Here is an example I like to use. Say it's 30 AD and you and some friends are walking down a street in Jerusalem and a woman comes screaming out of a house yelling My Son..My Son has drowned and is dead! She grabs you and drags you inside.
Inside you see the kid dead as a Mackerel. She begs you to help him. Shes screaming and invoking “God” You go to the kid and slap him. She's still screaming her head off and you are getting pissed. So you hit the brat in the chest! For some reason tou breath in his mouth. And suddenly...The kid coughs up water and breaths!
You must be a “God” You brought this woman's Son back from the dead! Your friends saw you do it. Soon enough you start to buy your own BS. This is how rumors start. And all you did was accidentally perform CPR 2000 before it was invented.
I like to live and let live. If believing gives you strength and hope and happiness then much the better. But it's really just so much nonsense.
:: She grabs you and drags you inside. ::
Impetus?
"Faith is something you believe, that no one in their right mind would believe" - Archie Bunker
That line was written for laughs, but there is so much truth to it. Faith is a choice. You choose to believe because you want to believe despite worldly evidence to the contrary. Once you make the conscience choice to believe, you have to own it 100%.
I struggle with faith as much as the next guy - and I certainly don’t want to get into a debate on the existence of God with you -
Where I typically have a problem with atheists is where they try to snuff out any expression of our traditions..
I like Easter and Christmas - the deeper meaning of both are very much religious and in your heart - but I also really like Christmas lights and Easter Bunnies, decorating trees and such... call me an idiot but it’s really the best time of year and you can see it in peoples faces - regardless of what’s in their heart.
I find most militant atheists to be quite bah humbug and the world they see is makes me think of a grey bleak soviet world with no joy or hope...
my 2 pennies...
Great post. My feelings on the matter are the same as yours.
How do aethiests explain the Shroud of Christ considering...
1. It’s been carbon dated to the time of Christ
2. Pollen unique to that area was found on the shroud
3. Even today, science & technology cannot reproduce the 3D image that was “burned-in” during the “micro big bang” explosion when Christ rose
4. Finally, the utter complexity of human DNA continues to grow in complexity as science advances. To believe our complex DNA evolved from nothing is believing one can put miscellaneous watch parts in a box, shake it up and open the lid to find a Rolex.
I cringe at the idea of don’t worry what my dad said, I’ll take care of things......idea.
When I worked sales I learned that the best way is by story telling.
How about that?
If the Bible is not true, then it’s a fairy tale.
But if true it’s a history book.
Don’t miss the fact that there’s nothing intrinsically deniable in the Bible. By this I mean that in order to claim any part of the Bible is untrue, you must necessarily argue from a starting point of secularism.