“Is anybody hurt?” he asked.
“Yes,” Andrea answered.
“Who?”
“The kids.”
The kids? What did she mean? “Which ones?” Rusty asked.
“All of them” was her unfathomable answer (O’Malley 2).
On June 20, 2001, after her husband Rusty left for work, Andrea Yates filled the family bathtub and drowned all five of her children (Andrea). A local Houston news network broke the story leading to national coverage of the tragically troubled mother that was capable of drowning her seven year old, five year old, three year old, two year old and her six month old baby in less than an hour. She confessed later that her reason for drowning the children was due to the fact that they weren’t developing correctly (O’Malley 15). Although the prosecution fought for the death penalty, Andrea was sentenced to life in prison. Eventually she won an appeal as a Texas jury ruled that she was not guilty for reasons of insanity. Andrea Yates now resides at a low security state mental hospital in Texas.
While this criminal case has successfully brought much needed attention to postpartum depression, one thing it seems to have failed to do is put an honest perspective on similar situations. Many might claim this to be the most dastardly tale of parental abuse they have heard, but that assessment is failing to recognize one of the most well known biblical stories: The Flood.
According to the bible, God created all things good from the beginning (New International Version, Gen. 1.31). In essence, he is the parent figure for all life, especially Homo sapiens. After the well documented catastrophic encounter with the talkative snake in the garden, things got a little hairy. He swiftly dealt with the first man and woman’s disobedient snacking like any loving parent would by ordering unavoidable death to all mankind. After this incident though, and a scuffle between the first two brothers, there isn’t a single recorded press release from heaven about the state of the human until it was too late. It wasn’t until immorality had increased well beyond the point of no return that he informed the author that mankind wasn’t developing correctly and he had every intention to drown them all. Luckily, one family did meet the minimum requirements for goodness and were spared judgment. Everyone else though, without gills, that didn’t make it to Noah’s Ark was subjected to the rising flood waters, which was approximately 7 billion people (Morris 143-144).
This is not a comparison of the Yates children massacre to the single greatest (and clearly fictional, 7 billion people Morris? guess again) act of genocide in human history; but an attempt to expose Christianity as one of the most dangerously deceitful institutions man has created. One goal is to enable the reader to take a candid look at Christianity as a whole. Such a look, with any luck, would be devoid of the classic social pressures typically found in the United States. By summarizing theological claims through the combination of biblical text and pensive commentary it is the hope that once finished with this paper the reader will be convincingly swayed to stand independent of all Christian mythology.
There is a myriad of arguments one could use to dispute the merits of any religious influence on a society that has its sights set on progress, but where Christianity is concerned a handful tend to stand out the furthest. The first and quite possibly most essential claim to the Christian movement is the unambiguous arrogance expressed in finding a truth that can’t be disproven. All throughout the bible the word truth is slung around like a bag of dirty laundry. Jesus himself is quoted in the gospel of John as saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me” (New International Version, John. 14.6).
Sadly enough anyone can actually do this. As Penn Jillette said in his essay entitled “There Is No God”:
Since there is not a shred of evidence outside of the bible that proves the claims of Jesus being the personification of truth and life, this is simply preposterous literary foolishness. From “The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster” to “Russell’s Teapot”, clever individuals that can see through the gaping holes in this self-proclaimed absolute truth are trying to engage the public much in the same manner of the late astronomer Carl Sagan who popularized the phrase, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Bertrand Russell, the brilliant British cultural revolutionary, when asked what he would say if confronted by God after death coolly stated, “Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence.”
The reason this declaration of truth rises to the top is because every other theological idea is built upon this faulty foundation of supposed truth. The Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (New International Version, 1 Tim. 3.16-17). If the text claims to be completely true and it isn’t then it is either mislead or evil. How can this claim be validated? Simply compare it to something that is always true, regardless of circumstances or situations and see how they relate. For example, no matter what the situation is if you add two things to two other things you will end up with four things. Whether the addition is being practiced during the Bronze Age before the mathematician has full understanding of Physics or it is being conducted at the Lockheed Martin Plant in Fort Worth Texas, two plus two equals four. Is there a scripture that isn’t true regardless of the circumstance? Plenty, but one of the more comical texts that clearly expose the ignorance of both the author and the audience is found in Joshua (New International Version, Josh. 10.13-14):
Regrettably the author wasn’t aware that the sun always stands still and he was basically thanking the “LORD” for making water wet or heat hot. This holy text was written in a time ripe with superstition by people doing their very best to make sense of the world around them. They hardly had any knowledge about science, math or even geography. Absolute truth is an impossible standard for them to be held to but without trying to sound too juvenile, they kind of started it.
The second area of contention with Christianity is its uncanny ability to desensitize the masses to genocide. Little Tykes or Mattel has yet to produce a single toy based on the war in Darfur, as that would seem tasteless and even vulgar. Yet all over America children are playing with oddly shaped boats in their bathtubs and shoveling little plastic animals inside as they learn about God saving the small number of creatures while destroying every other living thing. The mere fact that any mention of “The Flood” doesn’t send concerned parents sprinting towards their children to cover their innocent ears shows the dire state of society’s morals. Christians fail to see the truth behind the Israeli and Palestinian war, as they have a misunderstanding of Jewish Manifest Destiny, and those nutty Palestinians seem to have chosen the wrong land to settle in.
All throughout the Old Testament God is either demanding people to engage in genocide, praising them for doing so, or punishing them for not being complete enough in their terrorism. Joshua’s campaign to the Promised Land would make Osama Bin Laden blush. The city of Jericho was flattened “and they [Israelites] utterly destroyed all that was in the city both man and woman young and old and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword” (New International Version, Josh. 6.21). The city of Jericho was destroyed because it existed and God had given it to the Israelites. The city of Ai followed, and although the dramatics weren’t quite as exciting, the means to killing an entire city’s population were still just as clever.
Hitler will always be remembered as one of the planets greatest villains for what he did to Jews, Gypsies and other minorities in Europe. Saddam Hussein and his infamous gassing of the Kurds won’t soon be forgotten either. Osama Bin Laden is the most wanted man on the face of the planet today for his criminal acts of terrorism. Andrea Yates will never live as a free woman again after drowning her five kids. All of these people are either considered insane, evil or both. Two have paid the ultimate price for their actions and the others will never live the same. After reading the Old Testament and the accounts of genocide either as per God’s request or by his own hand (First Born in Egypt) the response of the public isn’t one of horror or disgust. The typical response, at least in America, is to ask this crazed dictator to take the reins of their life and help them be better. Imagine if someone actually went to Andrea Yates for parenting advice; or asked Osama Bin Laden about how they can help their fellow man out; or asked Adolf Hitler how he handles rude racist remarks. Worshipping a being like the one portrayed in the Old Testament is as delusional, if not more, than any of those examples.
The final predicament with Christianity is in the careless manner that it approaches life in general. Somehow American Christians have deceived the world into thinking they are “pro-life”, when nothing could be further from the truth. A much more accurate statement would be, “pro-eternal-life.”
The Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (New International Version, 1 Cor. 4.18). Jesus said on multiple occasions that his disciples were to not be of the world (New International Version, John. 17.16). Even the second to last sentence in the bible, “Come, Lord Jesus” (New International Version, Rev. 22.20) is a request for all of the apocalyptic destruction that John the Beloved just wrote about in the previous chapters to take place as he wants to see Jesus again. This prayer often worded, “Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus” is a request by the Evangelical Christian for Jesus to rapture the church. It is put on banners at churches, signs on the side of the road and even on T-Shirts that Christians proudly wear. What goes along with the rapture isn’t just the magical experience of meeting Jesus Christ in the clouds after a noisy trumpet blast, no there is death to all humanity. There is earthquakes and famine. There is disease and wars that overshadow any war mankind has ever seen. The situation will get so bad, according to the bible, that people will be asking the earth to swallow them or a nearby mountain to fall on them (apparently suicide is unavailable during this time as well).
The truth about Christians is that they are so concerned about eternity that they have become calloused to the actual problems this supposed temporary world is facing. AIDS is destroying Africa but the Pope is discouraging the use of condoms. Children are suffering from mental disorders caused by years of abuse, and clergy would rather try to exorcise demons than treat the problem. The problem with what Jesus said is that we are of this world. This is the only life that mankind can live right now, the one on this planet. Whether or not there is something beyond what can be seen can never be known “in this life”, but the real problems that face humanity won’t go away just because there is a sort of promise for something better after death. To quote Penn Jillette a second time:
The attitude that this life is just a practice run for the eternal life yet lived is not only irresponsible, but it is more wicked than anything else humans have conjured up. This planet is real as it can be seen, measured, and interacted with. These people that live on it are real, as they can also be seen, measured, and interaction with them is quite enjoyable. What isn’t real is any evidence of anything beyond this place, so to put that unknown territory above what can clearly be known is shameful, to put it nicely.
Christianity is designed to destroy humanity. From the opening chapters to the closing remarks the bible has only its own interests in mind and uncaringly dismisses anything that is contrary as worldly, carnal or sinful. Why humans continually subject themselves to this once Hebrew but now American mythology is a mystery. Bertrand Russell believed, “It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.” As in all common dragon stories, the people need a Knight that is valiant and strong as he sacrifices his own life to save them. This dragon has seen its fair share of Knights, from Darwin to Dawkins; Hitchens and Paine; Jefferson to Jillette, several non-believers have stood up to this beast and given their all to save the people. More have come and more damage to the monster has been done. Will she be slain before it is too late for humanity? Only time will tell.
Works Cited
"Andrea Yates." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation. 6 May 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates>.
Jillette, Penn. "There Is No God." National Public Radio. 21 Nov. 2005. 6 May 2009
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557>.
Morris, Henry M. Genesis Record : A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976. 143-144.
New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984. The Bible Gateway. 2009. Zondervan. 6 May
2009 <http://www.biblegateway.com>.
O'Malley, Suzanne. "The Prophecy." "Are You There Alone?": The unspeakable crime of Andrea Yates. N.p.: Simon, 2004. 2, 15.
“Yes,” Andrea answered.
“Who?”
“The kids.”
The kids? What did she mean? “Which ones?” Rusty asked.
“All of them” was her unfathomable answer (O’Malley 2).
On June 20, 2001, after her husband Rusty left for work, Andrea Yates filled the family bathtub and drowned all five of her children (Andrea). A local Houston news network broke the story leading to national coverage of the tragically troubled mother that was capable of drowning her seven year old, five year old, three year old, two year old and her six month old baby in less than an hour. She confessed later that her reason for drowning the children was due to the fact that they weren’t developing correctly (O’Malley 15). Although the prosecution fought for the death penalty, Andrea was sentenced to life in prison. Eventually she won an appeal as a Texas jury ruled that she was not guilty for reasons of insanity. Andrea Yates now resides at a low security state mental hospital in Texas.
While this criminal case has successfully brought much needed attention to postpartum depression, one thing it seems to have failed to do is put an honest perspective on similar situations. Many might claim this to be the most dastardly tale of parental abuse they have heard, but that assessment is failing to recognize one of the most well known biblical stories: The Flood.
According to the bible, God created all things good from the beginning (New International Version, Gen. 1.31). In essence, he is the parent figure for all life, especially Homo sapiens. After the well documented catastrophic encounter with the talkative snake in the garden, things got a little hairy. He swiftly dealt with the first man and woman’s disobedient snacking like any loving parent would by ordering unavoidable death to all mankind. After this incident though, and a scuffle between the first two brothers, there isn’t a single recorded press release from heaven about the state of the human until it was too late. It wasn’t until immorality had increased well beyond the point of no return that he informed the author that mankind wasn’t developing correctly and he had every intention to drown them all. Luckily, one family did meet the minimum requirements for goodness and were spared judgment. Everyone else though, without gills, that didn’t make it to Noah’s Ark was subjected to the rising flood waters, which was approximately 7 billion people (Morris 143-144).
This is not a comparison of the Yates children massacre to the single greatest (and clearly fictional, 7 billion people Morris? guess again) act of genocide in human history; but an attempt to expose Christianity as one of the most dangerously deceitful institutions man has created. One goal is to enable the reader to take a candid look at Christianity as a whole. Such a look, with any luck, would be devoid of the classic social pressures typically found in the United States. By summarizing theological claims through the combination of biblical text and pensive commentary it is the hope that once finished with this paper the reader will be convincingly swayed to stand independent of all Christian mythology.
There is a myriad of arguments one could use to dispute the merits of any religious influence on a society that has its sights set on progress, but where Christianity is concerned a handful tend to stand out the furthest. The first and quite possibly most essential claim to the Christian movement is the unambiguous arrogance expressed in finding a truth that can’t be disproven. All throughout the bible the word truth is slung around like a bag of dirty laundry. Jesus himself is quoted in the gospel of John as saying, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me” (New International Version, John. 14.6).
Sadly enough anyone can actually do this. As Penn Jillette said in his essay entitled “There Is No God”:
Not believing in God is easy -- you can't prove a negative, so there's no work to do. You can't prove that there isn't an elephant inside the trunk of my car. You sure? How about now? Maybe he was just hiding before. Check again. Did I mention that my personal heartfelt definition of the word "elephant" includes mystery, order, goodness, love and a spare tire?
Since there is not a shred of evidence outside of the bible that proves the claims of Jesus being the personification of truth and life, this is simply preposterous literary foolishness. From “The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster” to “Russell’s Teapot”, clever individuals that can see through the gaping holes in this self-proclaimed absolute truth are trying to engage the public much in the same manner of the late astronomer Carl Sagan who popularized the phrase, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” Bertrand Russell, the brilliant British cultural revolutionary, when asked what he would say if confronted by God after death coolly stated, “Not enough evidence, God, not enough evidence.”
The reason this declaration of truth rises to the top is because every other theological idea is built upon this faulty foundation of supposed truth. The Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy that “all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (New International Version, 1 Tim. 3.16-17). If the text claims to be completely true and it isn’t then it is either mislead or evil. How can this claim be validated? Simply compare it to something that is always true, regardless of circumstances or situations and see how they relate. For example, no matter what the situation is if you add two things to two other things you will end up with four things. Whether the addition is being practiced during the Bronze Age before the mathematician has full understanding of Physics or it is being conducted at the Lockheed Martin Plant in Fort Worth Texas, two plus two equals four. Is there a scripture that isn’t true regardless of the circumstance? Plenty, but one of the more comical texts that clearly expose the ignorance of both the author and the audience is found in Joshua (New International Version, Josh. 10.13-14):
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!
Regrettably the author wasn’t aware that the sun always stands still and he was basically thanking the “LORD” for making water wet or heat hot. This holy text was written in a time ripe with superstition by people doing their very best to make sense of the world around them. They hardly had any knowledge about science, math or even geography. Absolute truth is an impossible standard for them to be held to but without trying to sound too juvenile, they kind of started it.
The second area of contention with Christianity is its uncanny ability to desensitize the masses to genocide. Little Tykes or Mattel has yet to produce a single toy based on the war in Darfur, as that would seem tasteless and even vulgar. Yet all over America children are playing with oddly shaped boats in their bathtubs and shoveling little plastic animals inside as they learn about God saving the small number of creatures while destroying every other living thing. The mere fact that any mention of “The Flood” doesn’t send concerned parents sprinting towards their children to cover their innocent ears shows the dire state of society’s morals. Christians fail to see the truth behind the Israeli and Palestinian war, as they have a misunderstanding of Jewish Manifest Destiny, and those nutty Palestinians seem to have chosen the wrong land to settle in.
All throughout the Old Testament God is either demanding people to engage in genocide, praising them for doing so, or punishing them for not being complete enough in their terrorism. Joshua’s campaign to the Promised Land would make Osama Bin Laden blush. The city of Jericho was flattened “and they [Israelites] utterly destroyed all that was in the city both man and woman young and old and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword” (New International Version, Josh. 6.21). The city of Jericho was destroyed because it existed and God had given it to the Israelites. The city of Ai followed, and although the dramatics weren’t quite as exciting, the means to killing an entire city’s population were still just as clever.
Hitler will always be remembered as one of the planets greatest villains for what he did to Jews, Gypsies and other minorities in Europe. Saddam Hussein and his infamous gassing of the Kurds won’t soon be forgotten either. Osama Bin Laden is the most wanted man on the face of the planet today for his criminal acts of terrorism. Andrea Yates will never live as a free woman again after drowning her five kids. All of these people are either considered insane, evil or both. Two have paid the ultimate price for their actions and the others will never live the same. After reading the Old Testament and the accounts of genocide either as per God’s request or by his own hand (First Born in Egypt) the response of the public isn’t one of horror or disgust. The typical response, at least in America, is to ask this crazed dictator to take the reins of their life and help them be better. Imagine if someone actually went to Andrea Yates for parenting advice; or asked Osama Bin Laden about how they can help their fellow man out; or asked Adolf Hitler how he handles rude racist remarks. Worshipping a being like the one portrayed in the Old Testament is as delusional, if not more, than any of those examples.
The final predicament with Christianity is in the careless manner that it approaches life in general. Somehow American Christians have deceived the world into thinking they are “pro-life”, when nothing could be further from the truth. A much more accurate statement would be, “pro-eternal-life.”
The Apostle Paul told the church in Corinth, “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (New International Version, 1 Cor. 4.18). Jesus said on multiple occasions that his disciples were to not be of the world (New International Version, John. 17.16). Even the second to last sentence in the bible, “Come, Lord Jesus” (New International Version, Rev. 22.20) is a request for all of the apocalyptic destruction that John the Beloved just wrote about in the previous chapters to take place as he wants to see Jesus again. This prayer often worded, “Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus” is a request by the Evangelical Christian for Jesus to rapture the church. It is put on banners at churches, signs on the side of the road and even on T-Shirts that Christians proudly wear. What goes along with the rapture isn’t just the magical experience of meeting Jesus Christ in the clouds after a noisy trumpet blast, no there is death to all humanity. There is earthquakes and famine. There is disease and wars that overshadow any war mankind has ever seen. The situation will get so bad, according to the bible, that people will be asking the earth to swallow them or a nearby mountain to fall on them (apparently suicide is unavailable during this time as well).
The truth about Christians is that they are so concerned about eternity that they have become calloused to the actual problems this supposed temporary world is facing. AIDS is destroying Africa but the Pope is discouraging the use of condoms. Children are suffering from mental disorders caused by years of abuse, and clergy would rather try to exorcise demons than treat the problem. The problem with what Jesus said is that we are of this world. This is the only life that mankind can live right now, the one on this planet. Whether or not there is something beyond what can be seen can never be known “in this life”, but the real problems that face humanity won’t go away just because there is a sort of promise for something better after death. To quote Penn Jillette a second time:
Believing there is no God means the suffering I've seen in my family, and indeed all the suffering in the world, isn't caused by an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent force that isn't bothered to help or is just testing us, but rather something we all may be able to help others with in the future. No God means the possibility of less suffering in the future.
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.
Believing there is no God gives me more room for belief in family, people, love, truth, beauty, sex, Jell-O and all the other things I can prove and that make this life the best life I will ever have.
The attitude that this life is just a practice run for the eternal life yet lived is not only irresponsible, but it is more wicked than anything else humans have conjured up. This planet is real as it can be seen, measured, and interacted with. These people that live on it are real, as they can also be seen, measured, and interaction with them is quite enjoyable. What isn’t real is any evidence of anything beyond this place, so to put that unknown territory above what can clearly be known is shameful, to put it nicely.
Christianity is designed to destroy humanity. From the opening chapters to the closing remarks the bible has only its own interests in mind and uncaringly dismisses anything that is contrary as worldly, carnal or sinful. Why humans continually subject themselves to this once Hebrew but now American mythology is a mystery. Bertrand Russell believed, “It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion.” As in all common dragon stories, the people need a Knight that is valiant and strong as he sacrifices his own life to save them. This dragon has seen its fair share of Knights, from Darwin to Dawkins; Hitchens and Paine; Jefferson to Jillette, several non-believers have stood up to this beast and given their all to save the people. More have come and more damage to the monster has been done. Will she be slain before it is too late for humanity? Only time will tell.
Works Cited
"Andrea Yates." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 5 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation. 6 May 2009
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Yates>.
Jillette, Penn. "There Is No God." National Public Radio. 21 Nov. 2005. 6 May 2009
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015557>.
Morris, Henry M. Genesis Record : A Scientific and Devotional Commentary on the Book of Beginnings.
Grand Rapids: Baker, 1976. 143-144.
New International Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984. The Bible Gateway. 2009. Zondervan. 6 May
2009 <http://www.biblegateway.com>.
O'Malley, Suzanne. "The Prophecy." "Are You There Alone?": The unspeakable crime of Andrea Yates. N.p.: Simon, 2004. 2, 15.
