The Purpose of Our Lives Much is made of the purpose of our lives in Christian circles. The theme is, in fact, popular when it comes to evangelism, as believers are usually quick to offer this as a reason to follow Jesus.

“He will give purpose to your life,” say Christians when proselytizing.

However, interestingly enough, even the faithful have a hard time finding such purpose, as exemplified by the need Christian leaders have to publish books like The Purpose Driven Life. Even more telling is that such books become best sellers, making me wonder why, if following Jesus gives you purpose, a person needs to read books on the topic.

I know that, when I was a Christian, I was totally playing the part: believing everything, waiting for the rapture, witnessing, reading my Bible, praying for me and others, giving my 10%, going in mission trips, supporting missionaries, singing in the choir, serving, reading Christian books, listening to Christian radio, attending retreats, and being in church every time the doors opened. I also spent much time daydreaming of my future life in heaven, and even hoping to die so my real life would start.

Yes, I wanted to die. I was depressed and looking for the purpose of my life. Sometimes I thought that, maybe, I should go on a mission trip to, say, Morocco and get killed for Jesus, perhaps that would make me feel as if my life had a purpose.

Then, when I had enough and finally gave up the faith completely, I felt worse. When I was a Christian, at least I was busy. Now, I still felt purposeless, but I was also bored out of my mind.

Then slowly, through time, I came to realize that having ONE purpose for my whole LIFE is overwhelming. And even if I have ONE general purpose, e.g. to be happy, maybe the focus should be on my next step, as opposed to the end of the journey.

I sit here today not knowing what the purpose of my life is. But when I look back, I can see there was some use to my being here, even if I didn’t know it when it happened.

For example, I come from a poor, extended family of about 40 first cousins. By the time I graduated from university, I was the only member of that family with a university degree. After me, a couple of others made the effort to get an education. I can see, looking back, that, in a weird sort of way, I was a leader. By accomplishing my own goals, I was encouraging others to make their lives better. And that’s big in a third-world country where, perhaps, what we need is more leaders arising from the people so the masses can have hope and follow suit.

But I digress. My point is that I do not need to spell out the purpose of my life. I don’t need to have it “notarized” and framed. I just have to live one day at a time, doing my best at the task at hand.

If I am lost in the jungle, I know that my purpose is to survive and make it out of it, and hopefully, I know the general direction in which I should be walking.

If I am lost in life, I know that my purpose is to be reasonably happy, healthy, and keep my finances under control. But in order to accomplish that, all I have to do is live responsibly, be law-abiding, work hard, grow, learn from my difficulties, and persevere.

Concentrating on the task at hand and being mindful of my next step, I think, is much more productive than worrying about the grand purpose of my life.

And that, I think, is what I missed by being a Christian for so long: the opportunity to look at life on the face and tackle my current situation. Instead, I escaped from reality, settling with knowing that I was going to heaven and that I would, then, be happy.

I honestly believe that even if there were a God, He or She would want us to live in the present, solving our current dilemmas, because, if we live right today, we need not to worry about the future.

I have given up looking for the ONE purpose to my life. I now concentrate on what I need to do today to make my life better. Recently, I have concentrated on my health. I had some on-going issues that needed attention, and I’ve focused on them: my teeth, my body, my weight, my ongoing aches, my diet, etc.

I don’t see how I can start to solve the other aspects of life that afflict me if I am in ill health. When I feel healthier (soon, I hope), the next issue to tackle will not miraculously be plenty obvious to me.

So, yes, I am still purposeless. But I am OK with it. Christians are also purposeless. They’re just in denial, reading books, praying, and hoping for an epiphanous moment when it all will be clear. What a waste of time!

  ¶ 1:56 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

  Another Advantage of Quitting Church By the end of my church-going days, I had become quite annoyed by the apparent obligation to always tell everybody what was going on in my life.

If I was unemployed, I was questioned regarding the progress of my job search. If I dared to miss a Sunday, I had to explain where I was. Frankly, I’d become tired of having to explain myself. It was like being a teenager and living at home with my family.

Two years ago, when I decided that I wasn’t ready to go back to the workforce, I truly appreciated not having to justify my decision to stay home, when asked if I was working yet. Actually, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to socialize with church people since, and their first question usually was, “Are you working yet?”

Last week, I underwent a medical procedure of a female nature. Ever after I’ve been experiencing a considerable amount of pain, and being home alone receiving no phone calls from well-meaning Christians has not been, thankfully, one of my problems.

Neither do I have to show up in church in a couple of weeks to explain to the curious where I’ve been. Somebody should tell the saints that there are times when they really don’t want to know, especially considering that Christians should ALWAYS tell the truth. So in theory, I would’ve had to tell them exactly what was done to me. Imagine that!

Better yet, on Sunday, My husband didn’t have to tell anybody that, at home, he left an ailing wife for whom he had to continually fetch pain killers, little bits of fruit, and small amounts of easily digestible food.

Frankly, given how shitty I’ve been feeling, not having the saints on my back has been a huge relief. I don’t need their prayers. The help from both my husband and my sister, who know not to mention God, has been plenty. We don’t need to hope for God’s help when we can have people who care and are willing to lend a hand.

Labels: christians, god, illness, quitting church

  ¶ 10:56 AM 6 Comments Links to this post

  A Response to Makario's Hell Threats On my post about Medical Treatments, I received several messages of sympathy from my non-Christian readers. All of which I appreciate from the bottom of my heart.

However, I also received a post from a Christian who never did bother showing any compassion or sympathy. Makarios just came over to spill the Christian hate he carries in his heart. Hell is his favourite topic, so he, apparently, speaks of fire at the first opportunity.

Interestingly enough, it was Christians like him who helped me understand that the faith wasn't worth following and that its God was an idea of human creation.

This is what Makarios said,

I think you're right. Followers of God misunderstand a lot about Him. However I doubt that His Son, misunderstands anything. "What Son?" you might ask. Umm, that would be Jesus. The one that you killed. Did you know that He spoke more often about hell than about heaven? A loving God does that because He wants to warn people away from the worst scenario possible.

Mark 16:16 - Jesus said, “Those who believe in Me and are baptized will be saved but those who refuse to believe in Me will be condemned.” (You would think, wouldn't you, that believing in Jesus would entail believing what He taught?)

John 1:12,13 - Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven.” There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust Him save them. But those who don’t trust Him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God.

John 3:3 - “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:16-18 - “God loves so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

John 5:24 - Jesus said, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to My message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life and will NEVER be damned for his sins. He has crossed from death into life.”

John 6:40 - “For my Father’s will is that every one who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

John 8:24 - Jesus said, “For unless you believe that I am the Son of God, the Messiah, you will die in your sins.”

John 14:6 - “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Acts 13:38,39 - In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who trusts in Him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous.

Romans 3:27,28 - Our acquittal is not based on our good deeds, it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is we are saved, by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.

Romans 9:32 - Because they were trying to be saved by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith, they have stumbled over that great stumbling stone, Jesus.

Galatians 2:19 - It was through reading the Bible that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favour by trying and failing to obey the law. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.

1st Thessalonians 1:8,9 - The Lord Jesus will bring judgement on those who do not wish to know God and those who reject His plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ (the majority of American christians). They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of His power.

This is my response.

I think you're right. Followers of God misunderstand a lot about Him. However I doubt that His Son, misunderstands anything.

Yes, and when I wrote that, I was thinking of the likes of you, who go around threatening people with eternal damnation in the name of a so-called loving God who doesn’t exist. The Bible writers made him up, and the Roman Catholic church added Jesus to the bunch of lies. Yeah, most of the stuff you believe in comes from the Roman Catholic church. Do your research.

"What Son?" you might ask. Umm, that would be Jesus.

Oh my! Did you really write that?

Are you here to try to convert me or just to insult my intelligence. What’s your I.Q. Makarios? Below 100?

The one that you killed.

Ah! I killed Jesus, Did I? I could swear I wasn’t even born then . And in any case, I didn’t ask him to die for me. So, I am not going to take responsibility for it.

Did you know that He spoke more often about hell than about heaven? A loving God does that because He wants to warn people away from the worst scenario possible.

Actually, he, according to the gospels, mostly spoke against the religious establishment. He spoke about self-righteous people, like you, who think they have the right to speak in behalf of a God they’ve never seen or spoken to.

So, from that point of view, it was YOU WHO KILLED HIM, Makarios. And if he came again as described in the gospels, humble and poor, he would be discriminated and looked down upon in churches like yours.

Mark 16:16 - Jesus said, “Those who believe in Me and are baptized will be saved but those who refuse to believe in Me will be condemned.” (You would think, wouldn't you, that believing in Jesus would entail believing what He taught?)

A verse probably written by someone who badly wanted to win converts for his new Jewish sect. It is doubtful that Jesus even existed, let alone that he said what the gospels say he did. Even more improbable is that he was quoted correctly. Try quoting somebody 40-to-100 years after they said something.

John 1:12,13 - Jesus said, “Unless you are born again, you can never get into the kingdom of heaven.” There is no eternal doom awaiting those who trust Him save them. But those who don’t trust Him have already been tried and condemned for not believing in the only Son of God.

Another HATEFUL verse in the Bible written by somebody who didn’t know what love really means. Would you kill your daughter for not believing in you? And if you did, you would be called an evil monster and sentenced to the electric chair.

Every time I read posts like this one, I wonder how Christians have the nerve to go around portraying their God as if he were as evil as a deserving death-row inmate.

John 3:3 - “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Ah! And then I will have to read a myriad of books describing what the kingdom of God means. In doing that, I will find that every denomination has their own idea of what it means, and that nobody really knows what it is. Brilliant huh?

John 3:16-18 - “God loves so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

Hey no need to cut and paste this onto your post. I could have recited it to you by heart. That’s right. I have a lot of portions of your fictional book memorized. What a waste of my brain's storage space, huh?

John 5:24 - Jesus said, “I say emphatically that anyone who listens to My message and believes in God who sent me has eternal life and will NEVER be damned for his sins. He has crossed from death into life.”

And you really think Jesus said this? It sounds to me like anybody who would say such thing has to be completely deluded?

John 6:40 - “For my Father’s will is that every one who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

I am so not interested in eternal life. I am especially not interested in being anywhere with the likes of you for even five minutes, let alone an eternity.

John 8:24 - Jesus said, “For unless you believe that I am the Son of God, the Messiah, you will die in your sins.”

What sins? I make human mistakes like everyone else. Nobody deserves death for LIVING and being HUMAN. If God wants to send me somewhere for being ME, maybe I should go there. I wouldn’t want to hang out with somebody like him, so mean and miserable as to want to restrict me to always being perfect. Might as well check myself into the local jail.

John 14:6 - “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

What father? There is no God and no father. We are alone. Each other is all we have.

Acts 13:38,39 - In this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins. Everyone who trusts in Him is freed from all guilt and declared righteous.

No, Jesus produces guilt. To be freed from guilt, all I need to do is realize that Jesus and God are myths of human creation.

Romans 3:27,28 - Our acquittal is not based on our good deeds, it is based on what Christ has done and our faith in Him. So it is we are saved, by faith in Christ and not by the good things we do.

Yes, Paul supposedly wrote that. And that shows how ignorant he was. According to that, God is completely unjust and evil. People who live good lives and respect others go to hell—for not following God the dictator. But criminals who repent once they’re thrown in jail, go to heaven. Brilliant. May I be saved from your unjust God.

Romans 9:32 - Because they were trying to be saved by keeping the law and being good instead of by depending on faith, they have stumbled over that great stumbling stone, Jesus.

Yes, he was speaking of the Pharisees. People like you, who read a book and follow it to the letter. And in doing that, you forget that loving and respecting other human beings is ABOVE THE LAW. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, If Jesus were to come, Christians like you would kill him. You guys would find some verse in the Bible to justify the crime.

Galatians 2:19 - It was through reading the Bible that I came to realize that I could never find God’s favour by trying and failing to obey the law. I came to realize that acceptance with God comes by believing in Christ.

That’s not what Galatians 2:19 says. You’ll burn in hell for misquoting the Bible. Here is what it says, "For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live unto God."

And no, you’re still following the law. Your law is the Bible, because you take everything so literally. And, yes, the Bible is killing you. There are other books you could be reading that aren’t as retarded as the Bible.

1st Thessalonians 1:8,9 - The Lord Jesus will bring judgement on those who do not wish to know God and those who reject His plan to save them through our Lord Jesus Christ (the majority of American christians). They will be punished in everlasting hell, forever separated from the Lord, never to see the glory of His power.

A book that spills out death threats every other verse isn’t worth my time. I am sorry that you’ve let yourself be influenced by such hateful book. And I am also sorry for what it does to you, to your family, and to your friends.

No, I have no plans to ever follow your God again. I do not follow persons or invisible beings who threaten me with eternal death for not believing in them. Especially, when the death threats are ALL HEARSAY found in a book of doubtful validity.

Labels: afterlife, Bible, god, hell, Jesus

  ¶ 2:38 PM 14 Comments Links to this post

  Those Dreadful Medical Procedures

Reading this post on fearsome medical procedures on the athinkingman’s blog, I realized that I am not afraid of death. I am actually more afraid of living.

Really, death doesn’t scare me one bit. I figure that, if I die and I am right in that there is no God or an afterlife, my body and my mind will at last stop suffering. And the fun will stop, too. But that will be it.

And if there is a God, I am sure that He will agree with me that his followers have grossly misunderstood Him, and that He is 100% loving and accepting and that there is no such thing as hell. So I am not afraid of God either.

Living, however, requires of me to go through medical procedures, not unlike the ones my friend athinkingman has had to endure.

About six weeks ago, I went for an ultrasound which required me to have a full bladder. The appointment was a 3:00 pm, but I showed up at 2:45 pm, already with a full bladder, hopping to be seen as soon as possible. I reported to the office’s desk, she gave me clothes to change into, and I started to wait.

Then, one by one, I heard the names of all the women that came after me being called. At 3:30 pm, I thought I couldn’t bear my full bladder anymore, and started to pace. At 3:45 pm, I talked to the clerk, and she said it would be only 15 more minutes. I stopped myself from screaming on her face, ONLY 15 MORE MINUTES?

At 3:45 pm, I walked towards the desk, hunching over in great pain, and I heard the practitioner say, “And who is this Lorena? We didn’t even know she was here.”

She, obviously, was unaware of my presence. I complained, and a nurse said, “Did you tell anyone you were here?”

“Who the fuck do you think gave me the clothes,” I said, clenching my teeth in obvious distress, using my newly acquired swearing skills.

They realized the clerk had forgotten to check my name on the list and, handing me a ruled paper cup, a woman said, “You can go a little bit, a couple of inches.”

I went and relieved myself a little. After, I cried like a toddler in the bathroom, at full steam, thinking that I had to endure, because if I didn’t, the badly needed medical treatment would be denied.

When I came out, the department’s boss met me, to apologize. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to thank her for her concern, instead of screaming on her face how incompetent they were. My ultrasound was done about 10 minutes later, finally.

I could hardly climb onto the table, though; I thought my bladder was about to explode. I distressfully massaged my face repeatedly, as the practitioner rubbed her instrument over my bladder over and over again for what seemed like an eternity.

A few minutes later, a doctor saw me and, after a heartfelt, lengthy apology, he said, “According to the ultrasound, you do qualify for the procedure. We have a four-month waiting list, though. We’ll call you.”

I had waited as patiently as possible for the f*ng ultrasound, just because I needed the “procedure” so badly. When he said four months, I must have gone pale. But I just said thanks.

Maybe my patience paid off, though, because a couple of weeks later, they called me. The procedure will be next week, about seven weeks after the ultrasound. They’re afraid I may sue, perhaps? Or maybe they’re just trying to make it up to me. Who knows?

When they called, they said I needed a blood test and an MRI. “Are you claustrophobic?” asked the clerk.

“No,” I replied hesitantly.

----

I arrive at the hospital at exactly 7:45 am, fill out my form, change into the “funny” hospital clothes, and go in for my MRI.

She gives me a headset, to protect my ears from the machine's loud noises. “Classical music would be awesome,” I said, cheerfully.

I lie on the table as instructed, she makes sure I’m OK, she pushes a button, and into the tube I go.

All the air vents make the tube feel as if a capsule is sucking me into an airless cave. But I also feel as if I’ve been thrown from an airplane without a parachute. The tube’s ceiling seems to be two inches over my eyes, and all I can see is darkness. My plugged ears make me feel as if I have been buried alive, since I can’t hear the outside world.

But I can hear the radiologist say, “Are you warm enough in there?”

As my heart beats fast, and I breathe heavily, moving distressfully, I manage to say “Get me out of here.”

She slides me out, and I start repeating, “This is not gonna happen…there is no way I’m doing this…I’m so sorry…it is so small in there.”

Both women look at me and patiently let me calm down. “The air,” I say. “There is too much air in there.”

“I can lower the air if you want,” says one of them.

“You can lie on your stomach, so you can look out while we do it,” says the other one.

I hesitate for a minute, think of all the reasons why the surgery is needed, and decide to be a big girl and give it another try. “Just give me earplugs instead of music, please.” I say.

The radiologist does it as fast as she can, and I am out of there in 20 minutes.

“Do you think I’m claustrophobic?” I ask on the way out.

“I say you are,” she says, smiling.

----------

I am going IN, finally, for my procedure next week. I’ve been promised it will be painful and distressful. And I am afraid one more time. The unexpected, the needles, the narcotics, the sedatives, and the hospital food are all scary to me.

Yes, I am a fearful person. But I am not afraid of death. Dying is the easy part. Dealing with aging and the shit that goes with it is what I dread.

But life IS worth living. So I’ll submit myself to the horrors of modern medicine that have the potential to make my life less dreadful.

Wish me luck!

Labels: afterlife, death, dying, fear, god, MRI, ultrasound

  ¶ 1:23 PM 9 Comments Links to this post

  Today is Canada Day and I am Proud to Call Myself Canadian

So today is Canada Day, and Canadians celebrate across the land with fireworks, ceremonies, cakes, BBQ’s, picnics, and lots of beer.

This blog is written in Canada by a Latin American Canadian who is most proud to be both. And in real life I parade my Latinity around Canada and teach Spanish words to anyone who asks.

I raise the issue of my Canadianship because American fundamentalist Christians have, in the past, dropped me comments that show me they think ALL BLOG WRITING IS DONE IS THE UNITED STATES.

I clearly specify the sector of the population who shows the ignorance, because I am sure not all Americans are the same. And I am also sure that many of them are embarrassed by those who think the United States is the only country on earth.

One such poster wrote that he could say to me anything he wanted because of the First Amendment. Another one said that he couldn’t believe that writing like mine was allowed in the United States. And yet another one said that I should be supporting “the troops.”

When I read stuff like that, I remember TV shows like John Steward and the Colbert Report that make such effort to show Americans that there is a world out there with developed, rich, advanced countries where life is good and sometimes even better than in the United States.

But my Christian visitors wouldn’t know about that, because being too busy reading the Bible, attending church, and doing whatever the pastor says, they neglect reading the newspaper, watching international news, or just keeping abreast of current events.

It really is shameful how, when one is a Christian, the intellectual potential is used for remaining brainwashed and daydreaming of the afterlife, instead of joining the human race and realizing that there are more people in the world living better—or worse—than ourselves.

Sometimes I think American fundamentalist Christians believe the rest of the world is in the “third” category, because their pastors only speak of needy nations where the church can send missionaries to gain converts. To convince the faithful to give money for missions, Christian leaders portray the candidate nation in the worst light, to move people to donate. Then believers grow convinced that the USA is the only place in the world where life is good.

These religious Americans are also convinced that life is good in USA because of its Christian population and give all the glory to God for the American prosperity.

What these fundamentalists fail to realize, in their ignorance, is that secular nations like Norway, Sweden, Australia, and Canada have a standard of living often higher than that of the United States. All those countries offer health care to everybody, and nobody there is claiming God helps.

So, I must apologize to all intelligent Americans who read this post if I have offended them in anyway. But I ask you to try to understand how your fundamentalist Christian counterparts offend me every time they assume I am an American and should submit to the laws of the United States.

Thank you for listening… and happy Canada Day!

Labels: american, atheism, canada, christian Church, Christianity, fundamentalist christian, ignorance, Jesus

  ¶ 11:41 AM 4 Comments Links to this post

  Those testimonials that Make You Cry and Believe in Jesus

When I was a church worm, I loved testimonial services. I desperately needed to believe that the Lord was going to rescue me, I suppose, so I attentively listened and believed what was said.

To be fair, I have to admit that most storytellers were sincere. I believe that they were honestly sharing their perception of the situation. But I have a problem with the conclusions that were reached: (1) God Did it, (2) This is a good thing, (3) The person will be happily ever after.

Let me illustrate.

A woman goes up to the podium and tells the heartbreaking story of her life. She got pregnant at 17, at which point she had to get married. At 20, she divorced the abusive father of her child because he was an alcoholic who regularly beat her.

At 21, she got pregnant again and had no choice but to move in with the guy. The relationship went sour and they eventually split up, leaving her to raise her two kids all by herself.

Then at age 27, she received Jesus in her heart. Her life changed completely. Now she had somebody to trust on. God was on her side. She could face the world now, because God was there for her.

She, however, desperately wanted a husband, to help pay the bills, to be a father to her kids, to love her and keep her company. (Apparently, God wasn’t enough after all.)

So she started to tearfully pray to God day in and day out that He would give her a husband, a good husband. After three years, she finally meets the man of her dreams. He is nice looking. He is good to her kids. He loves her to pieces. She is madly in love.

On a testimony night, she goes to the podium and she tells her story. Everyone cries, even the men have a little shine on their eyes. She is getting married, she shares, next month. Glory to God!

Among claps, amen’s, and halleluiahs, she takes a seat and glows the whole night.

Then she gets married. They are happy for a couple of months, but then he starts beating her kids. Also, he is addicted to pornography and a con artist who in church looks like a saint but has a secret private life that his wife finds repulsive.

She is in great agony now, because she is too embarrassed to tell anyone in church; after all, she stood up in front of everybody to tell them how happy she was. It would be too embarrassing now to tell then that she was wrong, that prince charming wasn’t actually a blessing but a curse.

But instead of realizing that her faith in a non-existing God led her to make a huge mistake, she blames herself. She should have known, she tells herself. How could she have been so stupid?

Her punishment for being so naïve is having to live with the phony man until he dies, because the Bible says she can’t divorce him. She confides her troubles to a pastor who reminds her that she has to remain faithful, submissive, and she has to pray because only God can help her.

But instead of giving the pastor the finger, seeing that her faith has misled her before, she trusts the pastor and continues living in misery.

---------

Many of the testimonials I heard in church proved to be nothing. The circumstances of life were misinterpreted as divine intervention and given some mystical meaning.

Jobs that were supposedly God-given turned into major mistakes, houses that were bought miraculously turned into nightmares, cheap cars resulted in huge expenses, and addiction recovery stories were short-lived fairy tales.

I know, because I was watching. I noticed that, often, the members with the most amazing stories stopped coming to church a couple of months later. I heard through the grapevine that life wasn’t treating them so well, and I kept it all in my heart.

Through the years, I came to be a skeptical listener. I would listen and think to myself, “I wonder how long before she finds out that it isn’t real?”

I am angry, would a Christian say, for my failures and those of others. Yes, I am angry, but not at God. I am angry at myself for having ruined my life trusting in random events that I attributed to God. And it also saddens me to remember all the well-meaning Christians who thought God was holding their hand and directing them toward a better life. It really is sad to admit that in trusting God, these individuals gave themselves to a life of suffering and pain.

The majority of churchgoers, however, lacking critical thinking, fail to realize that most testimonies are stories woven by the teller to sound like miracles. The faithful neglect to follow up on what was said, ignoring—intentionally or not—that most accounts turn sour shortly after.

Sometimes the devotees do hear of awful post-testimonial outcomes, but they use their well-developed, excellent justification skills to rationalize the circumstances:

• The Lord is trying to tech her something
• Like Gold, he is being refined by fire
• The Lord is teaching her to trust in Him
• There is a purpose on everything
• God will make a way, when there seems to be no way

Yes, regardless of the after-testimonial disappointing developments, believers will always find a justification. They have to, given that personal experience is what gives the religion its credibility.

  ¶ 5:36 PM 9 Comments Links to this post

  God Didn’t Help Elisabeth Fritzl because She Wasn’t Being Prayed for, Says Christian I love it when Christian leave comments that help me illustrate the issues I have with their faith. Recently, under the Elisabeth Fritzl post, an anonymous poster left the following comment:

Kerstin is alive today, her mother and brothers are making progress, thanks to the prayers of thousands of Christians for them. It's a miracle the recovery that is being made after such an unfathomable traumatic experience. It's in direct answer to prayer. Perhaps no one prayed for Elizabeth when she first disappeared, perhaps not even her mother. Why do people just accept fate? Thank God some people are praying for her and her children now.

There is so much to say about this piece of text. For starters, the poster affirms that Kerstin, the eldest daughter, is alive today, and her brothers are recovering, because they are being prayed for.

Oh, really?

All the years of university training held by the highly experienced team of nurses and doctors taking care of the family have nothing to do with it?

Why do people spend thousands of dollars going to school and studying hard, if God can do the job? All we need is prayer, huh?

Why do we have police departments and detectives, if all we need is prayer?

If Kerstin is getting better because people are praying for her, why did Neal Beagley die in the last few days? He is the 16-year-old Oregon boy who didn’t receive treatment because his family believed in faith healing.

People were not only praying for him. They gathered at his house in high numbers to pray together. But he died. Why didn’t God heal him? Did He enjoy watching the faithful wail and beg knowing that the boy would die anyway? Or is it that the God of the Bible is just a myth continually perpetuated by Christians who choose to justify the eternal absence of their God when he is more desperately needed?

The Christian poster, above, chose to justify God by believing that people weren’t praying for Elisabeth. She is content with that explanation, not stopping to think that many non Christians that are never prayed for are helped, physically and emotionally, when put in the hands of capable professionals who use both science and experience to assist them.

When the woman and her children were in the dungeon, God, apparently, chose to ignore the issue for 24 very long years, just because nobody was praying for her.

First, I doubt it that nobody was praying for her. A mother never forgets her offspring, and Elisabeth’s mother had a daily reminder of her dear daughter: she had her children. I can almost see her saying to God, “If you exist, help my daughter wherever she is.”

But God never did show up. It was only when the circumstances of life got in the way that the prisoners were released.

Second, what kind of God would be such an asshole, as not to help someone just because others aren’t asking Him to. I am sure Elisabeth cried out to Him. Why didn’t He listen? Particularly during the first few years, when the rapes were more frequent and she was down there all alone?

Doesn’t God know our thoughts? Isn’t it that He knows exactly what we need even before we ask? She walked “through the valley of the shadow of death,” but God’s rod failed to comfort her. I’ve seen nasty humans soften up when an enemy needs help. Why wouldn’t God, if he exists, rush to rescue someone who is in great pain? This makes the Omnipotent and Omniscient look pretty bad, yet, Christians choose to depict Him so terribly, just because they have no other way to justify His inactivity.

I find it amazing that Bible believers pick and choose so carefully when to claim the appearance of their God. In this particular case, the poster doesn’t blame her Lord for the years of suffering of the dungeon family. The Omnipresent surely had nothing to with it. But now that people with the skills and the good will to help them are hard at work trying to do what they can, Christians ascribe the success to their God. Said the poster, “It's a miracle the recovery that is being made after such an unfathomable traumatic experience. It's in direct answer to prayer.”

In direct answer to prayer? How can that be? Perhaps if the family was in a forgotten corner of the earth without access to medication, clean water, a roof, and expert assistance, we could say God did it. But it so happens that when the sanitary conditions are unfavourable and medical assistance unreachable, the sick usually die.

“Why do people just accept fate?” continues the poster.

I wonder so myself. They do because they’re trusting God, as did I for so many years. When we trust God, we stop working to change our destiny. We give up, because if God can’t do it, how can we, frail humans, do anything? We waste our lives waiting for Him, and He never shows. I wouldn’t be surprised if Elisabeth’s mom was just trusting that God has helping her daughter. What a shame!

I do not believe God is evil, or that He is to blame for the human disgraces. But I do believe that He doesn’t exist, as repeatedly confirmed by his failure to show when the sick, the needy, and the abused really need Him.

Labels: atheism, Christianity, dungeon dad, Elizabeth Fritzl, prayer

  ¶ 5:45 PM 19 Comments Links to this post