Barry the Atheist
Hi all. Glenn here. It’s been a long time since I last blogged – mainly due to the redesign of this site…I hope you like it. I’ve got a doozy of a blog for you today.
I am introducing our newest blogger Barry by talking about opposing world views of a Christian and an Atheist. As regular readers know, I am no longer a full-blown, born again, radical, evangelical Christian, but I will be stating the case of Christianity from this point of view. Barry is an Atheist. We will be talking about our views of Death, Life and then throw a few arguments at each other. I will be letting Barry have the last word in each section. Enjoy.
Death
Glenn
In the simplest terms, a Christian looks forward to, and often longs for, death as it means a new life in heaven. Many Christians risk their lives spreading the gospel to dangerous parts of the world knowing that God is with them, and that even if they are killed, they have died in God’s service, have made a positive impact on the world, and will be rewarded with eternal life with Jesus in heaven. As it is written in 1 Cor 15:55 “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Barry
Atheists fear death ‘cuz it’s the end of everything. For some people, this fear can be all consuming and make life very difficult, for me, I am resigned to the fact that everyone will die and there’s nothing I can do about it (except hope for some high-tech breakthrough in cryogenics, or some type of life extension such as a brain copy into a computer). I guess I get some comfort knowing that matter is never destroyed, only changed, so the matter that makes up my body will never actually “die” but become part of the earth when I’m buried (or wherever my ashes may be scattered), but my consciousness will end.
Growing old is also troubling as each day, and more noticeably, each birthday brings me that much closer to death. This is certainly the worst part about being an Atheist.
Life
Glenn
Life is good because Christians know that God is with us every step of the way. Everything good that happens is a blessing from God, everything bad that happens is simply a lesson for us to learn from God. God is constantly trying to mold me into a better person, and often that involves trials and tribulations so I can learn patience and other virtues.
It is relaxing to know the purpose of life and to not have to worry about things like nuclear annihalation or a planet killer asteroid as God is in control and nothing happens outside of His purpose. It is nice to not have to strive to make a big name for myself in the world as everyone has a place in this world and God will reward me for my faithfulness in the small things as well as the big things.
Barry
Life is fleeting and gone quickly so we need to maximize every moment and enjoy life to it’s fullest. As long as I keep telling myself this, I’m very brave and willing to try new things for a thrill. I’ll tell you some of these things I’m doing for thrills in later blogs, but for now, just imagine what you might like to do if you also knew there was no God to punish you for something you’ve done. I’m not stupid enough to think that doing something like cheating on my wife would help me feel like I’m living in the moment, ‘cuz I know how much pain and anguish this would cause for the both of us. So don’t think that an Atheist has no need for any morals, I do have high morals because they make sense, and at the same time I’m free to do wild and crazy things that don’t hurt others.
At times I’ve been driven to do something truly amazing and monumental with my life so I can “leave my mark on this world”, but I’ve since realized that there’s nothing big enough that I can do that would make any difference in the fact that I will be dead. Even if I had statues and parades and movies shown daily in my honor, why should I care? I’d still be dead.
Arguments
Glenn
Apart from the obvious argument that life must really suck being constantly afraid of death, it also must be terrible to not know why you are alive, why you are on this earth, and worrisome that man or some natural disaster could destroy life as we know it. A Christian does not have these worries.
Barry says he is a moral person but does not follow any rules or guidelines like God gave us in the Bible. This seems contradictory.
Christians live well, comforted by the fact that we have had a personal experience with an omnipotent creator and we have faith that He is in control. Atheists have none of this.
Barry
I freely admit that Christians live a more comforted life, but they are living a delusion. Since all religions are man-made and have been invented simply to create this comfortable feeling, they work well until you open your eyes and face reality. I would rather live in a depressing reality than a happy fallacy which is Christianity.
Many Christians coast through life with the idea that they are living a “good life”, and avoid many things the world offers. Many of these things considered “evil” can be used and enjoyed without negative consequences. An Atheist is more apt to live life fully because we know this is all there is.
I don’t have to live with contradictions like Christians do. I’m thinking of how a Christian deals with “free will” while believing God knows all and is in control of everything. I don’t have to believe “God is love” while also believing He will send me to hell if I’m bad. I don’t have to wonder how much faith I need when I pray to produce a miracle while at the same time believe God is all powerful and wants to bless me, but for some reason isn’t blessing me right now. I don’t have to wonder at the great luck that I was born in North America where Christianity is common and this just happens to be the one true religion.
I can say “I don’t know” to anything, while Christians “have the answers”. My beliefs can change with the evidence, while Christian beliefs need a really good story when they change (slavery, 6 day creation, homosexuality etc.).
Anyways, I hope you have enjoyed this discussion. We will be hearing more of Barry’s “evil” ways soon, I, for one, am looking forward to it. Glenn
Interesting replies.
In one sense they are both right, because they are both coming from their own perspective and each reply is dealing with matters where The Absolute will only ever be an assumption or a personal truth held that is made in this life, until the one who it concerns. i.e God makes it absolute not for one nation at one time in history but for all of every nation and every generation, and that is something I have not seen God do, so the question begs to be asked. Why hasn’t God?
Sure, some will argue that God has through the bible.. yet the lack of clarity, the lack of trust people have today and have had throughout history in the bibles credibility, causes one to ask.. Couldn’t God make it clear?, Did God really decide that the Bible was going to be the only means of knowing what was Truth?, Did God really have so much confidence in Mans ability to Not Misinterpret, Not Mishear, Agree with one another and Not Miscommunicate.. that his desire to not Lose one poor soul would all rest on people getting the message right passed down through history, and hopefully through the right people and not a cult group?
Seems like some high stakes there… for such an important matter.
Then take into account that God apparently is and will be willing to lose a few poor souls to his Adversary, Ol Sloof Foot… and still come out Victorious? Would have God been really Victorious, losing thousands in a battle of good and evil?
Then take into account that the very teachings that Jesus apparently spoke of.. ” Turn the other Cheek, and Forgive ” apparently these were something only God decided to conjure up as ” Smart Lessons ” later after he Booted Adam and Eve out of the Garden.. Of course back then it was too hard for God to say, I forgive you.. nope apparently … Jesus had to be Torn to shreds, stuck with a stick, and Blood had to be poured before this God of love was going to be a happy camper…
But, p.s… Forgive your enemies, were told.
So why hasn’t God made it clear for all, so there is no room for debate, no room for confusion and no room for picking the wrong door?
Could it be because God doesnt exist?
Could it be because our understanding of Who God is, is distorted and out of focus?
Or Could it be that God is life, and life has no preference concerning what is right or wrong at the end of the day? life has no judgment concerning if you pick the Blue Pill or the Red Pill.
But who does have preference, and judgment concerning what man does…? umm… Man?