Josh McDowell

[salty]

So, the story goes, the Biblical 'God' character creates evil, and allows it to wreak havoc on his new world, it takes a third of his angels in heaven, & causes the fall of man which effects every living person on the planet till the end of time. Gosh that worked out well.

So then 'God' decides to send his own son, which is really himself, to Earth to be sacrificed to himself in order to correct his own fuck up.

And this makes sense to you?

But lets keep going.

Supposedly this event is the most important event ever, so what does this omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent creator of everything do to assure that his word is clearly disseminated to all of humanity? He appears to a bunch of illiterate superstitious, barbaric Bedouin goat herders, who don't even record these stories until decades (in the case of the OT, centuries) after they allegedly occurred.

The end result? Texts that are internally and externally contradictory, leading to over 30,000 Christian sects. Many with major doctrinal differences. Not to mention, texts that are just plain unbelievable on their face, unless you've been indoctrinated, of course. And not a shred of evidence for ANY of it.

So, then he allows some of us to be born with minds that just won't allow us to believe without being provided with evidence, he knows what sort of evidence each of us will accept yet he fails to provide it to us, and he does this knowing ahead of time that we are destined to be tortured for eternity for a finite thought crime.

He creates a system where billions of people are destined to fail, and being omnipotent and omniscient, he knows all this ahead of time, yet he does it anyway. Does that really look like the actions of an all loving deity to you?

I am so glad that this deity doesn't exist. Too bad so many of his followers do.

This is a response to you and just about everyone else.

I know about many of the cults. I know that someone who only reads the Bible to mock it wouldn't understand what it's saying, in the first place. I know that you have your reasons for not believing and it's all well and good that everyone takes their turn picking apart everything I say, but the bottom line is this: you're not a mistake. No one is a mistake. He has a plan for you, something that only you can achieve and that you will doing. Have you ever considered that God sees you in double vision? He sees what you are now and what you could be? He doesn't give up on you, even though he knows your ultimate decision, and since that decision isn't told to me, I musn't give up on you either. I'm not concerned about converting you, I'm concerned about answering the questions you have about God. The serious questions. I'm here for that part of each of you that is truly seeking the Lord. Even Rhythm (who will never bow, I know). I am here for that piece of you that wants to really know if you're loved, and it's true. You are. You all know so well how to hurt, to embarrass, to mock, to deceive, to simper, to refuse, but do any of you know how to rationally consider something? Without a hateful word, how to weigh things like someone who is unbias? Can any of you speak in a manner that is praise-worthy, uplifting and kind? Would any of you say these things to my face? Can one of you be open-minded and think of how someone else feels for a moment? Are any of you capable of loving someone you don't know? That is the difference between us, that is the reason I hope that someday you will consider the claims of Christ, seriously, so that you can be transformed from the inside out. I used to have so much bitterness, hatred and anger, I see the old me in many of you and I can't help but pity you, just as you pity me for my beliefs. At least we agree on something!

If any of you were truly seeking the Lord, he would have already shown up for you as he did for me. It's when you want God to submit to your rules that he doesn't show up, why should he? You wouldn't recognize him, so he waits until you really want to know him, and he appears.

For today, that is all I have to say, I'm going to get some Frozen Yo. Have a good night everyone.