On the way to hell

Several of my Christian friends are quite concerned for me, I am an atheist. I do not believe in any kind of god, and I do not believe any of the stuff Christians claim about Jesus: that he was the son of God, that he was the Jews' promised Messiah, that he gave his life to atone for the sins of humanity.

Specifically, I don't believe that it does any good to "accept" Jesus as my personal savior. I see no reason to do so. So I don't. (I think it makes more sense to rely on my Fairy Godmother.)

And that means - according to my "born-again" friends - that I am going to hell. I will burn forever in the lake of fire and brimstone, tormented beyond imagination, for all eternity, for ever and ever. What a beautiful and joyful religion!

If one were going to believe in an afterlife, where good people are rewarded and evil people are punished, I can see where that would make some sense. And, as I read the Bible, that seems to be what many passages in the Bible say: we will be judged by what we have done, whether it was good or evil. At least that makes sense, and seems to be the sort of thing a "just" god would use as his standard of judging.

But no, that isn't the way it works, say my friends. Everything depends on whether you "accept Christ." I have asked them, just to make sure I did not misunderstand, "So you are saying that a man who has lived an evil life, committing all kinds of crimes, murders and other evils, who repents and decides to believe in Christ just a week before he is excecuted, will go to heaven?" "Yes, if he truly repents and truly believes."

"But an atheist like me, who has lived his entire life as a good person, helping the needy, obeying the laws, loving his fellow man, and generally contributing to the betterment of humanity, but who sincerely thinks the whole Christ thing is absurd, will suffer eternal torment?" "Yes. It may not seem fair, but that's the way God works, and who are we to question God?"

I will admit that other Christian friends are much kinder, and assure me that somehow God will find a place for atheists in his heaven. I don't think they have read their Bible or listened to the sermons at church, though.

Some of my Christian friends assure me that they are praying for me to see the light and come to Jesus. It doesn't seem to be working. But it doesn't seem to change their belief in the power of prayer.