Eric Waters,
Votes by Gloria Bond, Jeanie Straub, Craig Weiland, and 34 more.
This
is a very good, and difficult, question from my perspective. I'm really
not sure of the answer. I suppose direct revelation (a la Saint Paul of
Tarsis, preferably without clear symptoms of epilepsy or other
neurological disorder) would do the trick, but to get me back as a
worshiper (rather than a mere believer) God would have to answer a few
questions to my satisfaction. For instance:
I don't expect any of these things to happen, however, since I don't believe God exists. I also don't expect to get answers to similar questions from Zeus, Odin, Amaterasu, Horus, or any of the other Gods that never existed.
Even with the above covered, however, I still doubt I would worship the God of Abraham. Honestly, I couldn't say what would "bring me back to the fold", as it were. I was miserable (and occasionally suicidal) as a Christian. I'm happy and content as an atheist. I see no reasonable reason for belief in God, and I doubt I ever will.
- Why did Ezekiel have to eat bread cooked over cow flop? (Ezekiel 4:15)
- Why did you send she-bears to kill children because they made fun of a Elisha's bald spot? (II Kings 2:23-25)
- We were told to refer to you as "Our Father" in prayer... but I saw what happened to your begotten son. There's no question here - I'm just interested in a response
- The most powerful Church founded in God's name (the Catholic Church) had (has?) a document indicating that child-molesting priests should be moved and protected from prosecution. How, exactly, did you allow such a foul document to be written without treating Vatican City in much the same way you treated Sodom and Gomorrah?
- While on the subject - Lot was perfectly willing to allow his virgin daughters to be gang raped (Genesis 19:8). Is this the sort of person you consider to be "righteous"? Because, frankly, I'd happily shove your angels out into the street to save my daughter. Does that make me, by default, less virtuous than Lot? If so, we won't be speaking again - sorry.
- I get that we all have free will and everything, but why do you allow so many people to do such vile things in your name?
- If you made everything, and you love Humans specifically and individually, then why did you also create HIV? Ebola? Mosquitoes and Malaria? Influenza? There's more, but those will suffice as examples of your reasoning.
- Why did you leave so little evidence for your existence? You didn't need to spell it out or anything - just, maybe, use a more accurate version of Pi in your book than was available at the time, rather than a less accurate one.
- If we are all your children, then it stands to reason that you could have sent your message down anywhere on Earth. Why didn't you send it to China or the Indus Valley - where literacy was rampant during the time of Christ? Wouldn't it have made more sense to send the message to people less likely to garble it?
- Where were you when I needed you? Where were you when I witnessed the horrors of my life, and called out to you? Where were you when that one little girl I saw in Bosnia needed you?
I don't expect any of these things to happen, however, since I don't believe God exists. I also don't expect to get answers to similar questions from Zeus, Odin, Amaterasu, Horus, or any of the other Gods that never existed.
Even with the above covered, however, I still doubt I would worship the God of Abraham. Honestly, I couldn't say what would "bring me back to the fold", as it were. I was miserable (and occasionally suicidal) as a Christian. I'm happy and content as an atheist. I see no reasonable reason for belief in God, and I doubt I ever will.
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