Why I love Jesus but WON’T follow him

Jesus’ teachings weren’t all good. Some I admire, but others make little sense when viewed outside the context of his actual character as a Jewish apocalyptic prophet. Jesus allowed slavery and advocated for retributive justice as a result of his apocalyptic view, for instance.

Here I talk apocalypticism, evil, social justice, teaching morality through story, guarding moral stories as a matter of identity, and why I'm not a Christian. My perspective on what it means to be a Christian is influenced by my experience as an ex-Evangelical, but hopefully this deconstruction of Jesus’ moral teachings is of some value to those with different experiences.

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[ragreen]

I am Christian, but I agree with a lot more of what you state here that the great majority of my fellow Christians. I definitely appreciate you sharing your thoughts on these things. For me, I would prefer many more people with your sensibilities and far fewer religious people who would impose their wills on the rest of us.

[ryankroskey]

When I see the perfect Christian. I see someone who makes others see them as someone who has as the Bible says “peace that passes all understanding”. I also see them as someone who genuinely wants to help people and give them the best time of their lives, even it it only lasts for a few moments. I am a very die hard Christian, and I try my best to be like this, but I fail a lot sometimes. But as the Bible says “A righteous man falls seven times, but he keeps getting back up”. To whoever is reading this, I hope this puts a smile on your face, and that Jesus loves you. God bless everyone. 😊

[objection]

As another "Christian" here, I just want to thank you for the CIVIL discourse. Also, I appreciate you answering this question in a very diplomatic approach, not that I think you should have to. Too many radicals among us and when we really drill down to it, we should all just try to love one another and create a safe space for each person, based on the most very basic human "moral" compass (I believe) the majority of us have that we can agree on. And support each other in a way that does not infringe on your personal values, or others.

[RT.]

Bold title. Unapologetic atheism. Always kind, respectful, honest, and empathetic. This is my favorite atheist channel on YouTube, and in my opinion: the best.

[jefcaine]

One issue I've found with claiming to be a "Follower of Jesus" is everyone has their own idea of what Jesus is about. Because Jesus is thought to be the perfect model for humanity everyone grafts their own personal values onto him. Was Jesus a pacifist or did he sometimes advocate violence? Was Jesus liberal or conservative? It depends on who you ask.

[RichardHuffman]

Skep: "That's tougher to answer, but I'll try."
Also Skep: *answers it clearly and succinctly*

[freduhlmanh]

Left the Catholic Church formally at 18. My mom kicked me out of the house for that and I was forced to join the army or be homeless…. Your videos help me so much. Thank you. I stand for what I believe and your words explain my beliefs in a verbal structure I could not have assembled, so thank you.

[yehurek]

As a Nigerian. The fact that you referenced Fela absolutely made my day. You’ve earned my Sub.

[rdfears]

"I follow ideals, not those who profess them." I adopted this mantra as a teenager, when I finally realized that the political party my family voted for was not nearly as idealistic as they pretended to be (or even that my family believed them to be).

[jennifertalley]

Drew, I’m from Tn, dead center of the Bible Belt. I grew up in Southern Baptist church. You are a remarkable young man. I think there’s a lot of religious trauma imbedded in us. I never doubted my faith, until my mom was killed by a drunk driver. It sent me into a tailspin on my beliefs. Curiosity, and grief, set my path on fire to understand, why I had believed in this mythological being that was so kind and loving. When in fact, he didn’t appear kind and loving at all. I realized I had been controlled my entire life, by fear. According to the church, the devil is always on my tail, and if I dnt believe, he will consume me. Not to mention, the cult I had been raised in, would no longer accept me. I struggle today with saying I do not worship Jesus or God. That fear envelopes me, when I’m honest. I find my self still praying to someone I dnt believe exists, out of habit, not belief. How do you let go of the guilt and shame, the fear that organized religion dished out so freely. I realize my writing isn’t scholarly, I’m expressing it the best I can. I appreciate your channel so much. I believe ppl can be kind and loving, w out organized religion. You are amazing in explaining and verbalizing your thghts and feelings.

[IWonder]

I love how you're a kind athiest. My father was a really mean nasty athiest so some athiest statements are really really triggering for me. So its really nice i can learn from you without being in a bad mental state due to past experiences. -i am a new Agnostic

[lisaboban]

One of the reasons I appreciate and support your channel is the lack of snark. It's what sets you apart. And we should definitely come up with an anti-snark word, because I don't mean you are "tolerant". You call out illogical and damaging ideas in Christianity regularly. But you don't just mock those ideas, you refute them.
I enjoy good snark as much as the next atheist. I just don't think it gets us anywhere.

[Chrismas]

Hi Drew, I recently searched in myself for an answer of what is right/real and have decided that I am atheist. I'm planning on telling my family this weekend, including my devout catholic brother. I've been anxious about the conversation and the "are you sure" type questions and possible shunning from them, and your channel has really helped me prepare myself. Thank you for the content you make

[millennialbiker]

Jesus saved me! … No really, Iraq 2006 Jesus Ramos from San Antonio Texas saved me in a fire fight.

[samuelbaker]

I've been an Atheist for years now, but as a professional singer, I still make my living singing in a church choir. I've been struggling with how to label myself to other people, as well as my disdain for taking labels upon myself, and loved your take on the tribalism of labels, and how they can do more harm than good.
I'm really enjoying working my way through your content!
Thanks for everything you're doing.

[jaredwhite]

As an exvangelical and an agnostic, I've done a lot of processing of how I feel about the Christian religion…not so much about how I feel about Jesus the Teacher. Thank you for highlighting some of the ways I can still admire him…but also some of the reasons his teachings and moral precepts fall short.

[gmansard]

So nice to hear this. I have never been a believer of any kind (family was nominally Catholic), but I once got into an online argument with a stauch atheist because I said the Bible is an important historic source. She proceeded to excoriate me for "believing in talking animals etc, " completely missing the point that any ancient book is a record of the culture and era that produced it.

My own view of Christ is as a reformer, critical of the hypocrisy of his time, caught up in an apocalyptic expectation. Somehow he was associated with Jewish zealots and was executed as a political subversive. When the apocalypse didn't happen his followers re-interpreted his stories (and life) and came up with Christianity.

[brettnewman]

Man I feel you on growing up in the south and having religion pushed on you from an early age. As I’ve grown up I’ve fallen in and out of faith. Now that I’m a little older I honestly just label myself as a Christian because of the sense of community it makes me feel. Life’s not easy alone and even if you’re simply bonded by faith those little bonds are what get you through life.

[wurzelbertwucher]

I was an atheist for the longest time of my life as well, but a few years ago something changed and I can't even say what it was, since it came so silently. I had the urge to read the gospels and slowly I changed and I am a devout Christian now. So maybe you will reconsider your take on Jesus one day as well, who can tell.

[ericthompson]

It confuses me that it's so hard to grasp that non-Christians can embrace certain of the ethical values attributed to Jesus. I'm not a Buddhist, either, but I find a lot of great ethical guidance from Buddhism, as well. But to be a balanced thinker and actor in the world, it's critical to view all of these structures objectively in order to gather the best overall view possible and then form a framework off of which to base our thinking and behavior.