I would like to respond to Carl Deardoff’s column regarding Christians being the leading cause of atheism. We’ve all heard it before: Christians who don’t believe in their god (never mind the fact that atheists don’t believe in ANY god, not just theirs.)

Let’s take a quick look:

Lot, a “just and righteous man,” tells a crowd of would-be-angel rapers to rape his corporeal daughters instead. Days after fleeing Sodom and Gomorah, he later impregnates the same daughters in back-to-back drunken nights (Genesis 19). Speaking of rape, if a woman is violated in the country, kill the rapist. No problem there. However, if a woman is raped in town, she didn’t yell loudly enough, so kill her, too (Deut 22:23-25). We all know a few professors with comb-overs, right? Better not make fun of them, because if they curse you, God just might send a pair of angry she-bears to kill you & 41 of your closest friends (2 Kings 2:23-24).

You think God is pro-life? Why then would he order his followers to toss children off of cliffs and to rip open pregnant women (Hosea 13:16)? Jesus criticized fellow Jews for not stoning their disobedient children (Mark 7:9-10). Anyone who is gay, or believes in gay rights deserves to die (Romans 1:32).

And, oh yeah, only 144,000 male virgins are going to heaven (Rev 14:34).

You see, atheists aren’t caused by people who aren’t “Christian enough.” The Bible ITSELF causes more people to reject Christianity than anything some silly Christian could do (short of bombing abortion clinics or dancing on dead soldiers’ graves). Isaac Asimov said it best: “Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived.”

So if Christians are out there guilt-tripping themselves for having a few beers last weekend, I want you to know it’s OK. You don’t have to blame yourself for not winning any new souls. Nothing you could do could possibly make me re-convert to your silly, silly religion.

Eric NovotnyPhilosophy, ethics and religion