Ricky Gervais wins.
Ricky Gervais wins. Period.
The idea of other Gods is of course ridiculous to Christians. Supernatural poppycock. As if there was ever a Zeus; stupid, ancient, unenlightened superstition. And even if there are other Gods (which of course there aren't) then the Christians' God is the best. Hardest, smartest... just better. He would laugh at Zeus and call him a Greek bender. (I doubt that God is racist and homophobic but the Bible isn't clear. Some bits go on about love and equality and others say you shouldn't trust certain types and that laying down with a man as you would with a woman is punishable by death and is a bit sick and evil.)
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The 10 Commandments
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So let's take the test.
How many of these have you broken?
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'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.'
...The commandment could equally be, You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in "vanity" e.g. when your enemy is hurt or defeated saying, "that's God's wrath," or when you win an award saying, "thank God." This is using his name in vanity. It's suggesting that you KNOW that God helped you win that award because you deserved it more, or because he was on your side. It's always tickled me that God would have a favourite actor at The Golden Globes.
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Not bad for an atheist.
I make that 10 out of 10.
How did you do?
Even if this doesn't prove I am a good Christian it does prove that the Bible is a bit inconsistent, open to interpretation, and a little intolerant.
This is not peculiar to Christianity to be fair. And I like to be fair. Because unlike ALL religions, as an atheist, I treat ALL religions equally.
Well played, sir. Well played. I treat them all equally. If you want to believe in Zues, Odin, Loki, or a purple gremlin magic fairy thing, whatever. Have at it. Just don't expect me to join you. And certainly don't damn me to the 'bad place' just because I'm not playing with your imaginary friend. I never had one as a child, and I'm certainly not going to adopt one now!
One more:
So what does the question “Why don’t you believe in God?” really mean. I think when someone asks that they are really questioning their own belief. In a way they are asking “what makes you so special? “How come you weren’t brainwashed with the rest of us?” “How dare you say I’m a fool and I’m not going to heaven, f- you!” Let’s be honest, if one person believed in God he would be considered pretty strange. But because it’s a very popular view it’s accepted. And why is it such a popular view? That’s obvious. It’s an attractive proposition. Believe in me and live forever. Again if it was just a case of spirituality this would be fine.
“Do unto others…” is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that’s exactly what it is -‐ a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. “Do this or you’ll burn in hell.”
You won’t burn in hell. But be nice anyway.
For the record... I don't believe in a God as a person, with desires or whims.. The living forever thing is an ego justification I fell in love with when I fell for vampires. (And that whole plot shows you that living forever sucks ass). I do have a bit of a spiritual side, whereby consciousness is a factor in reality, as is each face of consciousness. But that's hard to explain. And the word God has baggage to it, such as the white-bearded father of Jesus, so I just don't use that term. I don't buy it.
Am I spiritual? Kind of. It's complicated (as it should be).