In Response to Catrina's Post...

Catrina, I really liked your post. In response to the middle-schoolers you talked about and other people with similar opinions, I want you to know that it bothers me almost as much as it bothers you when Christians are so hostile toward atheists. I'm a Christian and my faith is very important to me, but I try very hard not to behave/think like that.

Here's how I see it, as a Christian: God created the universe and everything in it, but of all of that, he especially blessed human beings, making them in his image and giving them priveleges over the rest of creation. Unfortunately, humans rebelled, so he had to find another way for them to be in union with him. This is where faith comes in. According to the Bible, God's grace is so great that he saves us all from our inevitable sins, and all we have to do to receive eternal life is acknowledge this through faith in Christ.

Now, faith is a choice. (I believe that humans have free will.) If you choose faith, you will be able to live in communion with God and participate in his great plan for the world. If you don't, you're basically denying the fact (<--to Christians, it's a fact) that you are completely dependent on God for everything. It is this arrogance which is the root of sin (like the disobedience of Adam and Eve). Atheists and members of other religions, no matter how good of people they seem to be, are committing this, the greatest of sins, by ignoring God's presence. Because, no one can be perfect. All of us are sinners, no matter how many good works we do. Therefore, Christians' desire is for all people to see the good news that we are saved in spite of our sinfulness, and this is what causes such zealous preaching, etc.

The problem that those middle-schoolers had was that they had a more Old Testament/Jewish view of non-Christians. The Jews were the chosen people, and before the coming of Jesus, God had to use earthly blessings and punishments to show people right and wrong. Jesus, however, taught Christians to love everyone, even the non-believers, and to leave the judging to God. So the call of Christians is to love everyone, atheists included, but to try to show them (by example) that life is better when you have God on your side.