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It began simply enough. I had a website about heaven. I asked around for people to draw me pictures of what they thought heaven was like. Two people replied. One was an atheist. He made the `atheist heaven' picture for the site, saying that he was just going to get tossed in the trash when his life was over. I tried to convince him otherwise. We started the debate.
Then came the CD. It was about five hours long, containing recordings of loud mouthed radio personalities with biting comments about Christianity and religion and general, phone conversations with some Hindu named The Whistler, and the atheist's own long, ranting rambles about why he didn't believe in God. Hunched over my computer, trying to listen to a set of headphones with a cord too short to reach all the way from the back of the computer, I listened. To the whole thing. And then I wrote my responses to it.
Essays became longer and longer, and soon I had written him a document that was the size of a novel. I got attacks from all sides. He felt the need to send me any argument the Whistler had about Christianity. He felt the need to send me anything the Anglican bishops said, and anything that wishy - washy Christians were saying about their criticism of the bible. He had a proxy of various people he e-mailed with religious stuff of this order. I really think he was trying to convert me, because I was trying to convert him.
I stayed up until 5 in the morning, skipping meals, writing my responses to all his stuff.
Soon I came to feel as if my faith and religion were so weak that you could merely blow and it would fall over, and that atheism was the only truth.
But then I prayed about it. And I prayed and prayed about it. I lost my job, I got another job, and I posted the results of our long discussions on a website.
It was a cry for help, but nobody wanted to wade through the crap to get to the stuff that was really troubling me.
After much praying and writing, I've posted what I feel is a final version of that site, once again, this time more legible (I corrected a great deal of my correspondent's writing). God has given me some answers to this guy's objections, but I'm sure he will just kick the snot out of whatever I have done here.
Why did I latch onto him? I was just hoping he'd be saved. He sent me a picture he drew, after I sent a request to the e-group about the idea above and he started talking about how he'd be "86'd" or "thrown into the trash bucket," and I kept trying to convince him of Jesus' salvation.
Sometimes I feel like I've been e-mailing the evil one. This guy is really persistent. I personally don't demand any sign from God, or to be instantly gratified, but this guy is like, "Show me the money!"
He has TONS of peer support. He's got his own little proxy of unbelievers he discusses religion with, and then there's the chat rooms. It makes my task impossible.
Help in responding to his objections and other advice would be greatly appreciated.
E-mail me at akktri@iname.com.