'Satan' Speaks:
Is That So?
Matt Edwards
From: "Matt Edwards"
To: "Positive Atheism" <editor@positiveatheism.org>
Subject: Is that so?
Date: Thursday, April 12, 2001 5:55 AM
"if you wish to believe in whatever you so chose, then that is your right as a person."
This I know. No one can force a person to believe or disbelieve anything. The most they could do is make them lie about it or pretend to not believe just to end the interrogation.
Yet, I feel sorry for anyone knowingly believing something that I know, proof-positive, is just mythology. It's sad. I want to help. I want this person to experience the wonder that the true world inspires. A world without superstition. A world without gods, ghosts, goblins and elves. The world as it truly is in all it's splendor!
"do not impose your candid , atheist opinions on someone who happens to believe in God."
Impose? My dear Christian, I merely sent it to you. I sent it to many people as my work is quite popular. Did I put a gun to your head and force you to admit that you worship an imaginary friend who lives in the clouds? No. I just gave you the opportunity to read some fine Atheistic arguments. You should be grateful.
"I do not care to read them."
Funny, for not reading them you sure did reply with accuracy as to what I said. That's truly amazing! You even paraphrased! All without reading them. Wow.
"you are the one that is 'a slave to your senses'..."
We all are slaves to our senses. That is just a fact that comes along with being the human animal. As I pointed out, without these senses you never could have been brainwashed into your religion. You had to see the words, pictures and movies that led to your intellectual demise. You had the hear the preachers, parents and friends who reinforced the programming. You tasted the wine and bread that is passed out in the cannibalistic ritual known as communion. Even smell came into play as you mapped out the church: the candles, the perfume and cologne, the smell of fresh clothes, etc. All this sensory input made possible the state of delusion you are currently in.
"I have an open mind..."
Really? I've heard that one before! So you are saying that you are completely open to the possibility of your god being just imaginary? You're saying that you are open to the glaringly obvious fact that Jesus never existed? Are you even open to the possibility that while your god is just imaginary, other gods or goddesses may not be? There is a huge assortment of gods and goddesses to choose from! How does one go about finding the authentic god, by faith, amongst this sea of religions?
"In my opinion, I personally believe that this world would be in a sad state of affairs if we all shared your similar belief."
And why is that? Why do you think a person needs religion at all? Why does a person need to rely on an imaginary friend(s) when there are plenty of real people willing and able to help? The move the Atheism is a step of maturity. To cling to a god is no better than relying on drugs to make you happy. It fake and dishonest. Real life has more than enough to offer.
"It very well may be a persons' own "salvation" to have something to cling to in the dark of the night when they need that bit of hope..."
Yes, it may be comforting to cling to a falsehood but it can never be good. Why? Because it is false hope. It can lead a person to their death by making them feel that they are protected and invincible when they clearly are not. The classic and historic example I like to use is the Children's Crusades of 1212. They thought that their Jesus would protect them. Quite the opposite happened. Those who weren't killed, raped or sold into slavery, slowly died of starvation and disease. Why? All because they thought that their god told them to convert the Muslims.
"...that there is something better and the "trials" will eventually end with something wonderfully positive are what keep a lot of people going through their unhappy lives."
So instead of changing their lives and the situation they are in, they are pacified by the potent drug of religion. They, instead of trying to better themselves, accept their failure as "god's will".
"...just because my heavenly father doesnt physically tap me on the shoulder, and whispers in my ear, "it will be ok", doesn't mean He doesnt exist."
That argument can be used on all the rest of the gods and goddesses, aliens, bigfoot and the loch ness monster. It proves absolutely nothing. And even if that were to happen, what's to say it wasn't a hallucination? With the religious, the line between imaginary and reality is so blurred that everything seems real.
You make it seem like that is the reason for my disbelief. No. Not true. My disbelief has come through study of your religion as well as the many others that populate the minds of the people on this planet. It has come through an understanding of science. And it has come from reading the many really good Atheistic proofs out there. I can recommend you quite a few!
"...you stated that all Gods are invisible. This is not true. God never said He was invisible."
Is that so? Is that why it says in John 1:18 "No man hath seen God at any time."? Your god's invisibility is further illustrated in this verse from Colossians 1:15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:" And once again in 1 Tim. 6, "Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting." And then finally, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever."
Dare ye still say that your god is not supposed to be invisible? Please, do yourself a big favor and read your own book!
"He is invisible to you because you have closed your heart to any spiritual truths , whether it be God Himself or The cookie monster."
No. Wrong again. I am open and awaiting good evidence. Would you happen to have anything that can withstand scientific scrutiny? No? Thought so.
It is you who has closed your mind. It is you who believe even though you obviously know nothing about your own book. It is you, my dear, who has closed your mind to the possibility of it being untrue. It is you who have closed your mind to the ultimate truth: Atheism.
"You are wasting you precious time with me."
How pessimistic! And I thought believers were supposed to be so gosh darn positive! Guess not. Careful, don't show me to much of your real self ...
I don't see it as wasting my precious time. Quite the opposite. I see it as using my precious time wisely to help the sick and confused. It is a very noble act on my part. You should be grateful to be counseled by one so wise.
~Matt Edwards
Curing Imaginary Friend Addiction
since 1996
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