1. Its similar to your statement - "Similarly, I'm quite sure
there are many atheists who avoid wrong doing because they fear
prison and punishment and not for any noble reason.". How can you
be sure there are majority or many atheists who avoid wrongdoing
because they fear prison and punishment and not for any noble
cause. It could be conscience pricking at them too.
I personally do not think this comic imply any prayer to god is
a waste of time. It is going to be a bother to god, if its all
prayers and no effort, as the comic strip illustrates.
Also, who says this comic is about turning to the right entity?
Why would sorting the trouble out oneself will necessarily lead to
deeper hole? Please answer why you made this statement earlier.
2. Unfortunately, only because you are the only few person I
know who said this. Most Christians I know will talk about
retribution and punishments only. Hence, your statement is
insignificant to the masses that have been uttered no matter how
politically correct you made it be.
3. For your last statement, i have to repeat my statemente.
Truth is there are many religious wars driven by maniacs who invoke
God's name. But the point isnt about God.
Seems nobody realise this comic isnt about Christianity, its
about Christians, and it seems the fact remains
unchanged.
1. OK, let's both not use the word 'many' then, agreed ? I still
think that the comic is implying that any prayer to God
(regardless of whether it is accompanied by action) is a waste of
time. If you don't think so, good for you. But I don't
think the comic is being so benign. As it is so fond of doing, it
only depicts a certain kind of believer and a certain kind of
Atheist to try to show up the 'superiority' of the Atheist.
I agree with you that sorting out one's trouble oneself without
turning to God does not necessarily mean that one will get into
more trouble (he might though) and I also agree with you that the
comic strip is not about turning to the 'right' entity. The
point being made was that if you were a loving Dad, would you
rather your child think of you when he gets into trouble, or
would you rather your child not even think about you at
all (either because he does not believe you exist, or he
believes that you would not lift a finger to help or that he
wants to do everything himself without involving you) ? If you
prefer the second option, so be it. But there would be Dads who
would be heartbroken if the child chose that. And if
imperfect earthly Dads feel that way, what more about God
in heaven ?
2. Yes, it is certainly unfortunate that you appear to only know
Christians who talk about retribution and punishment,
and thereby conclude that most Christians avoid wrong
doing because of hell (We have to be careful though. Without
knowing the context of your conversations with these Christians, it
is difficult to determine whether what was said has anything to
do with the issue brought up by this comic strip).
As mentioned above, since we both take issue with the word
'many', let's leave it out. My point still remains that there are
both Christians and Atheists who avoid wrong-doing because of
noble reasons, and there are both Christians and Atheists who avoid
wrong-doing because of less noble reasons. The comic strip is
biased in choosing to portray only one type of Christian and
one type of Atheist to support its notion that God prefers
Atheists.
3. Yes, your statement is correct - "there are xxxx
religious wars driven by maniacs who invoke God's name. But the
point isnt about God." So what is the point that the comic is
trying to make ? That Atheists are somehow 'better' than
non-Atheists because they do not wage wars in God's name (and
that's why God prefers Atheists), right ? As I've pointed out,
Atheists (or anybody) can and do start wars for a host of other
reasons. They are not necessarily better than non-Atheists in this
regard, and if they are not, there is no reason why God would
prefer an Atheist.
This comic picks less than ideal Christian behaviour
and contrasts it with the very best of Atheist behaviour and
somehow concludes that God prefers Atheists. That is bias. I
would like to add that i fully agree that there would be Atheists
who are more pleasing to God than Christians. But the biasness
inherent in the comic strip is insidious in that it might lead
readers to believe that in general, Atheists are better
than non-Atheists and are more pleasing to God. That is what I
have taken issue with.
