re: #65 calochortus

I think we largely agree here, we’re just coming at it from slightly different viewpoints.

Of course, it seems to me that an awful lot of religious people don’t, in their heart of hearts, really believe what their religion teaches. If they did, they wouldn’t lie, cheat and steal at anywhere near the rate they do. Would stealing that lady’s purse be as attractive if you truly believed you would be punished for all eternity for it? (yes, and exaggeration, but you get my drift.

Pretty much we are coming at it from different directions.

There is one difference however.

If I were presented with incontrovertible evidence that there was a god or gods, I would change my position. My position is not based on faith.

Jeffery Dahlmer allegedly had a deathbed conversion to Jesus and “confessed his sins” about his crimes before he was executed. For most of the versions of Christianity I am familiar with, that’s his “Get out of jail free” card (presuming he was sincere).

On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how good, kind, charitable, civic-minded, you name it an atheist is (or a person of any other religion that had the misfortune to be born at any time in history in an area that did not have Christians to proselytise). It goes from the Catholic version of hell simply being not in the presence of God to the evangelical version of Lucifer and burning lakes of sulphur.