Mike Drop: The Glass Bottom Boat - An Atheist's Defense of "Real" Christianity

Mike Smithgall explores the uncomfortable reality facing moderate Christians in America. As Christian Nationalism rises, many believers try to stay "above the fray," claiming the extremists don't represent them. Mike argues that this "Glass Bottom Boat" mentality is failing.

Using the logic often applied to police misconduct ("just a few bad apples"), Mike challenges the faithful to take responsibility for their institution. If the "good" Christians don't stand up to the "bad" ones, the whole system is complicit. An episode about integrity, reputation, and why an atheist is fighting to save the soul of the church.

Engagement:

• Viewer Question: "Do you think moderate Christians have a responsibility to publicly denounce Christian Nationalism, or is it unfair to expect them to police their own group?"

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Transcript

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I heard a joke once about a man riding through a sewer in a glass bottom boat. He's drifting through the muck and he's looking down the sludge beneath the glass, and he tells himself, sure, I might be in this shit, but I'm clearly above it. It's a funny image. And it also is the current operating strategy of the moderate American Christian. Right now we are watching a political movement try to drag this country towards theocracy. And we see laws being written to force scripture into schools and pulpits turning into campaign HQs. And the people I know, the people I love who are decent, faithful Christians, look at this Christian nationalist movement and they say, that's not real Christianity. That's not me. And they think because they aren't actively shoveling the sludge that they aren't part of the sewer. But here's the hard truth. I need to tell my believing friends today. You are in the boat. The smell is getting on you. And if you don't start paddling, you're gonna go down with the rest of them. All right, thanks for tuning in. I'm Mike Smithgull, the unelected mayor of Atheistville, and this is today's Mic Drop. I never thought I'd be the one sitting here defending the reputation of Christianity. Almost everyone I have ever known or loved is a Christian. My family, my friends, the people I grew up with, these are good people. They view their faith as a source of comfort and charity and personal guidance, and I support their right to believe it. I may not share their belief, but I will fiercely defend their right to hold it. But right now, the label Christian is being hijacked. It's being trademarked by a political faction that doesn't care about charity or comfort. They care about power. They care about dominion. And they're rewriting the definition of your faith to mean compliance with a specific political agenda. And the awkward reality is that I, the guy who doesn't believe in God, seems to be more concerned about the sanctity of your chore, your church than you are. And I'm out here saying, hey, maybe don't use the Bible as a bludgeon. Meanwhile, good Christians are sitting quietly in the pews, hoping that if they ignore the extremists, the extremists would just go away. Let's start with the logic that we use for other institutions. When a police officer abuses their power, we instantly hear the immediate defense of it's just one bad apple. Don't let the actions of one ruin the reputation of the force. When a priest or a pastor is caught in a horrific scandal, we hear the same thing. It's not the church. That's just a bad actor. So don't paint the whole institution with that brush. I understand that instinct. It's defensive. You want to protect the thing that you love. But here's the other side of that coin. If the good cops and the good Christians do not mount a vigorous, loud, and public effort to oust those bad actors, you're telling them that their actions are okay. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is consent. And if you're a good Christian, and if you see someone using your cross to justify hate or exclusion or this or the dismantling of democracy, your opposition should be louder than mine, much louder. Because when I criticize Christian nationalism, I'm easily dismissed. I'm just the atheist guy. Of course Mike hates it. He hates God. That's what they say. But you, you have credibility. You have standing. And if you stood up and said, no, this is not what my faith stands for, people would have to listen. But right now, the silence from the moderate pews is deafening. Let's go back to that glass bottom boat. I think many moderate Christians feel that if they engage with Christian nationalists, if they get down in the mud to fight them, then they will dirty themselves. They feel that standing up to the bad actors somehow muddies their own testimony. They prefer the high road. But the high road doesn't exist in a sewer. By refusing to separate yourselves, you are allowing the public to group you together. When the world sees Christians banning books, or Christians stripping rights away from women, or Christians calling for the execution of political rivals, they don't see the nuance. They don't see the glass bottom of your boat. They just see the sewer. You think you are staying above the fray, but in reality, you're letting the extremists paint your house. And let me tell you that stain doesn't wash out. All right, quick pause. If you haven't subscribed yet, I would love to have you join the community here at Atheistville. We continue to grow and we are building a space for honest conversation about faith, about doubt, about reason. And subscribing is absolutely free. And it helps more people find conversations and discussions just like this. And it keeps the project growing. And I want to ask you to do uh one more thing: leave a comment. I read every single one of your comments, whether and whether we agree or disagree, I will absolutely answer you respectfully because I do value that open dialogue. And your comments don't just help shape the conversation, they also show the algorithm that this is a community worth exploring and worth recommending. And reach back to your believer days and become an evangelist for the show. Tell someone else about the show if you think that they may like it or use this something in the show as a way to get the discussion going. It really helps and it's it's the it creates situations where we can get back to conversation and not shouting matches. Okay, let's get back to it. Now, I'm not a theologian, but I've read the book, and it seems to me that there's a massive disconnect between the Christianity of the nationalist and the Christianity of the gospels. Christian nationalism is a theology of power. It's about seizing the levers of government to force others to live by your rules. And it's insecure. It requires laws to validate it. The Christianity my friends believe in, the one that I respect, even if I don't share it, is a theology of grace and it's voluntary. You don't need a Senate vote to be valid. When you allow the nationalist to speak for you, you're trading grace for power. And historically speaking, whenever the church has grasped for political power, it has lost their moral authority every single time. By fighting against Christian nationalism, I'm actually fighting for the purity of your church. And I'm fighting for the government that leaves you alone to worship how you see fit. And I'm fighting for a society where your faith is a choice, not a mandate. And I have to ask, why between you and I am I the only one fighting for this? So this is my challenge to the good Christians watching this. Stop riding in the glass bottom boat, smash the glass, get out of that boat. You need to be the ones that say no when a politician says they are running to restore Christian values by hurting immigrants or women or gay kids. You need to be the ones that say this is not Christian when a law is proposed to force prayer in school. You need to be the ones that say faith must be free, not forced. It's not enough to be privately good while your institution is being publicly corrupted. You can't claim the institution is good if you refuse to take out the trash. And right now, the trash, unfortunately, is piling up and it's blocking the exit and it's stinking up the entire place. I don't want to see the people I love lumped in with the people who hate. I don't want to see the faith it gives my mother comfort used as a weapon to hurt my neighbors. But I can't save your reputation for you. You have to do that yourself. You have to decide if you want to be the captain of the boat or just another piece of debris floating in the current. All right, so that's my two cents, unblessed and unfiltered. As always, agree or disagree, that's what I got for you today. I'm Mike Smithgall. Thanks for tuning in, and I'll catch you on the next one. Hey, I really hope you enjoyed today's show. Before you go, make sure you like and subscribe to the show and tell a friend. It really helps us grow. If you'd like more great content from us, be sure to check us out right here on YouTube. You can also find us wherever you get your podcasts, and check out our blog at atheistville.com. Until we talk again, remember reason and compassion go a very long way.