Julio Campos

Ms. McAlister
English 111
8/27/16

Corinthians 13:11

I was 12 years old, It was the summer of 2010 and I was really into comic books and
films. My older brother and I strolled into my friend's room and we started discussing the old
Christopher Reeve Superman films. A debate started about whether or not Superman could ever
be remade into a more interesting character. He has no weakness, and the fish out of water trope
is tired. I argued, my brother said well hes practically a God. Theres really nothing
interesting about him until he destroys something. At least he didnt drown the world for not
following his rules. I told him that he shouldnt talk about God in such a churlish way. He and
his friend proceeded to laugh out loud. I'll never forget that day. It marked the beginning of the
end for the control Christianity had over my daily life.

The next week, my brother and I found ourselves again at church. During the sermon I
could visibly see him rolling his eyes. As we exited church at the end of the service, I asked why
he felt so irritated by the pastor's speech. He referred to the pastors sports car, and the
socioeconomic disparity between the people being preached to and the preacher. He went on to
pose further questions like, if an all powerful, all knowing being is truly watching over us, why is
the world in the pathetic state its in? When he said this I couldnt help but look around the

church, past the altar girls, (I hear they have altar girls to keep priests honest these days but thats
beyond the point), the paintings, the chairs, etc. I couldnt help but note the poor condition that
the church was in. The walls were cracked, paint was chipping, the carpets looked old and dirty,
and some of the chairs were broken and faulty. The paintings were always in great condition
though. It was if the condition of the church reflected the people who entered it every Sunday
morning.

Looking back on it now, I realized that this man was a charlatan, a homophobic one at
that. His rants against the LGBT community were particularly violent and disturbing. I
confronted my mother about this, as well as my various aunts and uncles who attended the
church years later. My mother condemned his rhetoric, but continued to attend anyhow. Even at
that young age, I had enough cognition to understand there was something inherently immoral
about this image. In any civilized societypeople shouldnt judge others based on their personal
lives, and people shouldnt be filling a plate up with their hard earned money, despite defaulting
on loans weeks earlier. That isnt idealistic, but rather realistic. Asking questions in an
environment where all of life's answers are in a book is a daunting task. Youre either met with a
deflection, or a non sequitur in the form of a bible verse. In fact, the last the person who
questioned Gods authority was Satan himself, and we all know how that goes.

Years passed and I slowly grew a great hatred for religion. I would see my mother watch
televangelists cure disabled people. I would hear their rants on socialism, and non believers.
Its sectarian aspects, Its draconian rhetoric. I grew a fiery, and profound hatred for it all. I

found a great interest in watching debates with people like Christopher Hitchens, Richard
Dawkins, etc. arguing against creationism and creationist. I stopped going to church, telling my
mother it no longer interested me.

All this and I failed to realize that I became the hate monger I myself was disgusted with.
It was like the horseshoe theory I read about one day before dozing off in my history class.
French writer, Jean-Pierre Faye, surmised that when placed on radically far left or right sides of
an opposing political ideology, they begin to resemble one another. I became the elitist, hateful,
and intolerant person that many overly pious zealots I once criticized represented. I realized this
when I saw Atheist lambaste Christians, Muslims, and Jews citing them as the barbarians of
civilized society.

I thought to myself, well my Christian mother doesnt wish ill on anybody as far as I
know. The Muslim guy that cuts my hair every few months always shakes my hand, and
maintains a friendly demeanor when around. I couldn't help but cringe at this over generalization
and haughty rhetoric being spewed by people of the Atheist community. Who gives me the right
to criticize one belief if they aren't hurting me? Is the abolishment of religious practice any less
authoritarian than the abolishment of same sex marriage? Ultimately my stance on religion did
not change. I could not believe in virgin births, but that's not carte blanche to insult or look down
upon those who do. Tolerance is putting up with something, I dont think we as a society should
make that our goal. Acceptance, is in my estimation a much greater and admirable goal to aim
for. Celebration of different views on life is what we all should strive for, not simply putting up

with them. After all, when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a
child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.