I
had this discussion only last week, for a good 3 hours. I'm surprised personally I held up as an atheist for that long, when faced with 3 comitted christians.

I'm not generalising about all christians here, but these three (one of which is a very close friend) informed me that I can live just the way they do (and I do, by and large, sans God) yet I will not go to heaven because I don't believe, and happily damn me because of that.

Not once did they acknowledge that I live essentially a good life. Sure, I drink and I have sex prior to marriage, but I am not promiscuous, I've never cheated, stolen, or told an outright lie. It was the fact that I don't believe that rendered all that null and void in their eyes, and they told me as such.

Indeed the other two of the three were, in their words, 'extremely promiscuous' prior to finding god, something I have never been, yet this means nothing now because they have apologised and it's all alright now, making them better than myself (their inference).

My view is that I am perfectly capable of looking after myself. If I hurt or offend someone in any way, it is most important to me to be forgiven by the person I hurt or offended. It is way more important than seeking approval from a higher being. I take all of my problems on my own shoulders, any decision is mine to make and consequences are mine to bear.

I am tolerant of all races and creeds. I just wish that some christians would be more tolerant of those like myself. It is a conversation I'd rather not have if I can avoid it. Not for fear, (I stood up to the barrage for 3 hours, hey) but it isn't something I want to talk about. In my experience religion, when meeting a comitted christian, is Question 5, behind Where Do you Live, How Do You Know So-And-So, What Did You Do At University, and What Is Your Job. Then comes Question 5, which provokes the biggest and apparently most important discussion of the evening.

Me, I'd rather talk about football.
( mr_wicksy is.... old., Mon 26 Nov 2007, 9:55, Reply)