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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
The Bible says "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." So my question is, I know you're certain that there's no One out there, but if you're wrong, have you truly thought about what an eternity in Hell will be like?

I know this is why many don't believe, but that is why Christ said, "Repent, and believe the Gospel." (Mark 1:15)

Thank you for answering this. I ask this sincerely.[/quote]

Not the OP, but also an atheist.  I was brought up in a church, and the god I learned about there was forgiving and loving.  If I am wrong, I don't actually believe I am going to hell.  I think that if there was a god, the one I'd want there to be would be forgiving and judge me based on my morality and good works, not faith or lack of faith.

So I think I'll be fine, whether I believe or not.[/quote]
You know, you inadvertently make the Christian case. You [i]will[/i] be judged on your morality and good works. And they will be lacking. I don't know you personally, but I know that we all are sinful sometimes. And you contradict yourself. You want God to judge you on your good works AND be forgiving? The Bible says you that if you want to work for your salvation, you're welcome to it, but you will never be able to pay the debt you owe for the things you do wrong. But the Bible also preaches forgiveness, which comes through Christ. If you reject Christ, you reject the forgiveness. So if you put your faith in Christ and not yourself, then you will not be judged according to your works, but according to your faith. Where my understanding fails me is why you would put stock in living a moral life but be so antithetical to Christ, who taught nothing but righteousness. Why not identify with Him? I get it if you want to be a Hedonist. Yeah, I'm a Hedonist, keep your Jesus away from me. But you're trying to choose a moral path. Why reject Christ. Here are listed the fruits of the spirit of Christ: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. What's to reject here? Christ taught us to love our enemies and do good to them, to sacrifice for others. What's to reject?[/quote]

I don't want to sound disrespectful, and I am not the OP, but I am an atheist.  When you ask "What's to reject?" you are making an assumption that is obvious to atheists, but not to Christians.  Atheists don't believe in God, or Christ, or the Bible.  Those ideas are meaningless to us.  We don't reject your beliefs, to us, there is no basis for them.  To us, you have been indoctrinated into a tradition that is no more and no less than complete fantasy.  To me personally, it is sad that you have to have this fantasy.  We live on such a wonderful planet.  Our presence in this place is a result of wondrous evolution and synergies of time and space.  Our time here is so short and so beautiful.  Why do you have to have more?  Can't you accept and embrace the gift of your mortality and be content to leave this world a better place than you found it to honor those who came before and those who will come after us?[/quote]
You are not being disrespectful. But you ask, "Why do you have to have more?"

But our presence in this place is a result of a wondrous Creator who loves us all individually. I would ask, "Why do you have to have less?" I can't be content to merely leave the world a better place when I know the Lord who loves me.

I will relate a personal story. Shortly after I became a Christian a few years ago, I was feeling an immense amount of grief for the sins I had committed in my life. And I was lying in bed, grieving for all I had done wrong. And I wasn't praying for a sign, or really even praying at all. Just grieving, feeling a deep sense of remorse. And as I lay there, a verse from the Bible came to my mind. I could actually see it in type, with my eyes closed. And this was a verse I had never read. I didn't know it existed, because I had never read that book of the Bible. Actually, I had barely read the Bible at all, to that point. But I did believe God, and I believed I was a sinner, and I believed Christ died for those sins. So I picked up my Bible and opened up to that verse, and it was a response [i]exactly[/i] to what I had been lying there thinking. It was no less clear a response than if Christ had been sitting in my room and we were having a conversation. You may scoff or discount this, but this is not something I could have conjured up in my mind. And I knew that I was forgiven.

If you don't believe in God, you certainly won't see Him anywhere. But those who do believe find that He's everywhere they look.[/quote]

This was a very sweet story.  I'm sure that the people looking to have their belief in the Christian God will enjoy it and find it uplifting.  I am glad that your belief system works for you and offers you comfort and hope.  I don't need a belief in a supernatural deity or in the human sacrifice of what sounds like a very fine man to make me feel complete.  I don't understand those who do, I don't want to take it away from them, all I want is for them stop trying to insert their religious beliefs into the laws of my beloved country.
[/quote]

not pp. If there were a separation of church and state would you accept laws to retain some reference to morality as long as it weren't tied to God?[/quote]

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