So I had another enlightening conversation with a follower of the Lord (Jesus). He's a good friend of mine and we often engage in healthy theological debate. So I had a nagging question (several hundred actually). I asked him if he believes that only those who believe in Jesus and God go to Heaven. He quickly said yes. So I asked another setup question: if a man, let's say a Buddhist, coincidentally lived his life within the moral rules of Christianity, obeyed the Ten Commandments, all that good stuff, would he go to Heaven? The answer quickly came back, No. He did not accept Jesus as his lord and savior. Alright, at least he understands his rule set.  So I asked the nagging question:

If Christianity started at year 0, either the birth or death of Jesus 2,000 years ago, then we can comfortably assume that all the people who lived prior to Jesus (4000 years for Christians) were going to Hell, because they could not possibly have accepted into their hearts someone who had not yet lived and been crucified.  And from there we can reasonably assume that all those who lived outside the reach of the word of Jesus since his life are also hellbound.  That would include, even today, millions of Asians and Africans and even some people in parts of Central and South America.  Now, if all those people had never gotten the word of Christ, to either accept or reject, we have already established that they are being sent to Hell for eternal damnation to burn for all time for a sin which was entirely out of their reach.

What kind of sick-ass God would condemn the bulk of his creations to damnation for no reason? What kind of fucked up reasons could be given for that kind of blatant cruelty? This has ranked among the highest reasons to doubt the existence of a god in my mind, that and Fred Phelps. This might only relate to certain forms of Christianity, but it is believed by enough people that I am sickened by it. Why would a god even bother to create this game on Earth, this obstacle course of sin and trickery? Why? Why would he fill it with pitfalls and trickery, just to exclude those he created without the sense to follow his book from eternity at his side?  I'll never get it.  I'll never get how acting morally to guarantee your own selfish eternity in Heaven is actually moral. Seems rather selfish to me, to help poor people so the Lord will let you in to Heaven. And what does that say about my charity that I carry out without a single concern for my own eternal soul? But that's another blog.

With love, your overthinking immoral Atheist.