People say, "Yours is a religion of fear." Well my friend, fear is a good thing and you exercise it everyday. Fear keeps you from stepping off of a cliff. Fear keeps you from sticking your hand on a burning hot stove-top. Fear keeps you from running stoplights. Fear of failure or poverty makes you stay in school to get an education. These temporal fears keep you from permanent dangers. Do these fears hurt you? No, they help you and help the society you live in. The fear of the Lord does much more. It will keep you from the number one gravest danger—being thrown into the Lake of Fire to be tormented for all eternity.
26 comments
No, fear does not keep you from stepping off a cliff. Fear is something you might feel when you'd already stepped off, or had got too close to the edge. COMMON SENSE is what keeps you from stepping off a cliff! Or the other examples.
On the other hand it's been proven by now that this nonce is sadly lacking in any of that, so if he does feel constant fear it's no doubt a good thing.
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For a change Stewart is honest here. He's still a hypocrite and full of shit. But at least he is honest once in his life
In Soviet Britain...:
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...God fears you . [/Judges 1:10]
And I have far more to fear from Skynet & what it sends through it's own Temporal Displacement facilities than your nonexistent 'Lord', David J. Pedo.
The concept of Hell is one of the greatest contradictions of your religion. Infinite punishment for finite crimes is inherently unjust, and even the most heinous crimes are finite and quantifiable. A loving, merciful God wouldn't even consider such a thing. Rule by fear and threats of punishment are evil and the mark of a tyrant.
If your God exists, that leaves two options. Either he's as loving and merciful as your religion claims, in which case the threat of Hell has no teeth, or Hell is real, in which case your God is evil and unworthy of worship. You can't have it both ways.
It was never intended to be a religion of fear. It was meant to be one of love.
Then you decided that God's love doesn't give you the things you wanted, so you threw it away in favor of being scared of everything.
"Fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom, David, not the end."
Also
"I am not, nor have I ever, been your friend."
Fear will keep the independent systems in line... fear of this battle station. (Protip: he died.)
@Miles Gloriosus: There is a third option, which is that you could be sent to hell for some finite period of time proportionate to your crimes, and then let into heaven. I don't know if such a thing has ever been part of mainstream Christianity, though.
@Some Christian Anon: To be perfectly fair to DJS (and believe me when I say that's a phrase I use with some trepidation) that's not actually his fault. The ship sailed on that long before he was born, and he's only parroting what he learned.
@Jamaican Castle
That would make a little more sense, I agree. A proportional, temporary punishment for misdeeds in the afterlife wouldn't be inconsistent with a merciful, loving god. I've never heard the idea from Christianity, though. I do seem to recall hearing that some Muslims believe that, but I don't remember the source, so it's entirely possible I'm wrong.
@ Hasan Prishtina: Not being Catholic, I can't really say, but I was under the impression purgatory was somewhat uncommon, and a lot of people went to hell anyway. Which doesn't really help if your moral position is that nobody deserves (an infinite amount of) hell in the first place.
Go Pharaoh! And it's a good one.
Fear is bad, fear makes you act irrationally.
I don't want to stick my hand on a cool stove-top either, I'd rather keep it free and usable. Don't they speak English in Guam?
As the Lord's rules are so many and contradictory, I doubt that anyone will be able to not be thrown into that Lake of Fire. If it exists, that is.
Fear keeps you locked into a belief system
Recent polls have shown Conservatives, in particular Protestant Conservatives, are "Afraid" of where Americas going, they "Fear" for the country and most importantly themselves and are deeply afraid of change.
You yourself said: TEMPORARY fear is a good thing. I actually agree with that, stopped clock I suppose. The mindset of your fundie cult, however, is one of ETERNAL fear where God himself has created a place of infinite suffering and threatens to throw you in there for finite crimes. That's the definition of psychologically unhealthy, Kiddie-Diddler.
Except, you know, those are all fears of real things with real consequences, rational fears. Constant fears of imaginary things with fake consequences, now those are the bad kind of fears. The irrational fears. Fears that cripple you and have you make bad decisions all the time.
Besides, did that fear of the lake of fire stop you from molesting that girl? No? Then what good is it anyway?
And I'd also like to say, any being that rules through fear is not worthy of being worshipped. See it this way, people tend to want to get rid of the object of their fear, after all.
@Jamaican Castle
Yes, sadly, that is most likely the case. I'd very much like it to stop being the case, but I can't do much right now.
Besides encouraging others to try and see through their lies, of course.
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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