My most recent column ran yesterday. It might look familiar to fans of this blog (both of you).
But I was surprised by the limited, measured, thoughtful responses I received. Those responses (and my replies) below:
Nice piece in today's paper--a breath of fresh air in a paper too many of whose other columnists indulge in fatuous pieties....hence this bit of fan mail, to counter some of the negative emails I expect you'll be receiving...keep the faith (unfaith?)...Michael Brailove
Thanks for the kind words, Michael. Your email was actually the first and only response I’ve received today. But it’s early…
--Rick
Hey Rick: Right on. Witty, true and also very sad. A great book is ”The Born Again Skeptic’s Guide To The Bible” by Ruth Hurmence Green, first printed in 1979 but still completely relevant. Good luck in this random world. Gerry Hubbard
Thank you for your kind words and book recommendation. Although I can’t imagine there’s much more I need to learn about being skeptical, I believe you can never read enough about anything. Take care.
--Rick
Hello Rick!
A friend of yours, Marisel, asked us to send you an e-mail to introduce you to the Purpose Driven Life Daily Devotional. Click the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser to view the Daily Devotional online You can also sign up for the Daily Devotional from this link.
http://www.purposedrivenlife.com/devarchive.aspx?ARCHIVEID=71
Your friend had the following message for you:
Hey there - I read your article in the paper today and it depressed me that you don't believe in God because of random acts of senseless violence that "God allows" to happen. Just thought I'd tell you that God doesn't allow bad to happen. (e.g. why does a barber allow people to not get a haircut? is it perhaps because they didn't make the step and GO to him???)
God created humans with free will. Unfortunately humans, make bad choices and don't "allow" themselves to believe in God. Despite the fact that all the while, God is crying out to them - choose me! Nevertheless, whatever does happen, God manages to work through it for good. EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD HAPPENS FOR THE GOOD OF GOD'S PURPOSE. so I read this and thought of you. I hope that one day, you decide to choose God and to believe in HIm. It is easy to be mad at him if you don't know the truth, but God will show you the truth, and the truth will set you free. Just read it in his word (below).
I don't normally do this sort of thing, e-mail a stranger and I don't consider myself a freak, but I suppose you can label me a freak if it means I love the Lord and accept Christ as my personal savior. But i guess you can believe whatever you like. I am just doing my job as God's messenger. so - read on and be inspired.. (or freaked out, whatever). :> God Bless..
p.s. you're wrong about the buddhists - they are petrified of death because they are soooooo superstitious.. i should know my husband's family are all buddhists and will not even mention the word for fear that it will bring bad luck!!!!! silly.. I will say this though - you are right in that death is not something to fear-- if you are saved. any questions, feel free to email me back.. or not.. it's ok. no pressure.
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Dear Rick,
I would like to start off by saying that I am indeed a Christian, but please do not assume I am writing this to convert you or change your mind. I just thought that maybe I could provide you with a different perspective.
I just finished reading your article "In a world full of doubt and pain, everyone finds his own truth" from Wednesday's (August 9) paper. I found the article to be very well written in that it was clear and, well, very blunt. As I read it, I remembered when I had thought the very same way not long ago. The line that really struck me the most was this - "So, I figure a God who lets bad things happen to good people is a God not worth worshipping."
At reading this, I immediatly consulted a book I have called "Letters from a Skeptic" by Dr. Gregory A. Boyd. It is a collection of letters from Dr. Boyd (a professor of theology) and his unbelieving father, Edward Boyd. The father writes to his son asking many common questions about God, Jesus, and other aspects of Christian theology. The elder Boyd asks his son this, "If God created this world and cares about it, why is there so damn much suffering in it? (pg. 21)" It seems that you have posed a very similar question.
I am sure you enjoy living in a nation where we are given many freedoms that other countries do not have. America is a pretty decent place to call home. To paraphrase Dr. Boyd, the answer can be summed up in one word; freedom. Dr. Boyd makes the point to his father that God created mankind and gave us free will. This seems to be true seeing that we make decisions each and every day of our lives. We choose what shoes to wear, what to eat for lunch, and which route we will take to work. Personally, I believe this to be true. God gave us the right to choose. He gave us two paths, so to speak. The "right" one, and the "not-so-right" one. I think He makes it clear which is the better way, but does not force you down it. Dr. Boyd writes, "So why doesn't God intervene every time someone is going to misuse his freedom and hurt another person? The answer, I believe, is found in the nature of freedom itself. A freedom which is prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn't be freedom. (pg. 23)" I believe God has given us a freedom that, yes, at times, damages or destroys other people. But without this freedom, we would all just be robots.. right?
I hope you find this in the least bit interesting and take it into consideration. Thank you for your time. -NC
Thank you for writing, NC. One of the many things I would never do is judge someone else for what they choose to have faith in. Especially if that someone has given the matter some deep thought, as you clearly have.
I don't fault you one second for reaching out to share your views and make a pitch (in the kindest sense) for your beliefs. I wrote a column published in a newspaper, which certainly would generate -- if not outright ask -- for responses.
But allow me one reply of my own before we agree to travel down our own paths.
I agree with Dr. Boyd when he writes, "A freedom which is prevented from being exercised whenever it was going to be misused simply wouldn't be freedom." But I don't understand how the choices we make in life have anything to do with death dealt seemingly at random. Natural disasters and illness kill more people each year than people who kill people. What wrong choice doomed them?
If someone chooses God, makes every right choice, gives selflessly to others and lives a completely pious and God-filled life...but his entire family still dies in a hurricane...is his continued devotion to God part of God's master plan? Or is it just the easiest, seemingly sanest way to rationalize the tragedy when he has nothing else to live for?
Everyone certainly needs to make these decisions themselves. And thankfully, I have never been tested to any such extreme. I wouldn't dare presume how I might behave under those circumstances. But I certainly wouldn't blame God. And I don't imagine I'd find much comfort in him, either.
Thanks again for writing. I wish you well.
--Rick
Thursday, August 10, 2006
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3 comments:
Great stuff, including the replies.
I'm glad to see there are some intelligent pious folks out there. If you were wondering where the rest of them post their internet comments, you should read the comments on the site you once posted about back in its infancy - the one about the open letter to the Kansas School Board (www.venganza.org). Apparently, this has become quite a phenomenon. But the best part is the Hate Mail section, which I will check out every once in a while for a laugh (and a sigh) at how so many people could completely miss the point). Why is everything about Jesus to these people?
Do you watch "30 Days" on FX with Morgan Spurlock (The Super Size Me guy)?
This week he had an atheist spend 30 days with true-believing Christians.
It wasn't really that dramatic(or interesting, actually). The atheist woman was this sweet, intelligent, unassuming person who was hard for anyone to hate because of her beliefs. (And she really didn't have a strong enough understanding of science to refute some of the groundless assertions against Evolution and stuff).
But the Christian family's father was so angry about her beliefs and so seemingly insecure in his own, it was like an education in American Christianity's intolerance (not exactly what Jesus preached, right?).
The key scene occurred when everyone met for coffee with a group of atheists who were starting their own "church" to combat the persecution of non-believers. They were told they couldn't get tax exemption because the government only recognzied deist groups as religious organizations. ("Just because we believe in one less God than you," one of them said).
One atheist guy asked the Christian how he would feel if his money had "There is no God" written on it. The Christian said, "But it says 'In God We Trust.'"
The atheist said, yeah, but what if it said "There is no God." And the Christian said "It says 'In God We Trust.'"
This went back and forth, seriously, like four times. The Christian dude just couldn't, or simply wouldn't wrap his thick brain around the hypothetical, eventually telling the atheist he should just leave the country if he were so offended.
Which perfectly proved the point. Stupid, moronic, intolerant fuckhead.
Haven't seen it - sounds like the same kind of idiots I was talking about.
One day I couldn't resist and had to send an e-mail to the "Open Letter" guy - here's what I wrote:
"I check out your site every couple of months just for the hate mail – fucking inspired shit.
This may have come up already, but one thing hit me last time I skimmed the hate mail – why is it only Jesus freaks that are damning you to hell? Where are all the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, et al? Aren’t they offended as well? Maybe only fundamentalist Christians are incapable of understanding satire and the importance of open debate of ideas?
It’s always funny how they blast you for offending their “one true God” while completely missing the irony of how that simultaneously attacks the validity of every other major religion. If they were going to be consistent, they should at least e-mail every other religious leader in the world and attack them for propagating their “foolish” beliefs – this alone puts these idiots in an intelligence class BELOW even the terrorists, who at least blow up EVERYONE who disagrees with them and not just the random guy with a computer and too much time on his hands.
I bet if you were able to make a scatter-plot of the locations of all these nutjobs using a map of the world, you’d find just one big black dot right in the middle of the country in a place I like to call Bumblefuck, USA. It’s a suburb of Kansas City, I think."
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