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July 26, 2005 Sarcasm at its best... that's how I view Michael John McCrae's comments on the many accomplishments for the betterment of humanity that obviously did not come from atheists, as he so adroitly stated. There is a reason, however, since the atheist community (if you would so describe it) is perhaps 12 to 14 percent of the world's population, while Christianity claims to have converted at least 33 percent. Atheists have contributed in many ways, despite their small numbers. Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity is one example. In literature, Mark Twain, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre, Salman Rushdie, Epicurus, John Stuart Mill and Thomas Paine represent a very small portion of well-read authors who were atheists. Hundreds of public figures in other fields can be cited as having no belief in religion. As Mark Twain so succinctly put it: "Man is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight." It is not my intention to laugh at, or undermine any true believers. I simply suggest it would be wise for them to look at all sides, and ask "why?" a lot before they completely dismiss the way some of us look at life. Skip Toomaloo, I think, sort of gave a little tacit agreement with my earlier article on being born atheist, when he titled his reply "Actually Rod, I Am Not An Atheist (Agnostic) Anymore" where "Anymore" seems to be an operative word. He is obviously devout in his acceptence of Christianity. I was constantly exposed to evangelical thinking when I lived with my grandparents for several years. I went regularly to tent meetings, spent many days at evangelical events. My grandmother was the "born again" family member who took me to the meetings. My grandfather was a part-time minister with a slightly different view of the Bible. He preached on the radio, espousing the belief that the English, Scottish, Irish and consequently the Americans and Canadians, were the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. (I even played the violin on a number of his radio programs!). I'll close this bit of "whatever" with a request that someone explain to me the full meaning of Matthew Chapter 10, verses 34-38. It's one of the passages I have great difficulty accepting--and I've never heard a sermon based on it. ------------ Email Rod Greig: rodgreig20@cox-internet.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ 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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