[net.religion] We believe what we want?

dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (08/30/84)

>	[Jeff Sargent]
>	I think the wishful thinking is on your side; you don't want
>	there to be a God,
>
>[John T. Nelson]
>That's what I think of people who say they've met God or know God
>intimately.  They rush head-long to the conclusion that most appeals
>to them... that they have experienced some sort of personal and
>meaningfull communion with the diety.  What is required here is a healthy
>sense of what is real and what might very well be your own thoughts.

What about those of us who had no desire to be Christian, wanted
nothing to do with Christianity, in fact LOATHED the very idea,
and yet became Christians?  Have we rushed headlong to the
conclusion we found most appealing?

I am in this class, and so do not find it very compelling
when people tell me that I'm a Christian because I needed/wanted
a psychological crutch, or because it's what I wanted to believe,
or because I found it comforting to believe, or some variant
on one of these...
-- 
Paul DuBois		{allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois

Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever: for they
are the rejoicing of my heart.
					Psalm 119:111

ark@rabbit.UUCP (Andrew Koenig) (08/31/84)

Paul DuBois says:

"What about those of us who had no desire to be Christian, wanted
nothing to do with Christianity, in fact LOATHED the very idea,
and yet became Christians?"

People do all kinds of self-distructive things.  Edgar Allan
Poe summed it up much better than I ever could.  Read his
story: "The Imp of the Perverse."