i need help - a letter

[nuthajason]

hello my brothers in Christ
I noticed that there is a 'God delusion' book in my local library and I've seen a few for sale in charity shops. I also see all sorts of other books that could lead people away from Jesus - books about yoga and meditation and pantheism etc. what I want to do is slip a letter into each of these books whenever I find them so that someone reading one of these books would find the letter and perhaps consider a better alternative. so it got me thinking - what could I say on one two sided a5 sheet that would maybe sway someone reading dawkin's book or a book about Buddhism etc. I imagine I could fit 800 words on such a sheet. so my challenge to you is could any of you write a letter to a stranger to encourage them to think about Christianity rather than the book they are reading.
j

[1over137]

Mmm, maybe link to good criticism by some good christian scholar.

[nuthajason]

I might do that within the letter but I think the biggest problem facing apologists and evangelists today is spiritual apathy. I want a short punchy letter that will cause them to doubt the book they are holding. I'm almost certain that most of them would be too apathetic to go and look for an article online.
j

[Silvertusk]

I might do that within the letter but I think the biggest problem facing apologists and evangelists today is spiritual apathy. I want a short punchy letter that will cause them to doubt the book they are holding. I'm almost certain that most of them would be too apathetic to go and look for an article online.
j

Perhaps mention in the letter that the book they will read will lead them to a life without ultimate purpose, meaning or value, but there is an alternative.....

talk about the absurdity of life without God and then mention the good news.

Here is a good link that might help.

http://www.reasonablefaith.org/the-absu ... ithout-god

[1over137]

Also, you can mention that they do not kow what they are losing. And if they are honest they would HONESTLY explore things.

[CazPerth]

As a recently converted atheist I think that most atheists/agnostics would discard the letter. However, you may indeed spark a question in the minds of a few. My conversion came from the testimony (and most likely prayers) of a person I liked and trusted but it was backed up by reading apologetics after my mind was opened to the bible actually being true.

You might want to talk about Jesus and spark their curiosity. He is an historical figure, an actual person. His birth and death were predicted hundreds of years earlier in the OT. Why would he die a most horrible death to save sinners? How does God's plan from Genesis, Adam and the fall until Jesus' death make sense? How does the Gospel fit in with the answers they might be seeking to find in a book about yoga or evolution.

You might say something like. You have probably picked up this book because you are searching for answers to the big questions in life such as "Why am I here?", What will happen after I die?", "How can I be happy?". Ask them "Imagine what life would be like if we all loved and cared for one another, if we fed and clothed our poor and treated our planet and all living creatures with respect; how much better would our time on earth be?"

Do NOT quote scripture with verse references, that will just make an atheists eyes roll or glaze over. However much the Biblical words you love seem to be proof of God to you they are just proof of religious brain washing to an atheist.

I hope my suggestions from the other side are of some use to you.

Love
Carolyn

[Furstentum Liechtenstein]

I agree with everything CazPerth said. You could try her suggestions or you could go with mine:

''Hello! I have flesh eating disease and I coughed all over this book.''

FL

[CazPerth]

at Furstentum

[Dudeacus97]

Something that I would definitely include is the fact that Richard Dawkins contradicts himself in this book. In other writings, he has said that moral values do not exist:

The total amount of suffering per year in the natural world is beyond all decent contemplation. During the minute it takes me to compose this sentence, thousands of animals are being eaten alive; others are running for their lives, whimpering with fear; others are being slowly devoured from within by rasping parasites; thousands of all kinds are dying of starvation, thirst and disease. [...] In a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.

-The River Out of Eden, p. 131-132, emphasis added

In the same book, he also said this:

This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous – indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.

Here, Richard Dawkins says that evil and good do not exist, yet he constantly makes moral judgements in his other books, even though he would have no foundation for this. He also says that moral values could have arisen by evolution, but if they did, then they would have no meaning because natural selection decides what causes a species to survive, not what is right. So, for instance, the fact that humans consider cannibalism to be bad is meaningless, since the Mormon cricket and lobster don't seem to have a problem with it. After all, if we're all animals, then what makes us any more significant than a cricket or lobster? Our intelligence? Then would an A.I. be more valuable than a human because it's more smart?

This detail should easily discredit a lot of content within the God Delusion. Writing about the absurdity of life without God should also help. If there's one thing I learned about humans, it's that we, unfortunately, go for emotional appeals before logical reasons and the social effects of a belief before it's truth. This should also be put in. Too many times do I see apologists on either side ramble about the social effects of the other. This is meaningless. By this logic, we should discredit the scientific work of Mendel because it led to Eugenics. In simpler terms, it's the fallacy Appeal to Results of a Belief.

I agree with you that apathy is a very big problem. I know many people who simply do not care about religious matters because they don't see it as important. However, knowing the true scope of things, I find it unavoidable. I even get disturbed sometimes when I'm watching a TV show and they bring up these matters, because then I think "all of these characters are going to die and live meaningless lives" when I'm supposed to be focusing on the explosions and sword fights. I remember once I was reading a book that involved a kid having a religious struggle trying to decide between Christianity and Norse paganism. Hmm... On one side we have a pantheon of warlike dieties who fight each other all of the time and glorify violence, an afterlife determined by how you die (and your social position), and an apocalypse that leads to the utter destruction of everything. On the other side, we have one loving Diety, an afterlife decided by simply accepting Jesus Christ as your savior, and an apocalypse where we all get judged and the good get eternal life. Now, he still has these struggles after he sees Heaven. I guess the fact he's in 8th Century England so he wouldn't have as many schools of philosophy might have something to do with it. Either that, or the author wants to set up a "religious struggle" that people can relate to, but making it alien so anyone could relate to it.

Well, that was a random rant. I'm going to try and regulate my rambling from now on. I'm even worse in real life. In short, focus on the Absurdity of Life Without God and that little contradiction on Dawkins' part.