I have heard it said that when a baby closes its eyes, it perceives the entire world has gone away rather than just their ability to perceive it. I have often wondered how scientists can know such a thing, but I think that now I know. They must have witnessed this same behavior in adults and merely extrapolated backwards.
Case in point, Newsweek’s religion editor Lisa Miller has a new book out on Heaven and the various different notions of it. In an interview with Sally Quinn, Miller is asked whether she believes in Hell, to which she replies with an emphatic “no.” Asked why, she cites the dwindling polls numbers for hell. Hell is not hot right now.
Of course, we know that reality is not altered by poll numbers. President Obama’s poll numbers have likely fallen faster than hell’s, but he is no less real than when most believed in him back in November 2008.
It seems that some people believe that if enough people ditch belief in Hell, that perhaps Hell will be closed for lack of interest. No such luck…Continue reading at the National Catholic Register>>>
March 30, 2010 at 7:35 pm
"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist." – Roger "Verbal" Kint from the film The Usual Suspects
March 30, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Ah – the endpoint of evolution for liberals is the Ravenous Bugblatter Brast of Traal (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_races_and_species_in_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Ravenous_Bugblatter_Beast_of_Traal) where it states:
"To deal with a beast, one should wrap a towel around one's own head. This creature is so mind-bogglingly stupid that it assumes that if someone cannot see it, then it cannot see the person."
Seriously, this Newsweek story shows the difference between the Christian (absolutes exist independent of the observer) and the solipsistic (there's no reality unless I say so) worldviews.
It's rather hard to debate someone who has already destroyed the meaning of words and ideas.
Peace,
Doug
March 30, 2010 at 10:44 pm
I'm guessing then that since Miller doesn't believe in hell, that she also doesn't believe in free will. Of course, the logic follows that if hell doesn't exist, then we cannot choose to spend an eternity with or without God. God chooses. Our free will is then taken away. And because our free will is taken away, we don't love God because we choose to, we love Him because we are directed to. And since we are directed to, God is no longer a loving father, but really a totalitarian dictator.
Of course, no one who has denied the existence of hell has actually thought their premise through to this logical conclusion.
@Hilltop: it's great that you can quote that fabulous movie, but that quote is originally from CS Lewis.