Comments on: Deconstructing criticism

By: ridgerunner

ridgerunner — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 03:01:26 +0000

Just heard you on the Hugh Hewitt Show. Sad, really, those calling in, Hugh, too. If “Christian” means “Follower of Christ’s Teachings,” there aren’t any. No, there stopped being Christians, when Constantine made that deal with the early church leaders, 325 AD, or so. Both made a trade, the Christians dropped their pacifism, Rome stopped their persecutions. A lot of other trades were made, too, in order for Christianity to quailify for Paganism, and vice versa. Both already had the same ethics and valued the same virtues.

Sorry to give history lessons, but I was not happy with many of those who called in, indentifying themselves as Christians, and your failure to pull their covers.

That said, I believe in God, just none I’ve yet heard about.

I listen to Hewitt, liking him, while ignoring his ignorance of Jesus’s teachings. I am happy billions of humans have a religion. The little bit of peace that that has produced allows me to go without one.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:12:56 +0000

Well, even Judas walked with Jesus for one heck of a long time, but he was the “son of perdition.” You Bill never had the Spirit whether you gave mental acknowledgment or not.

By: ThoughtWalks

ThoughtWalks — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 09:52:49 +0000

As I was pondering these things last night I realised another reason why the above didn’t sit right with me. On the one hand you appear to be saying “God can’t exist, because the people who try to follow him are not changed enough by him” and on the other hand saying “If God exists, I want him to reward me for my efforts despite not being changed”… don’t those 2 kind of contradict each other? It’s almost like one rule for yourself (Forgive me, I tried hard!) and one for the church (Unforgivable – they’re trying but not changing!).

The tenable positions related to this, given that the church isn’t living up to expectations, are as follows (in my view):
- Church isn’t good enough, I’m not good enough, but if God exists he should forgive us all
- Church isn’t good enough, I’m not good enough and if God exists he should punish us all

You can’t go for a middle ground can you?

By: ThoughtWalks

ThoughtWalks — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:56:41 +0000

Hi, I like your site and this article. Thinking of buying your book too. I’m currently in the process of seriously re-evaluating my beliefs and attempting to answer a LOAD of questions (http://thoughtwalks.blogspot.com/2009/02/all-questions-in-world.html)... So I may be heading in your direction. However I don’t quite follow some of what you say here…

“…Christian institutions should behave in a manner morally superior than their secular counterparts.” – Why would this necessarily be the case? One of the questions I asked above was about why it didn’t impact my life “enough”, so I kind of get this. But where does the Bible say that churches WILL be morally superior? Maybe it indicates or says they SHOULD be… but maybe that’s just not the case. Maybe the “success” of Christianity is not measurable by the actions of it’s followers? I don’t know what it is measurable by if not though!

“More likely, if I’m wrong and there is a loving God, I imagine he would look at me and said, “Son, I know how hard you struggled to believe. I’m very proud of your effort. I love you. Let’s spend eternity together.” What would you do as a loving father?” – Not sure what I think about this. I kind of feel that if God is God and he sets the rules then they’re absolute… follow me & go to heaven – don’t follow me and don’t go to heaven. Is there a good reason to believe in a soft God that’ll go back on his word?

I’m interested in your thoughts and experiences, but it seems quite “me” centred – questioning the experiential truth of it (as if it should noticably work out for you) rather than questioning the factual truth of it (Did it happen? Does he exist?). If it’s true, then any of the questions you raise above can be answered pretty much by saying “God is God, He makes the rules”.

However, the big question on my mind, and no doubt it has been on yours, is: how do you know what is true?

By: klmorovic

klmorovic — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:42:17 +0000

These are fantastic responses to such superficial criticisms. I noticed Dan Barker received many of the same personal criticisms when he published Godless, such as “You were never a real Christian” and “You’re going to hell now.” It’s really a show of how unwilling religious people are to look critically at the faults of their own beliefs, and instead resort to accusations and insults. I am very much looking forward to reading your book, and good luck on your book tour!

By: PK

PK — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:08:11 +0000

I just found your site via Skeptics. Next I look forward to reading your new book . My guess is that I will feel it’s as much about me and my “religious” life experiences as you. What you have written here and other places certainly confirms to the experiences I have had growing up as a born-again Xtian. If you haven’t already read Bart Ehrman’s works I can recommend highly two of his books which dovetail yours: GOD’S PROBLEMS and MISQUOTING JESUS. Both are solidly and definitively researched. They have provided me with the “hard” research I have always wanted to help me make rational decisions about the Xtian religion.

By: Deconstructing criticism | williamlobdell.com | manisbetter.com

Deconstructing criticism | williamlobdell.com | manisbetter.com — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 05:07:07 +0000

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