RELIGIOUS Hypocrisy

Some Never Outgrow the Fictional Story of Religion

I’m Not a Good Person Because I Fear Hell

I’m not the same, scared little kid who was raised in church. Shout at the devil, indeed. Photo: Bing Image Creator

My dad was the pastor of several churches during my childhood and teen years. I never thought to question any aspect of the things we were taught. I did, however, notice patterns of things I didn’t like.

Hearing racial and homophobic slurs were somewhat commonplace in our household. Always under the guise of “Well, I’m just joking”, or “Don’t ever say that in front of anyone else.” Nice hypocritical take on things, like most Christians.

It seemed like it contradicted the message of “Love thy neighbor as thyself” and “Jesus is love.” Oh, and “Judge not lest ye be judged yourself.” The one most hypocritical people tend to forget about.

We were never allowed to go into music stores as kids. I figured the Devil lived there. Photo by Ilya Blagoderov on Unsplash

I remember not being allowed to listen to music as a kid. When most of my friends were buying albums at Sam Goody and Musicland, I didn’t hear an entire rock album until junior high, Def Leppard’s Pyromania at my friend Kevin’s house. I loved it. I just told my daughter that story today when we were driving and “Rock of Ages” came on the radio.