There is an email from "Becky" on this page, and another from "Paul Gaveston" here
This page contains an email I have received about my site, and my replies. Their comments are in purple, whereas mine are in normal colours.
The following email from a Christian is an excerpt. If the author of this piece feels I have misrepresented her, please email me
From "Becky"
It seems that you've tried to think of everything; every rational excuse not to believe.
Not really "excuses" but rather rational reasons why Christianity is not a viable religious option.
But what struck me the most was the page titled "Bad Christian Fruits." First, I thought, "how can their be any bad chrsitian [sic] fruits?" Then I looked and saw you labled all of man's mistakes.
If you are suggesting that any Christian who commits atrocities or otherwise disobeys the Bible is not a true Christian, this is known as the "no true Scotsman" fallacy.
I quote from the Wikipedia encyclopaedia:
"This form of argument is a fallacy if the predicate...does not follow from the accepted definition of the subject...or if the definition of the subject is silently adjusted after the fact to make the rebuttal work."
(Source: here)
Another definition is this:
"POISONING THE WELL (no true Scotsman fallacy): a way of suppressing evidence that eliminates a source of evidence from consideration by claiming the source is flawed, when there is no true relationship between the alleged flaw and the reliability of the source."
(Source: here)
Notice that I used the word "man" as in "human." there's been a lot of terrible and awful things that have been done by the human race, much of which is still going on. But it's OUR doing, HUMANS that do it, not just Chrsitians.
I am not denying that nonChristians have committed atrocities too. My argument is that Christians are supposed to be known for their good fruits - yet throughout history Christians have exhibited bad fruits, therefore making Christianity a "bad tree" by Jesus' own definition.
And just a little side note that Chrsitians are people too, just striving to be like Christ, though still making human mistakes.
I do not deny anyone's humanity.
There are parts of the Bible which do indeed say that Christians do not make mistakes:
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Just because Christians have done things in the Lord's name doesn't make them right (i.e., the crusades).
I never said that the things Christians do are right. But they thought they were according to the will of God. The Crusades, for example, were done on the principle of the many wars in the Old Testament ordered by God against "heathens".
Killing witches was also commanded by God.
You can't blame God by judging what people do.
Those people are supposed to be of God, inspired by him and following his commands. Also, they took their inspiration from the Old Testament - there are many atrocities contained in those books of the Bible. For example:
Psalm 137:9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Hosea 13:16 Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Now, you would no doubt condemn such actions if now committed by Christians in the name of God - no one likes the idea of babies' brains being bashed out, or of pregnant women having their wombs ripped open. But these things were ordered by God in the Old Testament. Christians have historically followed the Bible - how then can you say they are not Christian for doing what God himself ordered done to Israel's enemies in the OT?
You're not perfect, I'm not perfect... so now where so we turn? There was only one person that set the standard, Jesus Christ, and if He didn't, then where would we be?
In a world where thousands had not been killed in the name of Jesus. Where women had not been oppressed, and racism had not been justified in the name of God. We would also have lived in a time where slavery was not seen as God-given, nor people of differing sexual orientations killed or ostracised for that practise.
And you are supposed to be perfect, if you wish to enter heaven.
Everything you think is "right" and everything you think is "wrong" measures against what? Common sense? Where did that common sense come from?
From me. Who else? I dislike what I would not wish to have done to myself or another I care for. The Golden Rule (while not original to Christianity) is a fairly good guide for these things. Not that Christians have ever taken much notice of this, nor do they much now.
If it were natural instinct it would be something like fending for yourself, not caring about anyone but you.
The survival instinct does kick in in all humans at varying intervals. Hence the stories of women killing their own babies to save their skins - our survival instinct is very strong indeed.
Jesus shows us the right way, the way to love and be selfless.
Yet that Jesus, if he is indeed the god of the Old Testament, ordered thousands killed, and ordered young women to be taken as booty (after he got his share) in the OT. Is this self-less?
We can't make our own God's and call them holy without selling ourselves short.
Yet we have done so. There are many gods in the world - including your own - which have been created by man. They were created for a variety of reasons - crowd control, power to an elite, to give sensible advice while ensuring that would not be challenged, to provide comfort for the fearful, and to represent an ideal human as a model for others to emulate.
There is only one way.
The way of reason is the only way I see. It is certainly the only way to get rid of the hate and the prejudice that Christianity has inspired over the centuries, and inspires still.
Thank you again for emailing me about my website.
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