Posted: Jun 08, 2010 4:51 am
I think this statement right here really underscores the problem:
It seems to be very disturbing to Christians when non-Christians don't share their view that every human being is a filthy bastard, worthy of eternal damnation, and in desperate need of salvation. This is troublesome to the Christian because if we refuse to acknowledge what dirtbags we are, we won't have a proper appreciation of the concept of God's mercy, the idea that we would be lucky to get a few crumbs from the table of the good Lord (or from the good Christian, for that matter.) If we fail to accept the Christian's diagnosis that we're sick, then the Christian won't be able to peddle the proposed cure.
There is something very hypocritical about a Christian's complaint that non-Christians aren't humble enough. Christians believe that simply by way of choosing the right religion, they should be and will be rewarded with eternal paradise while those who choose the wrong religion should be and will be subjected to eternal damnation. What could be more arrogant than that?
But also they do, as I say, tend to have extraordinarily high opinions of themselves; and I don't think they find this particularly irksome, or worrying, or embarrassing, or disturbing; you and I might agree that they ought to,
It seems to be very disturbing to Christians when non-Christians don't share their view that every human being is a filthy bastard, worthy of eternal damnation, and in desperate need of salvation. This is troublesome to the Christian because if we refuse to acknowledge what dirtbags we are, we won't have a proper appreciation of the concept of God's mercy, the idea that we would be lucky to get a few crumbs from the table of the good Lord (or from the good Christian, for that matter.) If we fail to accept the Christian's diagnosis that we're sick, then the Christian won't be able to peddle the proposed cure.
There is something very hypocritical about a Christian's complaint that non-Christians aren't humble enough. Christians believe that simply by way of choosing the right religion, they should be and will be rewarded with eternal paradise while those who choose the wrong religion should be and will be subjected to eternal damnation. What could be more arrogant than that?