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dontbelonghere -> Need prayer, and wisdom (6/22/2008 1:51:53 PM)
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Hi all,
Satan is surely active in the life and mind of Matthew. Please pray that the devil and all of his helpers will be banned from his life enough for him to see through the deception. I received the following email from Matthew. Please read through and pray specifically for him to see through the fallacies in his arguments. Also, if any of you theological smarties have words of wisdom, please share with me that I may pass them along to my friend Matthew.
Thanks indeed my brothers and sisters in Christ!
<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>
So far, the book you gave me is filled with misinformation, selective evidence presentation, scientifically unsound research methods, and constant documentation references to Christian evangelicals rather than real historians (not good for a book that is supposedly using legitimate historical argumentation). This book is designed to prop up the faith of Christians who are having difficulties with doubts. It would not be taken seriously by anyone schooled in legitimate historical research.
To be sure, it uses a very compelling form of persuasion (the "court of law" model of argumentation), but the same faulty arguments and quack-science could be used to support just about any belief system (UFO's, psychics, astrology, etc.). For example, I could drum up historical references to all kinds of religious leaders at the time of Jesus who were claimed by their followers to conduct miracles, but that doesn't mean those "miracles" are historically innocent until proven guilty. For a rational person and a truly historical analysis, absurd claims that are never supported by real life experience are always guilty until proven innocent, especially when they arise from the most miracle-crazed era in human history (the first century). Until Stroebel shows me a single, solid case of an actual miracle (not an ancient document claiming a miracle), I have no reason to consider his arguments. If a saw some bona-fide miracles happen (better than Benny Hinn and Pat Robertson), the burden of proof would begin to shift to me and Stroebel would deserve a response. At the very least, if "miracles" actually happened (not in ancient writings or staged parlor tricks by modern religious groups), I would then have greater burden of proof to demonstrate that miracles did not happen in the case of the Bible stories (fiat creation, resurrection, floating axe handles, flattenning bad guys, etc.). But I've never seen any miracles and no evidence has appeared showing that they have occured. Even with prayer (which is supposed to produce miracles), I've given it a great deal of honest effort (for example, I used to pray daily that god would help the starving aids orphans of Sudan, but he never seemed to acknowledge that request. That seems like the sort of miracle that a really loving god would be all about).
You often claim that I am biased, but bias requires that I deny rational and reasonable arguments because I have ulterior belief motives. But there are no rational or reasonable arguments for Christianity that have not been entirely undermined by rational and reasonable methods of inquiry (biology, history, philosophy, astronomy, etc.). On which side does is bias really at work? Anyway, I have no reason to deny religion. I think it would be great if some form of religion turned out to be true. After all, I'd love to unite with you in your faith, I'd love to live forever and I'd love to have a moral compass to get me through life without existential angst. But as one who values truth--i.e., what is really the case--I just can't honestly swallow a belief system that forces me to suppress the obvious.
Here's a challenge for you and, if you really care about arriving at the real facts of the matter, I would request that you give this some tough soul-searching:
Do you retain a belief in god because there is good reason to do so (e.g., there is reasonable evidence for god's existence, the bible depicts a loving god worthy of worship, your prayers make a difference in the world, etc.), or do you believe in God for some of the same reasons that I did:
(1) I was raised that way and, like all people, I have the tendency to hardwire my socially inscribed beliefs and life patterns, or
(2) because becoming an atheist--like moving to a new country--creates a great deal of social discomfort and even ostracization from social networks that emotionally support you, or
(3) you regularly associate with people that will support you in your belief (church, parents, friends) and this provides relief from the angst caused by doubt and a reinforcement of your beliefs,
(4) there are a large number of books by educated people that argue in favor of your religion, even though there are large numbers of educated authors that argue for all kinds of absurd beliefs),
(5) you have been equipped with emotional structures that make you feel guilty when you seriously consider the possibility that god doesn't exist (even in the face of rational, reasonable, common sense considerations), so you use various tactics to relieve the guilt and expunge the doubt,
(6) you figure god is just too mysterious to be subject to reasonable inquiry (an argument that could be made for ANY false belief system and, on that basis, cannot be used to support Christianity over any other monotheistic faith),
(7) you seek out and study rebuttals to atheist arguments and take comfort in those rebuttals, even though they are inadequate by rational standards,
(8) defending Christianity is a challenging and often rewarding intellectual exercise,
(9) you happened to grow up in a Christian society (rather than in a society of some other religion, most of which you probably haven't seriously checked out).
It's hard to discontinue all the daily habits that keep your faith propped up (prayer, bible reading, communication with other christians). However, I suspect that once you take the bold move to face your doubts head-on and read the bible honestly (all of it, including god's commands to tear open the wombs of pregnant women, David's rejoicing over the crushed heads of babies, the assertion that the earth is flat, god's preferences for men and certain semitic ethnic groups, etc.), you realize that without all the stilts to keep it afloat, your faith is very difficult to keep intact when honestly scrutinized. After all, people are equipped to believe anything when there are enough stilts to prop it up, even if each individual stilt is inconsequential or irrational.
The fear and angst of shedding your faith will eventually wear off, even if it causes rifts in some of your relationships. And when it does, you'll find that life is much less stressful because you don't need to spend so much mental energy reinforcing beliefs that fall down when left to their own defenses.
Sorry this was put so strongly, but you know me. Here's more if you can stomach it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk6ILZAaAMI
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