On Hell and Forgiveness

[Neo-Scholastic]

Yeah, its easier to never examine one's convictions.

I think he is referring to the maintenance of a predetermined conclusion come hell or high-water.  Personally, no matter how faithfully a belief has served me I would prefer to always allow its extinction when a better one becomes apparent.

Agreed. IMHO I feel I have done reasonable due diligence with respect to my religion, without being exhaustive. For many years I was quite satisfied with atheism. Eventually, though atheism, and all it implied, started to feel like an uncomfortable fit for me. I see nothing but an inevitable decent into nihilism. YMMV.

I truly sympathize with the negative experiences many atheists had during their formative years. I still remember some paraministry guy lecturing our youth group about D&D being a form of demon worship and how rock bands put subliminal Satanic messages in their songs. It was laughable...like those simplistic pamphlets about YEC. I also remember having to watch "Like a Thief in the Night" when I was just a kid. It was terrifying! When I was a senior in high school, a church elder, in blubbering tears, confessed to the congregation to having diddled his daughter and begging us all for forgiveness. Then during spring break, I went to church in my hometown and they were passing around a petition to express their outrage at "The Last Temptation of Christ". I'm pretty sure I was the only person there who saw it.

What I'm saying is that I've seen and experienced all the same obvious bassackwardness of religion in America that many AF members have. And yet that doesn't change my basic belief that the larger Christian tradition with its rich intellectual history, the great faith of Eric Liddle and Bonhoeffer, and internal struggles to understand and live out the Gospel...the larger tradition has something profound and essential to say about the human condition. I acknowledge the shortcomings and failures of the church. At the same time, I see a firm foundation under the tottering construction built on top of it.

Yes, faith in God requires service and maintenance. Nothing worthwhile is easily attained.