- Apr 24, 2007
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"If they're right - then my bases are covered. If they're wrong, what does it matter?"
A couple of times I've asked people why they believe - and got answers along those lines. I have to admit, while I always appreciated the honesty of the answer, I wondered what value "faith" founded on that type of belief would really hold. I mean, if God exists and knows what's in your heart, and if sincere faith really does matter, what real currency would "faith" like that have?
Faith given in order to cover your bets doesn't really seem like faith at all to me.
But it isn't just that type of thing that rings those bells for me. I often see other circumstances that give me the same type of thoughts...and this is where the cynicism part comes in.
For example, I've got a friend/guy I know, and he's pretty unattractive. He's always been pretty irreligious. I mean, to the best of my knowledge he's never been an atheist. But, religion has never really been a part of his life. I've known him and his family for quite some time, and church going, faith, etc...just has never been a part of their lives.
About six months ago he got his first girlfriend, ever. I started seeing all these posts from him on FB with some new girl, all the new-first-relationship professing about how perfect for each other they are, how much they're in love, etc... So I checked her out. Her tagline is something about how she's a daughter of Christ, etc etc. That's cool, but have to admit my first thought was "Ahhh, got with a holy roller!"
Then recently there was a post about how he got baptized.
And have to admit, my first thought was "ahhhh, she got ya to do that."
Now, I suppose you could argue that she showed him the truth, assisted in his move toward Christ, etc etc... All of which could be possible. But, my view of human nature is different. I don't share that rosy outlook on how people evolve. Rather, I think people assess themselves, they pick the things they value and then they do the things they think will help protect it. Like in this instance, I would not at all be surprised if the calculation went along the lines of "I haven't had a lot of luck with women, I've got something now and I don't want to lose it, it means a lot to her, I'm not an atheist, so what's the harm?"
And if that's the case, doesn't it fall into the same sort of camp as the "I'm hedging my bets by believing"?
Dunno. What do you think? Do you think I'm completely off base? lol Am I wrong to kind of wince when I see all of these people congratulating him on his move to Christ, etc?
A couple of times I've asked people why they believe - and got answers along those lines. I have to admit, while I always appreciated the honesty of the answer, I wondered what value "faith" founded on that type of belief would really hold. I mean, if God exists and knows what's in your heart, and if sincere faith really does matter, what real currency would "faith" like that have?
Faith given in order to cover your bets doesn't really seem like faith at all to me.
But it isn't just that type of thing that rings those bells for me. I often see other circumstances that give me the same type of thoughts...and this is where the cynicism part comes in.
For example, I've got a friend/guy I know, and he's pretty unattractive. He's always been pretty irreligious. I mean, to the best of my knowledge he's never been an atheist. But, religion has never really been a part of his life. I've known him and his family for quite some time, and church going, faith, etc...just has never been a part of their lives.
About six months ago he got his first girlfriend, ever. I started seeing all these posts from him on FB with some new girl, all the new-first-relationship professing about how perfect for each other they are, how much they're in love, etc... So I checked her out. Her tagline is something about how she's a daughter of Christ, etc etc. That's cool, but have to admit my first thought was "Ahhh, got with a holy roller!"
Then recently there was a post about how he got baptized.
And have to admit, my first thought was "ahhhh, she got ya to do that."
Now, I suppose you could argue that she showed him the truth, assisted in his move toward Christ, etc etc... All of which could be possible. But, my view of human nature is different. I don't share that rosy outlook on how people evolve. Rather, I think people assess themselves, they pick the things they value and then they do the things they think will help protect it. Like in this instance, I would not at all be surprised if the calculation went along the lines of "I haven't had a lot of luck with women, I've got something now and I don't want to lose it, it means a lot to her, I'm not an atheist, so what's the harm?"
And if that's the case, doesn't it fall into the same sort of camp as the "I'm hedging my bets by believing"?
Dunno. What do you think? Do you think I'm completely off base? lol Am I wrong to kind of wince when I see all of these people congratulating him on his move to Christ, etc?