Dear Mr. Leo,
I found your description of my Lord very interesting. Not offensive, for I know you do not know my God. I am much more offended by those who claim to be Christians saying things that are not true about the one I love most. You may mock how much I love Him. That is also understandable. But I do wish to let you know who the God I love is and why I love Him. Warning: Most likely you will find my reasons for loving Him much too "sentimental" for your reasonable atheist mind. If that is the case, I truly feel sorry for any young lady who you are ever in a relationship with.
As you well know the "God" you described, I do not need to go into that. Honestly, I would not love him either.
The God I love loves me. The God I love takes care of me. He has rescued me physically, mentally, and spiritually. I don't know about you, but I know when someone saves me, I generally feel grateful. Not merely grateful He saved me, but so very thankful He still continues to save and protect me. Due to my father's occupation, my life is rather endangered. (Exciting, right?) I have made some silly mistakes that have put me in a tad bit more danger than I am comfortable with, and I truly believe He saved me. In a more relative to normal people sense, I started driving recently. Now, I don't live in an area where road rage is a large issue, but I'm afraid I am surrounded by quite a few people who somehow cheated on their driving test. (No, I'm not kidding or making this up. I was in the class with some of them.) I have been in several near collision incidents. Should I be grateful to the person who almost hit me for not hitting me? Most of the time they do not even notice my car's existence, so I do not understand why I would be. Maybe I should be proud of myself for my expert driving ability? No, I know my level of driving skill. I cannot attribute the fact that the truck missed me by a couple of feet to myself. I also cannot believe it was merely chance my car wouldn't accelerate faster when I started to go at that intersection. I know He saved me then.
There have been other times, (some involving tornadoes..) where it has been obvious to me He has been at work. That is physically. Well, that is part of physically. There is a bit more, but I cannot share that particular information.
I know He has saved me mentally even more times than physically. I am a very unusual girl. Being a home schooler makes for some interesting moments. (Especially when you run into a retired teacher in Wal-Mart at 2pm and she asks why you're not in school..Good times..) It also makes for some extremely rude (and very illogical) comments. (Me? Unsocialized?) I also happen to be a bit outspoken. Speech contests make excellent opportunities to share what I believe. Not Christian contests, secular speech contests. Do you know, Mr. Leo, what it is like to a 9, 10, 11, 12.. etc. year old girl to walk into a secular college to speak on her Christian beliefs? Or even later on, when I spoke to a "religious" group. Mr. Leo, if those are the type of "religious" people you've been surrounded by your whole life, you have my deepest sympathy. I wish you could meet some true believers. Many people, "religious" or otherwise dislike it when someone speaks against what they believe. When I was 9 I gave a speech on missionaries to a secular group. Not a "Give money to missionaries!" speech, or a "Go be a missionary!" speech, just a "This is what a missionary does." speech. The judges in this particular contest are not supposed to judge on context. So you can understand, when I got rather rude remarks on my subject written on my judges sheets, why I was upset? Judgement does crushing things to a child's mind. You know this. I do not believe in judgement in this way. I believe it is not Christian. You mentioned atheists everywhere being persecuted for their beliefs. I believe that to be wrong. I know it does not please my Lord to see people doing evil in "His" name. Judgment and rejection hurts everyone. Ask Christ. He received more of it than anyone ever has. And He didn't even do anything to deserve it. You do not believe this, but I do. The way I looked when I was younger drew a lot of "helpful" remarks. While remarks like that are no longer a problem, at that time it did cause me to struggle with self depreciation. I was about 14 when that was at its worst point. It was at that time I began to really study the book of Genesis in the Bible. "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created He him. Male and female created He them." Genesis 1:27. (A verse I have no doubt a learned atheist such as yourself has heard quoted often.) It meant so much to me when I realized the Lord I loved had created me in His image. He cared so much about me, He didn't just keep reforming some animal until He got one that looked "good enough." The way I looked then wasn't an accident. The way I look now isn't an accident. I am not in existence today because of an accident, but because my Lord created me in His image to do wonderful things. To enjoy cats and cameras. To learn and to ask questions. (Of which I have so many for you, and Blogger is being extremely uncooperative in not letting me on your site. Maybe it is my internet filter..)
I am extremely grateful I am not an accident. I thank my God He showed me that I am not. He has shown me that He loves me despite my personality quirks. In fact, He loves and created my personality quirks. He loves me though I prefer to be with younger children or older adults. He loves me even though I am interested in fashion AND science and enjoy talking about both. He loves me even though I have the nasty habit of talking fast and changing subjects rapidly. He loves me because He made me, and though others see these as faults, He loves those parts of me. This most likely sounds silly to your realistic mind. Why can I not just show you the tangible proof that God exist and get it over with?
Well, Mr. Leo, if you are bored reading this, you may go and check out the book "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" and read that while I type my next post. I have just started reading it, and I think you will at least find it amusing if not interesting. You may also check the book "Who Moved the Stone?" as I have heard it is very fascinating, and it is next on my reading list. (Don't worry, I keep it fair and balanced. I plan to get the book you recommended at my library. Though they have very few books from my point of view, they are more than eager to help when I ask for an atheist book.)
Mr. Leo, you were raised in a Catholic church. And recently I heard you still attend Mass against your will? How is that even possible? Surely your parents don't drag you into the service.. You are twenty years old! This confuses me very much. My sister who is nearly twenty years old does not believe as I do, yet my parents do not force her to attend our church. They allow her to exorcise her free will and do as she pleases. They have asked, pleaded, and begged her to join us again. But they do not force her. (For the record, my sister is not an atheist. She is agnostic. I personally do not understand agnostics as even the simplest of logics would make them fall off the fence they sit upon. Most just refuse to listen to logic.) Do my parents not love my sister because they don't make her attend the church we do? You who are forced against your will to poke holes in your priest's logic might wish for such freedom. Would it not be a terrible thing if God took away our free will? True, we would never do evil, and only do as He wished us to do, but we would not be doing it because we love Him, we would be obeying only because we were forced to. We would then be the slaves you described, merely doing what He told us, and groveling at His feet. That would hardly encourage us to love Him, would it? You seem to forget, Mr. Leo that no one is forced to love my Lord. Perhaps you do not know how I believe my Lord saved me spiritually?
Mr. Leo, the Lord I love created a perfect world. He then created man. My Lord created man with a free will, even though He knew what it would cost Him. What did it cost Him? It cost Him the perfect world He had just created. It also cost Him His only Son. You most likely know, as even children not raised in "religious" homes do, how the devil tempted the first women. God had instructed the first man not to eat of two trees in the garden He had created for Adam and his wife. "Look, there He is telling everybody what to do again!" Mr. Leo, say you built a beautiful new mansion for your child. This mansion is top of the line. It has every modern convenience including, but not limited to wi-fi and crystal clear cell reception. Your child would be perfectly happy. The main router and a miniature cell phone tower are together in a utility room in the back corner of the house. Due to the high radiation in that room, you warn your child not to spend much time in there, because it would be dangerous, and could lead to your child's death. You do not make the room inaccessible because you have given the house to your child. It is his/her choice whether they obey or not.
So the devil tempted Eve, and Eve gave in. Not only did she give i, she tempted Adam and he gave in as well. God gives them this perfect world, and tells them to enjoy all but two of the trees, and they decided they want to eat of one of those trees. Thus evil entered into a perfect world. God was aware this would happen if He gave us free will. But He loved us and didn't want us to be mindless robots. He wants it to be our choice to love Him. Or, to not love Him, as you have chosen. God knew the pain sin would cause us once it entered the world. He gave us rules to help us avoid this pain. Mr. Leo, I am pretty sure you know the ten commandments. Some like "Thou shall not steal" and "Thou shall not murder" are common laws. But let's look at this commandment: "Thou shall not commit adultery." It is not illegal for you to have sex with a married woman, is it? No, but it causes a great amount of pain. It could cause a broken family. At the least it will cause a lack of trust in the woman's relationship with her husband. I do not believe what God commands us to do and not to do are so we are slaves to Him. The rules He gives are for our own protection.
I have told you what you most likely already know: how Christians believe evil entered the world. You know those who trust my Lord believe as a result of Adam's sin, all men are naturally evil. You also are probably aware I believe that because of this, man cannot enter in the presence of God. My God is holy. Anything with sin cannot come near him or it will be destroyed by His very holiness. Do you not think it broke God's heart when Adam did what he did? Would it not break a parent's heart to see the child they parented turn his back on his father and mother? I'm an eye witness to the second question. I have seen the results of disobedience. Not merely in beliefs, but in I suppose one would say standard morality. It does break the heart of a "creator" to see a creation go astray. Especially when the creator knows the final outcome of the sin. My parents know where my sister's rebellion is leading. Some of the consequences are already taking place. God knows where the sin of man eventually leads. The pain in this world is just a taste of what it will be in the next. Mr. Leo, my parents have given my sister every possible avenue to return to our family. My God has given man the only possible avenue back to the perfection He originally hoped for. My Jesus became a man. My Jesus lived a perfect life. My Jesus was tempted, and He did not give in. My Jesus loved and was loved. My Jesus felt anger and sinned not. My Jesus was fully human and fully God at the same time. My Jesus did not force people to follow Him, instead thousands of people followed Him around to hear Him speak. My Jesus was betrayed by His friend. Have you ever been betrayed by a friend? It causes great pain. My Jesus went through as much physical, emotional, and spiritual pain as is possible. My Jesus who was perfect was tortured and killed. My Jesus died the death I deserve when He didn't do a thing to deserve it. My Jesus was proven dead. My Jesus was buried on a Friday afternoon. My Jesus didn't stay dead long. You know Christians believe my Jesus rose from the grave. My Jesus was more powerful than death. My Jesus did not come back as a ghost. He proved that to His friends when He ate with them. (As you know, ghosts do not eat.) When my Jesus came back to life He was in His perfect body. Thanks to my perfect Jesus I believe I too will be raised from the dead when He calls those who love Him to Himself. Mr. Leo, my God forces no one to do anything. If you love someone, is it not your goal to please that person and bring them joy? I love my Lord with all of my heart. It is my wish to bring Him joy. I know it brings Him pain when I do wrong. It brings Him pain because he knows the pain it will cause me on this earth. If I lie, cheat, steal, or sin in any other way, I am going to have to suffer the consequences on this earth. Thanks to my Jesus, I will not have to face an eternal consequence.
Mr. Leo, if you even read this post in its entirety, I will be amazed. This is the longest anything I have ever written. Mr. Leo, this is why I love my God. I do not serve Him because He makes me. I serve Him because I am grateful to Him for saving me. I serve Him because I love Him.
Mr. Leo, that is what I believe.
I will write again tomorrow.
Until then,
~The 17 year old girl~
