I’ve insisted over the years that the Christian message amounts to, basically, Y’all are no damn good. Well, what do you know? Bruce Gerencser, a former Baptist pastor, hears that also.
Is it any surprise, then, that many Christians have poor/no self-esteem? I know it has taken Polly and I many years to regain any sort of respect for self. Hammered by a lifetime of preaching meant to destroy self-worth …
Most of us are raised with some sort of vague idea that the devout are ‘better’ people, more honest, more trustworthy, et cetera, et cetera; we don’t really hear the degradation that is Christianity’s indispensable metaphysical claim — that to be a living human being is to be a foul blot on the cosmos and deserving of death.
This is ugly, degrading, harmful stuff and, really, ought to put clergy on the outskirts of society.