Job 8-10

[wolfpurplemoon]

Job is still bemoaning his torment at the hands of Satan (with permission of God), he is definitely justified in his complaints.

Comments

[iopha.livejournal.com]

I should mention that I do find the concept of Hell, as traditionally conceived, intrinsically coercive. Many think that Atheists reject God out of pride, or out of a sinful desire to do what they wish, but that deep down we know He exists. I can assure you, at least for me, this is not the case.

I've really, honestly, deeply, and at length thought about it. I considered the arguments, looked at the evidence. At the suggestion of friends I've even "prayed" and waited for an answer. There was nothing. Nothing at all. I feel like I've done my absolute best. I'm not angry at God; I just genuinely don't think there is such a Being, not the Christian one, not the Zoroastrian one.

If I'm wrong, and if I do have a soul, and I stand in judgement before your God (or Allah, or Ahura-Mazda, or whoever) and this God looks in my heart and mind and sees that I did not reject Him from malice or hatred or jealousy or pride, that I did my best in this all too short and brief life-span, and just came to the wrong conclusion, I can't believe I would be condemned to an eternity of suffering and pain. It would have been an honest mistake committed in a brief, frail and fallible mortal life.

For an infinitesimally small fraction of time, I was wrong about something very important; and if I were to stand in judgement and see Him before me, and truly know I was wrong to be an atheist, I would immediately repent. Will I go to Hell? Would a just God condemn me to horrible suffering forever and ever? Maybe. I don't have the answer to that question. You might think "well, why take the chance?" then I ask: "Well, who's right, then?" because, as I've said, I've looked at the evidence, the arguments, the texts of dozens of religions that claim I will be damned if I don't choose them. So I politely decline Pascal's wager.

As far as I'm concerned, the evidence for Islam is as good as Christianity, which is to say, not that great; and both say I will be punished. Maybe you think that if I looked hard enough and honestly enough at the Bible I could not help but become a Christian and see the truth of these doctrines, and the falsity of others. Of course, the Muslim feels the same way; and I, as an atheist, have come to the conclusion both are (probably) wrong, barring future evidence and arguments I may not have considered.

But it's been a thoroughly honest process; and if there is a God, and I am punished for all this, the possibility of this punishment certainly doesn't speak to the goodness of this being or my desire to worship it. It seems to me any being who would torture me forever because I made a mistake doesn't deserve the name 'God.'