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Ethics & Morality
Defending a religious person...
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<blockquote data-quote="Catherineanne" data-source="post: 62357559" data-attributes="member: 83057"><p>I am not sure if this has been answered or not. I think I would have two answers.</p><p> </p><p>If by 'lack faith' you mean 'having insufficient faith' then we all qualify; believers and non believers alike. In this case Christians have the option of praying; 'Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.' Then we can either wait for the faith to arrive, in which case we might have a long wait, or else we can act 'as if.'</p><p> </p><p>This might sound daft, but it isn't. People do it all the time. If we are afraid of not being adequate for a particular task we can either wait until we feel ready, or else go ahead and give it a try, in the full awareness that we might succeed, or we might fail. Either is ok, as long as we learn from it. What is not ok is to hide at home and never take any chances because we are too afraid to try. (This is my preferred behaviour, and I have to fight against it all the time. Except when I don't bother to try.)</p><p> </p><p>So, God will very often NOT give us full assurance before we do things. He will ask us to try, and sometimes even let us fail, because this helps us to grow and to learn, the same as in any other area of life. Bakers have to make a few flat cakes before they learn to make light fluffy ones. Christians have to learn to get a lot of things wrong, before they learn how to get some things right. The Christian life is a process; it is not handed to us complete from day one.</p><p> </p><p>If the question relates to those who do not have any faith in God, then I think I would return to what I said earlier. Very often people are disillusioned about religion because of the example of believers around them. It is not God who lets them down, but his followers. Sadly, they throw out the baby with the bathwater on this one.</p><p> </p><p>But as for what happens to them; nothing. God will not punish anyone for being disillusioned by other believers; why would he? Otoh, he has a rather unpleasant surprise in store for those doing the damage. We do not know what it is, but a clue is found in the words of the Lord; 'Woe unto him who causes one of my little ones to stumble. It would be better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck, and he be thrown into the sea.'</p><p> </p><p>Not really an area to venture into, therefore. Any atheist here who can think of such a person does not need to fear. If you once had faith, that is still credited to you. If you were caused to stumble by a minister or someone in authority in faith, you have nothing to fear. People might let us down and act callously. God never does.</p><p> </p><p>Those who have never had any faith, never known any version of Christianity and don't have any bad experiences to worry about; well, nothing will happen to them either. God doesn't punish people for being who they are.</p><p> </p><p>If I have missed something, please let me know.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Catherineanne, post: 62357559, member: 83057"] I am not sure if this has been answered or not. I think I would have two answers. If by 'lack faith' you mean 'having insufficient faith' then we all qualify; believers and non believers alike. In this case Christians have the option of praying; 'Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.' Then we can either wait for the faith to arrive, in which case we might have a long wait, or else we can act 'as if.' This might sound daft, but it isn't. People do it all the time. If we are afraid of not being adequate for a particular task we can either wait until we feel ready, or else go ahead and give it a try, in the full awareness that we might succeed, or we might fail. Either is ok, as long as we learn from it. What is not ok is to hide at home and never take any chances because we are too afraid to try. (This is my preferred behaviour, and I have to fight against it all the time. Except when I don't bother to try.) So, God will very often NOT give us full assurance before we do things. He will ask us to try, and sometimes even let us fail, because this helps us to grow and to learn, the same as in any other area of life. Bakers have to make a few flat cakes before they learn to make light fluffy ones. Christians have to learn to get a lot of things wrong, before they learn how to get some things right. The Christian life is a process; it is not handed to us complete from day one. If the question relates to those who do not have any faith in God, then I think I would return to what I said earlier. Very often people are disillusioned about religion because of the example of believers around them. It is not God who lets them down, but his followers. Sadly, they throw out the baby with the bathwater on this one. But as for what happens to them; nothing. God will not punish anyone for being disillusioned by other believers; why would he? Otoh, he has a rather unpleasant surprise in store for those doing the damage. We do not know what it is, but a clue is found in the words of the Lord; 'Woe unto him who causes one of my little ones to stumble. It would be better for him that a millstone be hung around his neck, and he be thrown into the sea.' Not really an area to venture into, therefore. Any atheist here who can think of such a person does not need to fear. If you once had faith, that is still credited to you. If you were caused to stumble by a minister or someone in authority in faith, you have nothing to fear. People might let us down and act callously. God never does. Those who have never had any faith, never known any version of Christianity and don't have any bad experiences to worry about; well, nothing will happen to them either. God doesn't punish people for being who they are. If I have missed something, please let me know. [/QUOTE]
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