Thursday, October 27, 2005

Questions for Christians, Part Trois

Nothing confirms my feelings about Christianity more than the fact that my basic questions about it go ignored.

In "Questions for Christians, Part Deux", I made an open and honest request for any Christian to explain in secular terms their relationship with Jesus. Not a single taker. I figured maybe someone would at least try it anonymously, where there would be no risk at all, but nooooo.

I love questions that address religion on the most basic level. It’s easy to get a Christian to try to explain such a complex concept as, say, the trinity. But try to get them to explain the very basics, such as a description of what their relationship with Jesus is actually like. I mean, the whole basis of Christianity is that you give yourself to Jesus. Jesus will be your soul mate, your buddy, to be by your side and help you through your difficult journey through life. Yet not one person will explain how this very basis of Christianity actually works. And in the case of Part Deux, I tried to simplify it as much as possible by asking for the simple differences between their relationship with Jesus and a child’s imaginary friend. Seems simple enough. Or is it?

I’ll try it again. This time, rather than a child’s imaginary friend, the scenario will be a demented thug. Bear with me…

Imagine yourself walking along a country road. You are enjoying life, the beautiful scenery, the smell of trees and flowers, and you are minding your own business. Life is good. Then you notice a man has come out from the shadows. He walks up besides you and says hello. You are bit wary, but he looks kind enough, so you say hello back. He puts his arm around your shoulders. You’re very uncomfortable now and you’re not sure quite what to do. You push his arm from your shoulder and tell the man that you would just as soon be by yourself enjoying nature. He looks straight into your eyes, reaches into his coat, and pulls out a handgun. He presses the barrel to your temple and says " As long as you do as I say, I will save you, but if you don’t, I will pull the trigger. It’s your choice."

I’m sure you’ve figured out that this story is my analogy to Christianity. If you are a Christian, I assume you will consider it absurd. Well, that should then make answering a basic question very easy for you then. So tell me, what are the flaws in this analogy?

I’ll be waiting.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

...fingers drumming upon my desk, Dave.
How about you?

Dave B said...

There's four little indents worn into the desk next to my mouse. I gotta figure out what to do with my thumb. Please, no suggestions. Hey, do you have a counter on your site? Do you think anyone comes here at all? Well, other than you of course, which I appreciate very much! Should I add a bunch of cheery stuff to intice the unwary? I try to do that once in a while. Yeah, that's it. Okay, back to work...