Hello

Looking for stats can (for a school project) I was somehow redirected to

your site, your article caught my eye and I thought that perhaps you would

appreciate a response from the other end of the spectrum... First,

you said that most people, especially the young, are no longer willing to

just "swallow" the story of Jesus... this is true, but, for the record, I

am 18 and many of my closest friends are also in this age group and we have

all dedicated our lives to Christ.

We have not blindly accepted the faith of our ancestors, nor do we believe

simply out of fear of negative retribution from our God. Referring to the

former, in my case at least, that is far from the truth. I went through

most of my life without knowing God, in fact, I was a lot like yourself; in

my opinion, believers were idiots who hated the majority of the world (those

who didn't believe the same as they did) and just accepted everything the

bible said because they were narrow sighted morons. period. I drank, did

drugs, broke the law, partied every night, and loved it. At least I

pretended to... In reality, I was depressed, anorexic and had suicide

attempts. My parents sent me to numerous different shrinks as well as

counseling groups and yes, even church counselors. None of these helped,

all truth be told they did nothing but make things worse. Finally, I had

nowhere, no one and nothing to turn to accept a God that I wasn't even sure

existed. I swear to you, the moment I was willing to get past my pride,

arrogance, ignorance and admit that I was wrong... nothing at all has ever

been more clear to me.

It may interest you to know that the majority of my Christian friends

families do not believe the bible, nor do they support them going to church

or doing anything religious.

Referring to your second opinion on why people believe in Christ, or at

least behave morally, you couldn't be more wrong. The bible doesn't teach

that God will punish those who don't behave, it teaches that he loves them

and forgives them no matter what they do...

Correct me if I'm wrong but the general tone of your article made me think

that you have no respect for anyone who believes in God, they are idiots,

they hate the majority of the world, they have themselves on a pedastal,

etc. etc. etc. (Believe me, I can relate, I felt much the same way) I hope

that perhaps I can convince you we are not all like that :-)

Moving on...

Again, you are right in saying that the majority of the world does not

believe in Jesus as the son of God, this saddens me, and I pray for these

people every day. I do not consider myself better then them at all. But,

for the record, that yes, in the constitution the God they are talking

about is the God in the bible. This country was founded on Christian values

and sadly we don't believe or practice many of them anymore. Are you aware

that the national anthem is actually a four verse hymn? Maybe you should

look into it if you haven't already.

About your interpretation of what Christians believe, you were pretty on

the mark, I was impressed... I'll just clarify a few minor points if that's

ok with you.

Jesus is the son of God, not a temporary human-flesh manifestation of God.

He is God, there are three parts to God and all are one. The Father, his

son Jesus, and the holy ghost that was given to the world when Jesus was

crucified. You seem to think that this is stupid and doesn't make sense, I

would say that you are right, it doesn't make sense. But if we understood

it then we would be like God and there would be no need for faith, we are

not supposed to understand it, just believe. I don't claim to understand

this and if any Christian does I believe they have some serious issues to

work out. You also seem to have a problem with the morals in the bible

(please again correct me if I'm wrong). Most non-Christians I believe would

support the morals in the bible (Love thy neighbour, do not kill, do not

steal, etc. etc.) God did not send his son to die to show the world he

forgave them, he sent his son so he COULD forgive them. God is holy and

pure, he could never accept sinful man as his own, they are disgusting in

his sight and they had to pay the penalty of death. God, in his ultimate

love and mercy did not want us to pay our own penalty and be separated from

him, so he sent his son, Jesus, to pay this price, he is the only one who

could pay it for us but because he was crucified we can be forgiven. It was

not for the sins that had been commited "so far" (as you put it) it was for

those sins and all the sins that man would commit for the rest of eternity.

Even if you don't believe that Jesus was the son of God then you should

believe that Jesus, as a person existed, performed miracles and was

crucified. This is proven historically, archeologically and even

scientifically. His resurrection was witnessed and recorded by 500

respectable people of the time.

When you ask, why can't God make another son, or a daughter? I think you

totally are way off base in your understanding there. First, God didn't

"make" a son, Jesus always existed. And it's not even that he can't "make"

another. He could make a son, or a daughter, if he wanted to, but why would

he? (I really don't even know where you got that from) It's not that he

can't it's that he chooses not to.

As for the crazy sh*t that we believe and that you died from laughing about

(namely possession by demons) this is also historic, it has been proven,

and occured many times throughout history if you would like I will give you

numerous examples.

As for why we believe in the bible, I'm not sure I understand what you are

saying, we believe in it because we think our souls are eternal? hmm? we

believe in it because we believe (as you stated previously) that we believe

it is the word of God. A small detail as well, we don't think that people

become slaves of the devil, we believe that they endure eternal torture in

hell.

As for the "process referred to as 'meeting your maker' " and how you've

calculated that we'd only get to meet him for a half second, here is where

I get to die laughing at you (as you so eloquently put it about us). God

doesn't think in terms of time, time is man's creation, and we live and die

by it. God is eternal, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega

(I could go on naming his names but I'm sure you know them all) Time does

not rule him, he exists outside of time.

As for your thoughts on Jesus returning, you are WAY off... as far as I

understand it (and again, no one truly does) Jesus will come back to

rapture his children, the believers. The earth will be ruled by the

antiChrist and later the Devil for seven years, during which there will be

world war 3, one world government, one world currency, famine, destruction,

disease, two comets destroying one third of the earth. etc. etc. only one

quarter of the people living at the beginning of this period (called the

tribulation) will survive until the end at which point the battle

Armeggedon will occur. Of course this is totally in a nutshell, I could go

on for hours and hours explaining it to you and I wouldn't even begin to

cover it. This probably sounds totally nuts to you, and I admit, it even

sounds like it to me, but the bible offers much proof that this will occur

(and most people now believe that it will occur in our lifetime though no

one really knows for sure). I'll give you the two biggest proofs I can. I'm

sure you are more then aware of the turmoil in Isreal. I'm sure you can

also admit that it was a HUGE surprise and almost a phenomenon when Isreal

became a nation (1948?) people then never could have even dreamed of it,

people now don't understand how it happened. The bible predicted this.

People read the bible before that time and laughed at it's stupidity, but

it was a prophecy and it came true it also says that: Not a generation will

pass after Isreal becomes a Nation before I will return. (Assuming a

generation is 80 years, that would mean that God is returning soon and that

is why most Christians today believe that we will live to see it. Of

course, as I already said, God doesn't think or act in terms of our time

and a generation to him could be anything... so it is dangerous to assume

that he will come back by 2018.) The other proof I can offer you is the

predictions that before this happens (or possibly during) there will be one

world currency and government. The Euro dollar is a HUGE deal because it is

such a huge step towards this. In the upcoming conference of the Americas

one currency for us is going to be discussed. One world government is now

coming up more and more... this is more proof that the bible isn't totally

bogus.

What do you mean the bible has infiltrated laws of the developed world for

two thousand years? There you have it all wrong. Most countries (Canada

included) were founded upon that very book. It is the sins of the flesh

that have infiltrated laws, and you can't argue that, it is history.

You are right when you say that people have no desire to believe or

acknowledge the bible, that as well, was written in the scriptures. The

fact that the word of God is no longer politically correct is a very sad

thing, indeed. If you disagree, and think that this is a good thing,

please, tell me which part.

The fact that you say people filter into two camps of religious acceptance

shows pure ignorance on your part. There are over many, many religions in

the world as well as people who are agnostic. You also demonstrate your

distaste of Christians by calling them "Believers" while calling everyone

else "Thinkers". You then say believers blindly accept the faith of their

ancestors while thinkers actually learn. I can tell you that there are very

few believers who blindly accept the faith of their ancestors. I certainly

didn't, and many believers I know have no Christian ancestors that they can

blindly accept the faith from.

You call yourself the Atheist Messiah, you should be aware, that though

your statements are very well thought out and well written, calling

yourself the above title just takes away from your credibility because (it

seems at least) that you are trying to be offensive.

When you say that believers shun sinners, that is not true. We acknowledge

that every human, including ourselves, are sinners. Believers have simply

accepted the forgiveness of sins that Christ offers. I have never in my

life shunned an atheist or someone of a different faith, or an agnostic. I

believe in utmost love and acceptance. And I have experienced the opposite.

Since I have been a Christian it has been people who shun me for my faith.

It hurts, and you can't argue it, this has been my experience time and time

again.

It is a sad fact that religion has been used for negative means. But have

you really talked to a true believer? They will tell you it is not about a

religion, it is a relationship with God.

When you say: Believers do not have the wherewithal to realize that they

are being taken in terms of giving over money. It is a sad fact that there

have been cases of misuse of funds, as well as rape and injustices

committed by religious authorities. However, it is VERY unfair to bunk all

believers in this category, or all religious authorities in this category

and the absolute worst is to blame sins of man on God. There have been

many, horrible acts committed by non believers as well, but you failed to

mention (or notice?) that.

You say Jesus is a no show, but which God has shown himself? Jesus shows

himself everywhere, in the wind... the leaves on a tree. He will come back,

but he doesn't bow to the wills of man.

You make strong statements (religion is a crime) but fail to back them up

with information. What part of religion is a crime? I wish you could meet

some of the Christians I know, they are truly the most loving people you

could ever know.

I have one request,

you may post this on your site if you wish, but please don't display my

e-mail address for all to see. It doesn't take a genius to know that people

visiting your site have a problem with Christians and I would get a lot of

hate mail. You are free to e-mail me (and I hope you do after I took so

long to write this :-) ) to discuss my response or if you would like me to

provide some specific evidence or incidents of things I said. If you know

people on your site who would actually like to talk about this you can give

them my e-mail address. I can promise you tho, if I get any e-mails that

insult me or my beliefs or have excessive profanity they will go straight

to the trash and the address blocked.

Thank YOU for talking the time to read my message :-)

Take care,

_____________________________________________