, April 2002
This polemic rant (;>) was written in response to an apologetic website.
It is based on an original posted to the GodAndScience Messageboard on 03 April 2002.
GodAndScience's essay "People are Basically Good" - Proof to the Contrary" ends with the following words:
"Evolution does not account for the extremes of our violent behavior, but the Christian worldview fits the data exactly - humans are basically evil until transformed by the renewing power of Jesus Christ."Dwell on that... Humans are evil unless renewed "by Jesus Christ". Damned, therefore, are the two thirds of humans who are not even nominally Christian. Whether they are six months or sixty years old, the Lord God damns them all... Damned, presumably, are those Christians who don't follow the correct creed or denomination.
Of course, most Christians don't believe that entirely... Even GodAndScience teaches, in its page "What will happen to the people who have never heard of Jesus Christ?":
"I know there are many Christians who say that all those who die without faith in Christ will be relegated to spend eternity in Hell - even if they have never heard the gospel. I think scripture suggests otherwise - that we are judged on the basis of what we know and how we act upon it. This is not any sort of ecumenical theology or "all ways lead to God." Those who have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and have refused to believe have rejected Him, and, as such, will fall under the condemnation of God, because they have rejected His provision for our disobedience. Therefore, atheists are still without excuse in rejecting God. Those who perpetrate evil, even without the knowledge of the gospel, will likewise be condemned, since they have violated their God-given conscience. In the same way, those who play the "religion game" of going to church on Sunday, but living apart from a relationship with God, will be condemned."But GodAndScience page "A Loving God Would Not Send Billions of People to Hell, Would He?" leaves us in no doubt:
"At this time in history, there is more evidence demonstrating the existence of God than at any time in the past. Much of that evidence is presented on this site. In addition, there are missionaries throughout the world proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation that He offers as a free gift. Although the gift is "free," it will cost you your sin, selfishness, and pride. Since none of these character traits are allowed into heaven, those who insist upon holding onto these traits cannot enter into heaven, but must be separated from God in a place called hell. Therefore, those who go to hell do so voluntarily, preferring hell to complete submission to a holy and just God."So I, and atheist - along with all agnostics and those of other religions - will go to hell "voluntarily". What's worse, these twisted nasty Christians teach that hell is not a nice place:
"And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name." (Revelation 14:11)Yup, the Bible is extremely clear as to what happens to even those who just merely doubt the wonderful message of hope that Jesus has to offer:
"And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23)But wait a minute - does Christianity really have a monopoly on morality? If so, we'd presumably expect to see every non-christian culture in the world to be a thoroughly evil place...
Strange then, that the morality of the Old Testament is almost exactly the same of the Ancient Egyptians who, the story goes, held them in bondage. The "Ten Commandments", in fact, appear in the much older Egyptian "Book Of The Dead" - all except for the Jewish entreaty to worship only their God... Strange also then, that Jesus's morality in the New Testament mirrors that of the Ancient Greek Philosophers so much that for centuries the Church embraced the pagan Greeks as their own! Even stranger, the supposed central message of Christ to "love thy neighbour" (taken straight from Leviticus 19:18) is echoed in every culture and every religion as what is known as "The Golden Rule".
So, if Christianity can't offer any more morality than any other belief system, what does it have to offer? Nothing - but single minded bullying. You can live the purest life, devoted to others, but if you don't do it with Christ in your heart, well too bad... In fact, the Bible is clear that any Christian who even gives the time of day to a non-believer is a "partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John 1:7-11).
Of course, to be fair, it is only Fundamentalist Christians who see the Bible as being literally true. The mainstream Catholic and Protestant denominations do attempt to be more inclusive, and less damning, of others. But in the final analysis, there can be no doubt that the single biggest driver of the educated from Christianity is the insanity of literal Biblical morality. Fundamentalism - in all its forms, religious and secular, is the biggest danger our world has ever faced.
See here for more essays on this subject.
From an original posted on the GodAndScience Messageboard on 03 April 2002.
