An Atheist’s Tribute to Tony Campolo
An indictment of Christian hypocrisy
Tony Campolo, was one of a kind. He died November 19, 2024, at the age of 89. As a second generation Italian immigrant, he saw the ugly head of racism, and that, in part, motivated him for a lifetime of social activism. He was a Baptist pastor, a highly sought after public speaker, author of many books, and upon receiving his PhD in Sociology, a college professor. He was not shy about calling out the hypocrisy of those claiming to be Christian if they were not supportive of social justice and equality for all.
Needless to say, he was a frequent target of vigorous attacks, that came almost exclusively from conservative Christians. Those attacks did nothing to slow him down.
Fearless boldness:
Here are two short illustrations of his unique personality and drive. When speaking to an audience that was mainly conservative, whether it be in a church or Christian college, he would often start by announcing the estimated figures of how many children died the night before of starvation and preventable disease. It was, of course, always many thousands. He then suggested that “most of you really don’t give a shit; but what is even sadder, is the fact that most of you are more concerned that I said a dirty word, than you are about the thousands of children who died last night.”
Imagine the audience shock when he told about picking up a couple of young prostitutes while on a trip to reduce poverty in Haiti. He then explained that after he paid them for the whole night, he took them to a nice room of their own, where he ordered movies, pizza, and ice cream, and as he departed, told them to enjoy the night in peace and as children.
Tony Campolo, professor emeritus at Eastern University, tirelessly advocated for the rights and dignity of all minorities, including immigrants and LGBTQ+, the reduction of poverty, improved health care, and just about anything that would alleviate suffering and promote dignity for all.
His brand of “red letter” Christianity is really just the common sense adherence of being a compassionate human being who takes seriously the conduct listed in the Sermon on the Mount, and from his favorite chapter in the Bible, Matthew 25. With or without those biblical passages, his lifelong work would not have been much different.
Even the majority of atheists, and I know a lot of them, just by instinct alone, follows more of the conduct outlined in that sermon than the majority of Christians do. People who do good, do good with or without religion. Those who do evil, do evil regardless if they are religious or not. However, it is undeniable that a massive amount of people use religion just as an excuse for inhumane conduct and dishonest lust for power and money.
Those who think they need religion to do good and to live an ethical and moral life are completely wrong. Tony Campolo, while he was religious, ignored a lot of the Bible passages and founded the “Red-Letter Christian movement,” that primarily focused on the words the New Testament attributed to Jesus. He believed there was salvation outside of the Bible, and thus by the standard definition, many would argue that he was not a true Biblical Christian, me included. His life was that of a humanist, and not based on a religious one that was hung up on contradictory doctrines and frivolous rituals and requirements that do little to nothing to alleviate suffering and despair of the masses.
When his son, Bart, left the church and later came out as an atheist, Tony did not disown him like so many other Christian parents do, but co-authored a book with him, Why I Left, Why I Stayed, in which they discussed back and forth the reasons for or the lack of their faith.
As indicated above, Tony was severely attacked by fellow Christians only because he advocated for the poor and down trodden, spoke out loudly for the rights and dignity of all people, and even had another crazy idea, that clean water and air were good for children. Go figure.
The lust for money and power:
Sadly today, those attacks by Christians, especially by the white evangelical ones against people like Tony, have gotten more vigorous, more hateful, more illogical, and in fact, are 100% opposite of what their Bible commands in the Sermon of the Mount and in Tony’s favorite chapter, Matthew 25. There it talks about the final judgment that will be determined by how each person responded to “the least of these.”
Without a doubt, American Christianity today is more about money and power than it is about morality, honesty, or ethics. It is certainly not about love or being your brother’s keeper. It is about self, not about others. It is even more about the right for guns than it is for the right for food.
How is it possible that 82% of white evangelical Christians voted to take away food and health care from the less fortunate, not to mention the brainwashing of children by banning truthful education, and many basic human rights of others, by intentionally voting for a pathological liar who did not exhibit a trace of compassion, goodness, or integrity? What he did, was exhibit hate, vengefulness, 100% selfishness, and literally told dozens of lies every day; but given their tax cuts, power in the administration, and racism against minorities here and around the world, they not only voted for him, but treated him as a god. They still do, despite him not showing a single “fruit of the spirit,” nor even one of the “seven virtues.” We are now in the age of unreason.
For more articles by the same author regarding how Christians exploit and misuse the Bible, here are a few links to a few of them.
Ten Reasons why the Bible’s Story of the Exodus is not True
Why do the Trump “Pro-life” Republicans Hate Children who are already Born?
Want a Biblical Marriage? Really?
Science vs Biblical Theology (Adam and Eve, a complete myth)
Ten Reasons to Ban the Bible from Schools (for those who like to ban books)
