[net.religion] "One Last Try!!!

dap1@ihlpf.UUCP (06/01/83)

#N:ihlpf:22600011:  0:3346
ihlpf!dap1    May 31 19:19:00 1983

I submitted something several days ago and have yet to see anything on it.
I tried way to be very even handed about it but it seems that the only to get
a response is to call someone an idiot on the net.  Well, I'm not going
to do that but I can only assume that lack of response on this last listing
will indicate that none of the Christians have any good answers.  Please,
prove me wrong!

***** ihlpf:net.religion / dap1 /  7:21 pm  May 24, 1983
I think Jeff made some good points but there are a couple more points which
I have brought up before and never got any response to.  The first is why I,
as a nonbeliever, should accept Christian "miracles" over Hindu, Moslem or
Moonie "miracles"?  You can get the same stories of "miraculous conversions"
and "overnight drug withdrawals" from most moonies.  What's more, I believe
these people are just as sincere as any Christian.  Does anybody really
believe that the stories these people tell are out and out lies?  Why are
their stories any less credible than those of Christians?  Of course, if you
believe that such a miracle has occurred in your life, these questions have
no meaning but why should a nonbeliever give your stories any more credence
than anybody else's?

The second question applies whether you are a believer or nonbeliever and
regards the cultural influence on one's choice of religions.  Why is it that
religions tend to take on regional boundaries?

Such a question is easy to answer in terms of tastes for food and clothing.
Why do the English prefer tea and Americans prefer Big Macs (Apologies to
Wendy's and Burger King fans)?  That's an easy one, it's the culture.  Why
is it that Arabians prefer turbans and Americans prefer baseball hats?  Again
it's the culture.  (These examples are not meant to be sweeping generalizations,
true to a man, but general cultural trends)

Of course, the question I am leading up to is "Why are most Americans and
Europeans Christian while most Iranians are Moslem, Chinese are Buddhist,
etc., etc.?"  Most Christians will claim that they chose their faith after
careful observance of the facts.  In fact, they will often claim that such
observances literally force them to their conclusions.  Is it just
coincidence then, that most of the people on this side of the Pacific came up
with the "right" conclusions but most of the people on the other side made
apparent blunders in their logic?  Statements from Christians calling
Christianity the "largest religion in the world" tend to reinforce the
conclusion that their choices came more from cultural bias than from an
objective search for some type of rational truth.  In essence, I claim that
those Christians who hold such strong convictions might hold very different
convictions, and just as fervently, if they had been born in a different
culture.

I don't believe that God has a place in the answer to this question whether
you are a nonbeliever or not.  I am not questioning his existence, power to
perform miracles, inspiration of the Bible or any other Christian teachings
(at least not in this question).  The question is, why did most Americans
happen to stumble on the "right" answer and most Chinese didn't?  The only
place God has in this question is if he intentionally caused these religous
boundaries.

Thanks for any replies,

Darrell Plank
BTL-IH
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