It is Sunday, Church is out, and evidently another soldier for Jesus has been stirred up to go wage battle with the enemy
Someone, using a fake name and email address, came to The Way Forward via a Google Search for Hephzibah House. This blog is ranked tenth or second depending on how you search.
This person found the following posts about Hephzibah House:
Promoter of Child Abuse Speaks at Calvary Bible Church, Lima Ohio
Pants Wearing Women a Big Problem in the Church
Beat Your Children Into Submission, in the Name of Jesus
These three posts elicited the following contact form emails from this Jesus lover:
You are Pig!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don’t make any sense at all.
and
Didn’t go your way,huh?
Little boy wants to get even with God because he wanted his own way.Little boy will have ALL of eternity BURNING ON FIRE to think about his stubborn idiocy!
Better repent my fat fellow traveller.You don’t like being preached at? Then why drag others into your little kiddie pouting match? Take it to God.He is still there and listening!
Luke15
Now I regularly get “preach at me” emails from Christians but I don’t get as many of the above as I did when I first started blogging.
These kind of Christians are the worst kinds. Nasty, vindictive, filled with arrogance, they, behind the veil of secrecy the internet provides, attack other people. They are cowards because they refuse to own their words.
This particular Christian might want to know that the veil of secrecy is not complete. He left an IP address behind AND the government office he was emailing from.
Now, if I was just like him, I might pick up the phone on Monday and call the Hennepin County Government Center and let them know what this person is up to. But, I am not. I have on several occasion done so, but it was only after numerous emails and refusing to stop that I took further action.
This person’s emails are just another reminder of one of the reasons I left Christianity. This person has no respect for others. On the contact form I have:
Please do not send me emails trying to convert me or preach at me. I am not interested in your religious views nor do I have any interest in your God, Jesus, or religion. If you disregard my request, please understand that I may make your email public. You have been warned. There are millions of people who may be interested in what you are selling. I am not one of them. You are not going to tell me anything I have not heard countless times or preached myself. I know, I am, according to you, under the judgment of your God, headed for hell, etc. Your words will have no effect and will likely reinforce my belief that Evangelical zealots are only interested in hearing themselves talk or are trying to convince themselves, by attacking an atheist, that they are right.
“…Get even with God”??? Seriously?
I find it telling that the only people who seem to think like that — at least, the only people whom I hear say things like that — are Christians. Apparently the idea of “rebelling against” or “getting even with” God actually makes some sort of sense to them?
Look, Christians believe that God is all-powerful, right? And all-knowing, as well. If a being like that existed, rebelling against it would make no sense. Not only would it require me to choose a path guaranteed to end in defeat, but it’s nearly a logical impossibility, since an all-powerful being could cause me to stop trying to rebel just by, you know, wanting me to stop.
And trying to “get even” with God, or “get revenge on” God? That’s at least as nonsensical, and possibly even sillier. What could any of us possibly do to cause meaningful distress to a being that’s supposed to be entirely sufficient unto itself? How do you disappoint something that has always already known everything that you’re going to do? What would that even mean?
Seriously, Offended Christian, where’s your faith?
You know, when atheists say that we don’t believe that God exists, it makes a lot more sense to assume that we mean what we say.
“Look, Christians believe that God is all-powerful, right? And all-knowing, as well. If a being like that existed, rebelling against it would make no sense.”
Nor does the doctrine of a creature with as much smarts as Satan is supposed to have rebelling against God make any sense either. But logical coherency is not required, faith is what is required.
PS: I, angry atheist that I am, and hider behind a CB type ‘handle’, have never stooped to such invective.
Jesus, what a douche, man. Cool the way you let him, (or her), know
that you know more about them than they realize.
That person who called you a pig obviously does not posses the ability to think for themselves. Let’s just say that you ARE angry at God and that is why you left religion. That Christian is supposed to show you compassion. Furthermore, if there is a god, wouldn’t he understand your anger and show you compassion?
I think people tend to have no clue when they say crazy a** shit like that to someone who they THINK may be in mental anguish. Or they just have no flipping clue. I apologize for sounding angry today, I don’t mean to come accross that way. BUT I am angry today.
When one really ponders religion, even take the bible out of the equation, it really gets twisted by people. I am fuming becuase I have a family member telling me that i am going to hell because i will allow my young children to watch sesame street since god would be offended that the Hansen company is boycotting the boycott at Chick fila about gay folks. This same person who is obviosly delighted in knowing that others are going to burn in hell, is singing gods praises for sending her a bird. A BIRD. Yep, God is answering unspoken prayers while others are losing their loved ones to horrible diseases, the majority of the worlds population lives in horid conditions and poverty that amercians can not even realize, women and chidlren are abused in every manner. BUT GOD IS GOOD ~ he sent these folks a flipping per bird. These are probably the same type of crack pots who send you hate mail for standing up against abuses towards humanity. Now, I know you are an atheist, but at the end of the day IF, IF there is a god, what type of behavior is he/she likely to applaud? YOur patience towards haters is amazing.
Some the kindest, gentlest, most thoughtful, long-suffering and forgiving people I know are Christians. But the run of the mill “Christian” (Mt. 7:22) such as this guy seems to be suffers from the American myopia of equating every difference of opinion as essentially a zero-sum sporting event (hence our modern political circus). Their angry God is the same Homeboy who sides with sports teams and visits hurricanes upon sinful cities that host Gay Pride events, i.e., just a REALLY big, above average, bigoted human. It’s behavior like this that makes me think VERY few professing Christians actually understand “God”–no one who had a mature belief of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent being who ruled the universe could talk in this flippant way (Ecc. 5:2). I agree with all of the other posters, too, that so, so many people suffer needlessly because of our lack of generosity. If I were a Christian I would be just as worried about Mt. 25:31-46 as I am about Luke 15, and I sure as Hell wouldn’t be separating sheep from goats myself.
People like that aren’t even worth the trouble. There’s nothing that anyone can say that will persuade them to think with a modicum of reason.
I wanted to leave a comment, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t understand the thinking behind so much venom and anger. Also, he/she/it is playing right into the stereotypical crazy Christian image.
And Mike D is right. Not worth the trouble.
I will add my hubby’s comment, too. “Can’t fix stupid.”
I think it would behoove Christians to think a little more about their image. Self centered seems to equal Christianity.
Today I was out driving my cute little tiny horse around the neighborhood. Five or six people drove by me very nicely and slowed down and gave us some room. The last guy of the day was coming at us pretty fast so I did the slow down signal of waving my hand up and down slowly with my palm down. Did he slow down? No. And as he zoomed by he was clearly dressed for church and so were the kids. What a jerk!
I guess being late for church, again, and trying to be on time was way more important than making your neighbor feel like you gave a rat’s rear end about her and her cute little horsey.
The Sunday at church thing is so stressful on top of being really bad for the children since it is depressing to find out that you are worthless slime destined for an eternity in hell unless God covers you sins with copious amounts of blood from his own son.
Great comment. Long ago I used to be a missionary. But a blow against my resolution was a speech by a deacon who said that any Christian representing God in a formal capacity should wear a suit and tie. I never got the Wall Street connection, and I never will. I think sackcloth and ash are far more appropriate, and I think riding into town on a donkey makes a lot more sense.
Hi Bruce,
This person’s response is appalling. I just don’t get the Fundamentalist mindset. Why don’t they look at the humanity of Jesus and the way he related to people, especially those rejected by the religious establishment of his day. I do not find the Jesus of the gospels being abusive towards these kind of people.
The only words of rebuke that I find by Jesus are towards the religious power brokers who were using religion as a means of oppression and control.
This person’s attitude seems to be antithetical to the attitude of the Jesus he claims to follow.
Shalom,
John Arthur