Scoffing at all that's holy since 2004 FEAR Children Behaving Badly: Just Wait Until Your Heavenly Father Gets Home! Children need discipline.  I mean, isn't that a given?  When a child steps over the line his parents discipline him -- or at least we hope they do.  Disclipline keeps the child in line and (hopefully) teaches him right from wrong.  Any reasonable, prudent person would agree that this is a good thing.  But no matter how you slice it this is the most basic form of control.  Usually some form of punishment does the trick (e.g. spanking, grounding, taking away toys or privileges) but more often than not just the mere threat of punishment keeps the child in line. But who disciplines the parents?  Who keeps them in line?  We have legislative bodies to write and enact laws of man.  And then there are courts of law and enforcement agencies to ensure compliance and intervene when compliance is breached. But you can't be arrested for having an impure thought, lying to your spouse, or cheating on an algebra exam.  And then there are acts that are illegal but too trivial to prosecute or too difficult to prove, like stealing towels from your hotel room, overstating charitable cash contributions on your tax return, or parking with a handicapped permit even though you're not really impaired. Man keeps himself in line by believing in god (any god) -- whether it goes by the name Jehovah, Jesus, Allah, Krishna, Brahma, or Supreme Being Billy Bob: Dispenser of All Things Good and Overseer of the Universe.  But regardless of the name and natured ascribed by any one believer, it's all a facade to mask the true driving force and its motive.  What's actually at work is a blend of man's life experience, sense of fairness, parity, perspective, empathy, common sense, and (most importantly) his conscience. To Thine Own Self Be True The threat of god's wrath is nothing more than a deluded manifestation of one's conscience.  It's that inner voice that tells us what's right and what's wrong based on what we've been taught (by society), what else we can figure out as we go along (through logic and common sense), and what we fear (breaking man's law). Those of us with an unimpaired, working conscience don't need the threat of any god's wrath to keep ourselves in check.  Likewise, those operating with a weak, impaired conscience tend to stray.  Simple as that. These people are so weak and morally off-center that they just can't accept ultimate personal responsibility for their own failings when their conscience turns weaker than their urges.  So they mask the aforementioned qualities of conscience with the facade of a forgiving god and then tender the cop out excuse that they fell short of his glory. "I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty. Neither can I believe that the individual survives the death of his body, although feeble souls harbor such thoughts through fear or ridiculous egotisms." - Albert Einstein God: Commander in Grief In many ways, theists are much like low-ranking military personnel.  When it comes to the rules of engagement, they're not allowed to think or make decisions.  They believe what they're told, they do as they're told.  They follow orders.  In the absence of an order they follow standard operating procedure -- which keeps them in line and ensures that things go as planned. Just as a soldier fears the repercussions of disobeying or questioning an order, the religious person fears the repercussions of disobeying or questioning "The Word of God". Religious people are not allowed to challenge god's word.  How many times have you heard a believer say, "Who are we to question God's plan?" or something of that nature when confronted with "why" questions that they couldn't answer? If god allowed man to question his word then he'd be giving man carte blanche to interpret [read: change] and filter it in any way he sees fit -- mostly to suit his hypocritical needs.  So to control man and keep him obedient, god ordered [read: threatened] man not to change anything in the bible. This is best illustrated by the words of The Holy Book of Standard Operating Procedure itself: Revelations 22:18 - For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. Revelations 22:19 - And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. These are patent threats -- just like a parent threatening an act of discipline to their child:  "Don't question me because I'm your father and while you're living under my roof..." We're allegedly living under god's roof, right?  Well, If we disobey him he'll take away your toys and kick us out of the holy city and write us out of the book of life.  This is the threat of losing some special privilege (god's gifts are a privilege) or being sent to your room without dinner (for eternity). I find it interesting that these two verses are almost the final words, the bottom line, of the last book of the New Testament.  (Only two very short verses in Revelations follow: 20 and 21.)  This ends it all with just a little more fear and intimidation. "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." - Albert Einsteins Hell is Real, Assholes! Want proof?  Well, just click here to start the guided tour.  And be prepared for a heapin' dose of FEAR!  Oh, and please, no flash photography. It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Loses and Eye (for an Eye) Afraid of damnation?  Well, don't wait for Jesus to save you.  Try to save him first! Afraid of Satan?  Know the Number of The Beast so you won't be surprised. You Scared the Hell into Me! The following textbook example of Christian panic fire (below) was taken from a particularly laughable crackpot website called Jesus Is Lord. Christians will often resort to fear-based last ditch efforts to scare weak, gullible, vulnerable people into accepting Christ. As you'll now see, no sales pitch for salvation is too cheap and desperate for some.  I hope you're hungry.  Get ready for a heapin' helpin' of FEAR! People say, "Yours is a religion of fear."  Well my friend, fear is a good thing and you exercise it everyday.  Fear keeps you from stepping off of a cliff.  Fear keeps you from sticking your hand on a burnin' hot stove top.  Fear keeps you from running stoplights.  Fear of failure or poverty makes you stay in school to get an education.  These temporal fears keep you from temporal dangers.  Do these fears hurt you?  No, they help you and help the society you live in.  The fear of the Lord does much more.  It will keep you from the number one gravest danger -- being thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented for all eternity.  The fear of the Lord will also make you wise. Read about the perfect fear of the Lord: Psalms 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom... Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge... Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil... Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death. Proverbs 16:6 ...by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil. Proverbs 19:23 The fear of the LORD tendeth to life: and he that hath it shall abide satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil. Fear God and live.  Read His word and obey it.  Jesus Christ is the Lord.  Bow your knee to Him now while you have the opportunity or else you will bow to Him on your way to the lake of fire.  If you ain't saved, you have no peace.  Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to be fulfilled and He is the ONLY way to escape the wrath to come. Naw.  That doesn't sound desperate at all. Fearing the Reaper Click here to be nauseated by a Christian email spam classic. I suppose no scare tactic is beneath some people.  But honestly, I don't know who's more pathetic: the sad sacks who author this kind of nonsense or the gullible simpletons who actually buy into it. Be afraid, people.  Be very, very afraid. Copyright © 2004 The Godless Bastard. All Rights Reserved.