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From: rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.religion
Subject: Who's attacking whom?
Message-ID: <548@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 8-Apr-84 18:36:58 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.548
Posted: Sun Apr  8 18:36:58 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Apr-84 19:08:21 EST
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 45

Time to clear up a very important misconception here.  Some people
seem to think that anti- and non-religionists in this newsgroup are
"attacking" Christianity.  I can only speak for myself, but my purpose
is not to attack Christianity.  It is to debunk the notion of religion
itself, and to clarify the reasons that people "leap" into religion without
hard evidence, and to (hopefully) show those reasons to be flawed from
a logical standpoint.

Of course, many Christians are quite firm in their belief that their belief
system is absolutely true, and that there is evidence for this belief system
that unbelievers will never understand unless they make that infamous "leap
of faith".  These people seem to feel that any discussion denigrating the
very idea of religion is really meant to be an attack on Christianity, since
(after all) it's the only true way...

It's much like Gary Samuelson's article which stated "I have to *prove* that
I'm an American citizen, or that I'm Democrat/Republican, or that I'm
Jewish/Hindu... but if I say I'm a Christian, it's just assumed that I am."
I'm not sure what kind of lines Gary is drawing, but it would seem to me that
they are artificial.  No one has ever asked me to prove that I'm Jewish.
I have been asked to prove my citizenship and my party affiliation.  But those
are different matters.  It is another example of christocentrism (oh, how I
bandy that word about!) ["BANDY"???  -ED.]  where because the Christian makes
the bold assumption that his/her way is the one true way, he/she sees his/her
belief system as something unique.  "Evidence?  You're asking me for evidence?
Aha!  That's just another attack on Christianity!!!  You haven't asked anyone
else for evidence, have you?"  (Actually, all proponents of all religions have
been asked for evidence.)  "Oh... well they can't supply evidence anyway,
since their way isn't the true way..."  It's like that joke about the atheist
who goes to heaven and is sent to a place for atheists who led good lives to
enjoy heaven.  After seeing places where people of all belief systems are
enjoying heaven in their own way, the atheist sees a wall and hears people on
the other side.  When the atheists attempts to climb the wall to see what's
going on on the other side, an angel says "Don't go there.  The Christians are
on the other side of that wall, and they think they're the only ones up here."

[I know, an *atheist* in *heaven*???  But that's the point.  A truly just deity
would provide a heaven for *all* those who led good lives, not just the
"politically correct" people (religiously correct???)]

O.K., this article *was* directed at Christians.  But it wasn't so much an
"attack" on belief systems as an observation on the nature of how some
Christians feel about their belief system.
-- 
"Submitted for your approval..."		  Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr