"I still struggle with a spiritual belief system that pitches an afterlife as its brightest reward, its light at the end of the tunnel -whether it's Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, whatever. Especially when that afterlife is entirely impossible to prove; it must be accepted on faith. Yet they talk as it if were a fact, and not just for themselves but for the people who don't even share their faith! And facts can be based on a lot of things, but faith isn't one of them."
"So, if heaven, an afterlife, an all-powerful God, and biblical truth aren't happening for you, what is" I asked Casper.
"Personal truth, Jim. And people realizing that their beliefs are just that: beliefs And that their faith is just that: faith. It's not factual, not visible, not tangible; it's just something they have chosen."
"So if you wanted Christians to hear one thing, what would you tell us?"
"I guess I'd just like Christians and church leaders to be more honest. Not just with me, but with everyone in their churches. Stop treating faith as a fact. Call it a hope. Call it confidence, not certainty. I guess I'd like some straight-shooting; 'Hi, Life is challenging. But we've found that being followers of Jesus has helped us. Maybe it could help you too.' That'd be refreshing. And I'd be interested in hearing more and asking questions. In short, I'd be interested in having a conversation."
(Jim and Casper Go To Church, pg. 145)
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If you guys are into health stuff, you guys might really be interested in watching those videos I posted on my blog. I think he even has it on audio if you wanted to download it. But the videos would be better because he has a lot of pictures, graph, charts, etc. Our long term goal is to cut out all animal products. But for now we are just working on the vegetarian part. The children are a contributing factor to that. We don't want to overwhelm them! Good to hear from you!
That's a great conversation to have, especially for someone who has no interest whatsoever in Christianity. I definitely think it's important for us to be humble, saying we don't have it all figured out. I do think, though, that you have to be careful not to get into the whole "Christianity works for me; you choose the religion that works for you and we'll all be ok." That is not the truth, even if all we have to base it on is faith in the Bible. The issue is too many Christians approach that first discussion with the attitude of "YOU'RE WRONG and you better listen to me so you don't go to hell" instead of a mindset of hope and love.
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