I read of a conversation the other day between two men. The first claimed he was an atheist. The second replied:
It may be of no concern to you what my opinion of that statement is, but I would like to ask you one question. I know from the [Bible] that a man who says there is no God is a fool, [i] and in the [original text] this means that he is insane. Now the question is this: Were you telling the truth when you said you did not believe that there is a God, for I want to know whether you are crazy or a liar.[ii]
What about you? Do you think there is a God?
Ahhh..."The Golden Rule." Now there's a principle to live by--one that Jesus taught. The rule that summed up all of the "rules" (Law) that Moses taught which he claims came from God.
I appreciate the argument, and didn't notice the tone. But I wonder what's so bad about believing in God?
Posted by: sharon | September 19, 2007 at 07:06 AM
The one hard and fast rule that I can think of is "the Golden Rule". In many ways it renders the rest superfluous. I come from a religious background. I know how deep that teaching goes. I know how important it is.
I want to apologise for being flippant. I regretted it as soon as I hit send (and then there was a crash, and it somehow got sent again). I guess I just wanted to point out that a belief like the one in God, when taken out of religion, is a pretty good indicator of either childishness, or insanity. I apologise for the tone, not the argument.
I don't believe in God anymore. I believe that if Jesus existed, he was a pretty smart guy. So was the Buddha. And Lao Tse. An Confucius. And Moses and Abraham, etc. And what they all said, when you get right down to it was, "Be nice to each other."
I wasn't. I'm sorry.
Posted by: Brett | September 18, 2007 at 08:21 AM
Brett, thanks for that insight. I understand why you would choose not to believe the Bible. Are there any others' teachings you think worthy of application to your life?
Posted by: sharon | September 18, 2007 at 06:59 AM
Atheists don't care what the Bible says.
However, we suspect people who have imaginary friends are insane.
Posted by: Brett | September 17, 2007 at 03:04 PM
Atheists don't care what the Bible says.
However, we suspect people who have imaginary friends are insane.
Posted by: Brett | September 17, 2007 at 03:02 PM