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From: gordon@uw-june (Gordon Davisson)
Newsgroups: net.religion,talk.religion
Subject: Re: Freedom
Message-ID: <1181@uw-june>
Date: Sat, 30-Aug-86 01:39:18 EDT
Article-I.D.: uw-june.1181
Posted: Sat Aug 30 01:39:18 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 9-Sep-86 04:04:56 EDT
References: <131@hcx1.UUCP>  <117@omepd>
Reply-To: gordon@uw-june.UUCP (Gordon Davisson)
Organization: U of Washington Computer Science, Seattle
Lines: 49
Xref: linus net.religion:10644 talk.religion:30

In article <117@omepd> max@omepd.UUCP (Max Webb) writes:
>*flame on*
>Mr Zimmerman is indulging in what we in the midwest used to call 'bear-baiting'.
>the making of outrageous statements (i believe some of them are technically
>blasphemy - i know it doesn't bother him) in order to enrage his opponents in
>debate. Used to do it myself. Keep talking, dude; someday you may regret this
>endless stream of contempt for One, whom, no matter what you claim, has some
>chance of existing and being righteous.
>*flame off*

I don't think Paul should be too worried.  If God either doesn't exist or
doesn't control what happens to us after death, the issue is rather moot.
Even if God does exist and control the afterlife, all Paul's done is examine
the evidence available to him (incomplete and inconsistent as it is), and
reach what he thinks is the most reasonable conclusion about God based on
it.  If he's wrong, and God is a reasonable fellow, then why would a
reasonable God want to punish him for that?

On the other hand, if God is egotistical, petty, and vindictive enough, He
probably will subject Paul to eternal torture.  The question Paul faces in
this case is which is more important to him: his comfort, or his integrity.
He would seem to have chosen the second, and I must applaud his bravery in
doing so.

(Um, well, ok, maybe he's not quite as brave as all that.  With a God like
that, Paul's not likely to escape torture just by knuckling under and
worshipping...  A God like that's likely to torture him anyway, because
his skin's the wrong color, or he has a funny accent, or he puts on his
shoes in the wrong order.  Or even just because his great-to-the-N'th
grandparents once disobeyed Him by eating an apple...  So since he probably
doesn't have anything to lose, why not stand up for what he believes in?)

I have a question for you, Max: Why do you worship God?  Is it because you
think he's an All Right Guy (or some stronger version therof), or because
you're afraid of what he might do to you if you don't worship him?  If the
latter is the case, I must say that I find Paul's term 'whorshipper'
singularly appropriate.

--
Human:    Gordon Davisson
ARPA:     gordon@uw-june.ARPA
UUCP:     {ihnp4,decvax,tektronix}!uw-beaver!uw-june!gordon
Bitnet:   gordon@uwaphast

There are no physicists in the hottest parts of hell, because the existance
of a 'hottest part' implies a temperature difference, and any marginally
competent physicist would immediately use this to run a heat engine and
make some other part of hell comfortably cool.  This is obviously impossible.
				-- Richard Davisson