My friend Josh --the agnostic

[Sheenar]

I had posted this on another thread, but I think this is a better place for this.

I read one of my friend's (his name is Josh) notes on Facebook and it made me really sad. I'm not sure how to respond.

"So I’ve been thinking about writing this one for a while now. I told somebody I would write it so now I am. Today’s note isn’t a rant or a rave. There’re no laughs to be had. It’s a serious note about something I generally loathe talking about. Religion. More specifically, my own.

Up until last year or so, I considered myself to be atheist. I tried the whole Christian thing a couple years ago and it just didn’t work out for me. Now, however, I claim to be agnostic. That is to say I don’t currently believe in any sort of deity, but I’m withholding judgment until further evidence presents itself. To be honest, I don’t expect that evidence to ever appear. There are plenty of reasons why I take this stance, but the number one reason is basically because I don’t have faith. I CAN’T believe in something when there is absolutely no concrete evidence to back it up. This is a problem when a prerequisite to most religions is faith.

Another big reason is that I can’t find a god that I’d like to believe in. Actually, I take that back. I wouldn’t mind believing in the Greek pantheon, but in this day and age, it would just be silly. I’m not a huge fan of the Judeo-Christian God for two main reasons. One is that I’m not okay with the idea that someone died for my sins without any input from me. I never asked anyone to do that for me and I never would. My sins are my own. There’s a story called The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by William James. It’s about a paradise city where everything is pleasing. The problem is that the good fortune of the city depends on a child that must be kept miserable. When the people find out about this, some of them leave, preferring not to live in a paradise if it means an innocent must suffer. I could never be happy knowing that someone else, an innocent, had to suffer for it. Secondly, and this is a little out there, I know, if we assume God exists, we can assume He caused the great flood. The one that lasted 40 days and 40 nights. Well, if God did create this flood, it means he MURDERED a whole lot of cats (tigers, lions, cheetahs, etc.). And anybody who knows me knows how I feel about cats. If it came down to me driving and I had to hit a person or a cat, well, the person is fender ketchup. So I could never love a God that would do that, let alone believe that he is just and loving.

The last main reason I don’t believe in a higher power is that I just don’t need to. I’m perfectly content with not knowing why I’m here. I just like being here. And maybe I’m just incredibly fortunate, but I’m completely content with life. I don’t need a relationship with any god. Furthermore, I know that I couldn’t be satisfied with one in which I speak but receive no audible or visible response.

But what of hell? Some would argue that I have nothing to lose and everything to gain by having faith. That is to say, I should have faith just in case there is a hell so I can avoid it. But doesn’t that seem like a poor reason to have faith? Would it not be insulting to any god to say, “I believe in you, but only so you won’t send me to hell.â€

[Esoteric]

Yeah, those are some pretty classic atheist arguments...especially the whole, I don't believe God is loving and just because he allows (insert bad thing). I know how I would respond, but I'm not you and I don't know this guy. I suggest you talk to a pastor at your church, or someone who knows a lot about apologetics, because they deal with such statements all the time and can offer the best advice. But I do know asking questions is an excellent way to begin. It shows the person you are interested, and will help you understand how they think. He obviously has some misconceptions about God and the nature of Creation, which will somehow need to be addressed.
Whatever you do, be honest. If you two begin discussing Christianity and he asks a question you don't know the answer to, say "You know, that's a really good question. Let me think about it and get back to you." If you want to help this guy find truth, you must be truthful.

I'll be praying for you, and again, talk to someone who is knowledgeable in apologetics.

[SP1]

Well, this Josh appears to be intelligent (OK, except the cat and fender ketchup thing) and reasonably open minded, so I think there is hope here. There's a couple of ways to approach this, one being appologetics, as has been stated. Another might be to pray for direct, divine interaction. If Josh needs something to hang his faith on, well, let God bring it on! Hopefully, this isn't a "bad" experience, but it will probably be life changing. God seems to do this kind of thing frequently, as there are lots of people that need to get "whacked on the head" to open their eyes.

I find it odd that he would rather worship a fickle pantheon with disturbingly human qualities than a God that, despite being perhaps harder to fit in a box, promises a better place for mankind.

I have one thing you might want to mention to him: OK, so you don't believe in God because "further evidence has not presented itself." Well then, let's assume for a moment that God is actively trying to get through to you. What are you doing to hold up your end of the conversation? Note that God has a long history of 1) not being on our timeline, 2) not taking direction from us on how to do His job, and 3) approaching people frequently in a very unexpected way.

Praying for this situation.