Without going into too much detail, politics (and only rarely) seems the only other thing which can unite a group to common action in so dynamic a fashion.
Who can trust politics to accomplish anything? They promise the world and deliver a few pebbles. What use is a group united by empty promises?
That we are charming and incorrigible rascals?
Of course.
You might have misunderstood me there. I don't know. That's why I'm an atheist. I leave the knowing to others.
I don't trust "others" to know anything for me....I have to know for myself, and not just take someone's word for it. If it makes no sense to me I can't accept it. If I can't explain it to myself, I can't expect anyone else to understand it.
I could say the same about various religions. And following them all is ridiculous and self defeating in any case. So I make my best choice based on the evidence to hand. Suffice to say it's not a topic I've neglected to think about.
I must admit, the beliefs I was raised with did nothing to inspire my confidence in God but when I was of an age to investigate for myself, I was hungry for knowledge, not doctrine or performance. I knew a little about God (sort of) but I didn't "know" God. Someone introduced me to him and I realized that He was a complete stranger to me, even though I thought I had known him all my life. Learning about him and forming a relationship with him has been an awesome experience. I am sad that unbelievers never get to even an introduction. Too many form their opinions of him from others who have never met him....often pawing over negative parts of the Bible as a reason for rejecting him.
It also helps if you are a spiritual person to begin with.....I am not sure why some people are more spiritually minded than others.
Maybe its in the genes?
I have always believed in God and always respected his word. Even when I lost faith in the church, I never threw the baby out with the bathwater.
I chose that example because they are largely atheists. To be clear though, I find state-sponsored atheism odious.
I find governmental interference in worship that is harmless and peaceful to be odious. Persecuting people who are law abiding and non violent makes no sense, yet my brotherhood still experience hardship and imprisonment in some countries for no apparent reason other than the fact that they are preachers who won't fight in their wars.
But anyway, that second daughter born in China won't be Christened. She may just get a formaldehyde injection in her skull, but assuming she lives, she won't hear the message of God in the way that I have. Say she makes it to 20, and dies an atheist. What does your God do with her? Is it the same as what he'd do with me?
The Bible holds out the promise of a resurrection for all who have died prior to the judgment. Death is the highest penalty anyone can pay for any crime.
According to the Bible, death is death (an unconscious condition) but it isn't a permanent condition. Jesus and his apostles performed resurrections and healing to demonstrate what will take place when God's kingdom will take back control of earth's rulership. In Eden, there was no natural cause of death. We were never designed for heaven, we were designed for this earth and the earth was designed for us. This is why evolution is such nonsense to me. The symbiosis we can observe is no accident. The natural cycles of the earth are geared to support life....this to me is obvious.
Water is the most miraculous substance on the planet, yet we take it completely for granted.
There is not a drop of water present today that wasn't here when the earth was created.....it is just constantly recycled. Nature is a recycler......only man, who alienated himself from the education provided by his Maker, is a polluter. That is soon to be rectified.
God judges the dead on the condition of their heart, not just on their former conduct or beliefs. If someone has never had an opportunity to lean about him, he will not punish them, but he will educate them so that they can choose to serve him or not.
Metaphorically I like to let my kids fall. They learn from it. .
As the quintessential parent, God allows us to experience the consequences of our own actions.
Experience is the best teacher.
He could be better looking though.....
The law of gravity is a good example I think. Disobey this law and it will become painfully and immediately obvious that you don't flout this law and get away with it. The consequences can range from bruising or a bit of skin off...to a serious injury...or even death. God will not prevent the consequence. If death results, it is reversible in the new world to come, hence we don't see it as permanent loss.
Tragic as the loss is, we see it as a temporary separation. The dead sleep peacefully in their graves, waiting for the call to return to life. God never meant for families to be separated.
But witholding salvation from them if they didn't worship me is fairly extreme on the tough love scale if you ask me
God never withholds salvation from anyone. We withhold it from ourselves by our own choices.
If God lays down his rules for life (which are very reasonable) and tells his children to follow these rules in order to be happy and to enjoy a peaceful life, but then warns them that if they go down the other track, in order to do things their way, he says that road end in certain death. If we choose it anyway, knowing where it leads.....whose fault is our choice?
