i just might be satan's little helper
dear all,
i have just been lambasted on the internet, our not-so-secret mega source of all things bright and fancy/ down and dirty.
it came as a surprise for me a few days ago, when i was sent a message to check out a blog. and here's what he wrote:
" Last week my nus cell group did street evangelism in campus, and I was saddened by the ignorance and lack of enthusiasm by non-believers towards God. I was saddened by the calmness in which they politely chose to be independent from God. After the whole thing was over, I kept thinking, do they know the severity of their choice? Do they know where they are heading towards? They are heading towards eternal hellfire and it is ok because to them it is inexistent?... When I found out that my brother's current girlfriend is an agnostic, I got so furious all of a sudden, so intensely mad up to the point of crying. I couldn’t concentrate on studying and the next thing I knew tears were flowing uncontrollably. I was burning with rage, I wanted to hit the computer screen, flip the table, yet at the same time I felt weak, like I was defeated by satan...."
so. apparently, i just might end up shoveling coal under a whip in hell when i die because i'm agnostic. i was kinda amused and touched at the same time that someone unrelated to me would cry for me. very very touched actually, that someone would care so much for my faith (or lack thereof). because nobody ever cries for me - in a relationship, i cry about 99.9% of the time, the 0.1% can be attributed to the tears of laughter and joy on the other side (for totally unrelated issues of course); in my family, i suppose my sister does cry for me, but only because she's sad to see me leave every few months to the UK (i miss her so). yeah... and my parents, i guess my mum sometimes weeps that i might have gone astray, but you see ma, i haven't. i'm pretty much the same person as i was three years ago or even longer back, but that's another story.
now, i don't really mind that somebody is crying over all the agnostics in singapore and beyond, and just to show that i really don't, i'm going to spend the next 30 minutes typing out a carefully written exposition on why i choose to be agnostic and why i honestly doubt i will be a christian or end up in hell. i normally type in short frantic sentences as everybody would know, but no, not today.
i have nothing against christians. my brother's a christian, i am glad he is one - i think it made him more mature and less hot-headed. i have good friends who are christians. i follow my brother to church on christmas services, and just recently i went for an easter service. why? because i actually think it's interesting to discover how religion works for some. i accept and believe that other people believe in christianity. oh wait oh wait, i love materialistic christmas and all the presents, i love christmas dinners and we always give thanks (my aunty and my brother normally leads in saying grace) oh yeah, chocolate eggs are always awesome too.
i quite like the state that i am in. why agnosticism? because i do believe that there are higher beings out there, but they remain unprovable, and i don't really think me subscribing to one faith or another would actually make them more tangible. it would be wrong to say that i'm an an atheist because i do believe in star alignments (fan tai sui and zodiac signs etc) as well as superstition and ghosts ( i am afraid of the dark and stories of the supernatural). i do believe there are certain things that are out of control. i don't believe in having faith in one religious god, and anyway what makes one religion better than the other? there are like 23743 (random number here) gods and religions to choose from, so why Christianity? furthermore, i have spent a good part of my life believing in self-determinism - i'll get whatever i want if i worked hard enough for it. i have yet to be proven wrong. of course, there comes a lot of self doubt as well, and in those moments i moan for not having enough confidence in myself. in those times i have never ever wished that there would be a higher being who would sort things out for me and lead me down the right way, i've always been a true believer in self reliance. so that's where religious people and i diverge, and for the foreseeable future, i don't see myself changing. yes, occasionally i do pray for good health for my family, for good results and safe journeys, i go down to waterloo to pray in the guan yin temple every new year but hey, does this make me a buddhist? i really doubt it, i don't think the monks would see me as one. can this not be seen as a cultural outcome rather than part of a religious upbringing? i mean, singapore has had so many cultural influences, can i not be seen as a product of this?
also, i really dont think the point of evangelism is to go out and convert people by preaching to them, didn't God tell evangelists to spread the word of God and practice the ways of Christianity? i'm really not sure how forcing religion down a person's throat really helps in spreading the message ... doesn't it make one seem superior to dictate how another should live their lives (in the religious sense)? simply put, how many people like being told what to do because it's 'good' for them, isn't it much better to lead by example?
i've spoken to quite a number of Christians about religion and of the many discussions, we normally come to an agreement to disagree. i'm not stopping anybody from believing in whatever they want to believe in, be it that God created humans, created evolution etcetc, so i don't know why anybody should be stopping me from fully believing the darwin's theory of evolution, science and the big bang theory. i cannot grasp the concept of God having laid his fingers upon Earth and decided to create flora fauna adam and eve. scientists have proven otherwise, and the very rational me believes in it (i was brought up by a neuroscientist and microbiologist, need i say more). and now we can start a whole debate of 'what if God decided to create scientists and the big bang blahblahblah?' oooh ahh. okay let's just stop short and say, yes you believe God created everything including science, I believe otherwise. we could be up doing this all night long, but i have better things to indulge in and this one doesn't cut it.
I'm going to quote ricky gervais here, he wrote a lovely comment during the christmas period:
"Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith.” If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F-ing fly then you lunatic.”
lastly, everything is relative right, so Christians believe that non-believers will burn in hell fire because they don't believe. okay, let's get this straight, there is only a hell because there is a heaven. they are antithetical of each other. i mean, what's the point of being a good boy if there isn't something to deter you from being a bad one? if i don't believe in heaven, there won't be a hell either. so telling me that the repercussions of not believing in Christianity would lead me to hell is a fallacy.
i know alot of people out there aren't as extreme in their views of their religion as this guy, so here's just my critique of what he's written. once again, let's make it clear that i'm not condemning Christianity, or any other religion for that matter - to each his own. so let me believe in higher beings and doubt their existence as i wish. our fundamental beliefs are so divergent, it's a moot point trying to make me realise this specific faith. all i hope is that he is open enough to accept another person's religion, faith or the lack of it.
on an entirely separate note, my productivity is proportionate to the amount of coffee i drink. it's so sad to be addicted to the slurpy black goodness in a cardboard cup.
i have just been lambasted on the internet, our not-so-secret mega source of all things bright and fancy/ down and dirty.
it came as a surprise for me a few days ago, when i was sent a message to check out a blog. and here's what he wrote:
" Last week my nus cell group did street evangelism in campus, and I was saddened by the ignorance and lack of enthusiasm by non-believers towards God. I was saddened by the calmness in which they politely chose to be independent from God. After the whole thing was over, I kept thinking, do they know the severity of their choice? Do they know where they are heading towards? They are heading towards eternal hellfire and it is ok because to them it is inexistent?... When I found out that my brother's current girlfriend is an agnostic, I got so furious all of a sudden, so intensely mad up to the point of crying. I couldn’t concentrate on studying and the next thing I knew tears were flowing uncontrollably. I was burning with rage, I wanted to hit the computer screen, flip the table, yet at the same time I felt weak, like I was defeated by satan...."
so. apparently, i just might end up shoveling coal under a whip in hell when i die because i'm agnostic. i was kinda amused and touched at the same time that someone unrelated to me would cry for me. very very touched actually, that someone would care so much for my faith (or lack thereof). because nobody ever cries for me - in a relationship, i cry about 99.9% of the time, the 0.1% can be attributed to the tears of laughter and joy on the other side (for totally unrelated issues of course); in my family, i suppose my sister does cry for me, but only because she's sad to see me leave every few months to the UK (i miss her so). yeah... and my parents, i guess my mum sometimes weeps that i might have gone astray, but you see ma, i haven't. i'm pretty much the same person as i was three years ago or even longer back, but that's another story.
now, i don't really mind that somebody is crying over all the agnostics in singapore and beyond, and just to show that i really don't, i'm going to spend the next 30 minutes typing out a carefully written exposition on why i choose to be agnostic and why i honestly doubt i will be a christian or end up in hell. i normally type in short frantic sentences as everybody would know, but no, not today.
i have nothing against christians. my brother's a christian, i am glad he is one - i think it made him more mature and less hot-headed. i have good friends who are christians. i follow my brother to church on christmas services, and just recently i went for an easter service. why? because i actually think it's interesting to discover how religion works for some. i accept and believe that other people believe in christianity. oh wait oh wait, i love materialistic christmas and all the presents, i love christmas dinners and we always give thanks (my aunty and my brother normally leads in saying grace) oh yeah, chocolate eggs are always awesome too.
i quite like the state that i am in. why agnosticism? because i do believe that there are higher beings out there, but they remain unprovable, and i don't really think me subscribing to one faith or another would actually make them more tangible. it would be wrong to say that i'm an an atheist because i do believe in star alignments (fan tai sui and zodiac signs etc) as well as superstition and ghosts ( i am afraid of the dark and stories of the supernatural). i do believe there are certain things that are out of control. i don't believe in having faith in one religious god, and anyway what makes one religion better than the other? there are like 23743 (random number here) gods and religions to choose from, so why Christianity? furthermore, i have spent a good part of my life believing in self-determinism - i'll get whatever i want if i worked hard enough for it. i have yet to be proven wrong. of course, there comes a lot of self doubt as well, and in those moments i moan for not having enough confidence in myself. in those times i have never ever wished that there would be a higher being who would sort things out for me and lead me down the right way, i've always been a true believer in self reliance. so that's where religious people and i diverge, and for the foreseeable future, i don't see myself changing. yes, occasionally i do pray for good health for my family, for good results and safe journeys, i go down to waterloo to pray in the guan yin temple every new year but hey, does this make me a buddhist? i really doubt it, i don't think the monks would see me as one. can this not be seen as a cultural outcome rather than part of a religious upbringing? i mean, singapore has had so many cultural influences, can i not be seen as a product of this?
also, i really dont think the point of evangelism is to go out and convert people by preaching to them, didn't God tell evangelists to spread the word of God and practice the ways of Christianity? i'm really not sure how forcing religion down a person's throat really helps in spreading the message ... doesn't it make one seem superior to dictate how another should live their lives (in the religious sense)? simply put, how many people like being told what to do because it's 'good' for them, isn't it much better to lead by example?
i've spoken to quite a number of Christians about religion and of the many discussions, we normally come to an agreement to disagree. i'm not stopping anybody from believing in whatever they want to believe in, be it that God created humans, created evolution etcetc, so i don't know why anybody should be stopping me from fully believing the darwin's theory of evolution, science and the big bang theory. i cannot grasp the concept of God having laid his fingers upon Earth and decided to create flora fauna adam and eve. scientists have proven otherwise, and the very rational me believes in it (i was brought up by a neuroscientist and microbiologist, need i say more). and now we can start a whole debate of 'what if God decided to create scientists and the big bang blahblahblah?' oooh ahh. okay let's just stop short and say, yes you believe God created everything including science, I believe otherwise. we could be up doing this all night long, but i have better things to indulge in and this one doesn't cut it.
I'm going to quote ricky gervais here, he wrote a lovely comment during the christmas period:
"Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, “Why don’t you believe I can fly?” You’d say, “Why would I?” I’d reply, “Because it’s a matter of faith.” If I then said, “Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?” You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, ‘’F-ing fly then you lunatic.”
lastly, everything is relative right, so Christians believe that non-believers will burn in hell fire because they don't believe. okay, let's get this straight, there is only a hell because there is a heaven. they are antithetical of each other. i mean, what's the point of being a good boy if there isn't something to deter you from being a bad one? if i don't believe in heaven, there won't be a hell either. so telling me that the repercussions of not believing in Christianity would lead me to hell is a fallacy.
i know alot of people out there aren't as extreme in their views of their religion as this guy, so here's just my critique of what he's written. once again, let's make it clear that i'm not condemning Christianity, or any other religion for that matter - to each his own. so let me believe in higher beings and doubt their existence as i wish. our fundamental beliefs are so divergent, it's a moot point trying to make me realise this specific faith. all i hope is that he is open enough to accept another person's religion, faith or the lack of it.
on an entirely separate note, my productivity is proportionate to the amount of coffee i drink. it's so sad to be addicted to the slurpy black goodness in a cardboard cup.