Saturday, June 7, 2008

Atheist Life v.s. Religious Life: The Christian Side Of Things



Topic #1: Lying
If Nazi came to my House, and asked me if I were hiding Jews, I would LIE ! Yes, I know The Bible says "Thous Shall Not Lie !" and Yes, I do understand I'm breaking a commandment, and NO I would not feel bad about it. However, since I do have an obligation to my God, I would ask that He forgives me for lying. The problem with this scenario isn't the lie it's self, it's the reason for lying that is the problem. Sin is a VERY powerful thing, Sin causes evil..Evil in this scenario would be the random extermination of Jews. In this scenario, I have not caused the extermination of Jes, but I am effected by it's outcome, therefore given that reality, I would have to comport myself to the greater good, which is saving the lives of these people how have done no wrong to be exterminated. And the best human way I can do that is by lying. As a Christian, I do have an issue with lying, but in this scenario, I would and I will not be ashamed of it.


Topic #2: Outrage

This I find ridiculous, Christians can be outraged as well when a friend dies of a horrible disease as well. I was upset over Hurricane Katrina, I was upset over the Virgina Tech Shooting, even if I didn't know anyone there personally. From the way this video sounds he makes it seem as if we Christians simply just say "Oh well God did it.". No ! We do not. Yes, we believe God does have a plan for everything but we are not so complacent as to simply just say "God did it." and move on. Ask any Christian worth their salt and they will tell you if a natural disaster was occurring in their neighborhood, they would not just say "Oh well God's doing it.", I can tell you they would be out there trying to help as many people as they can. I feel that this video misrepresents us in a fashion that makes us seem as though since we believe that a God is in control, it allows us to become listless and complacent to the suffering around us, if anything we are MORE inclined to care and worry about the suffering around us. Furthermore, we as Christians are not opposed to science in regards to understanding the world around us, this is clearly a misrepresentation of our position. Furthermore the use of the word "magical plan" is absurd, Christians do not believe in Magic, and our God is NOT a Magical God. We are not fools who believe that there is NO reason to try and stop world disasters from happening because God is causing them. If a scientist found a way to stop hurricanes and tornadoes and so on, I would be very happy as would any Christian. This video tries to make us seem fatalistic in our ideas and that could not be any father from the truth.

The Car Accident Scenario only offers one side and make God out to be some jerk who has no idea what's He's doing and decides to kill someone for no reason. Everything that God does has a reason, and while it is our basic human nature to ask ourselves questions like "What it because I didn't pray enough ?" and so on forth, we need to understand that God does indeed have a reason and does know what He's doing. I would ask an atheist how they can take comfort in the random chance of such an accident occurring again. From a Christian perspective when an accident occurs, a message is usually attached to it, and it is not something to guilt you into God, but for an Atheist, all you have is a horrible accident and that's it. What did you learn ? What is the outcome, has it made you any better ? Most Christians leave from accidents feeling better in some respects, sometimes it takes a near death experience or the loss of a loved one for us to figure out certain things. That is something only God can show you.


Topic #3: Friends
Christians can be friends with anyone as well, barring criminals of course. As a Christian, I have Atheist friends, Gay Friends, Non-Christian Friends and so on so forth. In The Bible Jesus was friends with prostitutes and so on so forth. The Bible preaches a message of accepting Human beings simply because they were made in the image of God and that is an image to be respected. Christians to do chastise people for being unique, granted only the pious few do, but for people who are actually following true Christianity, does not go about town shaking their finger at someone because they dye their hair and pierce their ears. Christians can have friends who are gay as well, I have tons of gay friends and while I do not approve of what they do, I do accept them as human beings and I love them all the same. The maker of this video is rather foggy on the details of sin, While God did indeed make people as they are, sin has caused us to become defiant to God's design, this is why we have homosexuality and so on so forth. As a Christian, I will not deny my growing concern of Homosexuality, but I refuse to take on any hostile action against them. And that goes for Non-Christians as well. Jesus loved people and told them who He was and what His mission was, all those who listened, listened, and all those who didn't, didn't. As a Christian, I am already saved from the fires of Hell, therefore I do not fear Hell, I do fear for other people, but it is not my wish to scare people into believing God.I will not waste time preaching to those who don't wish to listen. As Christians the best we can is pray for them and hope that God will open their hearts to His word. Simple.

Topic #4: Raising Free Thinking Children
Seeing as how I don't have children I can't tell you what that would be like, but if one of my very close younger friends told me they were going to be an atheist, my response would be "Well, I don't want you to. But if that's what you're going to do, then I will pray for you to return to Christ." Simple as that. I will not force them back to my religion or anything. In my childhood, I studied other religions as well under no fear of having my mother shun me or anything. As I got older God laid it upon me to become a Christian and I did. My Mother did raise us in the Church but she did not close us off from anything else. When I was young I was a HUGE lover of Mythology, Greek and Egyptian, I loved it all ! And I would study it all non-stop. As I got older I discovered Paganism and so on so forth, and I studied them all. But I am still a Christian. I tend to give my children the same advantage to study other things as well and I will engage them in conversations about them as well. Of course I will promote the Christian perspective as an Atheist would promote the Atheist perspective if their child decided to become a Christian. Furthermore, I'd like to ask an Atheist if they have any evidence for religion...considering that fact that they are an atheist, one would come to the conclusion that they have found no evidence worth mentioning to begin with. Christians love their children regardless of their belief. If I told my mother I was an Atheist, that does not change the fact that she is still my mother and I am still her son. She will love me regardless, because that was God wants her to do and that is what ANY GOOD mother would and should do.


Topic #5: Good Deeds

Christians do not do good deeds to get into Heaven or to have God rewards us. The Bible makes it clear that there are NO good deeds we can do that will get us into Heaven. God simply tells us to respect His creation, Human Beings are His creation and we respect them by caring for His creation. Christians can give to charities as well. This video makes it sounds as if Christians don't wish to help anyone. Allow me to reveal something that occurred awhile ago for me, but my brother and I were recently scammed, sadly a few weeks ago by a contest that stated the prize was 1 million dollars. Aside from all the things I wanted to do with that money, I was planning on donating portion to charity and also to buy real estate so I can provide a place for the homeless. Not because it would please God granted God would not be angry with me for doing such a thing but I wished to do it simply because I would have the ability to make a difference, and I still feel that way. If I ever do come into such wealth I will still do these things. I go give of my own free will and it feels good. I am not hording my money or my belongings only to have God come along and say "GIVE BEFORE I KILL YOU !" God does not function that was and neither do Christians. This video makes it sound as if we are secretly selfish and are only being nice because God will kill us if we do not.

Topic #6: Forgiveness and Love
I fail to see how Christian forgiveness is different. God forgives us of our sins. God understands our limitations and faults and He still accepts us. God did not make a mistake in making you and therefore has a purpose of making you. He loves you and if He did not, He would not take the time to create you. In this respect I like to compare God to an Artist. I am an Artist so I'll use myself as an example. I do NOT like Vampires at ALL. I HATE THEM ! I think they are a waste of fiction. Considering my vast hatred for Vampires, would I create a Vampire character ? I would not. I do not love Vampires and therefore I do not bother with creating them.

As far as love goes, I am lucky enough to save that I have found love, and she knows who she is (>^.^<). And it is a one on one connection, but God is involved in it and fail to see how this a disadvantage. It is not as if when I tell Kim I love her, I have to say "I love you to God !" right after. It is not like God is jealous that I have love, so what is the disadvantage to having God involved in your love life ? And again this video refers to God as Magical. God is NOT magical. Furthermore God created the concept of marriage, Adam and Eve, The Father giving the bride to The Husband. Sound familiar !? God did indeed create guidelines to being married and those who follow those guidelines go on to have fulfilling marriages. Simply because they understand the order of how things are supposed to work. I am not saying that marriage is easy, by no means, but we as Christians do have a manual for making marriages work written by the creator of marriage, I would ask an atheist what guideline they have for theirs.

Topic #7: Science
Again with the "Magical being" God is NOT magic, stop saying He is. We as Christians do not fill gaps with JUST GOD. God is the beginning of all things, therefore we know that God put in place certain things that are not of our knowledge yet, but we can rest assured that the final solution will always boil down to God. Back in ancient times, the Greek attributed Thunder and Lightning to Zeus, as the years went on, we have established that thunder and lightning occur due to high and low pressure fronts and so on so forth, not some being crafting lightning blots to hurl at the ground. But we must ask ourselves how do these things occur. My answer is God set those things in motion. Science simply reveals to us how God set those things up. Science has revealed to us that H2O makes water, if There is 2HO..then it is not water, if it is H3O, it is not water. Only H2O maker Water. When Jesus turned water into wine that was not a magic trick, Jesus knows which molecule and which atom he has to tweak in order for water to become wine. He knows this simply because He made it, and if He did indeed make it, then He knows how to change it. Science is a wonderful tool and I fully accept Science. But in my mind there is a designer. Science is a tool NOT an answer. I for one LOVE science, and I can accept both worlds fully because they are NOT opposing to each other, regardless of what many believe. Science simply alludes to God's design. Therefore by science we can further understand the universe that God placed us in.

Topic #8: Sin
Sin is a real thing. Scientifically, I would like to ask an atheist the benefits of homosexuality, without appealing to emotions. Since, on a scientific level, emotions are merely chemical impulses in the brain. From a scientific level, homosexuality would be extremely difficult to defend. As Christians we have a reason why such things occur and it is called Sin. Sin as defined in The Bible is the opposition of God's word. God tells us not to murder, therefore it is a sin to murder, God tells us not to lie, therefore it is a sin to lie. However from an Atheist point of view, I would like to ask what reasoning do you have for not lying and or murdering ? Sure, I agree that these 2 things are bad, but what are your reasons ? Yes, I understand that murder is against the law, but let's say for instance that it wasn't a law and you could murder anyone you wanted. Would that still make it a bad thing ? As a Christians I would say yes, murder under any circumstances is wrong. Even if our country passed a bill saying that murder was now legal, I would not murder anyone. Because God tells us not to murder. Sin can only exist when God's word is compromised by us. God tells us a Man should not lie with a man as one does with a woman and vice versa, and when we do the opposite, it becomes sin. If you think about it, it really is quite simple. Furthermore God does not shakes his fist at kinky sex. The Bible does not tell you Missionary ONLY ! The Bible clearly states that the function of sex is to be shared between a husband who is a Man and Wife who is a Woman, HOW YOU DO IT IS NONE OF GOD'S CONCERN AS LONG AS IT DOES NOT INVOLVE OTHER PEOPLE ! Therefore hey, if you're into whips and chains, whipped creme on the belly button and so on, GO FOR IT ! Too many people believe that Christians are not sexual at all. Yes, we have sex, NO we're not ashamed to talk about it and NO we are NOT prudes. Sex is meant to be shared between a husband and wife, if it's not between those to then guess what...IT'S SIN ! Pure and simple. Furthermore God's word is NOT insanely hard to follow. Don't lie, Don't Murder anyone, Don't have sex before marriage (Oh, now I see the problem >_>). It's easy. For anyone who think that God is just this jerk with all these rules, I compel you to examine His rules yourself. Some of you are following them without even knowing them, but once you find out that it was a rule, you suddenly get angry and wish to break it. I haven't murdered anyone, I haven't had sex before marriage (not intent to either) and I do not feel like God is saying "DON'T HAVE SEX OR I'LL KILL YOU !" I can look at having sex before marriage and analyzing the consequences of that action, and I have seen too many people get screwed over for just a minute and thirty seconds with a hot chick.


Topic #9: Free Thought

Everyone has the power to think for themselves. Everyone has the power to study other things. I studied other things as well. That was my choice to do so. I have taken science classes in high school and I have found nothing in science that opposes my God. I haven't. Therefore science does not scare me. Christians have the ability to change their minds also. This is where we get the different denominations from, and by denominations I mean Protestant, Lutherans, and so on so forth, I do not mean Catholic, Jehova's Witnesses, Mormons and so on so forth, they are NOT Christians I can prove that in a separate article. Anyways, back to the topic at hand. Christians find the pursuit of truth a very worthy endeavor also. Christians do not have all the answers and never will we claim to, but we do know of someone who does, and we call Him God. To expand on this let me elaborate, when a I was hanging out with my friend and his little brother (who's 3 by the way) he kept asking a certain question, "Why does it rain ?" and I explained to him the scientific answer and taught him about high and low pressure fronts and what not, and yet again he asked "Why ?" I explained to him how the Earth's atmosphere works in accordance with the weather and so on so forth, and yet again he asked "Why ?", "Well..." I told him, all of this occurs because God is in charge of it all. This was not because it was not in my power to answer, I simply know that God does indeed create the circumstance for rain. Not through magic, but by ways we can test and see. I would NEVER tell anyone that God uses magic. The God I serve is a Scientific God and therefore reveals His power to us in a fashion that leaves us in awe and yet we are able to examine the very complexities of His work. I would NOT DARE say "God did it." and leave that as the only answer. As a person I find such an answer as "God did it." to be very unsatisfying and stupid and NO THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER THAT CHRISTIANS USE ! Like Atheists and EVERYONE else I am ALL for figure out this universe, but at the end of it all, I will still be saying "Wow, God knew what He was doing."

Topic #10: Excuses
I do not use God as an excuse. Furthermore I would not allow anyone else to use God as excuse to do something bad. The Spanish Inquisition was NOTORIOUS for using God to promote their murder. Now, if you were paying attention, The Bible tells us "Thou shall NOT commit murder." and these guys were murdering people, regardless of what they thought, they were murdering them, ergo, they were going against The Word of God and WERE NEVER working for Him in the first place. Have true Christians went on killing sprees in the name of God ? Regardless of what they say, if you're murdering people, then you are going against what God says. I do NOT excuse anyone who has a gun and kills someone and claims that their excuse was "God told me to do it.", because in my heart, I know they are wrong. The KKK was a supposedly "Christian" founded organization and they were all for killing Black People, as a part of their belief system. I do not excuse them for that, because I know that they are NOT Christians simply based on what they are doing. We has Christians and as Humans do take full on responsibility for our actions. Furthermore what atrocities have we as Christians committed to please God ? I already told you The Spanish Inquisition were not Christians, The KKK wasn't, neither were the Nazis. So where is it that TRUE Christians have committed atrocities ? There is NONE ! I cannot, nor will I speak in defense of any other religion, because I simply cannot. But in the confines of Christianity, those who adhere to God's word have not committed atrocities.

Topic #11: Original Sin
This is a lie, the prayer thing. The video makes it seem as those Christians simply pray and then do nothing. The process of prayer is no so simple. Pray involves 2 parts, Prayer and Action. As an Atheist, you would ask, Why not just skip to the action part ? Good question, and I will answer that as a Christian. We start off with Prayer and ask God to help aide in our decision making, and to help pave an easier way for our plan or whatever to work. We DO NOT look to God as some form of Geine figure who magically steps in a makes all the bad things go away. God is NOT a geine, and when we pray we are not asking Him for wishes, we are asking Him for help. After we are finished praying we then look for what God is telling us to do next. Example, if a college kids was out partying one night but realized he had a test in the morning that HE DID NOT STUDY FOR, but he was a fairly decent note taker. He could pray and ask God to help him calmly recall the information he needed to pass the test. So that night he gets home and he's beat from all the partying, he goes home, glances at his notes, but he tired and after the 2nd page of his notes, he's out. Test time comes and he's sitting in the chair nervous knowing he didn't study, he says a quick prayer again for help and guidance on the test, when he receives the test, he gives it a once over and realizes some of it he already knows, and as he starts to fill out the answers the other answers to the harder questions come back to him. This is not magic. This is God simply allowing this person to better recall the information he already knew. Now as an Atheist you're sitting there like, "NO ! It was his mind ! His own brain power ! Not God !". Yes, it was his brain power, it was his mind, but God made the answers more clear to him. As an Atheist you're probably like "That is so stupid !". Well that's the probably, you as Atheist expect God to be some form of magically deity and He is NOT, God will work with us in a very natural way sometimes. But make no mistake it is His doing.

Topic #12: Women
I have already handled the woman issues, but since he brought it up, I will expand on that. Many atheists who read The Bible complain about it being sexist. I find that ridiculous for many reasons. One of which is the comparison they make to our time. They need to understand that The Bible was written in a different time and a different place and to a different culture. When The Bible says that a wife must cover her head, The Bible is NOT speaking to all women, The Bible was written for men and women of that culture. We apply the meanings of The Bible to our culture today. When The Bible tells us that a woman must be submissive to her husband, it is NOT saying that a Husband can beat his wife and there isn't anything she can do about that. The Bible establishes that The MAN is supposed to lead the household, let me qualify this by saying a GOOD MAN ! Any woman who has a Good Man to lead them certainly would NOT mind being subordinate to him. Because if he is a good man, he will not treat you as a 2nd class citizen. I do not treat my girlfriend Kimmy as a second class citizen, I treat her with respect and care, because I care about her very much, Not because God tells me to, but because I love her, deeply. We live in a society today where men and women both are elevated to levels where they should not be, and given the break down of the family structure and single mothers, it is no mystery why women are becoming more and more independent of men, and this is because as men we need to understand that our place is to lead the family. God gave us that job. Not because He hates women, but because He made us to be leaders, He made us stronger than women for a reason and that is why. Men are the providers, men are the leaders, women are the care givers and nurturers, you can clearly see that is in women's nature to do so. It is in Men's nature to do so.

Topic #13: Media
I read comic books, I've studied Tarot Cards and The Occult, I listen to Disturbed, which I believe...wait...scratch that...KNOW is The single GREATEST ROCK BAND ON EARTH ! I play Mortal Kombat, I LOVE breaking people's necks in those games, it's fun. I LOVE "Pulp Fiction" especially the scene where they shoot Marvin in the face. That was funny. I draw, I've drawn grizzly murder scenes, I get very crazy with the red coloring pencil, I've drawn murders, I've drawn hookers, I've drawn killers, and nope, I don't feel like The Devil is out to get me on these topics. Because I am able to understand that what I'm reading, writing, studying or doing is FICTION and have no bounds in regards to my personal life. Therefore when I break a neck in Mortal Kombat,or drawn a person being stabbed to death, or watch a movie with a murder scene, I am not a murderer, I am not killing anyone and I have no intent to do so. These things are simply works of fiction and I treat them as such. God understands fiction and though He may not approve of the content, He does understand fiction.Therefore God will NOT KILL YOU IF YOU READ A COMIC BOOK or HARRY POTTER (although....there are MUCH better things to read than Harry Potter...but I digress)
and God is NOT GOING TO SEND YOU TO HELL BECAUSE YOU LIKE LED ZEPPLIN or JUDAS PRIEST!
_______________________________________________________________________________
In conclusion, I'd like to say that an Atheist life only has benefits if you misrepresent God and The Christian Perspective. If the opposing side of the argument was able to be revealed, the whole thing would be stalemated. And it still is, seeing as how if and when an atheist reads this, I doubt they'll be very satisfied with my answers and I will not delude myself into thinking they will. I merely written this article as an opposition to the video. As an atheist, a lot of my answers are not on par with your thinking and therefore will be discredited and ignored, so I will accept the fact that I have not represented my side very well in your eyes. However for myself and hopefully others will agree that I have done a fairly decent job outlining The Christian Life Style. Thank you all for reading and Peace in Christ.