06 Jun '05 01:29>
I am not sure where, how or if this fits in (it might fit in better in a different thread, but I feel many of them are closely related anyway), but I have been wondering about the use of the word "choice" in this and other threads. According to some people here, god gives us a choice - we can choose to follow him or reject him. But if we decide to reject him, he will send us to hell and eternal torture. What kind of a choice is that? It sounds more like blackmail to me. Of course, if you don't believe in god, salvation and hell in the first place, it's not blackmail either - I cannot be blackmailed if I don't believe the punishment is real. Nevertheless, if it should turn out that the Christian fundamentalists are right, I will go to hell because of my "choice". So there's clearly a right and a wrong choice. As I understand "giving a choice", it would mean that both choices are valid, and one is not better than the other one, they are just different.
Another problem with that "choice" is that you need to know that you have a choice in the first place, and you need to know exactly what that choice means. According to Coletti, people who have never heard about Jesus will go to hell (with the possible exception of babies and mentally disabled people), even though they couldn't possibly choose because they didn't know there was a choice. I have heard about Jesus (I have even been a believer at some point in my life), but I have also heard about many other religions and world views which contradict the Christian view, and even among Christians there are many different opinions as to how the bible should be interpreted. Such as my mind works, I have no way to find out who is right, or what choice I have or don't have. So I don't really have a choice either. If that god exists and really wants me to make a choice, he should have given me a different mind or he should have communicated more clearly.
Another problem with that "choice" is that you need to know that you have a choice in the first place, and you need to know exactly what that choice means. According to Coletti, people who have never heard about Jesus will go to hell (with the possible exception of babies and mentally disabled people), even though they couldn't possibly choose because they didn't know there was a choice. I have heard about Jesus (I have even been a believer at some point in my life), but I have also heard about many other religions and world views which contradict the Christian view, and even among Christians there are many different opinions as to how the bible should be interpreted. Such as my mind works, I have no way to find out who is right, or what choice I have or don't have. So I don't really have a choice either. If that god exists and really wants me to make a choice, he should have given me a different mind or he should have communicated more clearly.