Confessions of a Lapsed Atheist

American Thinker ^ | 6/21/2009 | Jenn Q. Public

[MrB]

Your first discipleship responsibility is in your family.

Your defense is right on the money - those who are ignorant of the faith have little ground to stand on when criticizing the faithful. But, he did swerve into a truth.

How many Christians LIVE as if every aspect of what we profess to be true - God’s Word of the Bible - is actually true?

I mean, really, wouldn’t we all live differently if we lived like we TRULY believed in the all powerful, all sovereign God?
Wouldn’t we more adamantly proclaim the Truth if we truly believed that those who didn’t accept it were eternal beings going to spend all of their eternal afterdeath separated from God?

Truly convicting, eh?

[agere_contra]

Some Christians do indeed cross oceans to bear witness to the Gospel of Christ - because God calls them to do this. And some Christians do not: - they are called to live their Christian lives in situ.

As you and many other other avowed Atheists are no futher away than our keyboards, why do we have to cross an ocean to reach you? I mean, you're already reading a religious thread: - why should we get our feet wet?

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

You are making excuses.

Like I said before, true believers would risk EVERYTHING for their god. Otherwise, faith is almost always, if not always, a psychological convenience, and a justification tool.

[50sDad]

Atheism is defined by logic, religious faith by fantasy; and science is real while religion is make believe. Faith, I was taught, requires a willful stifling of reason.

This is the mental barricade that will defeat "Single-Issue-Creationists" from ever sucessfully witnessing to scientific intellectuals. It is better to offer the truth of Christ's sacrifice and show the evidence of an eteranl love than it is to hit people over the head with a six-day creation as the only tool in your tool box.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

How much one is willing to risk losing, in their faith in a god-figure, is inversely proportional to the hypocrisy of their faiths.

[netmilsmom]

>>If they so believe their faith to be the truth, they’d risk even legal consequences, to spread their faith.<<

You are looking at it from an Evangelical POV. They are called to evangelize.
As a Catholic, I believe in free will. My BIL is an atheist. He had the same upbringing and witness as my DH and chose not to be religious. In my mind, he has been told. I have no need to “convince” him, rather I will live a Holy life and show him. That is my witness and I am about as faithful as you get.

The choice is his.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

And some Christians do not: - they are called to live their Christian lives in situ.

Yes, a practical compromise. Because otherwise, it would reduce the pool of believers to handful dozens, or less.

[agere_contra]

We risk nothing.

Please take me at my word when I say we Christians only risk imprisonment, torture, ridicule, confiscation of assets and death.

These are nothing compared with what we gain, which is Christ.

[metmom]

The missionaries I talked off, didn’t merely risk serving a prison term for spreading their beliefs- they risked death.

So, if someone doesn't actually go out and risk death, they're hypocrites and you don't respect them?

Christians are Christians because of who they believe and are NOT answerable to you for their actions.

God is their Judge, not you.

Based on this article and the attitude of atheists on this forum, atheists are just looking for excuses and justification for why they aren't believers. You've corroborated it with your comments so far.

[Nevadan]

re: And what better way to siphon fuel from the Religious Right than to convince Americans that the government is perpetually on the verge of becoming a theocracy?

Excellent point.

[netmilsmom]

>>Like I said before, true believers would risk EVERYTHING for their god. <<

Do you see that you are doing EXACTLY what they are talking about in this article? YOU are defining what you think a Christian should do.

I would risk everything for My Lord. But I have no need to risk everything to save you. You have a choice. Take it or leave it. I will take it and live it.

[50sDad]

Catholics are intellectually inferior even when one shows not to be. We are hinted to be, stupid, idol worshipers, sheep etc.

You are my Christian brother or sister, with whom I agree on the major points of faith, and disagree with on tiny minor traditions. As long as Christ is the cornerstone, what we hang on the walls to decorate are minor quibbles. If we spent less time inside the faith with silly bickering, we would have more time to look outside the faith for our real enemies.

[agere_contra]

Hey, do you see what I did there? I wrote something about the Christian religion, and you read it, and I didn't have to cross an ocean to do it.

[netmilsmom]

>>If we spent less time inside the faith with silly bickering, we would have more time to look outside the faith for our real enemies. <<

Amen Brother!!!!
I have a very religiously mixed family. However, our common bond is our love of God.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Please take me at my word when I say we Christians only risk imprisonment, torture, ridicule, confiscation of assets and death.

That subset of 'we' as per the above classification, is a tiny, tiny proportion. I have my respect for them. For the rest who aren't willing to take up these risks for their faith, it's plain hypocrisy.

These are nothing compared with what we gain, which is Christ.

Yes, you're reinforcing my point.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Your argument is childish. If this were Red China, maybe we'd be willing to break the law. But probably not.

There are other ways to discuss your faith rather than “legal” and “illegal and suffer the consequences.”

We are instructed to abide by the laws of the land we dwell in. Not only to keep ourselves out of jail, but because one little flair of protest followed by incarceration is hardly an effective means of spreading the word.

So, thanks for the poisonous, straw-man argument, but we'll figure out another, legal, method of spreading the word.

But here's where the real deal is:
Your “advice” to Christians comes across like the advice of hardcore Leftist Democrats who keep telling the RNC that they need to be more like them.

You're pushing against a door trying to keep someone out, even if you try to deny it. Your force is against a force you deny.

[metmom]

Like I said before, true believers would risk EVERYTHING for their god.

True believers find out what God requires of them first, before running off half-cocked doing what they THINK He wants.

There's a big difference, one which has clearly escaped your understanding.

Christians aren't Christians only when they fit into your little imaginary *What a Christian is* box.

[MrB]

atheists are just looking for excuses and justification for why they aren't believers. You've corroborated it with your comments so far.

And with previous discussions. I refuse to cast pearls before swine or give what is holy to dogs.

[Tribune7]

bump

[elcid1970]

“Catholics are intellectually inferior.....”

Don’t forget we are also a bunch of Pope-worshipping drunks whose central/southern European roots are suspect.

I have two Evangelical co-workers who have been repeatedly warned by the boss not to proselytize in the workplace. Naturally, I’m their favorite target. They are both convinced that they can overthrow the Vatican in less than an hour after their plane lands in Rome.

Anyway, why are so many atheists (`anti-theists’) so snappish and ill-behaved toward believers? I thought intellectual superiority would confer a certain serenity for having risen one’s self above the superstitious rabble.