<time elapses. Linna clicks on thread to see "what happened to make that thread taper off anyhow?" And then she talks.>Vraith wrote:...and god a narcissist with a wicked sense of humor.
"a narcissist with a wicked sense of humor."
In other words, a totally unbiblical view of God.
Okay.. for that, I'mma gonna write a new ending to the story... umm, err.. to the joke.
To this, God responds, "Let's see how this sounds to you."Fist & Faith wrote:...As he rolled over to pick himself up, the bear was right over him, reaching for him with its left paw and raising its right paw to strike him. "OH MY GOD!..."
Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a brilliant light shone upon the man, a thunderous voice came from all around, "YOU DENY MY EXISTENCE FOR ALL THESE YEARS, TEACH OTHERS THAT I DON'T EXIST AND EVEN CREDIT CREATION TO SOME COSMIC ACCIDENT. DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HELP YOU OUT OF THIS PREDICAMENT? AM I TO COUNT YOU AS A BELIEVER?"
Difficult as it was, the atheist looked directly into the light and said, "It would be hypocritical to ask to be a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"
"What if you did all those things... all those things I brought up before.. in a fairly innocent kind of ignorance. If that's the case, would anyone call you a hypocrite if you asked to be counted as a believer?"
"On the other hand... there is a way it could be considered hypocritical: willful ignorance. If you were suppressing the evidence you had... well, that would mean you were a hypocrite then. But now that you've got this overwhelming outpouring of evidence, wouldn't it be dreadful if you suppressed IT, too?"
The atheist said, "Well, alright... assuming the first case... yes! People would call me a hypocrite. Lots of people would. Do you know what kinds of idiots I'm surrounded by?!?! <pause> Hmm, actually... guess you might."
And then maybe God could say, "Yes, people are fools, and they are impatient. So impatient, in fact, I'm pretty sure that if any number of your Christian friends were watching us have this conversation right now, they would be telling you - to use the vernacular - 'Take the damned Grace and run.'... thinking that if they don't have enough time for you, why should I?"
And then maybe the atheist would be like, "So, uhh... time.. You are probably so busy with umm, doing whatever exactly Your role is in connection with the universe and all... which, you know, I don't claim to be an authority on... but I'm sure you're aware there are still some deistic schools of thought out there..."
(and now, I'm... out for now. The original joke was pretty funny. as a joke.)