F
FatherMerrin
Guest
I find it’s about hope. Even with its best intentions, atheism always seems to take an inexorable slide into nihilism and misanthropy. (At least from my personal experience.) With atheism, there can be no such thing as a “happy ending.” Even the happiest married couple on Earth will have to cope with the inevitable advance of entropy and death.
But Christ breaks that cycle of doom. There’s no other figure in any religion I’ve encountered who says “NO” to death so absolutely and definitively. At best, atheists and secularists can only come up with vague personal philosophies about how to deal with death, but Christ offers the promise of something beyond. It’s not just about the fear of death, either. That would be an understandable motivation, but still ultimately selfish. It’s also about breaking the tyrant’s grip that death has on our minds, day in and day out, to the point where we all become dreary old creatures before our time. Just take a gander at “The Conspiracy Against the Human Race” by Thomas Ligotti to witness the final dead end of a human future 100% free of spirituality.
I have more thoughts to offer, but I’ve got an appointment to keep.
But Christ breaks that cycle of doom. There’s no other figure in any religion I’ve encountered who says “NO” to death so absolutely and definitively. At best, atheists and secularists can only come up with vague personal philosophies about how to deal with death, but Christ offers the promise of something beyond. It’s not just about the fear of death, either. That would be an understandable motivation, but still ultimately selfish. It’s also about breaking the tyrant’s grip that death has on our minds, day in and day out, to the point where we all become dreary old creatures before our time. Just take a gander at “The Conspiracy Against the Human Race” by Thomas Ligotti to witness the final dead end of a human future 100% free of spirituality.
I have more thoughts to offer, but I’ve got an appointment to keep.