The Father, Son and the Holy Guilt Trip

I'm not a religious person. In fact, I'm an atheist. But, on the atheist colour scale where, say, Christopher Hitchens would be a garish shade of scarlet, I'm an inoffensive beige. In simple terms: I will not refuse to say grace around the family Thanksgiving table, but I will quietly think about gravy while mumbling the words.

Still, the beliefs of some believers do confuse me. For example, a recent Facebook post from a vague acquaintance that popped up in my news feed:

♥ I personally believe in Jesus Christ. I asked Jesus, "How much do you love me?" Jesus replies, "This much." And stretched his arms on the cross and died.

Jesus!! (for lack of a secular higher power to appeal to. ) My thought was less "What a powerful sacrifice our Lord made" and more "I should call a crisis line for this person Jesus is talking to." This just makes Him sound like the kind of abusive jerk who uses threats of suicide as emotional blackmail to keep his girlfriends from leaving him. Which does add another layer to Degrassi Season 5, circa 1991: "Claude Tanner as Christian Allegory."

I died for your sins, Caitlin Ryan!