Kill a man and you're a murderer, kill many and you're a conqueror, kill them all and you're a god.
Jean Rostand
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Atheists are often asked this question. Believers in God and Christianity and the Bible and Heaven and Hell worry about my soul and wonder why I don't. It's inconceivable to them that I lose not a minute's sleep over my eternal destiny. To them I say...
1. How much do you worry about the possibility that you are wrong and the Muslims are right? And if you're not a Seventh Day Adventist and worship your God on the "wrong" day of the week, how much do you worry about the possibility that you are wrong and they are right? What about Jehovah's Witnesses? What about a million other religions that hold beliefs that are in conflict with yours?
2. If you really believe the Bible then you should worry that you don't believe it enough and that you'll end up in Hell in spite of your belief. According to your own Bible, Jesus said that the way is narrow that leads to salvation, and further, that many who called him "Lord" in life and did miracles in his name would discover too late that he "never knew" them.
So, no, I don't worry about being wrong, and in all likelihood neither do you.
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Oh the delicious irony!
Megachurch Birthplace of 'Hour of Power' Files for Bankruptcy in California
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Flipping channels this Sunday morning as I blog. There's something so disturbing about a preacher in a fancy suit and expensive haircut hectoring his followers to give him more of their money. Quote: "Tithing is a good place to start, and a bad place to stop." What could be more self-serving or fraught with conflict of interest?
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Whenever a Christian acquaintance from my past reaches out to me I am immediately skeptical about their motives for doing so. Does this reaction seem paranoid or unkind? Perhaps it does to some, but to me it seems a reasonable perspective, and here's why...
First, Christians are told in their scriptures to love the lost in order to recruit them. Aside from this motive, they are taught to "come out from them and be separate," and not to be "unequally yoked" to them. They learn that suffering in this life is essentially unimportant, since the life to come will bring everything to right. They are told to care for other believers first, outsiders second. So when a Christian is kind to you, be wary. It's not uncommon, should you show a lack of interest in what they're selling, for them to lose interest in you, "shake the dust off their feet" and move on in search of a better harvest. This is not to say that some Christians aren't very caring people apart from their religion, but whenever their religion plays a part it's likely screwing with their motives.
Second, I have never known a supernaturally loving Christian. They have all been ordinary people, some more loving than others, just like everyone else. According to the Bible, they are supposed to be infused with the "fruits of the Spirit," making them better in ways that would be literally impossible otherwise. I can't recall ever meeting or knowing someone who stood out to me in this way. The way the term "miracle" has been dumbed down to mean the occurrence of any unlikely event that has a happy ending, people will call anything supernatural these days, but I'm talking about things that cannot be explained or duplicated by natural means.
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You have those who use religion to back up their innate prejudice and those who are only anti-gay because of their religion.
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What's been missing from the fracas over Eddie Long of late? The main issue in the discussion has been the hypocrisy of ministers who rail against homosexuality while nurturing their own homosexual desires. But what about the tidbit found in the charges against him alleging that the preacher used biblical passages to persuade his young victims that sexual intimacy between him and them was OK with God?
"Bishop Eddie Long didn’t just use money, cars, and jewelry, but also the Bible as justification for his conduct, claims plaintiff Maurice Robinson."
I haven't seen any mention yet about which specific scriptures Long may have used, but this may have been one:
"I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women." (2 Sam. 1:26)
The church I was part of in the early days of my Christian life had a very charismatic preacher who used this passage from time to time. He was eventually fired because he preyed on young men in the same way as Long is accused of.
I ran across an example of another biblical passage used to persuade young girls that sex with their fathers is sanctioned by God here.
What about preachers using the bible to persuade people to part with their money so that said preachers can live in luxury while they themselves struggle to keep the heat on? Happens in virtually every church in the country every Sunday.
Let's talk about what this means.
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