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8 Absurd Things Atheists Must Believe Before Breakfast (Part 2)
8 Absurd Things Atheists Must Believe Before Breakfast Part 2
What about other religions? Do not “many paths lead to the top of the mountain?”
Of course, that question raises another thought—Who/What is to be found at the top of the mountain?
Imagine that in the era of silver dollars, a criminal decides to get into the business of counterfeit coins. In considering his options he immediately discards the idea of a counterfeit silver dollar made of wood. No one but perhaps a small child, could be fooled by such. It does not resemble the genuine enough.
So, he makes a counterfeit silver dollar made of metal. And he succeeds in fooling some people. However, if he decides to add some silver content to his basic metal counterfeit, he will fool more people. The more silver he adds, the more it resembles the genuine, and the more people he fools.
Silver in the counterfeit coin corresponds to Truth in a counterfeit religion. The more truth, the more people fooled. All truth is God’s truth. And the Devil can quote scripture to his advantage, as we are shown in the account of Christ’s temptation in the wilderness.
Let us be on guard against half truths. The counterfeit proves the existence of the genuine.
Let us be on guard against half truths. The counterfeit proves the existence of the genuine. Modern science is “Western” science and came from a Christian worldview that believed a reasonable God would create a reasonable and intelligible and rational world that could be understood. Eastern religions could never produce that. The existence of God speaks to the foundational issues of Identity, Significance and Purpose. The practical applications are life altering. How shall I treat others? Are humans mere accidental results of random processes? What if I can gain significantly by taking advantage of people? What if they are easily exploited? If I am tempted,
why not? If we conclude that these issues have no lasting significance, and if we are cunning enough to get away with it, when temptation allures us, we are left with just the question, “Why not?” What if others feel this way about me? I know that some are stronger and smarter. Who can I trust? Statistics on crime are not encouraging. So we can begin to see how leaving God out of the picture has rather profound implications.
With God out of the picture, why not? How could you call it wrong? You need some basis to challenge it beyond, “But that’s just your opinion!”
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson and other founders of our republic affirmed, “...they [we] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.”
With God in the picture, we know that we, ultimately, must give an account for each time we give in to temptation. We will answer for each time we take advantage of another, whether we have lied, stolen or surrendered to other immoral infractions. Any form of exploitation or fraud will be adjudicated by a perfect and divine justice. Knowing there is One to whom we are accountable, provides a decisive basis for saying, “No!” to temptation. But what if God is out of the picture? Isn’t this what many believe? Without God, we may take advantage of whatever nefarious opportunity is available.
Yet when we are the victims and not the perpetrators, then it becomes a different picture. This is not how we want others to view the situation when our cell phone, iPod, stereo, spouse, children or other treasured possessions or people are in peril. And yet the question may remain, why not? Most of us are influenced, to varying degrees, by the behaviors of those around us. If others are convinced that God is out of the picture, that no one is keeping score, and if we feel we are likely to succeed in getting away with it, the temptation is intensified.
In January 2015, The Denver Post reported a story titled “Cold Case Murders in the U.S. 1980 through 2014”. The unsolved murders over the 35 years, compiled from federal, state and local records, exceeded 211,000. Do the math and our nation has experienced, on average, 16 unsolved murders each and every day since 1980. The account did not say how many murders were solved, murderers caught or undiscovered murders.
We abandoned the ancient wisdom on how God’s justice dealt with murder and with crime because we thought we knew better. There was no prison overcrowding 75 years ago and we were safer in our homes and on the street. In fact, statistically our grand daughters are hundreds of times more likely to be victims of a violent assault during their lifetimes than our grandmothers ever were.
Part 3 READ MORE>>