I am often asked by people on the street and by millions of online readers, “What is this infinite chasm of which you speak?” And yes, those are usually their exact words.
Alas, if only there was a simple answer. There are so many infinite chasms.
Overall, The Several Commandments of the Church of the Infinite Chasm all center around illuminating these various chasms. For example, despite extensive propaganda to the contrary, the chasm between the belief in evolution and the solid evidence in support thereof is wide and deep. To take another example, the chasm between what the Bible teaches and what churches teach is just as often just as deep and just as wide. These two chasms are not unrelated.
Many people believe in science (and its sister religion, evolution) as a direct result of what they’ve seen in church: weird teachings, hypocrisy, sanctimonious people, et cetera. Here’s a somewhat relevant illustration, a parable, if you will:
Let’s say that a close friend of yours, a fine man viewed with the utmost respect by all who personally know him, is mistakenly accused of a horrific crime. Through a complete miscarriage of justice, this innocent man ends of being executed. You don’t have to imagine this scenario. We could insert a real person into our illustration. Let’s say his name is Martin Luther King Jr., a great man indeed, executed for advocating perfectly innocuous principles of harmony, justice and equality. And now let us say that you and others who knew him establish a foundation in his honor. Millions join, supporting the cause. Would it seem odd to you if many of the faithful wore a bullet around their necks, or met in a building with a model of an assassin’s bullet high atop the building? The especially faithful pray to model bullets. Others will kiss bullets for good luck or when they’re feeling especially reverent. Or to go back to our original unnamed man, others worship tiny little electric chairs or wear bejeweled syringes, symbolizing the executioner’s chair or lethal injection that took this innocent man’s life. Wouldn’t that seem strange?
And to take this parable another step, what if many of the most devout and reverent bullet-kissers and electric chair worshipers, while they are doing all of that, live lives that are nowhere near the life pattern set by their supposed model and mentor? The MLKers have deep-seated racial hatreds and prejudices, and the people who follow your honest and decent friend are cheats, thieves, and liars. That would go beyond strange; it would actively dissuade thinking people from joining your cause.
That, sorry to say, is how many people view religion. They see people who don’t come close to practicing the principles Jesus espoused (like forgiveness; humility; showing love to others as the way you live your life; avoiding a materialistic lifestyle). And to return to our main parable, why would anyone worship the means by which they think an innocent man was executed?
Beyond that, devote ten minutes to a little research and you’ll discover Jesus wasn’t even executed on a cross. It was a simple upright stake or pole.
No wonder many people are disenchanted with religion. It has labeled itself as a bastion of the loftiest principles – including love, forgiveness, and truth – and then in practice offers teachings that contradict that very label.
However, to use a medical analogy, the misuse of a drug does not negate its proper use. In the same way, the many misrepresentations of the Bible and its teachings do not negate its true, unadulterated value.