A Question and a Comment from an Atheist...who is now Banned from this Blog

1. Clostridiophile: “I believe you were referring to me when you said an atheist asked if you talk to God. If this is the case, what I wanted to know was whether God talks back to you? You know, like a conversation. I ask in all sincerity.” May 8th, 2008.

Knowing you, I seriously doubted if you were sincere, but decided to answer your question anyway, for the sake of other readers:

No, God doesn't speak to me conversationally. Rather, I get direction through the Bible. We speak to God through prayer, and He speaks to us through His Word. The Scriptures are called a “lamp to our feet, and a light to our path.” Couple that with the fact that the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, and we are not left in the dark as is the rest of the world. We know our origins, the reason for our existence, and what's going to happen in the future.

Be very wary of people who hear voices in their heads, and say that God is speaking to them. The world is full of mentally unstable people (what are often called "religious nuts") who should be in an institution, but they are not (some would count me as one of them).

Then again, there are many sincere Christians who continually say things like, “God told me…” I’m sure that they take their cue from the television preachers who do the same thing. This brings great discredit to Christianity when it’s found that “God” made a mistake (what He apparently told them doesn't come to pass). Having said all this, there are Christians who do believe that God speaks to us in a "small, still voice," and there are Scriptures that justify this. However, in the Old Testament, if a prophet said, "Thus says the Lord" and his prophecy didn't come to pass, he was deemed a false prophet and stoned to death. The key to judging whether something is from God is to ask, "Does it line up with God's Word?"

I once heard an elderly lady say, “I was going to leave my house and the Lord said, ‘You’re not going out until you wash your windows!'” I questioned her as to whether God did actually say that to her, and, of course, found that it was merely the voice of her conscience telling her that she should clean her filthy windows. I said, “Why then do you talk like that? It understandably makes Christians sound crazy.”

Always remember that the Church is filled with false converts, something the Bible calls “tares” among the wheat, “bad fish” among the good, “foolish virgins” among the wise, etc. God will sort out the “sheep from the goats” on Judgment Day. However, in the meanwhile, they are the ones who the news media jump to for a hot story. It’s big news when Mr. Wayne Bert says that he’s the Messiah, and that God told him to get naked with young girls.

So don’t take all these crazy things as a reason to reject Christianity. Jesus warned that many would come in His name saying that they were the “Christ”--the anointed One, the Messiah--and it sure is true. Mental homes are full of people who think that they are Jesus Christ. That’s just another sign of His coming. Make sure you are ready.

2. The next day, someone answered Clostridiophile..."You know Ray has nothing against science, just non-scense, I mean evolution. You know it still baffles me as to how people can so misrepresent the evidence of the creation. I mean it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the simple truth, but it does take one to deceive & confuse children. Thank God for the opportunity to home school, I don't have to allow them to be brainwashed into the lie evolution, instead they can see Gods creation as a beautiful testimony of the handiwork of their Creator."

Clostridiophile showed his true colors and said:

"Jesus *@%!# !&*@%!$ Christ!" May 9, 2008.

Ray said...This is a Christian blog and therefore it’s common courtesy to adhere to Christian standards. You knew that. If you had said that my wife was a common whore or used the “n” word to describe an African-American friend of mine, I would have been greatly offended. But your blasphemy is far worse, even though you don’t realize it. You blasphemed the Name of the One who gave you life, and suffered and died to save humanity from death and Hell. I find that extremely offensive.

Even if you hadn’t used blasphemy, you used two filthy words that are very vulgar profanity, and you know that’s against the rules. So, you are banned from this site (I doubt if you would consider apologizing). We will continue to pray for your salvation.

P.S. For those of you who accuse me of lying about this incident, I have included (below) Clostridiophile's latest and probably last comment:

“Ray, I will not apologize for anything I have said. I was actually testing you. There is so much undo reverence that you religious people think that the rest of us must walk on egg-shells. You bash us left and right, tell us we are going to burn for our beliefs and you get bent out of shape over a derogatory term from a popular movie. Sure, it was unlike me. I was in a mood where I wanted to push the envelope. I just have to say, that there is very little that would offend me on my blog, I don't understand why you Christians take such offense...isn't this between me and Jesus?”

To reply to your last email: No one is going to “burn” for their beliefs. Rather, they will be justly punished for murder, rape, adultery, fornication, lying, theft, lust, greed, torture, cannibalism, deceit, hatred, and even for every idle word spoken.

You do have some fans, though. After the banning there were several comments in support of you:

“This is a revolting and sad development and I am going to withhold my final judgment until I find out if this is some sort of a Joke. I sure hope it is.”

“What a crock. You're a jerk. And you can ban me for saying that too, if you want.”

“I don't believe you. It's easy enough for you to say he said something. But it is not in keeping with his normal posts.”

“I do not agree with you that Clos should be banned...please rethink your decision regarding Clos.”

“Does anyone else find it suspicious that the one person Ray chooses to ban just so happens to be an evolutionary biologist?”

“It appears to be Clostridiophile's post. I still have it. It goes to his profile, which leads to his ‘of Microbes and Men’ blog. I suppose it could still be faked, but I don't know how to do it.”

“Wow. Ray really is a huge coward. It was obviously getting too difficult to refute reality.”

“Ray, after you publish this post, please ban me too. Seriously I beg of you, please.”

Personally, I find this whole thing mystifying. By the reaction you would think I banned you from Disneyland for life. This is just a boring Christian blog. There are plenty of others to go to. It’s no big deal.

Then again, all you need to do to return is apologize--a simple, “I’m sorry, Ray. I shouldn't have said that.” But I would be surprised if you would do that because you are a very proud man. Humility is hard for you. That same pride is keeping you out of the Kingdom of God. I’m sorry to see you go.