Posted on 05/13/2007 4:22:19 AM PDT by Kaslin
Paul (not the lead singer of the Beatles, but the apostle Paul) states that God has made Himself known, via creation, to all men. According to the apostle, God’s revealed Himself not just to Christians and to Jews, but to every one everywhere (see Romans 1:18-21).
This means that from Jo-Jo the Brazilian monkey boy, to the Cameroon pygmies, to the whiny lesbian agnostic smoking clove cigarettes at Starbucks, to the beer swillin’ dillweeds (What’s up, dudes? I’ll see after I pen this column! Keep ‘em cold.), to the brooding British atheists, all people know God exists—even if they can’t really put a finger on some of the finer points of His person.
Yes, through what has been made, God has plastered on the souls of earth’s citizenry the general revelation that He’s present. In addition, they also know when they’re being a jack ass and when they’re being cool (more on that next week).
I know the above 411 hurts the atheists to hear, seeing that they’ve staked so much of their imago on God’s non-existence. But c’mon, you know there’s Someone “out there,” so cut the crap, shave your goatee and find some other way to pick up chicks—okay, James Dean?
Look, if Paul’s right and people know that they know Him (even if it’s in some dull sense of the word), why do some trip over themselves and tie their brains in knots in order to curb this knowledge? Why do people go nuts looking for loopholes and supposed contradictions in the scripture, hypocrisies within the church and some shared semblance to an ape in order to convince themselves that God’s not here, there or anywhere and never has been nor ever will be?
Is it because . . .
They are Johnny Quest truth seekers looking to answer man’s $64,000 question?
They are evolutionary luminaries uncommonly endowed with more smarts than us poor cattle and are here to help us club foot our way up the Darwinian ladder and away from such primal fairy tales? Or is it simply because . . .
The existence of God, His standards and a day of personal accountability really, really, jacks with their efforts at autonomy and their chances of getting laid tonight?
The apostle Paul states it’s the latter.
Atheists, according to Santo Pablo, have suppressed the truth because God really cramps their style. It’s hard to persistently indulge the appetites of the flesh if there is a holy God to whom you must give account. The truth is that all men, who have not bowed their knee to God and His way, hate Him and are intrinsically geared against God. (I know that’s tight, but it’s right)
Jesus put it forcefully up fallen humanity’s tailpipe when He exposed why men reject the knowledge of God when He said, “Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. For everyone who does evils hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (Jn. 3.19-20).
This is easy math, folks: A man who has no remorse and thus no desire to repent from his sins is probably not going to be a big advocate for the existence, person and work of God.
You know that all the various no-God arguments—which, to be sure, are fun to debate and write about and blah, blah, blah—actually stem from the root of the atheist’s refusal to curtsy to what he already internally knows is true. It is this denial and refusal to embrace the general knowledge of God given through creation that officially pisseth off the Lord thy God and puts the atheist in a precarious position. My advice to my atheist buddies is this: you’d better pray to God that you’re right and that He doesn’t exist—because if you’re wrong, eternity is going to be rough.
To be continued . . .
Doug Giles is the creator and host of The Clash radio shows, winners of seven Silver Microphone Awards and two Communicator Awards in the last three years, and a contributing columnist on Townhall.com.
I’ll take love from most anyone. Love is just dandy. God’s a madman. I don’t want anything from him. But I don’t believe he exists, so it’s not even anything I have to consider one way or the other.
Because most people accept religion while in prison. Dope.
.
Mind if I ask you a question..?
Have you ever LOVED someone so deeply that you had the feeling that you couldn’t live without them...?
Well, if that’s the way the LOVE is,
and it is..?
And if GOD is LOVE,
and He is..?
Then doesn’t it just naturally follow that...
...He LOVES you so much,
...that He has the Feeling that
...He cannot live without...
...YOU..?
For, you see,
...YOU really cannot miss...
............with LOVE.
.
You would think mistakenly.
The most radical of this generation are usually the ones who grew up apart from ‘religion’. Whether that means they had no churchy upbringing, or their parents were Christians who didn’t act like religious assclowns- the result is the same: they love Jesus and people more than traditions and rules.
Thanks for noticing. I’m just here to offend the atheists, religious control freaks and the grammar police! :)
Next thing you know, I’ll start misspellign words.
Well there is only one. Of course, man has been creating his own gods for all his history.
Atheists aren't any different. It's just a matter of semantics. They have their own creation myths -- the universe existed unchanged forever, or there is a infinite multitude of universes so random chance can explain our existance or whatever.
They have their own messiahs and saints from whence they get their values. For awhile Marx sufficed for some and Freud for others. Both are now pretty much on history's ash heap.
Regardless, you missed the point. Atheists aren't anything new, although most probably think they are.
Wrong, The survey was of prisoners as the were coming in, not of those who have been there.
See, Barna's Ethnic Groups Differ Substantially On Matters of Faith
The races break down as Atheist or Agnostic as follows
Black 5%
Hispanic 7%
White 12%
Asian 20%
Now put the incarceration rate of each racial group next to that list and tell me if it matches up or not
God isn't love. He doesn't exhibit any conventional loving behavior. He doesn't behave like a loving parent. He doesn't act like a loving friend. He doesn't act like a loving spouse.
I'll bite... why do you think that God is love? He knew, according to the stories of the bible, from the day he created the universe that Jessica Lunsford would be kidnapped and raped and buried alive. He flipped the switch on his creation machine anyway. He's not a nice guy. He made a bet with Satan and basically had a hand in the death of Job's 10 kids from that bet. He's got all sorts of character flaws. A rap sheet too long to elaborate further on. We wouldn't elect this guy President and you want to worship him.
I understand why people worship him-- it's the reason that alcoholics like their whiskey: it makes them feel good. And I understand, really and seriously I do, that there are people who are so screwed up that they need that kind of crutch like their last breath. But, I'm totally okay with dealing with reality myself. I don't need a reason like fear of eternal damnation to be a nice guy.
Psalm 14:1 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Psalm 14
For the director of music. Of David.
1 The fool [a] says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.
Start with Numbers 31 (Where you can also throw in human sacrifice), Judges 19-21, Hosea 13 and the whole book of Joshua for starters.
God commands us to do good and not to do evil. What if the command God gave was "I take pleasure in your suffering. Make your neighbor suffer and you might not suffer as much as you would otherwise?" Pretty horrifying, huh.
He knew, according to the stories of the bible, from the day he created the universe
Scripture tells us to pray "thy will be done". Since we have to petition for it, it doesn't seem like it's such a sure thing, does it?
And why do you think you are a "nice guy"?
That was to Molech, specifically denounced by God.
... And I predicted your bringing up Joshua.
“Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.” — Thomas Jefferson
The Psalmist is not engaging in name calling, rather He is describing the mental state of a person who would believe such a thing. Reason is against the Atheist. He cannot account for the world around him.
God doesn't follow his own advice so he's a hypocrite. His followers, like most humans, are pretty loving and giving people. God clearly takes pleasure in suffering or else he wouldn't have worked so hard at making sure there was plenty of it (or else he's a bumbling idiot who had no idea about the consequences of his actions). It reminds me of a South Park episode where the Catholic priest delivers this sermon:
It is sometimes hard, in times like these, to understand God's way. Why would he allow nine innocent people to be run down in the prime of their lives by a senior citizen who, perhaps, shouldn't be driving? It is then that we must understand, God's sense of humor is very different from our own. He does not laugh at the simple "man walks into a bar" joke. No, God needs complex irony and subtle farcical twists that seem macabre to you and me. All that we can hope for is that God got his good laugh and a tragedy such as this will never happen again.
There is a ridiculous amount of evidence that we are alone in the universe, that there is no supreme being who cares for us or about us. The only "evidence" is that people conclude on our paltry ability to examine the universe at this present date that the most plausible explanation is that some supernatural entity was responsible for everything, and that doesn't even narrow down anything about who god is or what he wants from us.
The Bible nails it on the head. I call that "evidence."
Jessica Lunsford prayed to be saved at the various moments of her last moments on earth. Let's say she prayed for God's will to be done. Does that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? That God's will was for Jessica to die in such an over-the-top horrible way? Let's say she didn't pray for God's will to be done somehow. Why would that even matter? Would it matter to you if you were God? This world isn't wondrously and intelligently designed, unless God is a crazy person-- like a guy who creates a wondrously and intelligently designed bear trap, where we are the bears. There is absolutely no reason-- NONE!-- for God to create smallpox and ebola and Yersinia pestis if he loves us in any way. No reason to have tsunamis and tornadoes and hurricanes and earthquakes-- not for a designer as intelligent as God. What does any of that have to do with free will? Why does it have anything to do with God's will?
And why do you think you are a "nice guy"?
I can be not so nice, too, to people who want to be a-holes to me.
So, you're either a fool or you believe what Hillary says you should believe. Go ahead, make your decision.
Science does an excellent job of doing just that. Do we have all the answers, yet? Of course, not. Our technology is limited, but our understanding of the universe increases exponentially year after year. Your religion doesn't explain anything about the universe any better than the explanation that a bird named Nyx hatched a golden egg that started this crazy world a-spinnin' and you think that explanation is ridiculous.
The guy who killed Jessica Lunsford was a human being. The ones who ran Dachau were human beings. The same goes for the gulags. Caesar was a human being. Why do you think most humans are pretty loving and giving people? What, you live among Christians or in Christian culture or something?
There is a ridiculous amount of evidence that we are alone in the universe,
Good. You understand there are no ETs and that Earth is a privileged planet. As far as things beyond the material, any thinking person would assume the supernatural.
The author makes God out to be far more petty than seems likely.
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