I blew the dust off my Alphasmart Neo to do some writing on it today, and on it was a file I’d almost forgotten about.

I very much began to feel, some time ago, that I was told a lot of lies as a young Christian. I was made promises that turned out to be false, I was told things were true when they weren’t, I was told the Bible was completely reliable, and I was especially told it said things it didn’t. At the very least, these things were somewhat misleading, and at worst, they were very dangerous. Anyway, here’s a list I made a while ago of the lies I could recall being told. Some of them I was a little sceptical about, others I believed hook, line and sinker, with various degrees of ill effect, but these were all things I was taught.

As you can see, it’s a long list. The frightening thing about it is I wrote it all in one sitting, and once I’d started, I didn’t stop. I was fed a lot of really, really bad ideas.

1. If you honour God in your marriage, it’s guaranteed you’ll have an amazing sex life without even trying.
2. If you live together and/or sleep together before you get married, it’s twice as likely you’ll end up divorced.
3. God has one special person for you that you’re supposed to spend your entire life with, and he will make who that person is clear to you.
4. If a relationship ends, it’s a massive tragedy with serious spiritual implications that can affect all your future relationships.
5. Sleeping with someone outside marriage is always wrong.
6. Sleeping with people outside marriage causes cumulative damage the more times you do it (the “chewed gum” theory).
7. Gay sex is always wrong.
8. Gay people should always be celibate, and there is no legitimate outlet for their sexual desires.
9. You can’t be a practicing homosexual and a practicing Christian.
10. You are responsible for witnessing to all the non-Christians in your life, because if you don’t, they might end up in Hell.
11. God has a plan for your life, and it is essential to follow it closely.
12. God’s plan will be made clear to you if you follow him faithfully.
13. Absolutely nothing about your inner life (ideas, thoughts, dreams, hopes, emotions etc) can be trusted, because all of it is completely corrupt.
14. Any thoughts you have about sex, unless it’s about your spouse, are completely wrong and dishonouring to God, yourself, and anyone else concerned.
15. Masturbation is wrong and harmful.
16. God will never let you suffer beyond what you can bear.
17. All suffering must be for a reason, and can be used by God for his glory.
18. God is in control of everything that happens.
19. Anything bad that happens is a result of The Fall/original sin/man’s actions, and therefore God cannot be blamed for it.
20. Everything that God does is good.
21. Anyone who isn’t an evangelical isn’t a proper Christian, and their faith is fatally compromised.
22. Anyone who does anything evil in God’s name isn’t a proper Christian.
23. The Bible is 100% trustworthy, completely accurate, completely the Word of God, and all the books in it are there for legitimate reasons, just as all the books excluded are left out for similarly legitimate reasons.
24. If things in your life aren’t going well, especially if you have a persistent illness or problem you can’t resolve, it’s the result of demonic activity.
25. If you’re truly doing God’s will, you can expect Satan to attack you.
26. Satan is real.
27. Wanting to be successful, happy, secure, fulfilled and content by any means other than serving God is greedy, selfish, corrupt and wrong.
28. Clothing is purely functional, and anything that draws attention to yourself is vain and self-centred.
29. Cross-dressing is a very serious matter that will literally make the sky fall in.
30. You will be rewarded if you suffer for your faith.
31. Everyone wants to persecute Christians.
32. God has favoured candidates in elections, and you must vote for them.
33. Abortion is always wrong in all circumstances.
34. If a young Christian woman gets pregnant outside marriage, getting married to the father solves everything.
35. Your church leaders have the right to know everything about your private life.
36. Your church leaders have the right to tell you how you should behave under any circumstances, and disobeying them is a really serious matter.
37. Every decision you ever make has extremely serious moral implications, and making the wrong decision can have devastating consequences.
38. Not only must you do the right thing at all times, but you must be seen to do the right thing at all times.
39. Men are in charge and women must always submit to them.
40. You absolutely cannot question your religious leaders.
41. Heaven and Hell are real places, and all people will end up in one or the other, with the criteria for who ends up where extremely clearly defined.
42. We’re all so corrupt and evil that we all deserve to be tormented in Hell for all eternity, and it’s only because of Jesus’ death that God chooses not to destroy us right here and now.
43. All Catholics are wrong and aren’t proper Christians.
44. Children are all rebellious and sinful, and using extremely harsh punishments on them (smacking etc.) is completely justified in order to teach them obedience.
45. Most secular art/music/TV/books etc are morally dubious and should be treated with extreme caution.
46. Breaking the law is always wrong, unless it allows a Christian to claim they’re being persecuted, in which case it’s absolutely fine.
47. You have to donate at least 10% of your gross income to the church, and if you don’t, you’re dishonouring God, even if it causes you serious financial trouble.
48. Atheists all have an evil agenda.
49. Gay people all have an evil agenda.
50. Nothing is morally neutral.
51. Becoming a Christian can and will solve any problem that anyone has, or will ever have.
52. Everyone becoming a Christian is a desirable and possible outcome, and will hasten the Second Coming.
53. Genesis is a literal description of how the universe came into being, Adam and Eve were real people, and the Garden of Eden was a real place.
54. As Christianity is demonstrably the only true religion, it deserves preferential treatment and a privileged position in society, and “Biblical values” should be maintained in society at all times.
55. You must always stick up for your faith and remain true to God, even if the consequences of doing so are life-threatening.

I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on this. Which of these are on your own personal bingo card, and what have the effects of them been in your life?

I’ll be looking at some of these in weeks to come.