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My shipment arrived (already had the Bible) Can’t say I’m “excited” to deep dive, but I’m certainly interested,

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Belief vs. Opinion

Today I want to take a look at the word belief. One thing that has stood out to me as I’ve aged, and ESPECIALLY since the pandemic began, is how people tend to present their beliefs as fact. More specifically, I notice that Christians and/or religious individuals think of belief and fact as interchangeable concepts. One and the same. 

The problem with thinking of our own beliefs as “fact,” is that it makes us feel empowered to want to impose those beliefs on others. It can give us a sense of power that we know what is best for everyone because if they don’t share our beliefs, it just means they’re wrong. So we may begin to see forcing a belief system on someone else as virtuous and helpful. 

The reason I think it’s particularly interesting and important to think about beliefs in a religious context is this: Considering a religious belief system to be fact for everybody can easily become dangerous. 

My suspicion is that many modern day Christians, if not MOST of them, would not attempt to IMPOSE their belief system on anyone else. However, what those folks may not understand is that the more extreme followers of their belief system believe that the actions of other people can affect them. It’s not too far down the rabbit hole to find Christians who ardently believe that God will destroy EVERYONE if too many people are sinning. Or, they might believe that when God returns, there will be a battle between good and evil and they will have to protect themselves from the evil. 

To a lot of contemporary Christians, that seems extreme and it is easy to write off that sort of belief as an incorrect interpretation of the Bible. But the problem is, the people who DO believe that interpretation to be fact are under the impression that others who DON’T share that belief are dangerous to them. 

Stand up comic, Jamali Maddix, does this really great show on Vice called “Hate Thy Neighbor.” There is one particular episode (Season 2 Episode 4) where someone who most people would think of as a “backwoods” preacher gives a sermon that lays out how sinners are going to bring about hellfire and damnation on everyone. It is chilling to watch. He is very clear about why others have to be forced to abide by his belief system because it is dangerous TO HIM, if they do not. 

Here is another good example of that type of “belief.” If you watch this video, about a community of doomsday preppers led by an ex military man who now fancies himself a preacher and Bible scholar, you may agree with a lot of it and even think the way of living seems cool. They talk a lot about sustainability and they seem to really take care of and live well from the earth. They’re intelligent and well spoken. This is a HIGHLY trained military person. 

But listen again. Did you catch the part in the beginning about angels and demons? 

If you are a contemporary Christian who thought a lot of what you heard here is kind of cool, who can just discard the doomsday talk of nukes in the Bible, then please, pay attention to the angel and demons part. This individual thinks that his people are the angels, and eeeeeeverybody else are the demons. This individual is heavily armed and prepared to attack DEMONS. To him, a demon is not an obscure biblical concept. Demons are real, and they are you and me. He talks with ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE AND CERTAINTY that the “shit will hit the fan” and there will be chaos at which time the battle begins. 

Here’s the dangerous part, folks. At what point does he decide the chaos is here? At what point in his extremely intricate and very real to him belief system, does he decide it is now the appropriate time to start shooting demons? 

Another reason this overall acceptance that everyone can just present their beliefs as true fact is dangerous is because, it’s not backwoods rejects from society who believe this stuff. It’s intelligent people who have been strategically working to infiltrate the government for decades SO THAT their religious will CAN be imposed on everybody. If you are a contemporary Christian, the ones who really just want to love your neighbor and do good works, you’re voting for these people because they say they’re Christian too! But they’re not waiting to love they’re neighbor. They’re waiting to shoot their neighbor. 

Again, I am a people watcher. Big time. In fact, I have been diagnosed with PTSD, and hypervigilance is something that has troubled me for a long time. Part of hypervigilance is being extremely aware of people. What I suspect about a lot of contemporary Christians, the ones that like I said, just want to love their neighbor… What I suspect is that most of you don’t really believe that you’re ever going to have to pay for my sins. You might be a little sad that I’m an atheist, you might wish I would share your beliefs, but you don’t feel threatened by me. 

However, the point of this essay is to show you that you do share an overall belief system with people who do wish me harm. They do actively visualize my death, and in some cases, they foresee scenarios where they get to kill me themselves. Therefore, by carefully examining the word “belief,” my goal would be for as many Christians and/or religious folks as possible to be willing to mindfully shift their perception of their faith and belief as something that belongs to them individually. 

I’m a words girl. (In case you didn’t notice.) I’m big on vocabulary and using words correctly. Words have universally agreed upon definitions. Words and their definitions aren’t actually something that’s up for interpretation. They just mean what they mean. 

So, let’s look at the word “belief,” and what it means. 

Belief is a noun with the following meaning: 

1. an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. "his belief in the value of hard work"

2. trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. "I've still got belief in myself (Citation)

Notice the use of the word “faith.” Let’s look at the meaning of the word faith.

complete trust or confidence in someone or something. "this restores one's faith in politicians"

2. strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof. "bereaved people who have shown supreme faith" (Citation)

Now, let’s look at the word, “fact” and what it means. 

Fact is a noun that means: 

thing that is known or proved to be true.

"he ignores some historical and economic facts"

information used as evidence or as part of a report or news article.

"even the most inventive journalism peters out without facts, and in this case there were no facts"

Law the truth about events as opposed to interpretation. "there was a question of fact as to whether they had received the letter" (Citation)

Every religious person I have ever listened to uses the words “belief” and “faith” to describe their ideologies. By their own admission, they follow a moral code which cannot be proven. 

Let’s look at one last word, “opinion.” 

Opinion is a noun that means: 

view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.

"I'm writing to voice my opinion on an issue of great importance" (citation)

If you remove all emotion from the word belief and just study it at face value, it means the same thing as opinion. Beliefs, faith, and opinions, are interesting concepts that belong to individuals. There are a million different flavors of beliefs in this world, and all 8 billion of us will never ever ever agree on one as a fact that all of us know. That will never happen. Therefore, for any one group to try to impose IT’S belief system on all of society is never going to end well. Imposing belief will ALWAYS lead to conflict, and then danger, and then violence. 

My BELIEF and OPINION is that a really good first step in learning to live together more peacefully is for all of us to slow down and remember that we might be wrong. Let’s begin to think of belief and faith as a personal truth. Let’s share our personal truths with those who want to hear it, and leave the rest alone. Trying to impose belief is a poor use of time and resources, and it is eroding our planet, our society, and our communities. 

One step in a new direction. One step toward building something new. Here is a printable “zine” as a resource that illustrates the correlation between the words belief and opinion! Click here to download your free copy.

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CHICK TRACTS

I love this particular episode from Fundie Fridays. Very interesting stuff, plus it’s fun to hear them read these creepy short stories. Plot twist: THEY WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO BE CREEPY! Just lot’s of talk of demons and eternal damnation, not scary at all! 

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It all started with Chick Tracts

I have recently become low key obsessed with the YouTube show "Fundie Fridays." In particular, the host, Jen, did this episode about Chick Tracts. Have you ever heard of these? Now, I grew up looking at religious tracts, and having sent many years as a server and bartender, I have also received them as "tips." You may have also seen tracts in the mail. There just little booklets or brochures about some form of religion. They seem to be an especially form of media with Jehovah's Witness.

Anyway, the content of all religious tracts is normally pretty gimmicky and possibly sort of intense. Many times they will also be heavy on illustrations/imagery. (That was the part of them I always kind of liked.)

However, I had NEVER heard of Chick Tracts. Whew buddy. These things are a trip. First of all, go watch Jen's video about these so you can get the whole thing. I'll link it here, and also share it to my feed, if that's a thing on Tumblr. Still trying to figure all this out lol

Anyway, I was really fascinated by these bat crap crazy little religious booklets. That episode has been heavily on my mind. And honestly, it's kind of what has triggered the idea in my mind to start this blog. One of the big things I plan to do and share here are my own "tracts." In a cute kawaii drawing style. The thing that has most stuck out to me while learning about Chick Tracts and their extreme messages is how many people have reported that these things TERRIFIED them as a child. So I have it in my head to create something to kind of offset the "scariness" of Chick Tracts.

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The Bad Strawberry Mission

Hi, I'm Bad Strawberry. This is my first post on Tumblr. I am an experienced author and content writer, but I want to try something totally new to me. I've been feeling like I might have a calling, for the first time ever. So, I'm here to share it with you, one post at a time.

First let me tell you a little about me. I am a 42 year old white woman who lives in the "Bible Belt." I find that most people here, when first meeting me, assume that I am a typical conservative Christian woman. I wear my hair long and often tie it back or wear it in plaits. I wear long dresses and skirts. I am married, have two kids, am a devoted pet parent, and am a former school teacher. I tend to be quiet and reserved in person and don't curse in face to face settings. So, I fit right in here!

Except that I don't.

I grew up devoutly religious only because I wanted to fit in with my friends. My family was not religious, and in fact, my father is what I refer to as a "beligerent" atheist, in the sense that he WILL NOT sit down and hear out a Christian, and he often would indicate he thinks they're downright stupid. So, that time I played the Virgin Mary in my church Easter Passion Play back when I was a senior in high school was sort of awkward!

Nonetheless, because of my friends, I was incredibly involved in church and loved it. And because of my way with words and knack for public speaking, I was even a "teen pastor," who did guest sermons, and held various volunteer posts where I preached and/or sang. I studied the Bible and did daily devotionals, and in addition to that, I also read it cover to cover six times. I also studied other religions and spiritualities such as Judaism and Buddhism.

I guess you can say that I've always been FASCINATED by religion.

I remained involved in church until around age 31, although I grew more and more distant from it for many years first. Presently, in terms of a "Biblical sense," I would call myself an atheist for reasons I will address throughout the life of this; my new blog!

So, back to The Bible Belt. Where I live, there are more or less three prominent groups, one of which is THE most prominent. The top group is the conservative Christians. My area is rural, so most of this group is also white, although not all. Anyway, due to my political AND religious philosophies, there is no place for me in that group, even though they "think" that I belong.

The second much smaller group is the progressives. However, where I live, most of the progressives are still very Christian. So in this time of very polarizing politics, even if I do find a unicorn whom I align with politically, they still want me to be their church buddy, and when they discover that I will not be bending on that, they move on.

The last group sometimes overlaps with one or the other of the other groups, but can also stand alone. That group is the drinking and partying group. That group and I can't really find anything in common or fun to do together, so I don't fit there either.

The last few years with this pandemic, I've grown more lonely and isolated than ever before. And let me tell you, I was already VERY lonely and isolated.

I read. I study. I learn. I observe the world around me.

I see a lot of what I believe causes a lot of the world's problems but on top of that, I have ideas of how to fix some things. How to grow and change, and move together to something much better.

Here on Bad Strawberry, I'll be doing an extremely deep dive into organized religion. Both my own experiences, and also an analysis of how religion is woven into the fabric of our society and how it affects everything.

To be clear, I am against organized religion. Of all varieties. But I acknowledge that it would be absurd to ask everyone, "hey, uh, how 'bout you all ditch your religion, whatdya say?" That's nonsense. I'm not here to trash or bash. I aim to keep it as positive as possible, but also be open and honest, and just hopefully give you some things to think about.

Who am I hoping to reach? That's a good question. My desired audience is anyone, really. Anyone who's interested and wants to read. But, if I had to identify an "ideal reader" for my message, it would be folks who identify as Christian who feel a disconnect but don't know how to talk about it or feel about it.

I'll be posting articles, studies, art, videos, and much more and I would love to have you along on this journey with me.