Taking a break from politics with this post and wanting to focus on the religion or no religion debate. I recently had a friend on social media return to the platform after many years with a dead page. In the absence found his faith and began sharing it with others. He restarted the page and daily shares interesting stories, personal struggles, and positive messages. The other day he shared a story about a founding member of the Satanic church leaving his position after finding God and realizing he made a mistake. Long story short this week he has had an overwhelming amount of negative, rude, violent, and all other forms of crap against his sharing of the post. Comments like "Why do you keep pushing you religion on others", "Stop spreading your lies about Christ, and here is why you are wrong", and others that just hate someone sharing something that brings them peace. I have often pondered, as I myself have been subjected to such comments and discussions, why people who are Atheist or have no belief in God feel the need to bring someone who is religious down? Why do they feel it necessary to "prove" to the faithful that God doesn't or cannot exist?
When someone who has belief or faith it can be very hard to show it for fear of being shouted down. Often the response to the negative reaction is to "prove" God does exist. This is a mistake. Just as they cannot prove he doesn't exist we cannot prove that he does. I had a workmate who was an Atheist and we often had deep intellectual discussions about the topic. We are both intelligent, both can articulate our positions, and both can know in the end we most likely will not change the other person's mind. He once asked me if I believed in free will or agency, of course I said yes. He followed it up by asking if I believed God was also all knowing, of course I said yes. He then had the gotcha look in his eye. He said, "If God knows every single choice you will make, is it really your choice?" This question made me think. In the end I said both could exist because although he knows what our choices will be he also gives us the freedom to make the choice ourselves. The idea he would direct every single choice everyone on Earth made is far out there to me. But the question is still one I contemplate from time to time.
Towards the end of our time working together we had a conversation. He asked how I knew or could prove with evidence God existed. I told him I could not provide physical evidence as it was something I just felt. He chuckled and said, "If there is no evidence then it cannot be true or exist." After thinking about his position, I had a response. I said, "You have a wife and two daughters, right?" He said yes. I then asked, "Do you love them?" He said, "Of course I do!" I responded with "Well how do you know you love them?" He said, "I don't know I just feel it." And it was that moment he got a look in his eye and knew what I was getting at. He knew at that moment there was no evidence or proof he loved his wife and daughters, but he felt it. Shortly after that he came to me and let me know he and his wife had attended a Christian marriage retreat and were looking for a church to attend. Funny enough his "lack of evidence" argument disappeared when he realized some things on this earth we cannot prove or disprove. Some things we need to feel and trust they exist.
As a Christian I often get approached by those of little or no faith and asked why I am so convinced and think of my old workmate. I respond with telling that story. It is important as people of Faith we remember it is our duty to love everyone as our brothers and sisters. To treat everyone with respect. But most of all to share our testimony of the gospel and be willing to withstand the anger, hate and arguments we may face. Please don't misunderstand by loving and respecting everyone we are not required to agree their lifestyle or try to prove to them why they are wrong. It is our duty to love them and pray for them, period. It is ok for someone to have no faith, have faith, question their faith, etc. What isn't ok is telling people they are going to hell because they haven't found God or have no faith. In the end we all have agency and the freedom to choose. As I have told many of my Atheist friends, I would much rather follow a faith and have a church then get to the end and have it be black and nothing than live as though God doesnt exist and get to the end and find out he does.
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