It Better to Have Lived a Christian, Than to have Lived an Atheist.

I do hope it will be fun and intellectually enlightening. I would also like to note that although this debate is going to be mostly about overall happiness, it is also about ethical values, positive-affect on others, ect. as stated in round one. “Radical obedience to Christ is not easy. .. It's not comfort, not health, not wealth, and not prosperity in this world. Radical obedience to Christ risks losing all these things. But in the end, such risk finds its reward in Christ. And he is more than enough for us. ” – David Plat This is a great quote, really summarizing the life a true Christian must live In order to truly fulfill their faith. In fact, what this quote holds is greater than what I think many people think. You see, what this quote entails, is that Christian search for true happiness always. Now, in essence, only some all loving, Omnipotent God could possibly give the happiness Christians seek, but because they can only truly seek God through the lives they live, they are always set on finding this happiness. In the end, even if a Christian is not in their greatest comfort, or isn’t wealthy, or his not liked by many, a Christian will not care nor will it affect their happiness because a true Christian is one who separates their desires from the physical world, and searches for true happiness in the next. In addition to all of this, a Christian is always happy in their life because for every moment they are serving God, they become more and more confident that that all loving omnipotent God does exist, that he is watching over them, and that they will be with him for eternity in the next life. The Win-Win Situation In the very ideology of this, a Christian is always in the “win-win position”, whereas and Atheist is always in the “lose-lose position”. Let me summarize the win-win position: For as long as the Christian believes in God and serves God, they are under the impression that God cares, loves, and will always be with them in their worldly life, and will ultimately be with them in the next life. If God doesn’t end up existing after all this, the Christian still lived a great life because not only did they think God was always watching over them (Allowing them to get through our darkest of times), but they also believed they would see their loved ones and be with God forever in Heaven. This means that whether the Christian God exists or not, the Christian always wins. Let me summarize the lose-lose position: The Atheist will live in a world where they believe there is no God, and that being said this means there is no ultimate source of happiness, the evil of the world will never be ultimately vanquished until we have all died off, and that there is no all-knowing, all loving, omnipotent being that watches over them and helps them through their darkest times. In addition, if they are to die, and the Christian God is to have existed, then they will most likely, under what the Bible states clearly, go to Hell. Now after reading both of these, we can come to the logical conclusion that it is better to have died Ignorant believing in God and being happy, than it is to have died being wrong, living a life that will inherently have suffering that is harder to get passed, and then be punished in the afterlife. Then, if the Christian ends up being right, they enter Heaven and find ultimate happiness. If the Atheist is right, nothing happens. At least the Christian was under ignorant happiness. “Jesus tends to his people individually. He personally sees to our needs. We all receive Jesus' touch. We experience his care. ” – Max Lucado Morality and the Dedication to What is Good “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can. ” – John Wesley This summarizes the kind of dedication a Christian has to spreading good morals throughout the world. One of the largest objectives in the life of the Christian is to eliminate as much sin and suffering in the world as they can. This can be anything from donating money to the poor, listening and giving advice to others with problems, standing up to bullies, to much larger issues like helping those in poor countries, trying to find peace in war, to directly going to heal the sick and injured who cannot afford or have the experience to do it themselves. This dedication to do all the good they can in a world of pain in suffering comes through God. The best part is, a true Christian does not help others because they seek eternal life, a true Christian helps others because they seek to fulfill God’s plan of defeating sin and suffering. Christians inherently have this kind of dedication to spreading good throughout the world. This argument focuses on the ethical values and positive affect on others that Christians have. Long Term Happiness vs. Short Term Happiness An argument that I anticipate from my opponent is that the Atheist can splurge in their worldly desires and be happy, something that a Christian cannot. The Atheist can shamelessly choose to never help anyone, or to lust, or to be greedy. It is recognized that all of these things bring short-term happiness. However, this is all irrelevant and does not put the Atheist at a more advantaged position because the Christian is just as happy even when they do not commit such acts, for as long as they believe that God is with them and watching over them, and that they will have eternal life, they will always be happier than any Atheist could ever be. In addition, the moral values of the Christian are also something that is long term, and overall give more happiness to the Christian. For example, the Atheist may choose to lust and have sex many the time, without shame. However, this comes with its own risks, from accidental emotional attachment during intercourse that was just supposed to be for “fun”, to accidental pregnancy. A Christian values the act of sex as one associated with love, and saves the act for the one they truly love, and are married to, making sex a special act since it was specifically saved for that person. In addition, the Christian does not assume the risks that sex for fun may have. Good morals are something that allows more happiness in life, but only if the person is willing to take the time to fulfill these moral values. Christians inherently have this kind of dedication to good morals because of the direct teachings of God and because of the desire to do God’s will. Conclusion I have shown that Christians are inherently in a win-win situation allowing them to live a happy life separate from the sufferings of this world. I have also shown that that Christians have a dedication to do good and help others, and also live a life of long-term happiness, which is ultimately better than short-term happiness. Sources . http://www.goodreads.com... . http://www.christianbiblereference.org... . http://www.biblebelievers.org.au...