Freethought & Rationalism Archive

fatherphil · 04-09-2003, 10:40 PM

well rhea, it could be weak to go ahead and do something that you know would not be in the child's best interest, ie concieving.

gee mike, i didn't realize it was so simple a question. let me ask you to qualify it a bit before i provide a clinical yes or no answer. is the hell he would face worse than the life he would live?

Rhea · 04-10-2003, 05:44 AM

Quote:

it could be weak to go ahead and do something that you know would not be in the child's best interest, ie concieving

Ah, okay. Yeah, I agree with you there.

Quote:

is the hell he would face worse than the life he would live?

My take is that the life would be finite and the hell would be eternal torment. So that would make it a big "yes" there.

Littledrummerboy · 04-10-2003, 06:21 AM

This question is nothing short of ridiculous. You could "what if" the night away. I am a Christian, a Christian very soon planning conceiving, but I cannot adequately answer this question. The question could be posed, "what if you knew your child was going to get kidnapped and tortured for ten years before he/she was brutally murdered?" Or, "What if your child was born with four arms and three eyes?" Come on, if you want dialouge with Christians, make it relevent. Thanks

Stephen :notworthy

braces_for_impact · 04-10-2003, 06:35 AM

It IS perfectly evident. But I notice whenever a hypothetical situation like this comes up suddenly the theists don't want to play. Then they usually use false analogies (already have a few), when usually, they're the first to jump into a discussion with a hypothetical situation. How many times have we heard "Well it's like you have a child, you wouldn't want the child to make a wrong decision and go unpunished would you?"

I think you can see exactly where this is leading and you can see how absurd the idea is.

It's just like my question that never gets an answer...but I'll save that for later as I don't want to hijack the thread.

Soul Invictus · 04-10-2003, 06:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mike_decock
Let's say you are married and you decide you want to have a child. Before you conceive, you are granted knowledge of the future. You know beyond a doubt that having a child at this point in time will result in the child rejecting Christianity and going to Hell.

Would you still conceive or choose not to?

-Mike...

Mike..I've asked this also, to no avail...you won't get any replies...or relevant ones at least

good try though

wildernesse · 04-10-2003, 07:43 AM

Angrillori, there are two Christian responses in this thread to the question.

mike, I didn't realize that my answer was really qualified. NO. How does that suit you for unqualified.

braces_for_impact, I answered the question earlier. How does that fit in with "theists don't want to play".

and Soul Invictus, sorry that my reply wasn't relevant to the question--I see now that it totally was unrelated to the OP.

Come on, people. There isn't an overwhelming number of Christians on this board to begin with. While I try to respond to most threads that ask for Christian input, maybe other people don't. Maybe the thread has only been up for two days.

It drives me crazy when a Christian question is posted, and because it isn't 4 pages long by sundown, Christians are obviously "afraid" to answer the question. I mean--I have to work and sleep and not be attached to the PC some parts of the day. This (as theists are often reminded) is a secular board that promotes rational thought and is a gathering place for non-theists. Is it any wonder you don't have a multitude of Christians flocking to your threads? Give me a break.

--tibac

mike_decock · 04-10-2003, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Littledrummerboy
This question is nothing short of ridiculous. You could "what if" the night away. I am a Christian, a Christian very soon planning conceiving, but I cannot adequately answer this question. The question could be posed, "what if you knew your child was going to get kidnapped and tortured for ten years before he/she was brutally murdered?" Or, "What if your child was born with four arms and three eyes?" Come on, if you want dialouge with Christians, make it relevent. Thanks

Stephen :notworthy

It is not a ridiculous question. If it was revealed to you today that your child would not be with you in Heaven if you conceived at this point in time, would you conceive?

I know that we, as humans, have to "take our chances" because we don't have knowledge of the future. However, since foreknowledge and prophecy are accepted concepts in the Christian Faith, it is not a ridiculous scenario.

-Mike...

mike_decock · 04-10-2003, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fatherphil
gee mike, i didn't realize it was so simple a question. let me ask you to qualify it a bit before i provide a clinical yes or no answer. is the hell he would face worse than the life he would live?

I'm sorry, it's a "technically" simple question and when I posted it on a Christian forum, nobody answered it.

Most Christians conceive of Hell as a place of eternal torment while some, like wildernesse, do not.

Instead of "going to Hell", we can substitute "will not join you in Heaven for eternity".

If there are any other aspects of the scenario you would like me to qualify, I'd be more than happy to do so.

-Mike...

mike_decock · 04-10-2003, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by wildernesse
mike, I didn't realize that my answer was really qualified. NO. How does that suit you for unqualified.

Thanks. Since your beliefs don't include the doctrine of endless punishment or exclusivity of salvation, the question wasn't really intended for you. Most Christians I know believe in both of those notions (I grew up believing them), and it always troubled me.

-Mike...

malookiemaloo · 04-10-2003, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by mike_decock
Let's say you are married and you decide you want to have a child. Before you conceive, you are granted knowledge of the future. You know beyond a doubt that having a child at this point in time will result in the child rejecting Christianity and going to Hell.

Would you still conceive or choose not to?

-Mike...

Yes.

m

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

04-09-2003, 10:40 PM	#11
fatherphil Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: burbank Posts: 758	well rhea, it could be weak to go ahead and do something that you know would not be in the child's best interest, ie concieving. gee mike, i didn't realize it was so simple a question. let me ask you to qualify it a bit before i provide a clinical yes or no answer. is the hell he would face worse than the life he would live?

04-10-2003, 06:21 AM	#13
Littledrummerboy Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Sioux Falls Posts: 13	This question is nothing short of ridiculous. You could "what if" the night away. I am a Christian, a Christian very soon planning conceiving, but I cannot adequately answer this question. The question could be posed, "what if you knew your child was going to get kidnapped and tortured for ten years before he/she was brutally murdered?" Or, "What if your child was born with four arms and three eyes?" Come on, if you want dialouge with Christians, make it relevent. Thanks Stephen :notworthy

04-10-2003, 06:35 AM	#14
braces_for_impact Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: In a nondescript, black helicopter. Posts: 6,637	It IS perfectly evident. But I notice whenever a hypothetical situation like this comes up suddenly the theists don't want to play. Then they usually use false analogies (already have a few), when usually, they're the first to jump into a discussion with a hypothetical situation. How many times have we heard "Well it's like you have a child, you wouldn't want the child to make a wrong decision and go unpunished would you?" I think you can see exactly where this is leading and you can see how absurd the idea is. It's just like my question that never gets an answer...but I'll save that for later as I don't want to hijack the thread.

04-10-2003, 07:43 AM	#16
wildernesse Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 1,578	Angrillori, there are two Christian responses in this thread to the question. mike, I didn't realize that my answer was really qualified. NO. How does that suit you for unqualified. braces_for_impact, I answered the question earlier. How does that fit in with "theists don't want to play". and Soul Invictus, sorry that my reply wasn't relevant to the question--I see now that it totally was unrelated to the OP. Come on, people. There isn't an overwhelming number of Christians on this board to begin with. While I try to respond to most threads that ask for Christian input, maybe other people don't. Maybe the thread has only been up for two days. It drives me crazy when a Christian question is posted, and because it isn't 4 pages long by sundown, Christians are obviously "afraid" to answer the question. I mean--I have to work and sleep and not be attached to the PC some parts of the day. This (as theists are often reminded) is a secular board that promotes rational thought and is a gathering place for non-theists. Is it any wonder you don't have a multitude of Christians flocking to your threads? Give me a break. --tibac

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.