An anonymous reader brought up a good point regarding my earlier post on Terri Schiavo and the blasphemy of doubting Christians. That reader asked:
A family member is in your house trying to kill you. If we assume you're a Christian and are going to heaven, should we try to stop him from killing you, just because you are going to a better place, or should we stand idly by and watch you die at the hand of someone who claims to "love you."
Upon writing this, the writer obviously thinks that they has us stumped and trembling. Why? Because he/she was responding based on gut feelings rather than logically to an obvious question of faith. Why am I so callous in my description of this person, because their point falls completely within the realm of what I was saying. In short, my answer is a resounding YES, if I believed that I was going to Heaven upon death, I should be perfectly happy with someone murdering me. Naturally, the issue of suicide comes up which is a definite no-no. So this could not be a case of me allowing myself to be murdered, but rather one in which I am unable to prevent it. Perhaps if I was unconscious or sleeping or something. But as long as I am blameless in my own death and am a good Christian who believes that I'm going to Heaven, then I'd be a fool to want my family member to stop the murder.
To argue this better I will use a different analogy. How's this:
What if you believed that if you allowed yourself to be punched one time in the stomach by a professional boxer, you would win a week-long all-expense paid trip for you and your family to Disney World, along with $500 a day spending money. No serious damage would be caused, just a quick pain which would dissipate within a few minutes. This isn't a very good analogy, mind you, because Heaven is supposedly infinitely better than Disney World, so no real comparison can be made. And if Disney isn't your cup of tea, I will gladly change this to a brothel or any other earthly delight of your choosing. But if this was the offer and you believed it to be valid and secure, would you agree to do it?
Of course you would. It would be foolish to turn down such an offer. People do far worse things on shows like Fear Factor with no definite reward lined-up. The only way that you'd turn down this offer is if you did not believe that you would get the reward. But a true believer in this scenario would gladly accept the punch in exchange for Disney World and the cash.
And that is as it is with Heaven. Anyone who believes in Heaven should be perfectly happy to die. Far happier than a game-show winner. After all, the only thing scary about dying is that it's unknown and you don't know what's going to happen. But true Christians supposedly DO know what will happen. So what's the problem? Why do any of them avoid it at all, or fear it, or regret that loved ones faced it? I understand the selfishness of not wanting to see a loved one go, but we're talking Heaven, so what's the problem. You should be happy for them. Hell, I don't fear death and I DON'T believe in an afterlife. It's just something that's going to happen and I'd rather keep enjoying things as long as possible, but death itself is no fear. I'd much rather die than live in agony. And Christians should have the added bonus of knowing that they're going to a far better place than Earth could ever be. So why avoid death?
They're not allowed to kill themselves or allow themselves to be needlessly killed, but being murdered should be perfectly acceptable. Even martyrdom is considered to be acceptable, as long as it's for keeping with the faith. Frankly, I can't imagine what the difficulty in understanding this is. Then again, I'm really not a big believer in things that seem unreal or supernatural, and even in the case of the Disney World punch, I would require a legally binding contract of some sort. Perhaps if God had something like that for me to sign...
Anyway, long post short, believers in Heaven should have nothing to fear from death. And because it's possible that Terri Schiavo is in a worse than death scenario of being conscience but entirely unable to communicate or control her physical body, Heaven would be a welcome alternative. And even if she was somehow curable, Heaven would have to be preferable over Earth...for any true believers that is. But it is my belief that there are very few Christians who believe in Heaven at that level, which is why they insist so fervently for justice on Earth and goodwill towards good people. They like to act smug when they suggest that you're going to Hell for living the way that you want to, but when push comes to shove, they'd rather be at Disney World.
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5 comments:
You people just don't get it. What will it take for you to realize that this is a Christian nation and that insulting us will only make things worse for yourselves? We now control Congress, the White House, and will soon control the Supreme Court, along with many state governments. Your persecution of us has only made things worse. Give up now and lets work together to make this nation what it once was. In God We Trust.
Thanks Doug for the words of encouragement. I find it a tad puzzling that persecution is your biggest worry while you yourself admit that most Americans are Christian, and you control most of the government. I guess it's just one of those freak cases of Minority Tyranny, huh.
Beyond that, I wasn't mocking Christians at all. I have no problem with people believing in the hereafter. In fact, I find it somewhat inspiring. I'm not big into believing in things without proof, but that's my own thing.
But I wasn't mocking you. Rather, I was just pointing out the obvious conclusion that one must draw from the belief in Heaven. I've heard a thing or two about Heaven in my time, and all evidence suggests that it's a great place that's far better than anything on Earth. By many accounts, you learn everything and meet your ancestors, and maybe even get to jam out with Jimi and Beethoven (though they might get tired of that quick).
Overall, it really sounds like the place you'd want to be. So why does anyone fear going there, or worry about Mrs. Shaivo going there? If I had my choice, I'd much rather be in Heaven than in her condition on that bed. Heck, I'd rather be in Heaven than anywhere. Unfortunately, I don't believe it's my choice, so I'll just stay here. And as I mentioned in my post, it looks like most Christians have come to that same conclusion themselves.
You don't believe in things without proof? But you're willing to take a gamble that God is Dead? Based on what? Tea leaves? What a joke. You pathetic loosers wouldn't know proof if it smacked you square in the face. Which it has. Look at everything around you. You're surrounded by God's great works. But rather than give him the credit he deserves, you hole away inside yourself and try to take the credit for everything. You owe God everything. But you just pay him back with sarcasm and denial. You jackoffs make me sick. You'll get what's coming to you. That I firmly believe.
I reject your Disney World analogy. We were not put here on this Earth just to be sucked up into Heaven. This isn't a test and it is certainly not a joke. I do not know what God's plan is, but I don't doubt that it is a good.
We are all here to play a part, including Terri Shiavo. We should just strive to fulfill God's will to the best of our ability and hope that it is enough. I pray that you too come to that conclusion. You sound like a good man, but you can always be a better one.
Anon - First off, I wish you people would at least enter some sort of fake name so i can address you better. Like Fred Flintstone or something. If you don't watch it, I'll figure a way to start assigning you names, so you better watch it.
Regarding your demand for proof. As I said before, I am not an atheist. I'm agnostic and there's a big difference. Mainly that I'm right and they're wrong. Atheists positively believe that there is no God. Their's is an active belief of rejection of God. Too often, they limit their criticism to active disbelief in the Christian God, though many others make a point of rejecting all gods.
I am different. I believe that, if there is a god, that it or they are unknowable. Perhaps this is intentional, as many Christians believe, and that proof would negate the power of belief (ie, if God showed himself, it would no longer require belief to love him). Or perhaps he (it/they) just do not want us to know. I don't know. All I do know is that there is no physical proof of any gods on this earth, and so therefore it is impossible to know whether or not there is a god. As such, I claim no opinion on the matter and think that others should do the same, though I have no requirement for them to do so.
And I draw the distinction in that atheism is an active belief in no god, but agnosticism is the absence of any belief. To me, because atheists cannot prove the absence of any gods (which is due to the impossibility of finding negative proof), that atheists are wrong for believing there are no gods. I really believe that all atheists are really agnostic, but their bitterness regarding overbearing Christians makes them choose the path of rejectionism, rather than the more accurate lack of opinion on the subject, as I hold.
Furthermore, I believe that most Christians really believe as I do, and it is only social convention and/or fear of being wrong which prevents them from grasping their true position more clearly. That is often how they themselves present the matter when they suggest that I should believe in God or risk going to Hell. Apparently, they'd prefer if I tricked God into thinking that I believed in him, purely for selfish reasons. I personally believe that, if there is a god, that he wouldn't fall for such a lamebrain ruse and I might just be pissing him off. I also believe that any just god would forgive my doubts, and that I'd rather not be in Heaven with an unjust god. Moreover, that god would prefer that I was honest in my disbelief, rather than lying in my professed adoration. For me, this is the only logical conclusion.
I'm sure most people will disagree with my distinction between the two groupings, but that is likely because they either didn't read through everything that I said, or they simply don't want to see the difference. But, long comment short, that is why I don't require proof for my belief system. I hope that answered your question, but I'm sure you won't find it satisfactory. This might make it as its own blog entry some day, so if you have any comments or corrections, I would appreciate it.
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