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Why it's in your best interest to become a religious Christian.

BrianNole09

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May 8, 2005
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I know that religion is despised by most people in America these days. Christianity is dying, Americans are leaving Churches and any form of organized religion.

I know exactly how you feel. I was the same way for 10 years. I only judged religion by its abuses.

I can see now that I was wrong. It's in one's interest to become religious. Your interest. Yes you. I'm talking to you :)

First, consider death and eternity. We're all going to be dead in a few short decades and that will be forever. Meditate on eternity and Heaven. What if there is a Heaven? Shouldn't we want to go there? What if by rejecting God or being indifferent to God, we choose Hell? What would that eternity be like? We have to choose simply because we exist. There is no middle ground.

By becoming a Christian and going to Church, you may have a decent shot at at getting to Heaven. You'll join a community and you'll meet some good people. Of course, Churches have people of all types, but chances are going to make some new friends.

There's a wealth of evidence from social sciences that show the people that go to Church get great benefits from it; they live longer, they're happier, they have less depression, they have more friends, lower suicide rates, less substance abuse, etc etc.

If you try to live the Christian way of loving your neighbor as yourself, you'll contribute more to your family and your community. You'll benefit too because you'll be a better person. Of course we all fail, but you'll at least strive for virtue.

In short, find a church or really any religious organization and go. It will greatly improve your life and may even get you a chance to go to Heaven.

I don't expect many people to agree with me, but I thought I'd give it a shot :)
 
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I don't expect many people to agree with me, but I thought I'd give it a shot :)
The fact is, you NEED people to agree with you. Without others agreeing with you, then you lack the validation you desperately seek for your beliefs. You've always been very obvious about your need for others to agree with you in order for you to have any belief that passes as your own. I'm not sure that you're very self-aware. If you truly feel all of these things that you are trying to sell everyone else, you'd simply experience them, appreciate them, be thankful for them, and love everyone else, and allow them to live the way that works for them.

Instead, you come-off as someone who is really not sure about their "faith" and feels the need to perpetually recruit members and then enjoy insulting anyone when they challenge you.
 
The fact is, you NEED people to agree with you. Without others agreeing with you, then you lack the validation you desperately seek for your beliefs. You've always been very obvious about your need for others to agree with you in order for you to have any belief that passes as your own. I'm not sure that you're very self-aware. If you truly feel all of these things that you are trying to sell everyone else, you'd simply experience them, appreciate them, be thankful for them, and love everyone else, and allow them to live the way that works for them.

Instead, you come-off as someone who is really not sure about their "faith" and feels the need to perpetually recruit members and then enjoy insulting anyone when they challenge you.

Penn Gillette an atheist himself has said he regards Christians who do not try to bring people into their faith as disingenous.

Essentially his view is that if you believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are going to go to hell, if you don't try to stop that outcome from occurring then you are dick.

There are a lot of bad ways to try to bring people in, don't get me wrong. But the idea of not recruiting people when you believe they will go to hell if you don't is extremely selfish.

And for the record I agree that Pascal's wager is a bad way. The same argument could be used for many different Gods and it's also fair to argue that someone who's there "just in case" may quite frankly lack true faith and be unsaved anyways.
 
It's in one's interest to become religious. Your interest. Yes you. I'm talking to you :)

The Paschal's Wager and evidence of personal health benefits arguments for attending church are self-interested and self-directed, and seem diametrically opposed to the outward-directed and "faith without evidence" philosophy of Jesus. If you are attending church because you are watching out for yourself, you are doing it wrong, IMHO.

Personally, I lack faith in any deity, but I frequently attend church and related events with my wife because I like to participate in the good work the church does for the needy in the community, and to enjoy the company of some good people.
 
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Penn Gillette an atheist himself has said he regards Christians who do not try to bring people into their faith as disingenous.

Essentially his view is that if you believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are going to go to hell, if you don't try to stop that outcome from occurring then you are dick.

There are a lot of bad ways to try to bring people in, don't get me wrong. But the idea of not recruiting people when you believe they will go to hell if you don't is extremely selfish.
Good for Penn Jillette. I'm not an atheist.

I guess if your religious mythology includes a "Hell", then maybe there's some motivation to recruit. The church created Hell to control people in the first place. So, I can understand how you, or anyone, want to save your brothers and sisters from drowning if the ship is sinking. But, there's no ship, there's no sinking, and there's no Hell. I don't take the Bible literally. I don't even believe the authors of the books of the Bible ever intended for people to take it literally. That's probably why there are countless interpretations OF the Bible.
 
Christianity is not about selling eternal life insurance
policies. Christians are people who believe in Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, as their Savior and Lord.

Christ is their Savior because he died on the cross and
rose from the grave to forgive their sins and share His
victory over death with them. Heaven is the eternal
blessing we receive by faith alone in Christ (John 3:16)

Christ is their Lord because they have committed their
lives to serve Him. Christ becomes their top priority
in life as they live according to His Will for them.
 
Penn Gillette an atheist himself has said he regards Christians who do not try to bring people into their faith as disingenous.

Essentially his view is that if you believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are going to go to hell, if you don't try to stop that outcome from occurring then you are dick.

There are a lot of bad ways to try to bring people in, don't get me wrong. But the idea of not recruiting people when you believe they will go to hell if you don't is extremely selfish.

And for the record I agree that Pascal's wager is a bad way. The same argument could be used for many different Gods and it's also fair to argue that someone who's there "just in case" may quite frankly lack true faith and be unsaved anyways.

I just read a brilliant book about Pascal's Wager by a university Professor. The Wager is widely misunderstood and the Professor addresses all the objections.

It's worth reading.

Amazon product ASIN 0830851364
 
The Paschal's Wager and evidence of personal health benefits arguments for attending church are self-interested and self-directed, and seem diametrically opposed to the outward-directed and "faith without evidence" philosophy of Jesus. If you are attending church because you are watching out for yourself, you are doing it wrong, IMHO.

Personally, I lack faith in any deity, but I frequently attend church and related events with my wife because I like to participate in the good work the church does for the needy in the community, and to enjoy the company of some good people.

I don't believe there's anything wrong with self interest. Jesus commanded us to love ourselves.

If we had no self interest, we'd die because we wouldn't eat or take care of ourselves, etc.
 
Could we get this in @LuteHawk form?

shot-ribbon-justify.png
 
I know that religion is despised by most people in America these days. Christianity is dying, Americans are leaving Churches and any form of organized religion.

I know exactly how you feel. I was the same way for 10 years. I only judged religion by its abuses.

I can see now that I was wrong. It's in one's interest to become religious. Your interest. Yes you. I'm talking to you :)

First, consider death and eternity. We're all going to be dead in a few short decades and that will be forever. Meditate on eternity and Heaven. What if there is a Heaven? Shouldn't we want to go there? What if by rejecting God or being indifferent to God, we choose Hell? What would that eternity be like? We have to choose simply because we exist. TThere is no middle ground.

By becoming a Christian and going to Church, you may have a decent shot at at getting to Heaven. You'll join a community and you'll meet some good people. Of course, Churches have people of all types, but chances are going to make some new friends.

There's a wealth of evidence from social sciences that show the people that go to Church get great benefits from it; they live longer, they're happier, they have less depression, they have more friends, lower suicide rates, less substance abuse, etc etc.

If you try to live the Christian way of loving your neighbor as yourself, you'll contribute more to your family and your community. You'll benefit too because you'll be a better person. Of course we all fail, but you'll at least strive for virtue.

In short, find a church or really any religious organization and go. It will greatly improve your life and may even get you a chance to go to Heaven.

I don't expect many people to agree with me, but I thought I'd give it a shot :)
I would say the best advantage is going to heaven instead of hell. That's really the key to the benefits program.
 
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I just read a brilliant book about Pascal's Wager by a university Professor. The Wager is widely misunderstood and the Professor addresses all the objections.

It's worth reading.


Can you break it down for me in sort of the reader's digest version.

My understanding of Pascal's wager is that someone is covering their bases, going to church and "believing" in Jesus just in case it's real. That doesn't seem like a true faith to me. I believed God was real and so the rest followed. Pascals wager seems to be "Well I don't know if it's real or not but if it is, I better be on Jesus's side."

Seems overly practical.
 
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It becomes difficult to ignore God when you realize
that He created the universe and everything in it.
God is the Almighty and Majestic Creator who gives
us the air to breathe and food to eat in order to sustain
our body. He also controls the Sun, Moon, and Stars,
makes trees and grass grow, and sends the rain and
snow. He created day and night as well as Spring,
Summer, Fall, and Winter. We have an awesome God.
 
Can you break it down for me in sort of the reader's digest version.

My understanding of Pascal's wager is that someone is covering their bases, going to church and "believing" in Jesus just in case it's real. That doesn't seem like a true faith to me. I believed God was real and so the rest followed. Pascals wager seems to be "Well I don't know if it's real or not but if it is, I better be on Jesus's side."

Seems overly practical.

Pascal was writing during the period of the Enlightenment when people were abandoning Christianity, much like they are today in our country.

Pascal invented probability theory and he also invented roulette machines. So, he used gambling as an argument since gambling was popular at the time.

Pascal was just trying to argue that there's a lot to gain by being a Christian and not that much to lose. It makes perfect sense if you believe that God made us because He loves us and he wants us to live with Him forever. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy since God wants us to be happy.

In other chapters of the book, the author gives reasons why Christianity is true such as evidence for Jesus and the resurrection.

I think Pascal's wager is a very powerful argument. It's not the end game of deep piety and love of God, it's just a starting point for a skeptic.
 
It becomes difficult to ignore God when you realize
that He created the universe and everything in it.
God is the Almighty and Majestic Creator who gives
us the air to breathe and food to eat in order to sustain
our body. He also controls the Sun, Moon, and Stars,
makes trees and grass grow, and sends the rain and
snow. He created day and night as well as Spring,
Summer, Fall, and Winter. We have an awesome God.
He did? Did HE do that? What else does He do? Does he lift the seat when He pees in the heavenly toilet?

He, Him, His, Father...

This religion is so gender-biased and humanistic it amazes me. Limiting "GOD" to a human male seems to really lack the creative potential that we're given.
 
Pascal was writing during the period of the Enlightenment when people were abandoning Christianity, much like they are today in our country.

Pascal invented probability theory and he also invented roulette machines. So, he used gambling as an argument since gambling was popular at the time.

Pascal was just trying to argue that there's a lot to gain by being a Christian and not that much to lose. It makes perfect sense if you believe that God made us because He loves us and he wants us to live with Him forever. There's nothing wrong with wanting to be happy since God wants us to be happy.

In other chapters of the book, the author gives reasons why Christianity is true such as evidence for Jesus and the resurrection.

I think Pascal's wager is a very powerful argument. It's not the end game of deep piety and love of God, it's just a starting point for a skeptic.

I disagree that God wants us to be happy at least in the earlthy sense.

Perhaps a sense of peace in everything because of him. But the disciples didn't see much earthly happiness. Many of God's greatest followers didn't see much earthly happiness.

"God wants me to be happy" is something I hear before someone commits sin quite a bit.
 
It becomes difficult to ignore God when you realize
that He created the universe and everything in it.
God is the Almighty and Majestic Creator who gives
us the air to breathe and food to eat in order to sustain
our body. He also controls the Sun, Moon, and Stars,
makes trees and grass grow, and sends the rain and
snow. He created day and night as well as Spring,
Summer, Fall, and Winter. We have an awesome God.

Prove it.
 
Penn Gillette an atheist himself has said he regards Christians who do not try to bring people into their faith as disingenous.

Essentially his view is that if you believe that people who don't believe in Jesus are going to go to hell, if you don't try to stop that outcome from occurring then you are dick.
Gillette is militantly atheistic. His argument makes no sense. I'm sure HE knows people who do things that are likely bad for them. I doubt he intervenes in their lives. For that matter, his BMI is likely a bit high. Should I evangelize diet/exercise to him?

'Course, he'd just say, "Well, I KNOW I'm a dick!"
 
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