questions.html

Updated: 9/25/04

??? QUESTIONS ???

How does a person become an Atheist? He experiences this wonderful turn of events and fortune in his life by learning to ask questions. The child knows how to ask all kinds of questions. As he grows older, the adult authorities seek to eliminate this quest for truth in the child. Soon, to ask questions, which place doubt on the claims of the authorities, is to be a rebel, unpatriotic or a heretic. All political governments hate questions and doubts about their claims. As for the religions, all their Gods hate questions, especially questions concerning their claims of salvation, sin, heaven, hell and such. The JOY, SELF SATISFACTION, KNOWLEDGE, STIMULATION, FRIENDSHIPS and ENTHUSIASM of Atheism comes only to those who are willing to ask questions and who seek honest answers to those questions. Honest doubt is the foundation of Atheism. In order to be an Atheist one must have:

A real curiosity,
a desire to penetrate his own curtain of ignorance,
a hatred of delusions and lies,
a love of the truth even as others see it,
a desire for personal self improvement,
a feeling that something is wrong here,
an understanding of his own real worth,
a universal concept of justice,
a compassion for those of different beliefs,
a concept of fellowship with those unlike him,
a horizon beyond his own religious beliefs,
a real understanding of his own religion,
a concept of being used by government and religion,
an ability to think and reason logically,
a realization of all mankind being one,
a knowledge of the history of religions,
a fear of authorities and
a real courage.

It seems to me that any person who possesses little more that one or two of the above attitudes has a slim to no chance to experience the benefits and pleasures of Atheism. So, if you have not allowed these attitudes to become a part of your life and thinking, and you do not wish for truthfulness and intelligence, you may better spend your time reading some holy book, the daily comics, or watching TV, soap operas and war movies.

But, in order to ask questions about anything, you must honestly doubt the multitude of unbelievable claims and statements made daily to you. In other words, the beginning of the better life begins with you. You must honestly doubt the political, business and religious claims made to you, especially when those claims ask you to believe some unbelievable things. And above all, you MUST honestly doubt any claim that is accompanied by a threat of punishment and harm if you do not accept the claim as true. That is, if you do not accept their claim as being true, you will suffer both now and in the future. Most claims ask you to believe and obey, or suffer the consequences.

Now, to doubt does not mean something is untrue. Neither does it mean it is true. To doubt means you are willing to take the time and energy to verify or to disprove the claim or statement. To doubt is a mental attitude that is developed in order to protect you from harm and danger which may issue from accepting some claim as being true when it is not.

Here I am listing some questions, which if followed to their honest and rational conclusions, will automatically cause you to begin thinking like an Atheist. Scary isn't it?

These questions are not in any order so, pick out anyone of them and begin some in depth analysis of the problems and information you will need in order to answer the question. Now in dealing with any question, you must pledge yourself to be HONEST in your dealing with it. Begin where you are now in your thinking. If you are a Baptist (or a believer in some religion), accept that fact, but STILL pledge yourself to be honest in your attempt to understand and answer the question. Good Gods love Honesty!

Now before you can dig in and answer any question, you must understand the question. Here is a short study to show you what I mean.

Question: Can prayer change God's mind?

If you answer "yes", you must honestly deal with the problem of God not always doing what he planned to do in the first place. To “change the mind” means one had a different conclusion (purpose or plan) than the later one. And that poses a second question. What was wrong with God's original wise and just plan? Does God not know what he is going to do before hand? Is God's fore knowledge so limited? And that brings up another question. Is God wishy-washy? Another question raises its head. Does God only do what is right and just if someone prays (or begs) him to solve the problem in a certain way (the prayer's way)? Another question arises. Why does the Bible claim God will and does change his mind if someone begs (prays to) him, while the same Bible also claims, God always does the wise and just things. I will leave the rest of the "yes" answer for you to finish so you may discover the real truthful answer to this question in your own mind.

If you answer "no", God does not change his mind, why does the Bible tell us to pray (beg) God to please change his mind about something? If God's infinite, just mind can not be changed by ANYONE why are we commanded to pray (beg) to God to please change his mind and do what we want him to do? To answer "no" means that prayer is a waste of time. So other questions arise. Is it not also belittling to God's justice and intelligence to think we can control God's activity? Have we more wisdom than God? To carry this answer to its logical conclusion will also give you the correct and rational answer to the question. Sometimes the answer proves the question to be false. The REAL question turns out to be, "Is prayer a valid claim, or a false claim?"

So you see, it doesn't matter HOW you answer this question so long as you answer truthfully. One question leads to many more questions that must be answered before you can understand and answer the FIRST question. You are at once forced to concede that something is wrong here! Some portion of the Bible is wrong. God could not be in charge of everything and do what HIS infinite wisdom dictates, and at the same time promise to do the bidding of believers and answer ANY prayer asked by someone even with a great and perfect faith in God.

No God (man or demon) would be crazy enough to promise to do in the future what someone asked him to do. His justice and wisdom would not allow him to do that.

Here are some of the questions with which you can begin your honest education, enlightenment and quest for the truth in your life. Good Luck!

Did Jesus die in order to make us stop honest doubt and logical thinking? Did he die to make us start believing and to stop thinking?

How much water would have fallen each minute on every square inch of earth for forty days to cover mountains five miles high, if the flood story were true?

Where is the water now?

What does it mean to "believe?"

Can God be both good and bad at the same time?

Why would God lie to his people and then brag about it?

How could David be like "God's own heart," and still lie, steal, murder, commit adultery and steal another man's wife? Or does David reflect God's character?

Why are some men Baptists (insert your own) and some men Atheists?

Why is the earth considered to be a second or third generation planet?

Why will some people believe something which is rumored to have happened two or three thousand years ago, but would not believe it was a supernatural intervention today if they saw it with their own eyes?

Which is better for mankind, to believe or to think?

What is the function of the soul?

Why do ghost always appear in clothes that still exist in the closet?

Why were people called Christians four thousand years ago (two thousand years before Jesus was born)?

What is the difference in translation and transliteration?

Is someone else's revelation, your revelation?

Why does religion oppose freedom of speech?

Why does religion oppose freedom of thought?

What lie has Atheism ever told?

Why does God in the Bible condemn the wisdom and science of man?

What is the difference between honest clear thinking and faith or belief?

Is God an alien?

Why are there so many religions?

Why are there so many plans of salvation?

Can something come from nothing (creation)?

What is the difference in Honest Logical Thinking, and religious believing?

There are hundreds more questions, any of which will challenge your mind to think honestly about the many claims made daily to us by government, religion and business. If you wish some help in answering these questions you should read the "Honest Man's Philosophy" found on the web site of the Jovial Atheist. Simply type jovialatheist.com into your address block and you will be taken to the site. There you will find answers to these questions and many more.

Again I wish you good luck in your quest for truth in your own life.

Jovial Atheist

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