Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!decvax!wivax!linus!allegra!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxi!mhuxa!houxm!hocda!spanky!burl!duke!unc!tim From: tim@unc.UUCP Newsgroups: net.religion Subject: Re: reply to Tim Maroney Message-ID: <5313@unc.UUCP> Date: Fri, 3-Jun-83 17:40:17 EDT Article-I.D.: unc.5313 Posted: Fri Jun 3 17:40:17 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 9-Jun-83 01:58:04 EDT References: itm.1010 Lines: 88 First, anyone who wants to correspond with me can use my mailing address, which is duke!unc!tim. On the other hand, if your intent is to publicly humiliate me, please feel free to post it to the net. I always enjoy humorous entertainment. On to the matter at hand. I understand we now have a Baptist church on the net, site name "itm". Welcome aboard! Since you're newcomers, there are a few things that perhaps should be explained to you. The most important, of course, is that it has recently been demonstrated that quoting the Bible at an unbeliever does nothing except amuse the afore- mentioned unbeliever to no end. Perhaps this is difficult for you to understand, so I'll try putting it in the clearest possible terms. I do not believe that the entire Christian (or Judaic, for that matter) Bible is the infallible Word of God, and I am not in the employ of your Devil, who I do not believe in either. Can you understand that? The reason that I ask is that many Christian's faith is so weak, they cannot even for a second let it slip and see an unbeliever's viewpoint clearly. They are terrified of being sucked into the Abyss if they even consider briefly that someone else might not be playing the same game they are. I do not say this merely as an insult -- it is an honest observation that I have arrived at after long observation of Christians. If you feel I'm wrong, please post a dissenting article. Because of my disbelief in the Bible, the following statements in your article entitled "reply to Tim Maroney" do not have much effect. "A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind." Pr 18:2 "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable, But the mouth of fools spouts folly." Pr. 15:2 "The fool has said in his heart, `There is no God'" Ps. 14:1 "For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, And the greedy man curses and spurns the LORD. The wicked, in haughtiness of his countence, does not seek him. And all his thoughts are, `There is no God'." Ps 10:3,4 And so on. It does not shock me that the Bible claims to be true. (Did you think that it would?) However, the claim in itself is nothing. It is as if I had said "The man who lets a deity enslave him is lower Than the most disgusting slug-like organism With a horrible smell, unpleasing to his neighbors, And his brain is made of ca-ca." Gx. 27:4 It doesn't carry much weight, does it? You've got to provide some justification for your statements. This means using your own brain instead of regurgitating "safe" verses. This is probably not taught to you by your religious leaders, but if you just watch the net you'll begin to pick it up. As for the rest of your quotes, which I'll review here, Listen Tim: "...It is appointed for men once to die and after this comes judgment," Heb. 9:27 "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil." Jn 3:19 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Jn 3:36 Yes, yes, believe it or not I have heard this all before, and it still hasn't made me lose any sleep or control of my excretory orifices. However, I am curious as to what prompts you to try this approach. Are you really so gullible that you believed these incredible claims the first time you heard them? If not, then why do you think I will be? If I weren't such a forgiving guy, I'd think you were deliberately insulting me. That about completes the review. I have no doubt that you will be a valuable addition to the net, provided you take the few minutes needed to try to understand someone else's viewpoint instead of reflexively throwing up the Bible when you feel threatened. Oh yes, one more thing. The subject line "reply to Tim Maroney" wasn't very helpful, particularly since you never said anything about what it was you were replying to. You should make it clear what you're talking about. (Or was it just a reply to my entire existence?) Looking forwards to many happy years of reasonable discussion, I am, Tim Maroney