A Secular Lifestyle is superior, and often more moral than a Religious one.

I ask for a fair debate, not resorting to unwarranted charges or name calling. I expect my opponent to debate the issues I raise, not just those he feels like he has experienced himself. We all know bad churches and bad Christians, but this debate should focus on those of us who strive to really believe and live by the principles of God's word. I will admit from the outset, believers are human and make mistakes. This is not intended to dismiss any real concerns that may be raised, however, I ask that the same leeway be given believers as you would any other human being. Just because we strive to live our ideals, we often fail, but individual failings should not be considered characteristic of all believers. For the record, I am an ordained Christian minister of the gospel and have been in ministry for about 10 years. My religious beliefs form the core of who I am, and the opinions and beliefs that I hold are hard won through diligently seeking God's council. If they differ from those of other believers, it is because I am more religious, not less. I would like to begin by answering the Pro's benefits. The Pro begins with the statement "Leading a secular lifestyle frees you from judgment. " First, I have to say that in my experience atheists as a group tend to be very judgmental. I've always found it an odd thing that atheists should exist in the first place. I do not believe in Diana, I don't believe Diana ever existed, and although I know several people who profess to worship Diana, I have never felt compelled to label myself an a-Dianist or to join groups or post discussions on the absurdity of Diana worship. It has always struck me as odd that one should feel compelled to vehemently protest something one believes does not exist. I don't believe in Santa, but I don't need to convince little children that he's not real. Regarding homosexuality, the Bible contains passages that condemn an activity that some translations render "homosexuality," but this is not the whole truth. The simple fact is that the very concept of "sexuality" as a form of identity has only emerged in the past 150 years. The world in which the Bible was produced knew nothing of sexual identity or sexual orientation. The Bible cannot speak directly to such concepts because such concepts did not exist in the human world of that day. The plain fact of the matter is that homosexuals as a group have been discriminated against throughout history by both religious and secular cultures. The anti-Christian Nazis, the atheistic Communists, and the agnostic psychologists all treated homosexuality as a perversion to be suppressed or treated or jailed. Were this a debate on homosexuality, I could delve much deeper into the Christian response, but, suffice it to say, Christian opinion on this issue has not been radically different from secular opinion until the last several years. However, much of the Church takes seriously the new research and have been working toward the stance of full equality (1). It is more interesting to note that the major impetus for the various rights movements over the past two hundred years, the movements of which gay rights is only the latest manifestation, has been the Christian religion. For the true Christian, our lives are not lived by following a set of rules but by living in relationship with the Spirit of God. For us, the Bible is the story of God's revelation of Himself to mankind. God is an infinite being, and only the fool would believe that we could know everything about him in only a few hundred pages. God is a living God, and we are to live in relationship with Him. This means that as He continues to reveal Himself in the life of the individual believer, we are to respond to this continuing revelation as we move through our lives. For the sincere Christian, this means that our faith is anything but static. The Christian's stance on premarital sex is conditioned by the Bible, the living Spirit of God, and, of course, the culture in which the question is asked. The Bible itself has no specific text that condemns premarital sex, let alone sex as a whole. In fact, the Bible recognizes sex as a beautiful part of our humanity, a gift from God (2). Christian opinion is near unanimous that sex before marriage is a bad idea; however, there is certainly no condemnation of sex in and of itself. The Pro's point about being led by logic and not emotion is followed by the example of sex, which has already been rebuffed. However, I would point out that the Pro's arguments do not seem to follow any logical pattern on this point. Basically, it seems as if he's saying "if it feels good, do it. " This stance refuses to acknowledge the numerous dangers of premarital sex, both physical and emotional. Sex is not something to be played with like a child's toy, but, according to University of Michigan's Professor of the History and Theory of Sexuality David M. Halperin, "Sexuality holds the key to unlocking the deepest mysteries of the human personality; it lives at the center of the hermeneutics of the self (1). " As to the burden of guilt, religion is not the source of these feelings, but many have found relief through the practice of religion. Everyone deals with issues of guilt. Christianity teaches that this comes from the fact that we have all done things that violate the moral laws that comprise human nature. We do things we know to be wrong. We experience guilt, which prompts us to change our ways. Like anything in human nature, guilt can be exaggerated in an individual or manipulated by others. The promise of Christianity on the other hand is freedom from guilt. The Pro expresses a concern about what he calls thought-crime. In the sense of human justice, being punished for something that you didn't do is ludicrous. But the crux of Christianity is that we are more than our physical selves. We are eternal beings, souls that will never die. The things that we think have a profound effect upon who we are even in this life. The Bible realizes that sin, which corrupts and destroys the soul, begins in a person's thoughts. The Pro says he doesn't want to scrutinize his thoughts, but the greatest men and women throughout history have been those of great mental discipline. This is not a religious truth but a human one. We are animals, but we are more than animals. We have the faculties that the Pro praised previously of logic and reason. It seems unreasonable to desire to live a logical life without disciplining your mind. Again, the Pro fails to argue against what the Bible actually says. The Bible plainly recognizes the emotion of anger, and does not condemn it. Anger is not sin. The Bible actually says "Be angry, but do not sin. " As for lust, the Bible condemns not the natural appreciation of beauty in the opposite sex but the objectification of human beings. This is the problem with pornography as well. When we look with lust, we turn the other person into a mere object to fulfill our desires. We do not consider the whole person, but only those parts which would quench our own passions. We lose sight of the humanity of the object of lust, and by so doing we harm not only ourselves but them as well. How many a woman has complained that men look at them like a piece of meat? My opponent has obviously had some bad experiences, but on the whole, the religious lifestyle offers greater depth and breadth than the secular one. I hope that this debate brings to light some of his misconceptions and offers hope to the readers, because in the end, Christianity is a religion of hope – hope for man on earth and hope for an eternity with the God who is love. (1) . http://www2.luthersem.edu... (2) . http://www.teachingpages.co.uk... (3) . http://bible.cc...