Religious ReEducation 101

At our societies last breakfast meeting we discussed the subject of how to deal with evangelical Christians. I thought in my first “Religious ReEducation 101” blog post I’d touch on a couple of aspects concerning this subject and continue to build on it in later blogs. Today I will reiterate a couple of the things I shared at the breakfast.

Many atheists have been so all of their lives and know little of why the religious are, well, so religious. What makes them tick? Why do Christians feel compelled to share the gospel with unbelievers? For those of you who have no religious education or, perhaps, have a religious background limited to one group or denomination, take time to learn a little about these folks. I believe that the first step to knowing how to deal with the religious is to understand them. With the internet at our beck and call we have a plethora of information at our fingertips.

Try going to conservapedia.com where, interestingly, the article of the month is on Atheism. This is a website made by conservative Christians to counter Wikipedia. Or how about Livingwaters.com. This website is a Bible dictionary of sorts which allows you to look up Bible verses from 21 different Bible translations. It also allows you to do a “word search” in any of those translations. I typed in “godless” and was given many different Bible verses on this subject. If you Google “Christian beliefs” you’ll get all kinds of websites that are anxious to explain to you just what it is they believe. Google the word “evangelism” and you’ll find the same.

I found something quite striking on the website evangelize.com. It has a “counter” at the bottom of it’s home page which allows you to see just how many people have perished since you personally opened the webpage. Here is what it says next to the counter: “150,000 People Will Die Today: The counter to the side is ticking off the number of people who have died since you opened this webpage. The vast majority of those people are entering Hell. Christ commanded his followers to share the Gospel with those who are perishing… who have you shared with today?“

Fascinating. This little paragraph alone will help you understand why many Christians are compelled to try to “save” you. Understand that many of these people are extremely loving and well meaning. Many of them have been taught, or what I call “brainwashed”, all of their lives to believe in a literal hell in which you and I will burn in for eternity. If you have any family members who are of this persuasion you’ll understand that they love you and are horrified that you may be going to hell. It is commanded of them scripturally to warn you and, hopefully, save you from that hell.

The first step to knowing how to deal with anything or anyone is to read some their guidebook for yourself. Take a little time to do this and your understanding of them should strengthen both your resolve and your compassion for these poor frightened souls

Veritas Omnia Vincit — “Truth Conquers All”