Charred Flesh (Ouch!) Awaits Hitchens

The following was written in response to a Front Page Magazine interview with Christopher Hitchens regarding his new book, "god Is Not Great. How Religion Poisons Everything". It seems that a large number of readers of the interview took umbrage with Mr. Hitchens and felt strongly that hell-fire was awaiting him for his unbelief. I made the following comment in response:

Religions own worst enemies are it's followers, as demonstrated by the many inane comments herein. For instance, the hell-fire that awaits unbelievers. God has provided that poor Christopher Hitchens will not only go to hell, but he will suffer the most excruciating pain of flames burning his flesh, not for a few minutes, but for all eternity. There could not be a more diabolical, hideous punishment for unbelief. This paints God as more evil and cruel than the worst dictators in world history. It is no wonder so many people accept Jesus, not from a logical approach, but from a desire of not being subjected to the horrible pain God has in store for them. I have often wondered where modern, evangelical religion would be, in the recruitment of followers, if the concept of hell was never mentioned. Not nearly so prolific and profitable, I am sure.

The Devil's Disciples

In one of the greatest deceptions in this modern, technological age, evangelical ministries, via the medium of television, have destroyed Christianity in America. Does this sound startling to you? Then you need to consider this. Television ministries such as The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) claim they are doing the work of God and are “saving” thousands of souls. But the truth is for every soul that is supposedly saved, there are a least twenty that watch TBN and then think to themselves, "this is ridiculous". They change channels and walk away from Christianity for the rest of their lives.

This sounds harsh, but consider. In the 1950's and earlier, most American families woke up on Sunday morning and readied themselves to attend their local church services. Typically, these were Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, Episcopalian, Baptist, etc. This was considered a normal part of life and was accepted by the majority as the means to obtain spiritual fulfillment. This was before the days of the televised ministries. Does it seem that things may have been a bit better back then? Most people today are struggling with many more challenges when it comes to raising a family. It is interesting to note, that at the same time the television ministries were becoming prominent features on our television screens that a revolution in immorality was taking place. Today, the United States leads the world in producing pornography that is widely available on the Internet. Hollywood produces, vile and violent movies, that are not fit for anyone to watch, let alone children. Television comedies are rife with themes are about sex, bed-hopping, and stupid, inane humor. The increase in perverse entertainment in the media has tracked almost equally with the rise in television evangelism and these ministries have done nothing to prevent the moral erosion that has taken place in America.

Why do most people turn their backs on television ministries? Let's look at TBN, for example. Almost nightly we see examples of what is call the gift of healing. A very prominent practitioner of this is Benny Hinn. People by the thousands attend his meetings thinking that they will be witness to a miracle of healing. And they do see people supposedly healed of heart disease, cancer, deafness, headaches, backaches and so forth, as claimed by Benny Hinn. It does not seem to matter that there is never a supernatural, visible, change to the person being healed. These so-called miracles are based solely on the verbal claims of Benny Hinn and the person he has healed.

The odd thing about the miracles of Benny Hinn, is that according to the Bible, Jesus Christ plainly stated that his followers would be able to do greater miracles than his own. This is not the case with Benny Hinn. You might say his miracles are somewhat less and weaker than those performed by Jesus Christ. With Jesus there were startling, visual, supernatural events that could not be denied. Jesus filled empty baskets with fish and bread from out of nowhere. He healed blind people. I have yet to see Benny Hinn heal a blind person. Oh, plenty of hard of hearing people have suddenly found they could hear someone shouting in their bad ear after a Benny Hinn healing. But they still seem to have some difficulty understanding what is said so they apparently are only partially healed.

You know what would be a great miracle for Benny Hinn to perform? It would be a healing of a veteran, returned from Iraq with both legs missing. To see two new legs suddenly appear is certainly something that God could do. Benny Hinn was asked why he does not go to children's hospitals and heal the children who lay sick and dying of cancer and leukemia. His answer was that God wants to perform his miracles in front of the largest amount of people so many more can witness the great works of God.

So why have television ministries, such as TBN, with their focus on healing, caused so many to walk away from Christianity never to return. It really is simple. Most of us can see through the utter fraud perpetrated by the likes of Benny Hinn. He has given people false hope by deception. He cannot, and God will not heal anyone through such a con-artist.

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The Legacy of Atheism

All atheist are proud to proclaim they have rejected any concept of god. They are bold and arrogant as they proclaim that today's religions consist of uneducated fools that rely on unscientific faith to fulfill their basic spiritual needs. Most atheists have the proclivity of attack and destroy when it comes to religion. It becomes a major aim of the atheist to downplay the good that religion has brought to the world. They, in particular, stress the historically bad things that have caused much of the world's woes in the past. To some extent religion in the modern world has evolved to something better than religion in the past. Religion today, even with its mistaken concepts and ideas about god, is responsible for many good works and deeds. Churches, synagogues and mosques help produce individuals who are moral, honest and are willing to reach out and help their fellow man. How can this be regarded as a bad thing? It can be shown that simple religious rules like the ten commandments are sensible and sound and work well as a basis for societal laws.

Finally, ideologies that proclaim atheism as an absolute have totally failed when putting atheism into practice. Communism is the most notable example. Under communist regimes in the 20th century, multiple millions of human beings were murdered, imprisoned, starved and deprived of many of the freedoms that are extant in nations where religion is tolerated and practiced. Those that love to loudly tout the glories of atheism are mostly embarrassing. It is easy to see that they fear any concept of god because they are afraid that moral rules and values will be forced on them.

The Prison of False Religion

I have been on a spiritual quest all of my life. It seemed important to have an understanding for the reasons mankind is here and if there was some grand purpose to our existence. Why we are here, is the most fundamental question that has been asked since the dawn of history. Sadly, the answer has remained elusive for all those who have sought it. As a young man, I felt confident that by the time my life was over I would have discovered the answers to these difficult spiritual questions. I now realize, entering the twilight of my life, that I will go to my grave without having the answers I had sought. This may seem sad. Yet, in the realization of this, there is some solace. The quest has brought forth understanding, wisdom, and even new ways to frame the quesions about the meaning of life. Above all, the quest has removed the shackles that imprisoned my reasoning powers. For many years of my life I was imprisoned, held captive, by the dogamatism of false religion. Removing these shackles and walking away from the prison of false religious beliefs has opened up the door to a new, full life, free from the fear and oppression of misleading and unsound doctrines.

If you are willing to open up your mind, you can walk away from the prison that your mistaken religious beliefs have put you in. This may sound heretical or nutty, but God wants you to discover truth by using the wonderful mind he gave you. It is not his purpose to have you be a sheep that is led around by the nose. Nor is God an Adolf Hitler, waiting to put you in hell-fire to suffer for eternity. You can decide to use your brain and intellect to discover who you are and and find a new sense of peace and happiness that is based on freedom and not fear.

A Day to Reflect on Our Blessings

Enjoy your blessings and remember those who are not as fortunate. Perhaps, some deed of goodwill would be appropriate. Let us not forget the greatest gift we all have is life itself and that we have in our power as unique individuals to bring peace and joy to others, or pain and suffering. You can choose to do the right thing because the choice of love is not difficult.