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 By Patrick Hurley May 25, 2006 I seemed to have swung my religious baseball bat into the hornet's nest of unbelievers. Good. Now they know how it feels to be criticized for their FAITH-centered belief. It would be nice to have a reasonable discussion in here on theology and philosophy but in order to do that, we have to begin with respect for the person who does not hold our view of God. Judging from the articles and email that I have seen following my article, it is apparent that most of the agnostics in here did what I expected them to do: They personally attacked me and attempted to make me look foolish and stupid in their defense of their own "brilliance." Sad. It just goes to prove to most people reading in here that there is such a defensiveness about what these agnostics feel about their own inadequacies. People who truly believe they are right do not have to resort to character assassination. I never mentioned one person's name in my article. In return, I was PERSONALLY blasted for stating my view of their belief system. This was very revealing, indeed. For in the final analysis, they did not put me or Christianity down, they revealed their own lack of self-respect. The bully on the playground had been exposed for being the weakest of all. His flaw, when being questioned, was to swing wildly at the person who dared uncover his reality; that he is afraid of any kind of confrontation when it comes to what HE believes. I especially liked the several comments about me not being able to comprehend "atheism." (Of course, this word continues to be silly, for no one has 100% proof that God does not exist!) The argument here is that I, as a Christian, cannot possibly understand the mind of these brilliant human beings who have discounted God and now live a life of self-truth and self-sufficiency without any need to rely on a mythical being who was created by misguided souls with silly ideas. The agnostics in here would be wrong in assuming I do not understand them and their beliefs. I was an atheist. In college. I made fun of Christians and believed myself to be intellectually above them. I perceived them to be shallow and weak and the idea of a god who lived in an eternal universe was absurd to me. There was absolutely NO proof of such an existence and I knew it. I studied other religions, Buddhism, Taoism, Muslim, Hinduism, and found nothing that was credible or concrete enough for me to give my life to in any realistic way. I can remember debating people of faith in Christ or Allah and making fun of them with my sarcasm and self-righteous attitude. I was smug, self-serving, pompous, haughty and convinced there was no God and no life after death. I had the upper hand in debate with them, THEIR ideas were already written down. They could not refute me, I had no theology to defend. My life was built on my ideas, goals and desires for everything I found pleasurable and right. I did what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it and with whom I wanted to experience it. I logically reasoned out my decisions and I felt free from any constraints of conscience beyond myself. Being raised in a strict Catholic home had convinced me that religion was intolerant, binding and unnecessary. I was the captain of my own ship and I was accomplishing everything I wanted to...I was working in the state capital of California, chairing the Educational Reform Committee at my university, President of a prestigious residence hall on campus, being groomed to run for the state assembly and thoroughly enjoying my classes in Russian history, Shakespeare, Economics, Biology as I served as a columnist on the school paper. Who needed God? I did. Pascal once wrote, "In the heart of every man there is a God-shaped vacuum." Gradually, I began to sense that truth for me. For some illogical reason, I started becoming restless within myself. That restlessness began to drive me to search again for an inner peace that I was missing in my soul. I realized I did not like the person I had become. I was not enjoying my arrogance or my cynicism. Where once I never gave credence to altruistic love, now I began to crave it. I read, "The City of God," by St. Augustine and realized I was living in the city of man. I wanted to experience the altruistic love found in the city of God. I was frustrated and confused, but I pressed on to fill the emptiness in my soul... After several months of searching, it spiritually climaxed one night as I proved Pascal's theory by bowing my head at my dining room table at home and saying a prayer that defied all my previous beliefs in one simple paragraph, "Lord Jesus, I need you. I am a sinner. I invite you to come into my heart and make me the person you want me to be. I do this by faith believing you are my Lord and Savior.Thank you for giving me eternal life." As I finished my prayer, I felt a tremendous weight lifted from my spirit. I knew, for the first time in my life, that I had found the truth of the universe in Him. Could I explain it to anyone with facts? No. Could I convince anyone who did not believe in God that this was the truth? Not a chance. But, since then my life has changed in a great and wondrous way. Do I still sin and offend God? Yes. But, now I have a life of redemption and hope, despite my weaknesses and flaws. The main difference between my life then and now is I Corinthians 13, the love chapter. I love a good debate. I thrive on spirited discussions. But, whether it is Thomas Keyes or Fred Smith or anyone else in here who I disagree with when it comes to this subject, I will always seek to understand and relate to them with an open heart. This is such a critical part of our life and our destiny that I believe it needs to be approached with dignity and class. The reason I wrote the article I did was because I was tired of writers mocking Jesus Christ and Christians. You may not believe in Him or in his teachings, but you are capable of debating it with respect for the concepts you find intolerable. I was on your side once. I was you. I do understand any bigotry or intolerance you feel. I also understand how ridiculous Jesus and the Bible must seem to you. But, when all is said and done and our life is over, it is only then any of us will know anything for certain. Until that last breath, we need to keep an open mind, an open heart and an open discussion with grace to all who are willing to engage us no matter what they believe. ------------ About the author: Pat Hurley has won three Emmy awards for writing, hosting and producing television shows. He resides in Southern California. Email: coolhumor@sbcglobal.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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