A buddy of mine is a (non-denominational) Christian and every so often we have conversations about religion. They're usually pretty innocent, not very heated. Yesterday he pulled this one on me:
Me: Why do you take the Bible for its word?
Him: I don't really believe the majority of it to be honest. I just enjoy it more as a work of philosophy than history.
M: Why be Christian then? If you'd like to believe in God but don't believe in the Christian holy book, why not be a Deist or something?
H: If nobody truly knows the answer to all of this, then does it matter?
M: It seems incredibly arbitrary.
H: That's because it is. It's like football. You're a Giants fan. Why are you a Giants fan? Because you were born in New York and you grew up in a household of Giants fans. That seems pretty arbitrary to me, but you're a huge fan. You don't miss a game, half your clothes are Giants gear. You could have been a Panthers fan or a Steelers fan, and you would probably have the same attitude. But no matter what team you're a fan of, in the end every NFL fan has the same goal: to enjoy watching some football. And religious belief is the same way. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists all looking for an answer, looking for truth. Why does it matter what team I'm rooting for?
Thoughts? I figured it mattered because what you believed depended on what circle of Hell you'd be going to.
Me: Why do you take the Bible for its word?
Him: I don't really believe the majority of it to be honest. I just enjoy it more as a work of philosophy than history.
M: Why be Christian then? If you'd like to believe in God but don't believe in the Christian holy book, why not be a Deist or something?
H: If nobody truly knows the answer to all of this, then does it matter?
M: It seems incredibly arbitrary.
H: That's because it is. It's like football. You're a Giants fan. Why are you a Giants fan? Because you were born in New York and you grew up in a household of Giants fans. That seems pretty arbitrary to me, but you're a huge fan. You don't miss a game, half your clothes are Giants gear. You could have been a Panthers fan or a Steelers fan, and you would probably have the same attitude. But no matter what team you're a fan of, in the end every NFL fan has the same goal: to enjoy watching some football. And religious belief is the same way. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and atheists all looking for an answer, looking for truth. Why does it matter what team I'm rooting for?
Thoughts? I figured it mattered because what you believed depended on what circle of Hell you'd be going to.
![[Image: nL4L1haz_Qo04rZMFtdpyd1OZgZf9NSnR9-7hAWT...dc2a24480e]](https://external-preview.redd.it/nL4L1haz_Qo04rZMFtdpyd1OZgZf9NSnR9-7hAWTNVY.jpg?width=216&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=7b11e8b38bea0eacc8797fc971574ddc2a24480e)
