A response to a reader

I received a comment on my my space blogfrom someone that I really wanted to respond to...but I felt that my response would be too long for a comment. So, I've decided to make a new post. I think this is a great discussion starter and I welcome comments....let's keep it civil though :)

As far as the topic of God I just have to say that Yes I am a Christian and I am not afraid to say so.

I wouldn't expect you to be afraid to say so. The majority of people in our country claim to be Christians so it's not a big surprise when someone says they are. The fact that someone is a Christian doesn't bother me....unless they are trying to push it on other people.


We will be raising our daughter to believe in God.

I assume you're teaching her about the Christian god. Have you considered teaching her about what other people in the world believe as well so she can decide for herself when she's older?


I tell her that he lives inside of us. It is a feeling of peace he brings in to my life. It is the excitement he yearns for me to have when overcoming an obstacle. No I can not see him, but I believe that he is always there for me. As silly or awkward as it may sound, he has spoken to me.

I think everyone has had these feelings, but people attribute the feelings to different causes. You attribute these feelings to god...I think they have a natural explanation. Our brains can do amazing things...a recent study recreated out of body experiences using virtual reality. Sometimes what we believe has happened isn't reality. Many people believe god talks to them, but I attribute this to your own self talk.

When (my daughter) was having her surgery, one night in particular I put her to bed and went to the couch and cried and cried I told God that I was angry, and that I didn't deserve a child with a problem and that above anything else I was terrified. As sure as the sun rises, I know that it was God that night that was sitting with me on the couch. I felt him and then as if he was sitting in front of me having a conversation with me I heard him say, ".... everything will be ok Monday, please just have faith." Instantly I calmed down and felt at peace with it. It is nothing that I can explain in words. But I want people to know that he is there for us.

I think that would be a very difficult thing to go through. The good thing is that you were able to get your anger out through crying and talking to god. I don't think people give themselves enough credit. You should be proud of yourself for getting through that...because YOU are the one who did it. After you released your anger, you calmed yourself down. People are pretty resilient...many just don't give themselves enough credit.

What if after all my years on earth believing in God, I am wrong? Nothing will happen to me right? But what if I don't believe in God and I die?
Then for me the cost is too high and I am not willing to pay that cost.

This is a basic form of Pascal's wager. On the surface, it makes sense to many people. But, when you really look at it, it falls apart.
First of all, how do you know which god belief is the right one? You assume it's the Christian view because you grew up in a predominantly Christian country. If a Muslim person presented you with the same dilemma, what would you think? (You should believe in Allah because you lose nothing by believing.)

Second, I think you do lose something if you believe something out of fear. I believe this life is extremely precious because it's the ONLY life we get. If there is an afterlife, people can screw up in this life, ask forgiveness and have a new life when they die.
Fear is never a good reason to believe something. One person made up a funny scenario showing how ridiculous it would be to believe something for this reason. It is called Kissing Hank's Ass. Basically, the story goes like this: Someone comes to your door. Tells you Hank loves you and wants you to believe in him. If you believe, he will give you $1,000,000. If you don't believe, he will kick the shit out of you. Can you see Hank to talk to him about this? No. etc. etc. So, if you're afraid to have the shit kicked out of you, is it a good reason to believe?
This is just the beginning of the problems with Pascal's wager. I wrote about it in one of my past blogs and there is also other rebuttals you can find online.


I know that not everyone has the same feelings as you or I, and that is ok. But like Stephanie, I too think that it is important to have conversations. Let's hear what each other has to say. We are all adults who can make our minds up for ourselves. But what if I have something to say that you really needed to hear or vica versa.? Conversations are so important. People need to unite more and realize that just because our thoughts or our feelings or our beliefs are different, doesn't make either one of us right or wrong. It is what it is OUR thoughts, OUR feelings and OUR own beliefs.


I agree. Many times people get so caught up in their own beliefs and they don't really think about why they believe something. These conversations are helpful in figuring out the reasons for what you believe and also understand why others believe what they do.
I have to say that at one point I would have said and felt the same way you do. But, when I had kids, I wanted to make sure I gave them the best information I had. The fact is that when I started looking into why I believed in the christian god, it just didn't hold up. At first, I was scared by this because it had been part of my entire life. However, I refused to lie to myself simply because it made me feel better.
I kept searching and eventually it was so painfully obvious that I just didn't believe there is a god out there...any god. When you think about it, most people do not believe in Zeus anymore. I just added the Christian god to the list of gods I don't believe in.