Question for the religious....

While we are talking about how different religions see this, let's consider the Mormons. They believe that those who have died without a knowledge of Christ, still have a chance to accept him right up until the ressurrection. As a matter of fact the church leadership has very highly criticised the doctrine of the spiritual death of the unbeliever, expecially those who have not had an opportunity to hear of Christ.

They said the following in 1972:

It should be conceded by all people that since the Almighty governs the entire universe by immutable law, man, who is the greatest of all his creations, must himself be subject to such law.

This truth is self-evident. Thus, it is only reasonable that we should expect the kingdom of God to be governed by law and all who desire to enter there to be subject to the law.

The Lord has given to man a code of laws that we call the gospel of Jesus Christ. Due to lack of inspiration and spiritual guidance, men may differ in relation to these laws and their application, but there can hardly be a dispute in regard to the fact that such laws do exist, and that all who seek entrance into that kingdom are subject to them.

This is virtually what the Lord declared to Nicodemus when he said: �Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.� (John 3:5.)

It must be accepted by all who profess belief in our Savior that this edict is true and final. However, in the centuries past and even now in many so-called Christian communities, a wrong application of this doctrine has led to serious errors and unwittingly to the committing of grievous sins. I refer to the doctrine which proclaims that all who in the flesh have not professed belief in our Lord, or heard of him before death removed them from the earth, are forever damned and without means of escape from the torments of hell. This false conception and application of gospel truth has been a teaching of so-called Christianity from the earliest centuries of our era, but it never was a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The historian Motley, in his "Rise of the Dutch Republic" relates the following incident as occurring when Christianity was first introduced in Western Europe. Radbod, a Frisian chieftain, was apparently converted and applied for baptism�and in that day they went down into the water and were immersed. While standing in the water, waiting for the ceremony to be performed, Radbod turned to the priest, Wolfran, and said: �Where are my dead forefathers at present?� The unwise priest, with more zeal than wisdom, replied: �In Hell with all other unbelievers.� �Mighty well,� replied the heathen chieftain, withdrawing from the water, his ire aroused; �then will I rather feast with my ancestors in the halls of Woden than dwell with your little starveling band of Christians in Heaven.� (Vol. 1, p. 20.) Under like circumstances, what answer would you have given?

What a shame it is that this same awful doctrine has come resounding down from that distant day of spiritual darkness and has been made to ring its terrible peal of torment repeatedly in the ears of earnest souls who have sought the salvation of loved ones who have gone before.

I believe in God as my eternal guide. I believe my feelings and experiences are for me. I believe the God I know loves everyone
equally and entire.

I am the prophet Mortimer. You must all believe in my stick, he is the saviour. The stick told me so. So I wrote this paragraph. My brother here sitting beside me has something to say. Hi, I am Monty, the stick also told me to believe in him because he is the saviour. I saw the stick do some pretty crazy things I didn't think were possible. The stick turned a piece of bubble gum into a Tootsie roll. There you have it, two people heard from the stick and it told them both that it is the saviour. Belief in the stick will give you everlasting joy. Oh yeah, if you don't believe in the stick, you will be forced to spend eternity chewing on tinfoil while watching the Rosie O'Donnell show. This paragraph is the gospel according to Mortimer. Hail Stick.

Gee, that paragraph sounds pretty stupid. Isn't that basically what the bible is. It is accounts written by people a long time ago. We are asked to believe in it, and why? Because of mans inability to accept his own mortality. We all want to live forever, if we believe in the bible we can go to sleep with this warm fuzzy feeling inside that we will never die. That hell bit sounds bad too. I will force myself to believe this because it feels good.

Truth of the matter is, most atheists would rather believe in god. We have an example of one on this thread who tried for a long time to believe, but couldn't. So how do the Christians react. Well your head must be held together with glue and nails. Or you are stupid, you are looking in the wrong spot, you should look in your heart instead of looking in the sock drawer. They call us skeptics, what a horrible word. You just have to have faith. What is faith, it is believing in something that you have no proof of. Why would you want faith? Not because god is wonderful and magnificent and deserving of our adoration, no because you want to go to heaven and not go to hell.