How I Told My Mom I Don't Believe

Tonight I told my mom I don't believe in God.

She still loves me. There was no yelling. It went much better than I feared.

It all started Sunday during lunch. We went to Panera and had a really good conversation about Obama, health care, and the silly birthers. Even though she's evangelical and voted for McCain she supports what Obama is doing and doesn't like how he is being demonized.

She asked me if I wanted to see a concert at her church but it was happening at the same time I planned to call my wife, who is away visiting family. This got us on the subject of church and I thought I would be sly and see how much she really paid attention to the bible. As we were leaving I told her for her bible study today she should see what day each of the gospels says Jesus died on.

Well, after a few emails back and forth she came to the conclusion that while she didn't understand why John puts Jesus' death on the day before Passover, since the other 3 agree that it was on Passover then that's when he died. She called me to joke that at least this got me to read the bible and that's when our conversation started down a path that I wouldn't have guessed.

As I've mentioned before I didn't want my mom to know my lack of belief because I didn't want her to be sad or upset thinking I was going to hell. And while I never portray myself as a believer to her I never try to rock the boat much when we discuss religion. But she's always talking about the church. Her life revolves around the church. She's always suggesting I go to church with her. I used to go with her sometimes, like on Easter, but not anymore. So this conversation was just like any other but now she was telling me I really should read the bible again. I told her jokingly that if I read the bible then she has to read about evolution. I've never been shy about discussing science around her and she's adamant that evolution is not true and the bible is true.

Oh, no, she was not going to read about evolution. She said it sounded like I was being brainwashed by the scientists, to which I thought "you think I'm the one who's brainwashed." But instead I tried to explain some of the simple misconceptions about it and suggested that if she were willing we could sit down and I could go over it more with her. It was at this point that she felt compelled to tell me (I'm paraphrasing) "I know you don't want to hear this, but if I die right now God will hold me accountable because I'm supposed to spread his word. I know you were saved when you were younger but you really need to think about reading the bible and going up to the alter and offering your heart to Jesus. Why won't you do that? What would you do if you died right now and you were brought before God, what would you say to him? When he asks you why he should let you into Heaven what would you say to him?"

I said, "The sarcastic person in me would ask him why I would want to go to his Heaven." Ooh. Maybe I shouldn't have said that but she's backing me into a corner.

She said "What? You would rather go to Hell?"

I told her I didn't believe in hell. I guess I thought that was an easy one not to believe in. She told me hell was certainly real. I said, "Imagine sticking your hand in boiling water, just for a second. Now imagine that agony stretched over minutes and hours and years, trillions of years. Eternity? You're telling me that people who will suffer an eternity like that?"

She said, "If they don't believe Jesus died for their sins, yes."

I said, "It seems a bit harsh doesn't it? And if Jesus died for our sins and we were punished for our sins then why are we still being punished? Why is there so much suffering in the world?"

"You can't think about that, you have to read the bible and open you heart to Him."

At this point I felt like I was backed into a corner. I said "Mom, I just have a hard time dealing with the idea that God is up there while people suffer down here and he's not willing to do anything about it."

(I've been listening to Bart Ehrman's "God's Problem" and after hearing part of a transcript from the Nuremberg trials I was sickened by the thought of someone throwing a live child into an oven. All the killing of the holocaust is bad enough but I had never heard they had done this sort of thing. One of the witnesses said you could hear the children screaming across the camp.)

I said "Mom, where was God when those innocent children were being burned alive by the Nazis? What did those children ever do wrong, how did they sin?"

At this point I was sobbing. I get very emotional when I hear about children being hurt and it all just poured out of me. A said through my sobs "I'm sorry, I just can't believe in a God that would let that happen. I never wanted to have this conversation with you. I never wanted to upset you. I never wanted you to worry that I was going to Hell but I just can't bring myself to believe in a God that would let something like that happen. I'm sorry but I just don't believe in God."

She said, "I understand. I figured you didn't. Maybe someday you will believe again."

I said, "At this point I don't see how. You want me to go to an alter and accept Jesus into my heart, but if there really is a Jesus and I did that he would see I wasn't sincere and I was only doing it to make other people think something about me. I can't be dishonest like that. Unless God reveals himself to me in person I just don't see how I can believe in him again. I've tried to believe. This has been a long process. It may have been a spur of the moment decision when I was 19 to be saved but it has taken me many years to get to this point. The more I open my eyes and look at the world the less I believe in God."

There was some more back and forth that I don't quite remember. I felt compelled to assure her that just because I was an atheist it didn't mean I was a devil worshiper or something like that. I explained that if anything I was a humanist and I just wanted people to treat each other nicely. I ended the phone call saying I loved her and if she were in the room I would hug her. She said she loved me too.

She called back later and said that she had been praying about this and God revealed this scripture to her:

Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

She said "So because I believe, you and your brother will be saved also." It's a good thing you can justify just about anything with the bible, she's already put up the defense against thinking I will burn in hell.

As I was telling my wife what had happened it occurred to me that she had said she already thought I didn't believe. It all made sense. She was always trying to get me to go to church or to read the bible. She was always trying to teach me something from the bible and thought that I was "brainwashed by the scientists." All of my worries all along were for nothing, she had already suspected. And my brother, too. I don't talk about religion with him but he's more outspoken than I am, especially regarding social issues, so I'm sure she thinks he doesn't believe, either. (I honestly don't know what he believes.)

As I'm typing this I feel a weight lifting off my shoulders. It felt bad not being able to speak my mind. I told my mom during our talk "I don't want my doubt to influence you. That's why I've kept my mouth shut when we talk about religion. I see how happy the church makes you and I don't want to be the one to take that away from you."

But I also see how fearful the church makes her. I wish I could take that fear away. I explained to her how much at peace I had become just accepting that the world is chaotic. I wish I could show her that it is OK to doubt. But I won't force my lack of belief on her. Nor will I back down now in an argument. If she pushes me on an issue I will push back...but nicely... ;-)

Intellectual Dishonesty and HR 3200

Over the past few years I've learned a lot about logical fallacies and the use of intellectual dishonesty to push arguments for the existence of god or the truthfulness of religious texts. That knowledge has bled into every aspect of my life and I'm constantly hearing people use these tactics in day to day arguments, especially in politics.

I recently received an email listing lines in the bill HR 3200 (referred to as Obama's health care bill) and why what they are doing in the bill is horrible. I will provide the full text of the email at the end of this post. At first glance you can look at most of the statements and note the overt use of appeals to fear. So, I downloaded the bill and started going through each claim in the email and replying to the sender as to why the claim is false. I gave up after only a few lines because it became obvious how intellectually dishonest the author of the email was and I just didn't have that much time to refute each statement. I'm sure someone at snopes.com is going over each of these right now. You can download the bill here (pdf).

I will list a few of my rebuttals in this post. But my fear is that this email, or one like it, will go viral and people will ONLY read the claims and not the original text. The end result of this type of viral email is that Americans will fear something for all the wrong reasons. If your position is to be against the bill you should have concrete claims to back up your stance. This email is not concrete.

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!
So what does page 22 really say? We have to back up to page 21 where the sections starts. It discusses how rates for premiums are calculated. In figuring out what to charge they will study various types of insurance and compare employers who self insure with employers who purchase. The intent, as stated in the bill, is to ensure that there is neither an incentive created for employers to change to self-insured or to change the risk for large group insurers.

(b) STUDY AND REPORTS.—
(1) STUDY.—The Commissioner, in coordination with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Labor, shall conduct a study of the large group insured and self-insured employer health care markets. Such study shall examine the following:
(A) The types of employers by key characteristics, including size, that purchase insured products versus those that self-insure.
(B) The similarities and differences between typical insured and self-insured health plans.
(C) The financial solvency and capital reserve levels of employers that self-insure by employer size.
(D) The risk of self-insured employers not being able to pay obligations or otherwise becoming financially insolvent.
(E) The extent to which rating rules are likely to cause adverse selection in the large group market or to encourage small and mid size employers to self-insure
(2) REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commissioner shall submit to Congress and the applicable agencies a report on the study conducted under
23 paragraph (1). Such report shall include any recommendations the Commissioner deems appropriate to ensure that the law does not provide incentives for small and mid-size employers to self-insure or create adverse selection in the risk pools of large group insurers and self-insured employers. Not later than 18 months after the first day of Y1, the Commissioner shall submit to Congress and the applicable agencies an updated report on such study, including updates on such recommendations.

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get
Pure and simple, all plans have a list of covered and non-covered items. Mine does, yours does. If you think not then read you policy. But the email is obviously written to scare people who view the government as an evil empire. I could be wrong, but I think this bill only lays out what the minimum benefits shall be, not the total benefits. You can have insurance plans that cover more. There is nothing about this that says anyone must take the minimum, just what the minimums shall be.

SEC. 123. HEALTH BENEFITS ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans.

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!
The person who wrote the email either a) doesn't understand English or b) is intentionally telling a lie. Go to page 8 for the glossary of terms:

(4) COST-SHARING.—The term ‘‘cost-sharing’’ includes deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, and similar charges but does not include premiums or any network payment differential for covered services or spending for non-covered services.

Now, look at what the section talks about that the email writer calls rationed health care:

(c) REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO COST-SHARING AND MINIMUM ACTUARIAL VALUE.—
(1) NO COST-SHARING FOR PREVENTIVE SERVICES.—There shall be no cost-sharing under the essential benefits package for preventive items and services (as specified under the benefit standards), including well baby and well child care.
(2) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—
(A) ANNUAL LIMITATION.—The cost-sharing incurred under the essential benefits package with respect to an individual (or family) for a year does not exceed the applicable level specified in subparagraph (B).
(B) APPLICABLE LEVEL.—The applicable level specified in this subparagraph for Y1 is $5,000 for an individual and $10,000 for a family. Such levels shall be increased (rounded to the nearest $100) for each subsequent year by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (United States city average) applicable to such year.
(C) USE OF COPAYMENTS.—In establishing cost-sharing levels for basic, enhanced, and premium plans under this subsection, the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent possible, use only copayments and not coinsurance.
(3) MINIMUM ACTUARIAL VALUE.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—The cost-sharing under the essential benefits package shall be designed to provide a level of coverage that is designed

Lines 4-16 as mentioned in the email define the LIMIT YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY EACH YEAR. This is just like my "out of pocket maximum" of $5000 I currently have.
This is not rationing your health care, this is protecting you from bad policies. And there is to be no cost for preventative items and well-baby visits.

The list goes on and on. They use references to illegal aliens and ACORN to appeal to the reader's hatred of those two things, even though the bill has nothing to do with them. Read the sections, if you disagree with me back it up with facts.

I've seen other news sites referring to sections of the bill as Nazi-like. For instance:
Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

Well, go to that page and read. Again, you have to back up a bit. This section is defining, in essence, the rules regarding a living will: a patient telling the doctor if they want life saving actions taken or to let them die. My mother created one of these when she had knee surgery. This section simply states who is authorized to sign one of these.

(5)(A) For purposes of this section, the term ‘order regarding life sustaining treatment’ means, with respect to an individual, an actionable medical order relating to the treatment of that individual that—
(i) is signed and dated by a physician (as defined in subsection (r)(1)) or another health care professional (as specified by the Secretary and who is acting within the scope of the professional’s authority under State law in signing such an order, including a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) and is in a form that permits it to stay with the individual and be followed by health care professionals and providers across the continuum of care;
(ii) effectively communicates the individual’s preferences regarding life sustaining treatment, including an indication of the treatment and care desired by the individual;
(iii) is uniquely identifiable and standardized within a given locality, region, or State (as identified by the Secretary); and
(iv) may incorporate any advance directive (as defined in section 1866(f)(3)) if executed by the individual.

The key word in that quote is "individual." This is not the government saying who can "pull the plug."

There are many more that I'd like to rebut, but I just don't have the time.

So, regardless of where you stand on this issue you should at least take the time to read the bill. If you don't understand what they mean then look it up. Don't just rely on a viral email to make your life choices. I received an endless amount of these types of emails in the run-up to the election and I often wondered who really based their decisions on anonymous emails.

The text of the original email is as follows:

Subject:Ready for your Change?
Received this from a researcher on the Health Care issue. ...


This is a list of various items in the Health Care legislation. At the end of the list is the link to the Bill now in Congress. And this list is far from complete!!!

HEALTH CARE BILL:

Pg 22 of the HC Bill MANDATES the Govt will audit books of ALL EMPLOYERS that self insure!!

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill - THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE IS RATIONED!!!

Pg 42 of HC Bill - The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your Health Care Benefits for you. You have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - Health Care will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise

Pg 58HC Bill - Govt will have real-time access to individuals finances and a National ID Healthcard will be issued!

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Govt will have direct access to your banks accts for elected funds transfer.

PG 65 Sec 164 is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in Unions and Community Orgs (ACORN).

Pg 72 Lines 8-14 Govt is creating an Health Care Exchange to bring private Health Care plans under Govt control.

PG 84 Sec 203 HC bill - Govt mandates ALL benefit pkgs for private Health Care plans in the Exchange

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs for of Benefit Levels for Plans = The Govt will ration your Healthcare!

PG 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill - Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. Example - Translation for illegal aliens

Pg 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18 The Govt will use groups i.e., ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt Health Care plan

PG 85 Line 7 HC Bill - Specs of Benefit Levels for Plans #AARP members = Your Health care WILL be rationed


PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt Monopoly

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ #AMA - The Govt will tell YOU what you can make.

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST automatically enroll employees into public opt plan. NO CHOICE

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for Health Care for part time employees and their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Emplyer with payroll of 400k & above who does not provide public opt. pays 8% tax on all payroll

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Business with payroll between 251k & 400k who doesn't rovide pub. opt pays 2-6% tax on all payroll

Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill - Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from indiv. taxes. (Americans will pay)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (GOVT) will have access to ALL Americans finan/personal records.

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax" Yes, it says that

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill - Govt will reduce physician services 4 Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill - Doctors, doesn't matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same

PG 253 Line 10-18 - Govt sets value of Doctor's time, professional judgement, etc. Literally value of humans.


PG 265 Sec 1131 Govt mandates & controls productivity for private HC industries

PG 268 Sec 1141 Fed Govt regulates rental & purchase of power driven wheelchairs

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Govt will penalize hospitals for what Govt deems preventable re-admissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Doctors, treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission Govt will penalize you.

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Govt tells Doctors how much they can own..

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion- Govt is mandating hospitals cannot expand

pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have oppt to apply for exception BUT community input required. Can you say ACORN?!!

Pg335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339 - Govt mandates estab. of outcome based measures. HC the way they want. Rationing

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Govt has authority 2 disqual Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc. Forcing peeps in2 Govt plan

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs ppl! WTF. My sis has down syndrome!!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Govt creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Cmtte. Can u say HC by phone?

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Govt mandates Advance Care Planning Consult. Think Senior Citizens end of life

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Govt will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of atty. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Govt provides apprvd list of end of life resources, guiding u in death

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Govt mandates program 4 orders 4 end of life. The Govt has a say in how ur life ends

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An "adv. care planning consult" will b used frequently as patients health deteriorates

PG 429 Lines 10-12 "adv. care consultation" may incl an ORDER 4 end of life plans. AN ORDER from GOV

Pg 429 Lines 13-25 - The govt will specify which Doctors can write an end of life order.

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Govt will decide what level of treatment u will have at end of life

Pg 469 - Community Based Home Medical Services=Non profit orgs. Hello, ACORN Medical Svcs here!!?

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORG. 1 monthly payment 2 a community-based org. Like ACORN?

PG 489 Sec 1308 The Govt will cover Marriage & Family therapy. Which means they will insert Govt in2 ur marriage

Pg 494-498 Govt will cover Mental Health Svcs including defining, creating, rationing those svcs

Here's the full Health Care bill that sits in the House.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:h3200ih.pdf

Reaffirming My Disbelief in God

Why was I ever told there was a caring, loving God in my heart? Why was I ever fed this lie?

For every child that suffers through cancer or is abused or suffers any painful death I reaffirm my disbelief in the God I was raised with.

My heart goes out to the family of Thai Nguyen who died today after a long fight with cancer.

My son asked me the other day why I didn't believe in God. It wasn't a conversation I was ready for. But he continued to press me. Perhaps I was too harsh in my response but I said because of all of the pain and suffering I've seen, all the children hurt, kids getting their arms cut off in Africa, where was God when this was happening? I told him because of that I don't believe in God.

There is no excuse for the suffering in this world if there is a deity watching over us who deserves our worship. If God is there and cannot stop the suffering then he is not worth worshipping. If God is there and chooses not to stop the suffering then he is not worth worshipping. If God is there and causes the suffering then he is not worth worshipping.

Our Modern World: Genie sued - will he get to keep his bottle?

Genies get no respect. First they are portrayed as hot females who grant the wishes of their male master. then they are made to be buffoons by Robin Williams, and now this:

CNN: Saudi family sues genie, alleges harassment

A family in Saudi Arabia has taken a genie to court, alleging theft and harassment, according to local media.

The lawsuit filed in Shariah court accuses the genie of leaving them threatening voicemails, stealing their cell phones and hurling rocks at them when they leave their house at night, said Al-Watan newspaper.

Riiiiight...I'm sure such a silly case would be thrown out right away...no?

"We have to verify the truthfulness of this case despite the difficulty of doing so," Sheikh Amr Al Salmi, the head of the court, told Al-Watan. "What makes this case and complaint more interesting is that it wasn't filed by just one person. Every member of the family is part of this case."

Oh, that makes much more sense. The whole family can't be mistaken...

At least this time the news from Saudi Arabia is funny. At least it isn't about some grandmother being flogged or some child being raped/married.

Mystery Hunters

While browsing through the cable guide last month looking for something educational to record for my son and I came across a show called Mystery Hunters. It comes on Discovery Kids at the wonderful time of 1am but I have a Comcast DVR so that wasn't a big deal (we rarely watch things live anyway). It's a show that investigates claims of the paranormal, UFO's, and such.

The Wikipedia entry for the show gives a good description so I won't go into too much detail here.

I just wanted to get the word out that there is a good science based show out there for kids that is fun to watch and gives lessons in how to deal with strange things rationally. I like the fact that it isn't just dry facts. I like that they keep some of the mystery in each story while giving facts and science the final word.

My son really enjoys watching this show (so do I!) and I wish DK would put it at a more convenient hour for people who don't have DVR's (do people still use VCR's?).

Anyway...Mystery Hunters...good TV for kids...pass it on!

Update: You can watch some of the episodes online here.

The Abortion Jihad

I was in college when it seemed like a small war was breaking out between anti-abortion activists and abortion rights activists, with doctors and clinics caught in the middle.

I thought at the time that it seemed like an "Abortion Jihad." A holy war against abortion.

CNN: Man charged in slaying of Kansas abortion doctor

No motive for the killing was immediately known. If Tiller's killing stemmed from his work, he would be the fourth U.S. physician killed over abortion since 1993. Leading anti-abortion groups condemned his shooting, emphasizing that they wanted to shut down Tiller's practice by legal means.

During the 1990s, three doctors who performed abortions were slain in high-profile cases.

In 1998, a sniper killed Dr. Barnett Slepian in his Amherst, New York, home. Anti-abortion activist James Kopp was later arrested in France and is serving life in prison.

In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and a volunteer escort were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida. Paul Hill, a former minister, was convicted in the killings and executed in 2003.

And in 1993, another doctor, David Gunn, was shot to death outside another Pensacola clinic. His killer, Michael Griffin, is serving a life sentence.

In addition, a nurse at a Birmingham, Alabama, clinic was maimed and an off-duty police officer was killed in a 1998 bombing by Eric Rudolph, who included abortion among his list of anti-government grievances.

With only 3 doctors in the entire country...now 2...who perform this type of abortion, it makes one wonder just how many are actually performed each year. And do people really think that a woman past the first trimester would really go through all the trouble of seeing one of these doctors just to get rid of an unwanted baby? Or would they only do it if their life were in danger?

A co-worker's wife just had her second miscarriage in 6 months. Who should be blamed for that? At least half of all pregnancies end this way. So what is responsible for most aborted babies? Us? Nature? God?

EDIT:

I just saw this related article on LiveScience:

New Surprising Results on Abortion and Religiosity

Unwed pregnant teens and 20-somethings who attend or have graduated from private religious schools are more likely to obtain abortions than their peers from public schools, according to research in the June issue of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

The Problem of Communication

The biggest problem I have with religions is that of communication. All religions that I know of are taught through some holy text that has been handed down over generations. We are born into societies that teach us these texts as fact and as the word of God. That is where my problem begins.

I'm not the first to think this. I was listening to an interview with Ryan Convington of Answers In Genesis Busted yesterday on The Infidel Guy podcast and heard him make a very similar argument like what I'm about to make.

Why is it that a God who created us has done such a poor job at getting his message out? Why is it that such an amazingly intelligent being could be such a poor communicator? If he made us then he knows how our brains work. He knows what makes us believe things. He knows what is required to make us accept something as truth. So why is it that we don't have one world religion that we all can accept as true?

Take Judaism as an example. There is a world full of humans but God decides to pick one group of people to be His people. But even among the Israelites there was doubt. So, God's solution was to tell one man, Moses, his story and give him some stone tablets with simple rules for living on them. But if God was so smart and all knowing then wouldn't he know what to tell Abraham or Moses so that when the word was passed along everyone who heard it was like "Ding! I get it!" But getting people to believe he was the one true God was a struggle. When large groups of people were encountered who worshipped another God was his solution to impart divine wisdom on them? Did he give the Jewish leaders wise words that would convince the others of the truth of Yahweh? No, he had them slaughtered. This God, who knows how we think and in some cases changes our minds (hardens hearts) cannot come up with a good, logical argument for getting people to believe in him. He must resort to violence and threats.

Next we have Christianity. Here is God's perfect chance to make people believe. He's come to Earth in human form and even with some cool parlor tricks he cannot convince everyone around him that God is real and people should believe him. All it took was some wise words that would open their minds to the perfect truth that is God. He did have some good sermons. The parables were powerful stories, but his ultimate solution was to sacrifice himself. Huh? How does that prove you are God? It does do one thing, it plays on our emotions. So perhaps God as Jesus was better at getting people to believe than God as Yahwey?

Some will argue that if you look at the world's population today we have billions who believe in Christ, so how was he a bad communicator? Well, for starters he could have written things down himself. Or had people dictate his stories as they were told. Why wait until a generation after his death to codify his words? We are now at the mercy of humanity's own poor communication skills. And it has taken 2000 years to get us to this point. It wasn't until humans invented better means of getting around the planet and studying other people's languages that so many people started believing in Christ. It was humans passing the word, not God. The problem created by that solution is seen in people like me. Once I learned how the book was written I started having doubts about its validity. I see the human flaws in the Bible. I don't see anything that may have come from God's mouth to my ears.

What would have been more believable to me? Why not have the Ten Commandments delivered to every society on Earth at the same time? At the time of Moses there were cultures all over the world, on every continent. Wouldn't it make us all believers if when we met cultures on other continents that they had the same set of rules as us, but written in their language? Why limit it to just one mountain in the mid-east? Or, as Ryan Covington said in his interview, what if Jesus has visited every continent? What if they all had the same savior story? It would be very hard to doubt something with great power a long time ago was able to spread a message around the world before the Internet.

I'm sure I haven't presented my argument as strongly as I should, so your comments and critiques are certainly welcome. But this is my biggest problem with all religions. If God is so great then why is he so bad at getting his message out?