An Open Letter to David Sklansky

[txag007]

Dear Mr. Sklansky,

I am a Christian. Being Southern Baptist, you would probably call me a "fundamentalist".

I believe that Jesus Christ was fully God, yet fully man, born of a virgin who willingly and sacrificially gave His life for my sins and the sins of everyone in this world, past, present, and future.

I believe the Bible says this.

I believe accepting Jesus as one's Savior and Lord is the only way to heaven. I believe the Bible says this, too.

I believe the Bible is the Holy Word inspired by God, written by men, and inerrant in its original form.

I believe the Holy Spirit of God dwells in me.

I don't believe non-believers or people who don't believe this are bad people.

I don't believe they don't believe in Jesus because of a character flaw.

I don't believe anyone can be forced to accept Christ.

I believe Jesus wants everyone to be saved.

I believe Jesus will knock at the door of your heart and wait.

I don't believe He will enter your heart unless you invite Him in.

I believe prayer is an act of worship.

I believe prayer works.

I believe I have felt the prayers of others during a potentially stressful time in my life.

I believe Jesus calls us to love others.

I believe Jesus calls us to share our faith with others.

I believe the Bible says to do this.

I believe Jesus wants to enter your heart.

I believe the Holy Spirit grants an inner peace in times of turmoil.

I believe I have experienced this peace.

I believe an intelligent, non-biased evaluation of the scientific, historical, and literary evidence for and against Christianity will lead an honest person to a belief in Christ.

And finally, I believe that if you think I am somehow less intelligent, more cruel, a bad person, or that I should be somehow punished for the beliefs I hold, then I am at peace with that.

Merry Christmas!

txag007

[arahant]

A nice clear statement of principle!
Out of curiosity, do you think any of these beliefs would ever be subject to revision? Obviously many of them are probably non-negotiable, but can you identify any that you can conceive of changing your beliefs on in the future?

[RayBornert]

[ QUOTE ]
Dear Mr. Sklansky,

I am a Christian. Being Southern Baptist, you would probably call me a "fundamentalist".

I believe that Jesus Christ was fully God, yet fully man, born of a virgin who willingly and sacrificially gave His life for my sins and the sins of everyone in this world, past, present, and future.

I believe the Bible says this.

I believe accepting Jesus as one's Savior and Lord is the only way to heaven. I believe the Bible says this, too.

I believe the Bible is the Holy Word inspired by God, written by men, and inerrant in its original form.

I believe the Holy Spirit of God dwells in me.

I don't believe non-believers or people who don't believe this are bad people.

I don't believe they don't believe in Jesus because of a character flaw.

I don't believe anyone can be forced to accept Christ.

I believe Jesus wants everyone to be saved.

I believe Jesus will knock at the door of your heart and wait.

I don't believe He will enter your heart unless you invite Him in.

I believe prayer is an act of worship.

I believe prayer works.

I believe I have felt the prayers of others during a potentially stressful time in my life.

I believe Jesus calls us to love others.

I believe Jesus calls us to share our faith with others.

I believe the Bible says to do this.

I believe Jesus wants to enter your heart.

I believe the Holy Spirit grants an inner peace in times of turmoil.

I believe I have experienced this peace.

I believe an intelligent, non-biased evaluation of the scientific, historical, and literary evidence for and against Christianity will lead an honest person to a belief in Christ.

And finally, I believe that if you think I am somehow less intelligent, more cruel, a bad person, or that I should be somehow punished for the beliefs I hold, then I am at peace with that.

Merry Christmas!

txag007

[/ QUOTE ]

take every good thing you just said about god and let it not change (ever) even after somebody dies in this life not having decided the issue due to too much doubt about it.

let that soul return to god whereupon all doubt is removed in a good way.

let god not torture the soul that wasn't able to make the decisions you think they should have made before they died.

let that soul then see god face to face in a good way as promised by scripture and let that soul make a 100% informed decision that requires zero faith of any kind.

let any definition of god that tortures humans for their failures be striken from our memory forever.

ray

[luckyme]

[ QUOTE ]
And finally, I believe that if you think I am somehow less intelligent, more cruel, a bad person, or that I should be somehow punished for the beliefs I hold, then I am at peace with that.

[/ QUOTE ]

Punishment should only be a factor if you act on them in a detrimental way to others. Heck, having them seems punishment enough for general purposes.

luckyme

[soon2bepro]

[ QUOTE ]
Heck, having them seems punishment enough for general purposes.

[/ QUOTE ]

LMAO!! Very good [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[DonkBluffer]

txag,
if every experience and every feeling is just a reaction in the brain/body, which is probably the case, then everything you say makes a lot less sense. What are your beliefs about neurology, psychology, etc?
Believing God causes some neurons to fire at times seems to me a lot less magical.

[Utah]

How is your thinking any different than some hillbilly racist who says:

I believe whites are superior in every way
I believe blacks are sub-human and have no place in heaven
I believe its whites right to take and rule any land they want.
etc
etc
etc

And finally, I believe that if you think I am somehow less intelligent, more cruel, a bad person, or that I should be somehow punished for the beliefs I hold, then I am at peace with that.

You don't get a free pass because you take the form of, "I believe.....and regardless of the validity of my position and regardless of the imposition it places on others I am at peace with it"

It is the worst and most dangerous type of thinking possible.

[David Sklansky]

This:

"I believe an intelligent, non-biased evaluation of the scientific, historical, and literary evidence for and against Christianity will lead an honest person to a belief in Christ."

Doesn't jibe with this:

"I don't believe non-believers or people who don't believe this are bad people.

I don't believe they don't believe in Jesus because of a character flaw."

If your first statement is true, non believers are too LAZY to evaluate the evidence, or too SMUG in their opinion that it isn't necessary, or if they have evaluted the evidence, they are too STUPID to realize its truth or too VAIN to accept the consequences. Or some such ULTERIOR MOTIVE.

"And finally, I believe that if you think I am somehow less intelligent, more cruel, a bad person, or that I should be somehow punished for the beliefs I hold, then I am at peace with that."

No one should be punished for their beliefs. They should be punished for their actions. However if a belief is known to more likely cause a bad action (or inaction) and if the belief is considered to be incorrect by a disproportionate number of smart educated people, it is important to try to get people not to have that belief. And if I was talking about extreme Islam rather than extreme Christianity, you would agree with that last statement.

[madnak]

[ QUOTE ]
if every experience and every feeling is just a reaction in the brain/body

[/ QUOTE ]

Never, ever use "just" there. It's completely inappropriate.

[txag007]

Let me add this:

I believe you cannot come to Christ anytime you want, but only in God's timing. Therefore it's important not to say no to Him.

[ QUOTE ]
If your first statement is true, non believers are too LAZY to evaluate the evidence, or too SMUG in their opinion that it isn't necessary, or if they have evaluted the evidence, they are too STUPID to realize its truth or too VAIN to accept the consequences. Or some such ULTERIOR MOTIVE.


[/ QUOTE ]
I didn't say this, nor do I believe it.

[ QUOTE ]
However if a belief is known to more likely cause a bad action (or inaction)

[/ QUOTE ]
What "bad action" or "inaction" do my beliefs cause?