Protective layers around religion

Because Christianity condemns gays so loudly with so little evidence I have done a lot of thinking about what Christianity is really about. An example: the goal of faith in Jesus is salvation, if one believes the reward is eternity in heaven. Alas, Christians wield this idea as a weapon -- I'm saved and you can't be, or I don't care what I have to do I'm going to make sure you're saved. So I’m quite drawn to the idea that Christ will to save everyone, though some may not reach salvation until they meet him after death. So then, what is Christianity for? The answer that satisfies me is learning to live together in community here on earth. Alas, many Christians say this distorts Christianity.

A pause for a comment from Vice-Pope Eric in The Brand New Monty Python Papperbok (yes, that's the way they spell it):

People accuse us sometimes of not practising what we preach, but you must remember that if you're trying to propagate a creed of poverty, gentleness and tolerance, you need a very rich, powerful, authoritarian organisation to do it.

That distortion may explain why I am interested in an article about 10 Myths of Atheism by Greta Christina. We're battling some of the same foes. Some of the 10 myths that resonated with me:

* Without religion there is no basis of morality.
* Atheists are unhappy with no meaning to their lives.
* Atheists are whiny. Christians use this argument as a way to shut people up.
* Atheists are trendy. Perhaps the same way gays are trendy.
* Atheists treat science as their religion. Nope, but science relies on testing the world around them, which religion frequently refuses to do.
* Atheists think they're superior. They're disrespectful, intolerant, and mean.

This last one included a link to explore the idea in more detail. It seems atheists are accused of such crimes as being mean because they question religion and much of religion doesn't like to be questioned. This secondary article looks at the protective layers our culture puts around religion to keep us from questioning it too closely. Some of those layers are:

* Faith is a good thing and makes you a good person. You can't trust a person who has no faith.
* Letting go of doubts about your faith is virtuous, the more irrational the belief the more special it is to accept it.
* Religious leaders and religious objects deserve a special level of respect.
* Pointing out inconsistencies and immoralities in another person's religion is rude and intolerant, and in some cases worthy of exile, torture, and death.
* Being tolerant of religion requires you to not criticize it.

It doesn't get us very far to say, "The emperor has no clothes!" However, it can be useful to ask, "It looks like the emperor isn't wearing clothes. Can you provide evidence?" It seems religion is objecting to being tossed into the marketplace of ideas and having to defend itself there.

While I think atheism has some valid complaints and I think religion, especially Christianity, has veered a long way from its initial purpose, I won't give up being a follower of Christ. There are two main reasons. The first is that the evidence of the life of Jesus isn't as scant as atheists seem to claim. The bible is a historical document of equal quality and reliability of others from the era. The other reason was expressed quite well to me recently: Something clearly happened to those disciples. To put it another way, a position of cultural dominance (especially since it didn't start that way) and Christianity's way of using various threats (you want to go to heaven, don't you?) wouldn't have been enough to keep Christianity alive for 2000 years. However, personal investment would. There are at least some, if not a great many, in each generation who have a direct encounter with Jesus. These are the ones who feel his grace and feel nudged to do things they hadn't thought possible.