Is Christianity a Religion of Fear?

I was recently doing some research for my book, and as I was searching online for Author Bill Wiese, I came across an automatic search labeled, “Bill Wiese Fraud.” Curious, I clicked on the link, and came to "the Great Realization" blog. This blog is for the American Atheist movement, and is written by MagiKent. In the article above, MagiKent blasts Wiese as a fraud, calling his vision of 23 minutes in hell nothing more than a nightmare. MagiKent notes that Wiese uses his story as a way to get people to become Christians through fear.

MagiKent states:

Christianity’s motivation for morality is fear. There is no better example than Bill Wiese. Christians want to be good because they fear that if they don’t they will be put into a burning place to work for eternity. They define what ‘hell’ would be like in Earthly terms – fire, etc. Yet to describe what ‘heaven’ would be like is supposedly beyond what we can comprehend. What a load of garbage. Your religion is based on fear. That’s weak.

I wonder if MagiKent even bothered to read Mr. Wiese’s book or his follow-up “Hell.” Bill Wiese’s reason for writing the book was not to scare people into becoming Christians. He wrote it to remind us of the consequences of our sin, but also that the price was already paid. Mr. Wiese’s testimony gave authenticity to the Cross and the fact that there really is a spiritual world, both good and evil. Both books by Mr. Wiese use a tremendous amount of scriptural support and he expounds on that in his second book. If Mr. Wiese was a fraud, he wouldn’t have been able to use scripture to back up all the points he made, but yet he did. Many non-Christians like to define Christians as gullible, believing that they have been deceived. MagiKent instantly disregards Wiese as a fraud and assumes he had nothing more than a nightmare. However, what if MagiKent has been deceived? What if God really allowed Wiese to have this view of hell in order to be a witness to others?

What MagiKent does not understand is that my motivation for morality is not fear. I certainly fear and respect the Lord and His holiness, but I’m not a Christian because I fear hell. I am a Christian because I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for me and that the God of the universe loves me and knows me by name. I am a Christian not for religion, but for relationship, and even in moments where I struggle with the Lord, I know that He loves me. To be close to Christ is life-changing. It alters all reality. There is nothing weak about that. Any Christian worth their salt is not motivated to live a moral life by fear of hell, but by a desire to love their wonderful and holy God. True Christianity is not a religion of fear, but of love.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

Billy the Marlin Can Wait…

This morning I woke up to find Yahoo Sports baseball writer Jeff Passan’s article on how Marlins Owner Jeffrey Loria and President David Samson have ‘swindled’ 2.4 billion dollars out of the taxpayers in Miami-Dade County. While I’m not a huge fan of Passan’s writing*, I have to admit this is an eye-opening article, and to be honest, as a man who loves the game of baseball, the level of greed exhibited here is sickening. This is not to say the other owners in MLB have not exhibited greed. I can definitely think of a few, but the Marlins’ Jeffrey Loria has been a primary example of it. As the owner of the Expos, he was almost single-handedly responsible for the wreckage of that franchise, and now here he is deceiving the fans of his new club in Miami.

Loria and Samson have run off good managers (Joe Girardi and Fredi Gonzalez), refused to pay high profile players (Miguel Cabrera), and have done everything thing they could to not raise payroll while reaping in luxury tax money. This is not acceptable. This treatment of their fans and players (these players want to win, and if your ownership is cheap, you’re hamstrung) is uncalled for and an unnecessary burden on the fans/taxpayers in South Florida. MLB should be held responsible as well. They are currently looking for who leaked the financial documents on the Marlins, Rays, and other clubs, but they knew the Marlins were misleading their fans, and yet did nothing.

Now, every year, I make it a goal to hit two MLB ballparks. Eventually I’ll get to every ballpark in the country. However, I will not visit this new Marlins ballpark until a new owner is in place there. Since Tampa Bay and Florida are in the same state and we’d likely have done both at the same time, that means we won’t be heading there either. Perhaps it is not coincidence that Tampa was also mentioned in the article for not being honest with their supporters. As for MLB, I love the sport, so I just can’t give up on it, but I will not invest funds like I used to in a sport that is cheating its fans. If news leaks out on any other teams doing this, I will make the same decision as I did for Florida. As far as I’m concerned, Billy the Marlin can wait.

*In the article, Passan claims that the if-you-build-it-they-will-come philosophy for baseball does not work, using Cincinnati, Washington, and Pittsburgh for his examples. He fails to note that these franchises have not won in years. Cincinnati is having a great year and attendance is starting to come up. Fans fill ballparks when teams win. Fans filled Progressive Field in Cleveland until ownership stopped investing in the club. Passan also compares this situation with the situation in Washington when the Nationals were able to get ballpark funding for Nationals Ballpark. I disagree with Passan on this point. The city council in Washington made a conscious and informed decision to build the ballpark in DC. There was no other place for MLB to put a ballpark at the time (Las Vegas was mentioned as an option but they certainly did not have an MLB park ready nor did they have any funding ready), so Washington’s city council should have known better. In the case of the Marlins, Loria and Samson knowingly lied and withheld information from Miami-Dade County.

12th Anniversary

Twelve years ago today I made one of my best decisions and one of my worst decisions in my life. I left Youngstown, Ohio behind with my poor high school grades, broken friendships, a solid church, and wonderful girlfriend waiting. I left to try and make something out of my life and I think I did. Years later it’s hard for me to remember the boy that I was, and that’s exactly what I was, and my experience in the military changed everything.

The reason I label it as one of my worst decisions is because the Lord had given me a separate plan for my life. I ran from that plan and went for the career I hoped would make a better life for my girlfriend and for me. At the time, I thought she was going to be the one I married. Well, that didn’t work out, and I long regretted my decision. However, as I look back God used that time to help make me into a man.

When I left, I was scarred with all kinds of immaturities and completely unwilling to take responsibility for anything. It was my time in the military that taught me about life. It taught me how naïve we can all be, and it showed me how definitive right and wrong can be. It also taught me how easy it is to fall into a gray area morally. I found out how things work in this world.

The great thing is even though I had to learn those hard lessons; I was also blessed to travel all through Europe and the Caribbean. I got to visit Israel! I walked the Via Delarosa. I stood in Gethsemane. How many of us can say that? I saw the Tower Bridge in London. I stood underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I enjoyed a gondola ride in Venice. I walked the sobering grounds of Auschwitz and Dachau. I got to see the beauty of the Sistine Chapel. I took a train through the Scottish Highlands and found myself at Loch Ness. I worked in the Pentagon! I experienced all these things before age 26. God blessed me which such wonderful experiences that I’ve never forgotten.

I left the Navy in 2006 a bit disgruntled, but over the years I’ve come to realize how proud I really am to have served this country. I served for 9 years and I wouldn’t give any of it back. I learned so much about what it is to sacrifice and what duty really is. Even as I faced personal issues afterwards, I was able to draw upon everything I went through and keep perspective. All of that came from God. Despite all I did to run from Him, He turned it into something wonderful, and now I’m proud to call myself a veteran of the United States Navy.

Absence!

So it’s been awhile since I’ve written and I just wanted to post a few notes:

A. The Arizona Immigration Law - I’ll go ahead and say I support the law pre-court ruling. This is not because I’m trying to lash out at any race, but because it’s finally something being done to curtail illegal immigration into the United States. I understand the possibility of profiling, but that’s already happening there without the law. That justification doesn’t make it right, however the real issue at stake is what is Arizona supposed to do to defend our borders when our government is doing almost nothing to protect them. Regardless the Arizona law is not that much different than Federal law besides the fact that Federal law rarely is enforced.

There is one thing that is really annoying me concerning the protests to this law. Anti-immigration law protesters are trying to get Major League Baseball to move the 2011 All-Star Game from Arizona as part of their protest. This past weekend at the Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Washington Nationals game at Nationals Park in Washington DC, I believe protesters went over the line. First they post a banner in the garage facing the stadium protesting the All-Star Game. I’m cool with that. That’s fair. However, then during the game protesters ran out onto the field, interrupting the game and also breaking the law in the process. I have an issue with this. If you want to protest, fine, that’s your right, but don’t do it in such a fashion that you break the law and make yourself look like an idiot in the process. They made their cause look bad.

Another issue I have with protesters trying to get the game moved from Arizona is that it’s a dumb idea. The All-Star Game will pump 60 million dollars into the struggling Arizona economy that is supporting the people they are trying to stand up for. Moreover, if they were to look at the big picture they should want the All-Star Game there because it will provide them a public forum in which they can protest. The All-Star Game is shown across the country. There would be news reports everywhere showing their protests. It would bring them plenty of press. It seems shortsighted to want to have the game moved when there are more positives to be had for having the game played in Arizona.

B. I’ve started another workout/eating regimen. This time I’m keeping a separate blog on it. This should help hold me accountable. I really want to make it through this time.

C. The reason I haven’t blogged as much is because I’ve been at work on my book. So far I’m in the first draft stage, and I’m almost through with Chapter 3. It’s been challenging so far, and yet there is plenty more to be written. I’m not very confident in myself, but I’ve always wanted to write a book, and if worse comes to worse and no one ever publishes it, I’ll still have it to show my kids one day. The real problem I’m having is finding adequate people to talk about writing with. I checked out a Christian writing site, The Christian Writer's Guild, and they have some really cool seminars and classes I get excited about, but I don’t have the money for them. It’s just too expensive. It depressed me to see the prices for the seminars as I looked over the site on Friday night. There is one bright spot. A friend in Columbus and I are looking into starting an Ohio Christian writing guild. We’re praying about direction now for it. If you are interested, please let me know.

D. My application for UC is complete. I was told last week that I’ve been accepted, but they are still reviewing my file. There is a lot of stress here in terms of getting money from the government together for my GI Bill in time. Please pray.