by deadwhitemale » January 23rd, 2009, 4:39 am
I applaud good deeds done by anyone, whatever they believe or disbelieve in. But to me, the first and most important question to ask about any religious belief or doctrine is, "Is it true?" not "Is it pragmatically helpful or useful to someone?" I don't want to believe something that's not true, no matter how useful or inspiring or comforting some people may find it. If Christianity is just not true, if there's no God, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, if there's no Heaven or hell or any afterlife at all, I want to know it, so I can get on with whatever else there is (or isn't). "Let the truth be known, though the heavens fall." For that matter, if Christianity is kind of, sort of true, but salvation is very far from free, and almost no one is really going to be saved, and practically everyone is going to hell, I want to know that too.
DWM
"It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun." -- Joseph Conrad, Lord Jim(1899?)