You Christians are probably wondering why some people are so angry at the Rowan County commissioners’ insistence on praying in Jesus’ name prior to the start of county meetings. Allow me to shed some light on why this is so offensive to me. And the reason why I have gone from being, “saved,” at the age of 7 to a devout anti-theist at the age of 47.

First, I believe the historical Jesus lived. That’s it. Take all the supernatural elements of his life and all the myths created after his death and you have nothing more than a man-made fairy tale. It’s a great story, though, written by more than 40 authors over a period of more than 1,500 years. What a whopper!

But you want me to believe the Bible is the infallible word of God? I’m not buying it. I think you would have the basis for a pretty nice religion if Christians put forth the Bible as full of great lessons for mankind through the example of the life works of Jesus. But you’ve stepped way out of bounds once you start interpreting the Bible literally, word for word, and then using that interpretation to justify your own actions.

The worst part is that you believe the Earth was created for you. And only you. If mankind is the apex predator on the planet Earth, no doubt then the white, Anglo Saxon Christian American male is the most deadly of all the predators mankind has ever produced.

Yours is the least of all the Gods I want telling me how to live my life. I’ve seen His work. It’s terrible.

Your all-knowing, all-powerful creator could have used quite a bit of help on the marketing and communications side of the “Bible Project,” quite frankly. Your Bible has more contradictions than it has books. It has undergone change throughout history as different generations have copied and reinterpreted it for their own purposes, both personal and political. When did your God lose control of the Bible? I suspect it was the minute you started writing it.

The Bible is a weapon you wield when it suits you. For instance, when you needed to justify slavery, or the persecution of Muslims, Jews, other Christians, homosexuals or any other group you deem undesirable.

For the most part, I view American Christianity as nothing more than a country club. It is simply an expression of your culture. To me, if there were any real, deep and meaningful truth to the Bible then Christians would worship together, rather than segregating themselves along racial and economic lines on Sunday mornings. I don’t see God’s love when I look at you. I see anger, judgment and resentment for the state of America’s current affairs.

You are patriotic but you think the president is a Muslim. You love everyone but you are ready to shoot them if necessary. You think America is the great melting pot but the recipe is now off due to too many foreign ingredients. You just want things to be the way they used to be, when black people and women knew their place — and they weren’t being elected president, for God’s sake!

So pardon my anger when I hear you pray out loud. You don’t even follow the teachings of your own Bible when it comes to prayer. You Christians pray like you expect your puppet-master God to intervene in everyday affairs, whether that be the outcome of your doctor visit, the results of a pregnancy test or, and this one is the worst, the outcome of a sporting event or a political race.

And when it comes to how you behave between Monday and Saturday, both in your personal life and in your politics, I’m further dissuaded that you really believe everything you’ve read in the Bible. God is love? Really?

I think Jeff Tweedy, lead singer of Wilco, put it best when he sang, “No love’s as random as God’s love.”

That is why I don’t want to hear you pray in Jesus’ name, or even pray at all, before the meeting. Your prayer is simply an instance of using your own Lord’s name in vain. You are nothing more than a pharisee. Your prayer has everything to do with promoting a culture and a world view. It has nothing to do with asking for wisdom during a meeting.

Glenn “Butch” Hudson is a resident of Salisbury.