The "There is no God" Double Standard.

I was recalling conversations that I've had with atheists today and came across an interesting point I thought I would quickly share with you. Every atheist I have ever talked with, or read comments by, states that believing in God is wrong because it cannot be proven. Think about this for a second. Basically, they are saying that having faith in the unproven is foolish, and by extension, wrong. I want to run something by you readers. Science is great, but a lot still has to be discovered. Theories, even if they are received by the science community to be the correct IDEA, are still theories. Unproven.

Atheists believe there is no God, yet cannot prove it. They are expressing faith in an IDEA that there is no god, but don't see the double standard they set for themselves.

They like to belittle Christians by calling our belief a fairytale, myth, and etc, but have no way to prove our viewpoint wrong. String Theory, M Theory, Big Bang and the like may prove how things came into existence, but cannot prove there isn't a God.  Some say that they disprove parts of the Bible, but those points are subjective at best, and still don't disprove God's existence.

Just pointing out the double standard, not spreading hate. Calm down atheists, I still love you.

PS. I'm pro-science, I have no dislike for learning more and trying to explain and figure things out. This thought was just about those who feel that we are ridiculous by believing in something we cannot prove, while they do the same thing by saying it's not real yet not being able to provide proof to back up their point.

I Don't Fear God.

I was thinking about fear and God all day today. This is more like an extension, or elaboration of my previous post about Heaven and Hell, so I'll try to be brief because this might sound redundant. I see the phrase "God fearing" quite frequently. In fact, it's used as almost an over-arching motto of a lot of churches these days. I find myself bothered by this notion, honestly. Let's clarify something right off the bat: Respect by fear and respect by love, are two different ideals. If I fear something, say a hot stove top, because I've been burnt by it before, I have a respect for it's ability to hurt me. If I look at the blessings God has bestowed upon me, the family, friends, and life in general, I respect him out of love. See the difference? Respect doesn't equal love. When Christians stop worrying about the wrath of God and the eternal damnation stuff,  they can show the true worth of loving and respecting him because they WANT to. God can do as he pleases. I don't fear that God will punish or pour out his wrath on me, because, honestly, he can and will do what he wants whether I fear it or not. According to the Bible, Jesus took that pain and punishment for us, so what should we be fearing? I choose to be "God Loving" instead. If you look at the greatest commandment that we were ever given, it was to love each other. We were created in God's image, and if he wants us to love one another with all of our hearts, I would safely conclude that God himself is of the greatest form of love. Follow me? I try to drive this point home in most of my posts, and it's really the basis of my entire blog. The post about Hell ruffled some feathers and I understand why. My intent is not to push your buttons, it's to think and dig deeper than the standard Christian mindset. If that's wrong to you, then I respect your opinion and still love you! Don't fear challenging conventional thinking and practice, fear becoming apathetic and lazy in your walk with God. That's what I remind myself of everyday, as I do my best to get closer with my Creator.

Putting An "Out of Order" Tag On The Political Machine.

 So today, I was watching the news during my lunch break at work and saw a story about legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes. To be more specific, it was in regards to New Jersey, the governor and a child that is dying due to not being able to get access to the drug. While I sat and listened to everyone give their expert advise on how this should be handled, I felt a little piece of me cringe, as if Clemson once again started beating USC at football. Disturbing, huh?  Politics. Where to start......
     I use to be extremely into politics in the not so distant past. I was a die hard conservative, and given the opportunity, I would push my views on everyone. Let me be clear: I still have some of the same views, I'm just not abrasive about it any more. In our country, it's common to be either far right, or far left, with the middle making up the gigantic part of the population who really could care less, but act like they do. Everyone is always blaming each other for everything. Heck, our media outlets cannot even be honest about their agenda any more. Regardless of what we think, there isn't a news medium that does a good job hiding the political prejudice that seeps through every small crack in each reporting. People follow certain stations, websites, TV shows, as if they are the only ones reporting something correct, and will quickly defend it as such when put up against someone who follows different programing.
    Why does this matter? I'm not saying to cave in your beliefs, or not to feel strongly about them, I'm saying that politicians, news programs, talk radio and such are divisive tools that cause people to tear each other apart. I use to listen to talk radio for hours a day. On the way to work, on my lunch break, on the way home. I got so angry listening to it, and when it was all said and done, I did exactly what they were hoping: I HATED the other side. These things serve one purpose and it's to capitalize off your hatred for the opposing views of other people. It took me a long time to understand this.
     The right thinks that liberals only care about expanding government in an attempt to secure their own jobs, while capitalizing off the backs of honest tax payers. The left thinks that the right don't care about people, and want to eliminate all aid for minorities and the poor, while pushing religion and it's practices on the country. Who is right here? I venture to say that it doesn't matter at all. Politicians care about one thing: getting re-elected. Right panders to the gun owning, religion loving, people who think the country should be exactly the way it was founded. Left panders to the people who are dependent on the help they set in place, in the form of social programs, to the people under the poverty level and, honestly, minorities. All they care about is getting votes. They do not care about you, the individual, so why all the hate? We act like these people are walking extensions of our own body, in which we use to batter and beat others who don't agree with us.
     When I sat down and evaluated how God's love had and is changing me from the inside out, I realized that my own political views had changed. While I still fall on the conservative side on topics such as abortion and homosexuality, I've strayed from capitol punishment and the disparagement of all social programs.  I've learned that I don't have to identify with anyone and I can believe what I feel is the right way to believe, regardless of what anyone thinks. I came to the conclusion that I feel myself aligning with the basic principles of my relationship with God, and this makes up what my political beliefs should be.
    I had a reality check a few years ago when I had just changed jobs and couldn't afford the ridiculous insurance premiums. According to the state, my family was under the poverty line, so we qualified for government assistance. While I did not take food stamps or EBT and WIC, we did use Medicaid for a while for my wife and children's health needs. While it could be said that I paid taxes for years to support this program, I still used it and was a giant hypocrite. But the point was, it was there and I needed it. The problem is, while people do abuse it, we assume that everyone does and that nobody truly needs the assistance. This is wrong. If we are to love like Jesus, we should assume the BEST in people, not the worst, and not punish those who are in need for the mistakes of others. This is just one example of how God can work in a person to change their biased views on something for the better.
    I know that all of this can be argued either way, and to be honest, I'm not sure I'm articulating my point well. If you want to love others, you have to love others regardless of their views on this kind of stuff. Stop with all the hate speech and the "clever" Facebook memes 24/7. Respect each others differences, and pray that whatever you believe in is for the glory of God and God alone.