Posted by Jaypeeto on March 23, 1999 at 18:27:38 {MWfZlKV6ncg82}:
In Reply to: YHWH's Fury Unleashed posted by Telling It as It Is on March 22, 1999 at 10:46:16:
Your approach is silly.
What makes you think that at least some avowed
atheists don't ACTUALLY HOLD the position they claim to hold, namely, that a deity as they have been taught him, doesn't exist, at least in the form they were
taught?
It may surprise you that there are millions of people who sincerely believe in all kinds of things and have no conscious fear of being annihilated by Yahweh.
I don't agree with blasphemy, and I grieve over it, but your approach to the problem, namely, assuming that you ***know*** what makes individuals "tick," and therefore can safely slam them, is counterproductive.
You cannot pass a judgment on a person's
deepest thoughts, because you do not know those
deepest thoughts and motives, nor do I.
Nor WHY they have come to have whatever thoughts and motives they now have. A lot of people who no longer (at least for the present) believe in
"God" or the VERSION of "God" they have been
taught all their lives, have an aversion to judgmental intimidation and verbal abuse.
In the Gospel of John, there is a story of a whore who was about to be stoned to death by a group of zealots. Under the Law, adultery was punishable
by death. What is striking is these men's relishing of killing her, why, what a way to prove how RIGHTEOUS they themselves were!
And it's safe to assume that this was not a very
"God fearing" woman. What did Jesus do?
He said,
let the man WITHOUT SIN among you throw the first stone at her. One by one, they all left. And Jesus pronounced mercy on her, not even asking her if she had ever heard of him or if she was looking for God. He could read her heart and he
"knew her story," so to speak.
We cannot know what is deepest inside a person,
we can only pray out of compassion, respect, and charity, not assuming that we know that a doubter of God is a "willful rebel."
Be careful what you say, it can do a lot more harm than good.
Jaypeeto :)