nonplussedbyreligion

nonplussedbyreligion:

Hey anon, I don’t know who you are, but man you sound like you are or were a part of Campus Crusades for Christ.  I think they’re called CRU now.  You sound just like I did when I was actively involved with them.  I too was also “Sold out” to Christ.  This world was not my home.  I was a citizen of a much greater place, and all anyone had to do to share in that heavenly reward with me was to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. “He doesn’t care about your background.  He knows you’re human and will sin again.  But He loves you, and he wants you.  How amazing to know that God does not need you, yet still He wants you!  His love will be more than sufficient for you.  In this life and the next.”   Yeah those were words I’ve actually spoken, followed with scripture to back them up.   And I was one of those worship team Christians.  I could always find and sing the right song for you.  I believed what I was selling, because I was well indoctrinated trained.  I know this has nothing to do with you’re question, but reading it caused me to have a flashback to my younger self.  I honestly believe that us atheists us who were actively involved in the act of “winning souls” are the ones theists should leave alone.  We know the pitch far to well, because we used to sell it.

I believe that when I die, and if my wishes are carried out accordingly, my body will either be donated to science or the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Dept, aka, The Body Farm.   That’s it.  I don’t believe that my spirit or soul fly off to whatever paradise of hell I deserve for the life I’ve lived.  I will simply cease to exist.

It’s interesting that you would say that you are a good person because you want to be and not because of your religion, yet point out that your reward will be in heaven.  What exactly do you believe you are to be rewarded for?  Do you believe that if you become a born again, Holy Ghost filled, water baptized, washed in the blood of the Lamb Christian, but still continue to do every thing you did before then that you would gain entrance into your heaven?  No matter how you try to word it, you’re behavior as a Christian is tied to your belief in the promise of heaven.  Believe me I’ve been there.

So the reason I “bother” to continue to be a good person, regardless of no longer being associated with religion, is because of this one LIFE I have.  I expect no rewards.  I don’t even expect gratitude from the people I serve now.  I do it because it makes ME feel good.  It is fulfilling and gratifying to ME.  

The meanest, most evil person you know, will have the same end as I will.  We will both die.  However, what I’ve chosen to do with my life, what makes me feel good, is knowing that my actions are not driven by an elusive carrot on a string.  A promise of a heaven that cannot be proven to me.  How convenient that all who have seen heaven are dead.

I will say this to you though, if you continue with your faith, do not forget that Matthew 7:21-23 says this:

²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Not even a life of devotion will guarantee you entrance if your Bible is to be believed.  How do you know with certainty that your denomination and their foundational doctrine are not far removed from what Jesus will be looking for come judgement day?  I fortunately no longer have to add that to my list of worries I had as a believer.  That’s the best part of LIVING my life now.