[+/-] "What if you're wrong?"
A question I often hear from xtian fundies is "What if you're wrong?"
What this question means, of course, is "What if you are wrong about your disbelief in my gawd."
The appropriate response, I believe, is "What if you're wrong about Zeus?":
A man... remains hospitalized Monday after he was struck down by a bolt of lightning which flew from clear blue sky on Sunday. He was selling religious materials when he was hit....
"He's unconscious, he's in a coma," said Francisco Perez, leader of the Puerto Rico-based group. "It's difficult what happened, you know, but what can we do? Things happen in life, but we still believe in God."
I wonder if these fundies have lightening rods on their church buildings. If they do, isn't that professing lack of faith that their gawd can protect them? Isn't it a tacit acknowledgment that Zeus exists? :)
posted by Nanovirus @ 14:54 permalink
your thoughts? 4
4 Comments:
If I'm wrong, I hope that God, or Allah, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is merciful...
Zeus, on the other hand, will have me rolling that rock whilst the buzzards snarf my liver!
Indeed, Christians I know often ask me that question as well...'what if you're wrong'...but I think you summed it up pretty well.
The "many gods/many hells" objection to mysticism in general doesn't hold.
It *is* a valid objection to specific priesthoods.
Specifically, if the Muslims say you must not drink booze and the Christians say you must not eat meat on Friday, then you can reasonably object that if God is using these folks to communicate, they are failing to convey His message.
If, on the other hand, you look at all spiritual experiences as having common elements, those common elements do add up to a consistent perennial philosophy. So one can have mysticism without religion.
As a former atheist, I find the "what if you are wrong" line of argument weak and unconvincing. It unfortunately fits the pre-operational moral maturity of many believers whose lives serve little evidence for the impact of God. To believe something because it serves as a safety net doesn't satisfy a jealous God.
In short, I share in your disdain for this rhetoric, but I dislike it for entirely different reasons.
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