Wishing Will Not Make it So
Looking at Christianity from the outside is a revelatory experience. Almost every day brings with it a fresh perspective, not to mention a fresh happiness at being free of it. It has struck me recently, for example, how many of the beliefs of Christians are simply a form of wishful thinking.
On an online forum the other day I marveled at a discussion of hell. One poster opined that he would have great difficulty believing Hitler would get away with his crimes against humanity by ending his existence quietly and in the comforting company of his new wife, Eva. Hence his belief in the existence of hell.
Another poster believed in God because she found the idea of someone watching over and protecting her at all times very soothing.
This is where I part company with such sentiments. I won't believe something merely because doing so makes me feel better and in spite of overwhelming evidence against it. I would rather face the world as it is, not as I would like it to be.
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