The other night my curiosity was aroused while I was watching the "Bottomline" on a local channel because the resource person happened to be an atheist.
I was interested to hear his arguments because I've never spoken to an atheist before.
He struck me as a nice and very intelligent man. He was brought up a Catholic and studied in an exclusive Catholic school for boys.
He described himself as a free thinker and a humanist. When asked why he became an atheist, he said he was disillusioned with the things happening in the world. He says God does not exist and being a humanist, he believes that the highest being happens to be us humans so that we should treat and respect each other well. He also said that everybody is welcome to be a friend regardless of whether you believe in God or not. He also respects other people's opinions.
Before he became an atheist, he said he was full of anxiety as to whether what he was doing was good or bad. But since he became one, he is now more relaxed because he does not believe that hell exists either. When asked as to what he thinks would happen to him after he dies, he said that would simply mean the end of everything because there is no life after death.
It is very ironic that his name happens to be Emmanuel, and as we Christians know, it means God is with us. When told about this, he was amused and said he would simply delete the word "with" so it would mean God is us, once again standing by his belief that there is no higher authority than human beings.
As I was intently listening to him, I remembered what a priest told me about going to hell. He said that even murderers, thieves, rapists, etc., and even the most evil person for that matter, may still be spared from hell because there are only two criteria for a person to go to hell. One is that you don't believe God exists, and second is you have turned your back completely on God. If I were to base my judgment on this man based solely on these criteria, I am afraid that he might just go to hell.
But trying to decipher his answers, I am inclined to believe that one day he will change his perception about God.
When asked what could possibly convince him that there is a God, he said maybe if the clouds should open and I hear a voice talking to me. Also following the same line of thought, when asked if God would appear to him and convince him that He does exist, would he believe? His answer was yes.
So there is still hope. Maybe it just takes some more convincing.
I am optimistic that the day will come when he would realize that indeed there is a God, the same God who is constantly watching him and just waiting for his Prodigal Son to come home.
And maybe being named Emmanuel is not ironic after all. It will always serve to remind him that despite his loss of faith, God will never leave him.
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