Oh boy, another religion thread. It will probably be fine until the folks who wear their heart on their sleeve and get emotionally worked up come in because they think their beliefs define who they are and take disagreement personally.
As to your point that Christians and atheists are more alike than some might care to admit, yes I agree. There have been many people who have converted from one to the other. I have even heard of pastors who are secretly atheist but dare not tell anyone for fear of losing their job, lodgings, friends or even family.
I have kind of a funny story to tell regarding atheist/christians.
I was brought up Christian myself. Went to Sunday school as an extracurricular activity at the insistence of my parents. Did the holy communion when I was 9. Went to church with parents, but i didn't get much more involved than that. As I grew older I participated more in academia than religion as that is where my interests took me.
So anyway I met this very religious lady who was a tech and we became friends. She was a very nice person to talk to and we talked about all sorts of things, being very religious she would take every opportunity to get me more involved in her church and so I went to her church with her a few times.
One day she asked me if I pray. I told her no I don't. She asked why not. I said because it doesn't make any sense to me. She asked how so?
I said because if God is omniscient (all knowing), then he would know everything I could say, and there is no point in me telling an omniscient being anything. I mean if this being can create the entire universe, this world and all it's inhabitants, who am I to tell him what to do? I'd rather listen and learn from such a being than try to tell it what I think he should do. She muttered something like your God is arrogant or something which didn't make any sense to me but the conversation ended there as other duties needed to be tended to.
So I go to church with her and at the church the pastor up at the bully pulpit starts saying to the crowd:
"You should all pray, God is always listening, if you think you shouldn't pray that's just the devil telling you what to do!"
Right away she clapped and cheered him on. (this church is different than the one I was brought up in as the audience cheers and claps vs. my childhood church which was more reserved where everyone was quiet until there was singing involved)
So anyway my thought seeing this display is 1) They must have discussed my views at some point, and 2) The pastor came up with a (in my view) really terrible default argument they seem to use where if they have no real logical reasoning they tend to fall back on the usual scapegoat, yet another imagined being the devil made him do it.
I don't have an evil bone in my body, I don't get my ideas from any devil thank you very much. It isn't evil to think this way. It just... makes... sense. If the religious folks arguments make sense I will jump at the chance to agree with them all the same.
My immediate thought was: "This guy doesn't think I'm evil, it's a bull@#* argument to protect their church and it's money making system from outside invaders with ideas that could disrupt their congregations beliefs so they have to squash any contrary ideas as quickly as they can."
But invoking the devil as an argument? That just smacks of desperation to me. They seem to prey on folks that have either no time, ability or inclination to reflect on their beliefs to see if they make sense in order to cash in by asking for donations. If they use that money to help others (and they do) then I find that to be commendable but if they could just dispense with the bull___ I would respect them a lot more.
I suppose they simply might not know any better and if that's the case I forgive them.
I don't think they really can come up with a better argument than blaming the devil because there simply isn't one. Such a system is painting itself into a corner and it's days may be numbered through no fault of anyone's but their own in my view. How long can they keep people in the dark when information and knowledge spreads more easily now than at anytime in human history with technology such as the internet?
Granted there is as much misinformation as information on the internet. Maybe that's the work of evil. But by evil I mean people who are still in the dark about reality but have no qualms about making their voices herd (little pun there couldn't resist sry).
Look I'm not saying there is no God, or purpose to the universe. There may be, there might not be. Whether there is or isn't, I just don't think those sorts of people are the ones who are best suited to finding that out. Unless they choose to educate themselves on the subject (as well as some other subjects). Now is as good a time as any to step away from the bully pulpit and further your knowledge on this or any other subject that interests you.
In the interest of my own personal growth, I shall now do just that. For I don't tell others what to do if I'm not prepared to do so myself. Good luck, and may knowledge bless America. (and the rest of the world too).
Facebook
Twitter