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From: christian@topaz.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Tunnel Vision
Message-ID: <11063@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 15-Apr-87 04:07:33 EST
Article-I.D.: topaz.11063
Posted: Wed Apr 15 04:07:33 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 17-Apr-87 05:24:56 EST
References: <10785@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
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Organization: The Ohio State University, CIS Dept.
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Approved: christian@topaz.UUCP

In article <10785@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> sdenbeste@bbncc5.uucp writes:
>Instead, to me the most striking and disturbing aspect of this was the
>fact that the teenager didn't know what an atheist was. I admire her
>faith (in whatever faith it was - she never said.)

	Why is this so disturbing?  I agree that it is a sad thing that a
	certain Christian has no knowledge of someone else's belief, but
	why is this more disturbing than an atheist not knowing what a
	Christian is.  The more atheists I talk to the more of them I find
	screwed up in what they think Christianity is all about-- is this
	not just as bad?  You might consider the young girl to be uneducated,
	in my opinion this is terribly arrogant, when most people who don't
	believe in God are completely in the dark about what He is all about.
	That is the real tunnel vision.

>Therefore, my question, which I submit for reasoned debate: (FINALLY,
>something you can debate!) Should Christian churches teach knowledge
>about other faiths in Sunday school?

	The answer is yes in my opinion.  I belong to a church that makes it
	policy to give as much information as possible about other world
	views and how they conflict with Christianity.  We have entire 
	classes devoted to the subject and we also stress learning about
	other beliefs (as well as many other things concerning Christianity)
	through personal discipleship. 


>I contend that the churches should do so. A good Christian should grow
>up understanding that there are other faiths besides their own (though
>the other faiths may be misguided and/or wrong) and should have at
>least some knowledge of where those faiths came from. Inevitably such
>knowledge will be slanted - I think this is acceptable.

	I wholeheartedly agree with you here, exept perhaps that the 
	knowledge should be slanted. I believe it is better to go straight
	to the source for the view and also to be as truthful and accurate
	as possible.  I think it is ok to attack the weak points of the
	view, but I don't think the view should be presented in a slanted 
	way (if by slanted you meant selective or degrading).

>But I think there is something scandalous when a 17-year-old doesn't
>even know what an atheist is. She had been taught that the Bible was
>true (OK, I accept the right of her parents/teachers to tell her that)
>and that EVERYONE ELSE believe it (WRONG!). Thus from her point of
>view, I was someone who knew about the Bible but disagreed with it
>for no good reason. Logically, therefore, I was either evil, or perverse,
>or stupid. Based on this, it was reasonable for her to be perplexed.
>How can anyone believe in the Bible and be an atheist at the same time?

	Like I said before, it might be scandalous for the girl to be 
	ignorant of atheism, but it is just as scandalous for the atheist
	to say he does not believe in God when he does not even know anything
	about God or the bible. This is the way I was.  I was an atheist
	who thought I had a good reason not to believe in God and I thought
	that Christianity was a bunch of rules and laws and that is was 
	boring and a crutch.  When I found a Christian church (a group of
	people not a building) I discovered to my surprise that the bible
	was not a book of laws but a book of forgiveness. The bible told
	me that God loved me and died for me and that I could have a free
	gift of salvation that I could never lose no matter what I did.  This
	I found to be quite the opposite of what I believed Christianity was.
	And it seems to me that most people do not understand this. Most 
	atheists I talk to believe that Christians are trying to be good in
	order to get to heaven (and usually self-righteously at that). Nothing
	could be further from the truth.

	Epesians 2:8-9 says: For by grace you have been saved through faith;
	and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of
	works, that no one should boast.

	You told that girl that you do not believe in the bible. Have you 
	read it enough to know what it says?  Have you looked at Christ's
	life and message closely to see if it is false?  Try reading John 3
	(the whole chapter) and then see what you think.


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