Asking Questions About Religion is Normal and Healthy.

In 2017 I read the Bible and the Old Testament had me in a state of panic, but more than that, it had me questioning everything I had been taught. I asked "Why would God, who is so powerful need someone to sacrifice their beloved child to prove their faith? Wouldn't God already know?

Why would God torture one of his most faithful servants, Job, to prove something to satan?

Why would God command a king to go into a country and kill all the people, including children?

Why would God, who saw animal sacrifice as an abomination, send his son to the Earth to be a blood sacrifice?

How does Jesus' being killed wash away my "sin"?

What have I done that is so bad that someone had to die for it?

Can't I be accountable for my own mistakes and transgressions, so Jesus didn't have to die?

These are the very questions that had me tied up in knots because, of course, it is sinful to question God. We were given a book with so many contradictions and abominable practices, and told that we must follow it without question. Many religions pick and choose their favourite bits and try to convince people that their path is the righteous one, but how are murder, crimes against humanity, eternal torture and animal sacrifice righteous?

We are conditioned and raised to be emotionally mature adults. Yet, Christianity wants us to follow a deity with the emotional intelligence and self-regulation capacity of a 2-year-old who didn't get his way AND NEVER QUESTION HIM!

Studying mental health as I am has forced me to look at religion objectively. Being a mother has me looking at the Bible with a critical and judgmental eye. Do people actually think it is okay to teach their children that they were born a sinner? Do parents really believe that once upon a time, a snake convinced a woman to eat an apple, which became the original sin of all humanity? Do you really believe I am going to hell for asking all these questions?

It is healthy to ask questions. It is healthy to think critically. It is not healthy to give people ultimatums to believe and follow or else they will suffer for eternity. That is toxic behaviour. Many people have become familiar with the word narcissist, and I am going to use it here. That creature in the Bible who calls himself God, is a narcissist.

I have one more question for you: Will you continue worshipping a deity whose moral compass and emotional maturity are less than your own? Or will you embrace the beautiful human you were born to be and feel enlightened in knowing that the true SOURCE of unconditional love and the power of all things would never hurt you?