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Monday, April 18, 2011

Why aren't you afraid of the Muslim hell?

I am going to start this post with the assumption that you are not a Muslim. If I am wrong in my assumption than just substitute the word Muslim for Christian and the point will work just as well.
It is a fact right now that millions of Muslims think you are going to hell. They are convinced of it. Their holy book tells them so and all of their leaders confirm what the holy books say. They are convinced that Islam is the only true path to god and that anyone who does not follow Islam will end up burning in hell for the crime. (I know not all Muslims think this is true but that doesn't change the point). These people are also convinced that the best world would be one in which every person on the planet were Muslim.
Now think for a second about how easily you dismiss these claims, how easily you can see that Islam is not true and is obviously not the best way for humans to live. Think of how little sleep you lose worrying about whether or not you are going to burn in the Muslim hell, how little desire you have to go to a mosque and pray to Mecca five times a day. Why is this the case? Why haven't you looked deeply into the claims of Islam to see of they are true? Why haven't you read the Koran? Incidentally, how you view Islam is very similar to how I view your religion. Which is why telling an atheist he is going to hell is akin to telling your teenager that Santa isn't bringing any presents, but I digress.
The obvious answer to why you are not a Muslim is that your parents weren't. You were born into a Christian family and were taught it from birth. With some exceptions of course, very few people who are Christians came from a non-Christian background, it just isn't very likely to happen. From an outsider's point of view though, there is nothing any more plausible about the claims of Christianity than there is about the claims of Islam, or any other religion for that matter.
Author John Loftus has proposed what he calls "The Outsider Test for Faith". Basically the idea is to try to approach your own faith with the same skepticism and critical thinking that you automatically do all others. Attempt to look at your own religion the way an outsider would.
This can be a very scary thing to do. When your religion is wrapped up into your entire life it isn't easy to face the fact that it just might possibly be wrong. It is hard to even entertain the thought. Maybe the first question you need to ask yourself is this one. "If it isn't true, would I really want to know."

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