Quick YEC Debunks

[Jenny A]

Afraid of hell...which you go to for sinning. So, yeah, they're trying not to believe so they can sin comfortably.

I've never had to try not to believe -- it came naturally.  I tried to believe, and failed.  My brain just doesn't work that way.

I'm in the same boat.  I remember wondering how adults could believe in The Flood very early on, not to mention The Parting of the Red Sea  and Joshua and  Walls of Jericho.   That was before I knew anything about sin or the threat of hell.   Neither my parents nor any church I attended put much emphasis on hell.  Salvation in the form of everlasting life was what they talked about.  And since they were evangelical, it was belief that was the key to salvation.   

The idea that not believing was way to sin for free never occurred to me.  Christians on this forum introduced me to that possibility.  And now that you mention it, it is a get out of jail free pass for a certain type of sin, those which only injure god such as: not keeping the Sabbath, not believing in god (rather redundant but there it is), and, taking the Lord's name in vain.  That's three of the ten comandments gone guilt free.

Interestingly, I think some theists use religion to justify things I consider wrong doing:  shunning people, particularly children for thier beliefs; discriminating against and committing violence against others based on  gender, sexual orientation, religion, religious background, ethnicity, or, legitimacy; taxing people for a preisthood; attempting to convert young children against their parents wishes.