I’m an atheist and a liberal, and I feel somewhat sorry for Kim Davis.

I know what she’s going through, more or less, because I was once a fundamentalist who actually read his Bible and took it seriously.

I saw that it said homosexuality is a sin so terrible God once told people to stone homosexuals to death. I saw that it clearly defined marriage as between men and women. And I saw that if I believed in the God of the Bible, I had to follow His morality. This was very clear to me. Still is fairly clear to me.

I did not have the luxury, as a fundamentalist who believed in the God of the Bible, to manipulate the text to suit my own feelings on what seemed to be right or wrong. God was beyond all that, and He was not to be questioned. Doing the Right Thing required following God, regardless of the sacrifice it took. If it meant going to jail, then it meant going to jail. If it meant death, it meant death.

It was hard, sometimes. I remember crying sometimes. I remember sleepless nights. I remember, at times, even hurting myself physically from the pain of following a God who got in the way of my love for other. I remember periods of deep depression. I remember loving people, a lot, and wanting to support them…and then reading the Bible, and seeing it clearly show me I couldn’t support things that clearly seemed so beautiful.

A lot of times, a Progressive Christian will say, “Don’t you hate how those Fundamentalist Christians don’t care about people?”

Or a Fundamentalist Christian will say, “Don’t you hate that Progressive Christians don’t stay true to the book they supposedly follow?”

To be honest, my response to both of these is that they’re missing the point. The problem is not Fundamentalist Christians or Progressive Christians.

The problem is that you worship a God who comes from a book that said gay people deserved to be stoned to death. That’s the problem. And Kim Davis, more than anything, is proof that this book needs to go. She is evidence that a book that says gay people should be stoned to death should have no place in our society.

I know some will disagree with me, but I’ve been there and am fully convinced that the Bible has a major role in the fight against same-sex marriages. It did for me and for many of my friends and family.

It’s not the Christians I have a problem with so much as the despicable God they follow as it is described in the Bible.

I have no idea why anyone would be surprised at Kim Davis’ actions when we are living in a country with millions of people who worship a God who said homosexuality was an abomination, who said those who practice homosexuality did not deserve heaven, who said homosexuality deserved to be penalized, who commanded that homosexuals be stoned to death, who said those who practiced homosexuality were doing what is contrary to sound doctrine, who strongly encouraged heterosexuality as the marriage definition….

Why is it any surprise that, when millions are encouraged to follow this bigot God who doesn’t even exist — when this bigot God is taking over the minds and and pocketbooks and lives of millions — why is it any surprise that a Kim Davis exists?

I know what it’s like to be bossed around by an idiot bigot God. It’s not fun. That guy needs to go, get out of the way of love, and stopped being endorsed and followed. And anyone who — however wishy-washy their rhetoric – supports such a despicable being is being part of the problem. Why make the God Kim Davis feels motivated to follow any stronger?

I know this: The moment I left Christianity – within the minute – I became an advocate of lgbtq rights. Because that was the only thing standing in the way. And I know this is the case for millions of Christians across this country who would leave their positions in a heartbeat if they knew the Bible were not true. I mean, this is blatantly true. Look at a Gallup poll – the Bible is, by far, the most prominent reason people in the United States against same-sex marriage.

I say let’s take their word for it. People like Kim Davis do not exist because they are evil, bigoted people by nature. I don’t think I was. They’re trapped in a cruel religion with a cruel God, and it’s time to stop allowing their viewpoint to be endorsed. It’s time to call that despicable imaginary friend out for the bigoted outdated creation it is.

Let me say it one more time: all these other things are side issues. The fact that she’s been married four times, the fact that she looks like Kathy Bates, the fact that she had the support of the Christian right – side issues.

The real problem is that book. She is a victim of that cruel book that has wreaked so much unspeakable havoc over the last thousands of years, as are all of her supporters.

This is why I’m an antitheist.

That God of that book – THAT’S the problem.

And it needs to stop incarcerating the minds of millions.

Thanks for reading.