A Contrast Between Christianity & Islam

After 20 years of (rabid) atheism, I have decided that atheism and opposition to religion are incorrect, and we should return to worshipping God and taking up religious practice. It's hard to articulate how I arrived at this conclusion because I got to a point where it seemed like every element of my life – personal, romantic, political, social, professional – suddenly pointed in one direction. I'm trying to write a piece to outline how it happened. It's seven thousand words and counting. I hope to publish it soon. Today I want to talk about one small discovery as a result of this transformation.

If you go from atheism to belief in God, the subsequent questions that arise are: what kind of God and what kind of religion?

Right upfront, I decided that judging the moral worth of a set of beliefs can't be that hard: one acid test of a moral framework is whether it causes advancement in civilization or retardation in it – such advancement being the most surefire way to increase wellbeing for all of humanity through harnessing of God's creation. Another is that, the existing and quite visible instantiations of evil (a prime example being the Islamic Republican regime in Iran) can serve as a compass to guide us toward Good.

Given this framework, it's not hard to see that Islam immediately gets disqualified. I've literally embedded it in the compass as a thing to navigate away from. Of course, some people will argue that the Shia Islam that is practiced and enforced by the government in Iran is not the only (or the true) flavour of Islam. I remain skeptical but open to that possibility.

So about six months ago, I started going to church. At first, I went quite skeptically, but it turned out that I enjoyed it so much that I've gone almost every Sunday since. I've been extremely open with everyone there that I'm not a Christian, and they've been quite gracious in helping me explore the religion. Over this time, I've realized that I never truly left behind the religious indoctrination I underwent in Iranian schools. I was trying to learn about Christianity within the same framework that I was taught about Islam, which does not work at all.

What we were taught about "religion" in school was something like this:

1. Here are the correct set of beliefs and Allah's commands.
2. Profess these beliefs and act according to these commands.
3. If you don't, we'll kill you and Allah will burn you forever. If you do, you'll go to a nice place where you'll eat well and have lots of sex.

I approached Christianity expecting an identical framework just with its own unique set of beliefs and commands. But Christianity represents a complete inversion of this model. It's not that you do good deeds and therefore you go to heaven. It's that God has proactively loved you and if you accept His love, you will be moved to do good deeds.

The psychological ramifications of this inversion are profound. God is a loving parent, and loving parents raise well-adjusted, pro-social children. Allah is a narcissistic parent. You must work hard to earn his love, but no matter what you give him, it's never enough. His demands increase right up until he takes your life. This reality is captured beautifully (if grimly) by ex-muslim Dan Burmawi:

Christianity for example offers a way out of guilt, a solution not based on your works but on Christ’s. Salvation isn’t earned, it’s given. You accept that you can’t redeem yourself, because Christ already did everything on your behalf. That means you’re free. Free to live, free to build, free to serve, free to love. And when a Christian feels lost, broken, and in need of forgiveness, they can go to church, talk to a pastor or priest, and leave knowing they are forgiven. Islam, on the other hand, doesn’t offer redemption, it weaponizes guilt. Instead of providing salvation, Allah exposes you, holds your sins over your head, and threatens you with hellfire and torture in the grave. The Quran isn’t a book of peace, it’s a book of threats. It bullies Muslims into obedience through fear, humiliation, and punishment.

I am more convinced than ever that, if God exists and Satan exists, then Islam is a religion sent by Satan to wreak havoc on Earth and move humanity away from Heaven.