Does the average Christian out there find it embarrassing that the average atheist knows more about the Christian religion then most Christians do? Christians shouldn't feel alone though. Atheist on average know more about all religions then any other group based on belief. Mormons and evangelicals can feel good that they know slightly more about the bible and Christianity then the average atheist but not much.
This quick rant was triggered by reading a bunch of ignorant Christians bitch about how they would not thank Allah because Allah is a false god or something similar. Allah is the same God as Yahweh and Jehovah. All three religions are Abrahamic religions. They all have the same roots. They all worship the same "God". Sure there are differences in the religions but that doesn't change the fact that you worship the same "God". Within Christianity there are over 40,000 different denominations and some very radical differences between them too. There is a joke about how there are as many different denominations of Christianity as there are Christians.
So please before you bag another religion actually learn about it and while you are at it learn about your own religion at the same time. If you just want to believe as you do now without learning more then keep you mouth shut about other religions. In fact take some advice from Saint Augustine.
"Usually, even a non-Christian knows something about the earth, the heavens, and the other elements of this world, about the motion and orbit of the stars and even their size and relative positions, about the predictable eclipses of the sun and moon, the cycles of the years and the seasons, about the kinds of animals, shrubs, stones, and so forth, and this knowledge he hold to as being certain from reason and experience. Now, it is a disgraceful and dangerous thing for an infidel to hear a Christian, presumably giving the meaning of Holy Scripture, talking nonsense on these topics; and we should take all means to prevent such an embarrassing situation, in which people show up vast ignorance in a Christian and laugh it to scorn. The shame is not so much that an ignorant individual is derided, but that people outside the household of faith think our sacred writers held such opinions, and, to the great loss of those for whose salvation we toil, the writers of our Scripture are criticized and rejected as unlearned men. If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods and on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? Reckless and incompetent expounders of Holy Scripture bring untold trouble and sorrow on their wiser brethren when they are caught in one of their mischievous false opinions and are taken to task by those who are not bound by the authority of our sacred books. For then, to defend their utterly foolish and obviously untrue statements, they will try to call upon Holy Scripture for proof and even recite from memory many passages which they think support their position, although they understand neither what they say nor the things about which they make assertion."
In short if you don't know about a topic keep your mouth closed in discussions about that topic in relationship to your religious beliefs. Because you just weaken your religious position in the eyes of others. Why should I give any credit to your religious beliefs if you make stupid statements trying to defend your religion that are easily shown to be false?
No comments:
Post a Comment