Atheist Ass

I had two interesting encounters with Christians at the fair last week. While walking by the various commercial booths, I came across one that had a display with three doors that you could open. The claim was that behind those doors you could see three things that God cannot do. I forget what all the third one said but the other two said that God can not change and that God can not lie. I laughed as I don't believe those statements.  The guy saw me laugh and asked, "do you believe you will go to heaven?"

I knew where he was going with that question and it pushed my button. I said, "no." I could tell that he was taken aback by what I said but after a he collected himself, he said, "would you like to know how."  I said, "No, but thanks," and walked away. I have a low tolerance for people who make judgement on who can go to heaven and believe they know what criteria is needed to be met to get there.  I wasn't about to have a conversation with a fundamentalist because I already know that I do not meet his requirements. I will not go to his heaven.

A while later I came across another Christian booth. They had a display that had Bible trivia on it with true or false choices. You would choose with a stylus that would activate a green or red light depending if the choice was correct. I went through the questions and got most of it right.  (Did you know that there was a female Noah?).  The guy was not pushy and the environment was more inviting.  He was pretty cool and he even gave me a book after I completed the trivia board.

Later on after I had left the fair, I was thinking on the interactions I had between the two men and why I had reactions that were quite different even though they represent the same faith and my thought was this: the first guy was telling me what I should know and the second was inviting me to know more.  It occurred to me that how I view Christians--is shaped by similar attitudes. Of course it's a lot easier to get along with someone that doesn't condemn you to hell than someone who does.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Be fruitful and multiply...by ten.

Some coworkers and I were talking about that lady in Arkansas that just delivered her 17th child. The Associated Press announced the good news a couple days ago and I remembered the family from the Discovery Channel . The Duggar family had been the subject of a number of specials dealing with large families. They are especially memorable given that the number of kids as well as their, well, peculiar lifestyle. The people that I was talking to balked at the idea of having that many kids with a few of them openly calling the Duggar parents crazy. I have to admit, I think that they are little bonkers in the head too. But you know, that’s cool on the other hand too. And it’s actually impressive that they are able to afford to have such a large family. There are some parts of me that would like to have a large family. (My definition of large stops at five kids just so you know.) But their criticisms largely used the Duggars' religious faith. From what this article indicated, they are pa
Read more

Meet Bob

Image
 I ordered my Ford Escape PHEV on October 13, 2022 and I finally took delivery on September 1, 2023. h/t to my salesman Meet Bob. Actually, I thought I would come up with a better name since my last car was named Patty because I got her on St. Patrick's Day. But after spending about three minutes trying to think of something clever, I threw in the towel and settled on Bob. So this is a base model PHEV. It doesn't have things like a heads up display, 360 degree camera, premium audio system, etc. Mind you, I came from a base fiesta. Patty had roll-down windows and didn't even have cruise control. This is a very big upgrade for me. A little over two weeks in, I've hit 1,000 miles. I've tried to force some non-ev time. I'm not sure what kind of engine break in is needed for this. I figured I should do some of that and get its first oil change before I head down to Florida with it in November. So far, just one and one-quarter tanks of gas used. Averaging 86 mpg. Most
Read more

Am I financing? Bwah ha ha ha!

Image
 When I purchased my house, I thought my heating system was bonkers. It used hot water from a tank and blew the air over that to be heated up. Like a boiler... kinda? I had made some inquiries to businesses in the area because if this broke, who would fix it? The best lead I got was familiar with the system but didn't service it. I knew that when the system goes, I would be replacing it with an entirely new system. Well that day came. The old system with its water tank. The new system. Notice the old water tank is gone. A couple years ago the air conditioning had gone out too but summers are pretty mild and I had gotten away with a window unit. After the car purchase and also a garage door repair needed, I had to finance this. I took a few thousand dollars to pay off the existing loan that I had out for the window replacements. I can apply the money that had been going to the windows loan to go on top of the loan I now have out for this system. That will help me get this paid off s
Read more