If Religious People DO Need the Fear of God to Keep Them from Doing Evil
When Happens When God Gives His Consent?
I’m not an atheist, but I sympathize with the atheists’ position. I follow a few blogs that share the interactions they have had with Christians. These atheists are often asked why they do not go out raping and murdering if they do not believe in a God that will judge them for their sins.
There is a simple answer to that. As Ricky Gervais put it in a tweet:
That is the rational person’s answer. Ricky’s point is that decent people do not need to fear God in order to be decent people. They have no urge to rape and murder so they do not require the threat of eternal hellfire to suppress these non-existent urges.
It is more important, I believe, to consider the point the Christian is making. That the urge to rape and murder is so powerful that if it weren’t for the threat of eternal hellfire, you’d likely already be raped and murdered.
