We Are Not Enemies

The purpose of this article is to remind everyone how corruption can establish false division lines among us, like the one between Christianity and atheism. A look back at history reveals the true separation here: manipulation from free thinking, anger from peace, and people from God. By the time you finish reading, you’ll know where you stand.

~ Let’s start with something that began as neutral— research.

Years ago, man aimed to study his natural surroundings for clues about the origins of life. Measurable data was collected, evaluated, and compared against the multitude of cultural “stories” that described our beginnings. For the first time, a verifiable picture began to appear from the pieces. That picture showed significant evidence that our earth had endured a sudden, global catastrophe of a great flood.

As scholars and scientists studied the parallels between ancient, recorded flood stories and physical supporting evidence, an important question emerged: What caused the flood? The debates on this topic produced multiple theories but eventually caused science and God to veer in opposite directions.

While scientific findings pointed to a strong possibility of an intelligent designer, the idea was simultaneously rejected. Everyone continued to do research. Some chose to dismiss the concept of creationism, while others viewed it as plausible. The scientific community was experiencing a major split, but what this necessary? If everyone was working together to gain insight by subjectively studying all available evidence, why wouldn’t they include everything they gathered to form a conclusion?

The concept of an intelligent designer continued to be dismissed. But rejecting compelling findings based on cultural ideology clashes meant that research was no longer neutral because it removed God theory altogether. Scientists were condemned for bringing it up. Their work was overlooked. Their careers threatened. They were encouraged (bullied) by the professional community to reject any evidence that pointed to a creator. Merely mentioning God as a possibility of our origins (and subsequently the cause of the flood) could blacklist a person.

Dismissing valuable data due to human-enforced limitations pushed scientific research and supporting evidence in one direction only— away from God. This was the end of neutrality in the scientific community, and the wedge that would permanently divide creationism from other origin theories.

~ Let’s switch gears to religion…

In the 1700’s, Catholicism was peaking in France. Without detailing a full history lesson, let’s just sum up what religion looked like back then: A powerful mega-church structure fueled by violence and greed, functioning as an intellectual, wealthy, privileged monarchy that severely oppressed its people. “In the name of God,” oppression included poverty, high taxes, poor living conditions, and a rejection of any ideology that didn’t align with the church. The leaders forced Christianity on people in the vilest of ways. This imposed lifestyle produced extreme societal divisions, where religious figures became a representation of great wealth and aristocracy, while growing resentment among commoners led to intense opposition.

~ Let’s pause.

Here is the pivotal moment in history that forever changed how we see God, religion, science, and philosophy to this day. It’s so important to understand the events that led up to the French Revolution, and how its aftermath reverberated through the years. People had a chance to unite and revolt against broken systems with righteous, moral solutions, but instead they allowed anger to fuel their response. (Sound like today’s world? Well, I’m referencing 1769, so…)

~ Enter atheism…

Born from a rebellion against corrupt organized religion, but then later became the very evil that it opposed. When the wealthy, violent, power hungry Catholics enforced restrictions on ideas outside of the church structure, it produced these cultural mentalities/conclusions:

–> Religion is the same as Christianity

–> Christianity is violent

–> Christianity is a lie that was created for control

–> Christianity is not growth, but restraint

–> Rebel against Christianity

At this point, those who now hated Christianity could have very well made the important distinction between corruption and integrity. They could have used this moment to turn back to a grassroots connection to our origins— the scientific data, the stories that were documented by early civilizations, the scriptures. They could have used their free will to design a society inspired by an understanding of measurable information that included a vision of what an undefiled, intelligent Creator looked like. They could have hated corruption and rebelled against a poisonous system, rather than direct their rebellion against a loving God. They could have established a better world governed by peace, acceptance, love, and intelligence, incorporating all the research they had up to that point. What did they do instead…?

~ The French Revolution.

Opposers of Christianity erected a statue of a topless woman who they called, “The Goddess of Reason,” which stood for the pursuit of reason over religion. She was worshipped as their symbolic idol, and in the name of reason, they burned churches and Bibles, and slaughtered Christians by the hundreds. Some were killed as they knelt in prayer. These rebels were atheists, and their movement was referred to as, “The Age of Enlightenment,” which became so bloody and violent, it rolled into what is called, “The Reign of Terror.” Carrying their bare-chested idol high on a platform through the streets, “Reason” led the Christian massacre. This revolution aimed to completely eradicate God from our world.

~ Let’s review some key markers:

An idea born of corruption, anger, and rebellion. That has a god(dess) with a name and a statue for worship. That organizes together in the name of its god(dess) to violently enforce its ideas. Becomes a powerful mega structure that functions as an intellectual, wealthy, privileged monarchy. That severely oppresses its people and rejects any ideology that doesn’t align with it.

This sounds a lot like early organized religious Christianity, but it’s early organized (religiously structured) atheism. Are you seeing any major differences? Because I don’t. Afterall, we should be crystal clear on what started this conflict between Christians and atheists since it’s still happening today. Many individuals in these groups still wreak of entitlement and prestige, use violence to spread their message, and run their campaigns on anger and hatred… all while the commoners are STILL starving, taxed, and killed for their beliefs.

~ So, who has evolved since 1769?

Those who recognize that there’s no real line of division between Christianity and atheism. Science, God, and philosophy could have all been explored as one, but human greed and a lust for power stopped that from happening. If early Christians were Biblically Christ-centered, they would not have committed atrocities “in the name of God.” If early opposers weren’t so blinded by their anger, they wouldn’t have responded with further atrocities “in the name of reason.”  If early humans weren’t so easily manipulated, they wouldn’t have ALL rejected God but rejected the distorted version of Him that was entirely false.

The truth our history reveals to us is that BOTH early Christianity and early atheism abandoned the one true God. Both dishonored His power and authority. Both mocked and defiled His name. Both rebelled against Him. Both had more commonalities than differences. If people could unite on better terms, we might finally be able to make great advancements in many areas… but nothing good will ever be built on anger, and that’s a problem we still have today. Some see it as the blood that keeps the pulse alive in both Christianity and atheism, so they remain somewhere in the middle.

Perhaps the greatest misconception here is that atheism is considered a rebellious quest for reason and knowledge that challenges a restrictive, authoritative system. Well, it could have been, but that’s not really what happened back then. This revolution was nothing more than a violent response to violence that embodied the same corruption, desire for power, and dare we admit it, religiously structured ideologies. They replaced Jesus with Reason and committed all the same crimes. They designed a manipulative, restrictive system and called it enlightenment. They killed in the name of their goddess and called it freedom.

Questioning power structures is a good thing! Personally, I believe that most atheists are a tiny step away from finding the real God. Have you met any? They’re usually highly independent, natural philosophers with a hunger for truth. They refuse to be forced into pre-molded systems and love to explore their own path. These are also the qualities of Christians who have a genuine relationship with Jesus! Eventually all that exploration leads many atheists (and people in general) to God. In fact, Christians live out their passionate rebellion daily— we rebel against the world, corruption, and evil, not against our Creator.

~ Now tell me… are we really enemies? I don’t think so.

My question to Christians is this: Are you going to expose religious corruption and help others to differentiate between man-made religion and following the teachings of Jesus… or will you stand idly by as true Christianity is dismantled?  

My question to atheists is this: Are you going to let yourself be enraged by 1700’s anger every time you hear the name of God knowing that your own (also religious) belief system was begat by corrupt men, and open your mind to the possibility of an intelligent designer… or will you stand idly by as atheistic revenge consumes your soul?

My question to everyone is this: Will you revolt against broken systems led by malicious, immoral humans and explore free thinking, rather than participate in mass manipulation… or will you stand idly by as our world falls apart?

After all these years, there’s still a real line of division among us, it just wasn’t where you thought it was… So, where do you stand now?

Written by Michelle Jean