Unconvincing Arguments
I have been catching up on the posts and comments from the last few days and I have something to say to the Christians (like Leann who commented on my last post) who seem to drop out of nowhere and to make themselves feel good by trying to save us. I don't doubt that she did it with the best of intentions but perhaps she and others like her would like a few tips on what won't work here at Debunking Christianity, at least not for me.
It doesn't work to quote scriptures to me. Since I don't believe in the holiness, the infallibility, the revelations or the prophecies from the Bible it does not do you any good to try and make me believe using a book that doesn't hold any value for me. It would be like me trying to convince you to become a Muslim by quoting to you from the Quran. Since you don't believe the Quran can hold a stick to the Bible, you would tend to dismiss anything from it that was not in accordance with your beliefs.
Sharing your or another's personal testimony/experience with me doesn't work for me either. A lot of religious adherents have spiritual experiences, not just Christians. So how do I know yours are better or more true than the Hindu's testimony? How do you know? I know from experience that I can have feelings about just about anything, but it doesn't make them true. Our feelings are deceptive and just because you say you feel God is telling you this or showed you that it won't make me believe you anymore.
Trying to scare me into believing won't work either. I don't believe in hell (or heaven for that matter). Threatening me with hell is like saying to me, "Just wait until your dad gets home" when I have no dad. That is not a threat to me. It doesn't bother me that this is all there is. I live life for the here and now, not for some future pie-in-the-sky existence, sprouting wings and playing harps, sitting at God's feet in endless worship. It actually kind of creeps me out to even picture that for myself.
Don't try to get to me on morality either. I don't believe one needs a god to be moral. I am moral and I am not evil. I do good things, I take care of my family, I am a hard worker, I protect the innocent. In fact I have a much higher moral standard than many of the Christians I have been reading about in the paper these days. I might be willing to listen to you on the biblical stance on morality IF you followed all of the rules yourself, not just the hand picked ones that sound good for these times.
Telling me about miracles and answered prayers won't convince me. Now, if you could show me a miracle you might gain some headway. And if you could show me God answered all of your prayers when you followed all the rules laid out in the Bible (and I don't mean He said no, or wait) then you might get me to listen. But I know that praying is a 50/50 crap shoot. Sometimes things happen when we pray sometimes they don't. Sometimes things happen when we wish upon a star, too. Sometimes doesn't cut it for me.
I used to be a Christian, a sinner, a wretch, a chosen one, a child of God. . I used to try and save people (although I was much better at praying for their souls than I was at actually talking to them). I used to believe in the Bible and study it. I used to teach it to my kids and to yours. I used to read the Bible and pray everyday. I used to pray with my friends and in church. I used to pray with my kids. I've had those feel good experiences that come from worshiping at church or at home. I've felt God touch me before. I know where you are coming from, BUT I have been there and done that and I am not going back.
I realized that it was all in my head. I realized that those feelings and experiences can be reproduced within or without religion. I've learned that when you believe something to be true your mind looks for the things to support it (think of all those Big Foot or UFO sightings - those folks really believe it, just as strongly as you believe in your Christian God and beliefs). I realized that the reason prayers sometimes get answered and sometimes don't is because there is no one up there listening and that it is the luck of the draw. I've realized that my life is what I make it and I don't get a second chance. It's great being free from God, being able to make up my own mind, and living in balance with nature and my fellow man.