If someone kidnapped your child

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Let’s say someone kidnapped your child and was holding them for ransom. Their conditions are that you take a pill which will erase all religion from your mind - it will be like you went through your whole life never hearing of any religion. If you take the pill they will release the child, and if you don’t take the pill they will kill the child. Would you take it?

I ran into this question online, and thought it was interesting, so I’d like to hear other peoples’ (name removed by moderator)ut on it. Obviously as an atheist I’d take the pill, but I’m interested in hearing what others would do!
 
I’d take it, if my deities seek to call me again, they’d find a way. It’s not like no one from a not particularly religious household ever converted. My hypothetical child’s life comes first, and my deities understand the importance of family.
 
I would not take the pill. Damnation is worse than death; I would be damning myself and possibly my child, since it is my responsibility to raise him in the faith. My child would then know that I valued temporal life over eternal life. He/she might then proceed to make choices as an adult that put a value of their life or a loved one’s (or convenience/temporary happiness/et al.) over salvation. If I “lost my religion”, then I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my marriage vows by raising my children in our faith.

The purpose of life (old Baltimore Catechism) is to know, love and serve God in this life and be happy with Him in the next!

Great question, BTW. I hope you get lots of varied answers!
 
Can I vote to go all “Liam Neeson” on them?

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want… If you let my (child) go now, that’ll be the end of it…But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
 
How about I take the pill, but before I do I record a video wherein I lay out as convincingly as possible my present knowledge and beliefs relevant to my faith. Assuming the pill affects only memory of religious facts and not my basic inclinations, it seems reasonable that after losing my memory of these facts I would be inclined to believe the video, especially since it is me telling myself something I once knew. I would likely be right back where I was in my faith in no time.
 
Catholicism is the truth…if it does not erase my will for the truth…I will find her and she will find me again…

Paz
 
ExGratia said:
I would not take the pill. Damnation is worse than death; I would be damning myself and possibly my child, since it is my responsibility to raise him in the faith. My child would then know that I valued temporal life over eternal life. He/she might then proceed to make choices as an adult that put a value of their life or a loved one’s (or convenience/temporary happiness/et al.) over salvation. If I “lost my religion”, then I wouldn’t be able to fulfill my marriage vows by raising my children in our faith.

The purpose of life (old Baltimore Catechism) is to know, love and serve God in this life and be happy with Him in the next!

Great question, BTW. I hope you get lots of varied answers!
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If a Catholic is stricken with amnesia are they necessarily relegated to the fires of hell?
 
bluerose said:
Can I vote to go all “Liam Neeson” on them?

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want… If you let my (child) go now, that’ll be the end of it…But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
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👍
 
I think I’d take the pill. There are so many family members around, I’m sure someone would reintroduce me to the Faith! And who says God would allow your memory to be erased? He’s pretty powerful like that…
 
Poseidon said:
Let’s say someone kidnapped your child and was holding them for ransom. Their conditions are that you take a pill which will erase all religion from your mind - it will be like you went through your whole life never hearing of any religion. If you take the pill they will release the child, and if you don’t take the pill they will kill the child. Would you take it?

I ran into this question online, and thought it was interesting, so I’d like to hear other peoples’ (name removed by moderator)ut on it. Obviously as an atheist I’d take the pill, but I’m interested in hearing what others would do!
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Since Catholics believe that religion is routed deeply within human nature, such a pill could not possibly exist. Therefore, it is futile to speculate too deeply.

That being said, such a pill would have to health benefits equivalent to drinking methanol or turpentine. Such a pill would be asinine to consume, and if an escaped mental patient is delusional enough to attempt to blackmail the religion out of someone, then there is no guarantee they would release the child upon drinking the poisonous potion.

Clearly such an individual would be erratic and unpredictable and this would likely be a no-win situation. Either you die from the poison, your child dies at the hands of the kidnapper, or the kidnapper dies during the swat team raid. The likely hood of no one dying in such a horrible situation would be slim.
 
I would take it without question. I am sure my hypothetical wife and child would remind me of being Lutheran when I get home. And they would re-teach me everything I need to know.

or this
bluerose said:
Can I vote to go all “Liam Neeson” on them?

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want… If you let my (child) go now, that’ll be the end of it…But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
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I like your style bluerose :cool:
 
The question seems to equate religion w/ belief in God. Religion is of the brain, belief in God is of the soul so even if you take the pill, you would still seek God.

I don’t have a child so it’s hard to say but I like to think that I wouldn’t take the pill.
 
DCNBILL said:
If a Catholic is stricken with amnesia are they necessarily relegated to the fires of hell?
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In this instance, one is not stricken with amnesia but, of their own free will, makes a choice. So, to answer your question, of course not! There is no culpability in the case of being “stricken” with something…but I don’t think you should take that old Goldie Hawn movie “Overboard” too seriously!😉
 
Poseidon said:
Let’s say someone kidnapped your child and was holding them for ransom. Their conditions are that you take a pill which will erase all religion from your mind - it will be like you went through your whole life never hearing of any religion. If you take the pill they will release the child, and if you don’t take the pill they will kill the child. Would you take it?

I ran into this question online, and thought it was interesting, so I’d like to hear other peoples’ (name removed by moderator)ut on it. Obviously as an atheist I’d take the pill, but I’m interested in hearing what others would do!
Click to expand...
Let’s assume that by religion you’re also referring to all sort of faith related knowledge…

I’d take it. If my faith is as logically available as I presuppose it is, then I have to assume that I’d either 1) be invincibly ignorant and never receive the same formative catechesis or 2) would find my way back to the church again anyway.

I don’t think anyone should be afraid that if they lost everything they’d learn so far that they wouldn’t rediscover it and come back to the faith… if we don’t believe that, it probably means that we’re not as open minded and objective (or that our faith is not as rational) as we would like to be…
 
Poseidon said:
Let’s say someone kidnapped your child and was holding them for ransom. Their conditions are that you take a pill which will erase all religion from your mind - it will be like you went through your whole life never hearing of any religion. If you take the pill they will release the child, and if you don’t take the pill they will kill the child. Would you take it?

I ran into this question online, and thought it was interesting, so I’d like to hear other peoples’ (name removed by moderator)ut on it. Obviously as an atheist I’d take the pill, but I’m interested in hearing what others would do!
Click to expand...
God is more creative than that. He always gets His will done and in the way He wants it, and He has factored all of our sin into it.

If He drew someone to know Him intimately before a hypothetical “religion memory eraser” pill, He will find a way to draw that person again, even if they did take the pill.
 
bluerose said:
Can I vote to go all “Liam Neeson” on them?

“I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want… If you let my (child) go now, that’ll be the end of it…But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”
Click to expand...
Well, if you’re at Liam Neeson’s level of BA-ery then you certainly can :D. Could you teach me some of your skills by any chance?
 
I hate to be all lateral-thinkery, but if someone is evil enough to kidnap your child and force you to take some diabolical pill, why would you trust them enough to believe they will release your child after you take the pill?

As a rule of thumb, if a bad person tells you to do one thing, it is only because it will help them achieve their aims. Do the opposite instead. Although it might put your child at risk, they will still have a better chance of survival if you contact the authorities than relying solely on the tender mercies of a kidnapper.

If a rapist grabs you from behind and tells you not to scream, it is because he knows that you screaming is the worst thing that could happen to foil his plans. Scream as loud and as long as you can. Hit and grab and crush anything you can reach, then run.

If he shoots you, you still are better off relying on the skills of the ER doctors than you are hoping the bad guy will take pity on you and not kill you after he rapes you. It is better to resist early rather than later.

In this scenario, I would contact the FBI. Better to put one’s faith in the good guys doing what they do best than trust the bad guys to do what they say they will do.
 
I shouldn’t take the pill. It would be the wrong choice to take the pill. But I would take the pill.

It’s more about my human weakness than any argument about “taking vs. not taking”. The people who argue against non-taking are correct. I do not believe, however, that I would have the strength to not take the pill. It would simply be too hard.
 
Marc_Anthony said:
I shouldn’t take the pill. It would be the wrong choice to take the pill. But I would take the pill.

It’s more about my human weakness than any argument about “taking vs. not taking”. The people who argue against non-taking are correct. I do not believe, however, that I would have the strength to not take the pill. It would simply be too hard.
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Luke the Evangelist:
“If any one comes to me without hating his father * and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.”
  • Hating his father . . . : cf the similar saying in Matthew 10:37. The disciple’s family must take second place to the absolute dedication involved in following Jesus (see also Luke 9:59-62).
    NAB, Luke 14:26
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Sacrificing ones faith to save a child flies in the face of everything that Jesus taught. Arizona Mike had a point - by taking the pill, you’d be putting more faith in the hands of a terrorist than in our Lord.
 
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