Newsgroups: alt.evil
Subject: this was my response to DEMIGOD
From: emiddlec@mora.gac.edu (Eric Middlecamp)
Date: 8 Nov 92 21:37:12 -0600

  Pardon me, my mailer doesn't have a "reply" feature.

You are all fools.
	First of all I want to make this clear. I do not believe in God, or at
least not the Christian one. However, I will play the Devil's Advocate. (Pardon
the expression.)
	The main problem I have with the arguments used by the anti-God/God is
a tyrant crowd is that you argue about him in "human" terms. If,
hypothetically, God exists, and I mean the omniscient, omnipotent being, we can
not apply our concepts of justice to him. 

  You think that I believe in God in "human" terms?

	Think about it. If a right or wrong, good or evil way exists and you
know what it is without a doubt, then [there] is no reason why you should be   {typo}
forgiving to those who refuse to listen despite your attempts to help them. 
	Assuming you knew the correct way of things[,] then[,] those who refuse to
comply would [therefore] pay the consequences; again assuming that this higher
justice requires punishment for wrong-doing. (In other words, God is saying,
"Hey, you guys can go to hell!" ...comic relief, ha,ha,ha.

  Again, I don't think God doles out "justice." I do believe that there are 
  correct actions, but the whole point is to be tolerant of people so that 
  you can help them find their way.

	So, my friends, we cannot argue about God's tyranny when He is merely
establishing the true universal order.  I try to argue [that] ___ modern Christians {omit the}
are corrupting many of the original beliefs of this religion because "it
applies to today's standards."  That is not belief in God, that is being
arrogant enough to be God and change a religion to what you believe instead of
trying to understand the Deity.  If you call yourselves Christians then believe
what He said originally; (<not comma) if you make new rules then call yourselves by
another name. I have more respect for fanatical fundamentalists because they
show true faith in standing by what God said originally in your sacred Bible.

  Again, I don't think "God" authored the bible through dictation and had the last word.
  The Bible (which is imperfect) was written as "God"'s word as well as God's word was
  understood. Some people said it better than others, some people were wrong, some 
  people were right yet misleading. Therefore it is natural for a religion to evolve as
  understanding waxes and wanes. This is a key point. Much of Christian understanding 
  has been _banned_ through the ages. Usually for political reasons. Read the _Gnostic
  Gospels_. There are two sides to Christianity. 

	(Yes, I know, it is blind faith like a bunch of lemmings but I am not
argueing whether or not this is good or bad, I am saying they at least attempt
to preserve what they believe in instead of customizing a religion for their
own purposes.)

  While this could be argued for those making changes now, it applies even more so to
  those who made changes in the beginning. Who is to say which interpretation, which
  selfish "change" is most accurate of the origional meaning? You are. Each person is.
  Therefore refrain from saying that someone else is being selfish until you fully
  understand that person or person's interpretation.

	And, finally, to the person who asked if we were given a choice of
eternal torture or changing to right-handedness, let me say this:
	I don't care who you are, if God, whether good or bad, came to you and
said, "You will convert or suffer the most unimaginable pain for eternity." and 
he proved he could, YOU WILL CONVERT!
    
  The real problem is that the threat of torture is not PROVEN to people. People operate
  consciously and subconsciously. What I am getting at is that people will still be
  addicted to something even if they "know" that what they are doing is harmful. If they
  haven't changed their behavior, if they don't stop doing something which is obviously
  (sarcastic "obvious") harmful, then they don't fully "know" that it is harmful. 

  I may have sidetracked there a little, but the point is that people choose to waste
  their energy. Even though it takes more energy to resist change than to adapt to it,
  people still chose to be wasteful. Call it fear, call it ego, call it what you like..
  it is real. And it is a big problem. It is the problem. It is what seperates us from
  solutions- 
	
  Hope I made sense.

  Eric Middlecamp
  emiddlec@ancho.gac.edu

  PS- By the way, if you want a clarification of what I DO "believe," I interpret 
      Christianity in a Buddhist way. It is my opinion that the teachings of each
      are nearly identical. One reason they seem so different is that people are
      literal. There are many ways to say a certain thing; the two traditions say
      it differently; thus people who are literal get things mixed up. This really
      underestimates the cultural differences, however. Actually, it takes it into
      account as well. I'm not sure I would know what I meant if I were you. See if
      you can figure it out. Have fun.