A trade off ?

Have you traded off a lifetime of freedom for an empty promise? The saddest thing about this eternity myth of heaven and hell is that people actually believe it. I know I did for many years.

Today we have Christian evangelists preaching to the masses and telling them to give up not only their time but also more importantly their hard-earned money. They are encouraged to give 10% of their gross weekly income to the church. (Old Testament tithe) They are also asked to give up, what the church says are the sinful pleasures of this world, because they preach the end is near, and therefore we have no need of earthly things.

Doesn’t that make you stop and think that if the end is so near then why don’t the churches sell their worldwide real estate and buildings, which would amount to billions of dollars, and spend this money assisting the poor and starving masses of humanity throughout the world. (This is actually a commandment of Jesus is it not?) Is the end near? The church says so. They have been saying that now for almost 2000 years. Paul actually thought he was in the last days. See 1 Thess. 4; 16b, 17.

Christianity is a form of escapism. The truth of the matter is this. It is this life that we have here on earth that we can be certain about as we know that this world exists. It is the church that tells you that heaven, hell, god, satan, and demons exist, but they can’t prove any of it. The church cannot prove to you one iota about anything in the afterlife. Once we manage to throw off this religious baggage we become free to enjoy life as it is. What lifts you up? What makes you feel fulfilled? What is beautiful, inspiring and uplifting? Then live it, because life is precious and it also is so short.

Since I exiled myself from Christianity life has blossomed for me, I see my fellowman as another human being, not someone to pass judgment on because his lifestyle is different to what the church preaches. No more straining among my peers to achieve some unattainable ideal, no more concern about how my actions affect the invisible eternal state. No more do I worry about my supposed ‘unsaved’ children going to a (mythical) hell. I am now free to live, free to enjoy, free to help others, free to wander and learn, free to experience and find out things and not only free but glad to be alive. Christians will tell you that Christianity must be true because of the millions of people who follow after Jesus. It does not matter how many people believe a lie, nor for how long, is does not make it truth. It still remains a lie. Ask these same Christians about the millions of followers of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and those that are into Buddhism and other belief systems. The Christian will tell you that they are all lost souls, heading for the fiery furnace of the Christian Hell because they, the Christian will tell you that they have the truth.

Jim Lee

10/10/00