this week, I saw a Reel from an author I really respect talking about how it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, as in we don’t have to necessarily choose between toxic Christianity and no Christianity at all and I was like THANK GOD, someone eons smarter than me can help unpack this mind-bender of a pickle. And even his reasoning was not helpful in that he did not think those who have left the faith can be trusted as critics of Christianity which I absolutely do not agree with, therefore the panic attack got a lil bigger, which is to say it became full-blown and I needed a pill.
So. Why am I still a Christian?
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Swipe Up: A Newsletter from Your Internet Friend to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.