Mr Average

Hello Everyone,

I have been thinking....

Lets say that Mr Smith of London, England who is a 40 year old married man with children, gradually and inexorably turns to Christianity. He has an old bible which he found in the attic, when he moved into his house. One day, during a spring clean, he picks said book up ands begins to read. Over the course of the next 6 months, he works his way through the New Testament and begins on the old. A lot of what is written, puzzles him, but a fair bit sinks in, and for the first time since he was much younger, he thinks he believes in a creator again. His interest grows, he keeps reading, begins to pray and contacts his local church. Mr Smith is embraced warmly by the church, and three months later he confirms his commitment to Christ by being baptised and asking Jesus to save him.

His wife, whose family is Catholic, is glad to see the new sparkle in her husbands eyes, and starts to visit church herself.

Over the next few years, their faith deepens. They spend a lot time in church related activities, and start helping out in a local hostel for the homeless, in their spare time. Mr Smith's children find it all a bit strange, but are impressed none-the-less with their parents commitment to the needy.

My questions then...

Is there *anything* wrong in your opinion with Mr Smith having his faith and believing in God?

Even if his faith is based on falseness and exaggeration, does this actually matter, if it makes him feel better about his life and the world?

If he harms no one, and only evangelises by living as an example of Christ, not haranguing people, is he doing any harm?

If believing in Christ, or Allah etc can lead to this sort of peace of mind, why do so many of you constantly knock Christians? Or is it that you are only knocking the ones that try and evangelise in too forthright manner?

Thanks.

ex-xian

...moving to GRD...

Plognark

Holy crap, if all theists had that mindset i'd be happier than a pig in sh*t. I'll speak for myself, but if people of faith could maintain a quiet, dignified belief this world would be great.

Alas, such is not he case. Nor can it ever be, IMHO. Issues of abortion, capital punishment, homosexuality, environmentalism, education, etc. tend to be skewed away from scientific data and real world observations by religion. This is one of the reasons I find it so dangerous.

I don't have a problem with a belief in god; it's all the oppressive and dangerous dogma that comes with the territory that scares me and keeps me awake when I try to sleep at night.

Godless Wonder

If a man picks up a book about leprechauns, then seeks out other books on leprechauns, collects a library of information about leprechauns, buys odd laser equipment for measuring the distance to rainbows, starts setting off into the green meadows of Ireland on solitary leprechaun hunting expeditions on sunny days after rainshowers, collects "fossilized leprechaun tracks," and eats Lucky Charms for breakfast, but otherwise keeps to himself about his leprechaun belief, is anything wrong?

Greger

That'd be ok by me. What Godless Wonder wrote would also be ok by me, if it made the person happy and gave him a sense of meaning in his life.

I probably wouldn't want anything to do with any of the two people though, since I don't like having irrational people around. I find irrational people hard to deal with.

I wouldn't want any of the two to run my country either.

Mr Average

I would say no, nothing is *wrong* at all. What would you say? Is it "wrong" for a man to lead *his* life, his way, without harming others? If it is, please elaborate.

Howard

Mr. Average,
Come visit the US for a while and see what non-Christians are up against�
Teaching of Creationism as if it were real science
Faith-base initiatives
Prayer and Bible reading in school
Posting of the Ten Commandments and other religious icons
Religion-based homophobia
Christian invocations at public events
A President who values only �people of faith�
Public displays of religion by athletes, entertainers, etc.
Proselytizing evangelicals permeating TV and radio
And of course the wails of persecution whenever someone objects to Christians shoving their beliefs down everyone else�s throat

Don�t you think we have reason to be resentful?

Autonemesis

Christianity rarely leads to that sort of peace of mind. I don't think anyone here constantly knocks Christians. It's a part-time hobby.

Rhea

It's the "or".

Christianity does not lead to this sort of peace of mind for many christians here.


Take the pharmacist who refused to fill a prescription for emergency contraceptive to a rape victim because of his Christianity. That's hardly benign.

Starboy

I suppose the man has some explaining to do to friends and family but if they are okay with it then its fine by me. It's when the man seeks tax exempt status for his Church of the Leprechaun and then tries to get the government to fund his Leprechaun based initiatives all the while trying to get the history of the great Leprechaun taught in schools, the rules of the Leprechauns posted in public places and observations about Leprechauns place in public oaths, functions, on the money, tries to stop scientific research into rainbows because they are sacred and so forth, that is when I think the man has gone way too far. This is the exact situation that exists in the US regarding Christianity. They have gone way too far! Now perhaps it is possible to be an adherent of the Great Leprechaun and a freedom respecting citizen, but if the rules of the Great Leprechaun do not allow this then Leprechaunism will have to be banned. Beliefs that do not respect the freedoms of others can't be tolerated in a free society.

Starboy