What would happen if an atheist went knocking on doors in Kansas trying to disconvert people?

Question

What would happen if a group of atheists went through with a couple fossils and microscopes and maybe some 300 year old maps and different copies of the bible showing how the wording changed and so did the meaning,

think anyone would "think about it" and get back to them; would the errenoeous copies of the bible all be lies of satan, would the fossils be that way cause of noah (PBUH), would the 300 year old maps made by christian monks be lies of satan, would microscopes be tools of the devil

Answer 1

ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just hand out pamphlets. (That'll keep the JW's busy for a while.)

Answer 2

Well, probably they would get a lot of doors slammed in their face. As for the rest, fundamentalist Christians would probably say the part about Noah. Most however would not consider microscopes "tools of the devil". Microscopes are just that: tools. what we do with them makes them good or evil. Guns are tools, but not evil in and of themselves. Shooting an animal for food is not evil. Shooting another person is. Many Christians do read multiple versions of the bible. KJV, New KJV, New International Version, The Living Bible, etc. so I don't think that would be too much of a problem. OK, I am unsure what maps you would be referring to. The Spaniards, Portuguese, English etc all made maps that were erroneous to one extent or another, but I am pretty sure most people have accepted that by now. :P

As for getting back to them, probably not many would. Real believers might get back to you to try to convince you to turn from your evil ways, but not many others would try to have any more contact with you.

BTW I like your picture.

Answer 3

Some of us don't need to be converted. Although we get a lot of bad press, there has actually been heated debate about the teaching of evolution in public schools, etc. DEBATE - all sides have been airing their views. We have not all just said, "oh, yeah, let's keep that evolution crap out of schools and away from our children".

Are there people here whose thinking is, in my estimation, backwards beyond belief? HELL YES - just like everywhere I've ever lived. And we are not monotheistic here - my sister's in-laws are Buddhist, I work with a Wiccan, and the VP of my company is Jewish. In my town we have a number of Christian churches but also a Mosque, a Jewish temple, a couple of East Asian temples (I am not sure what religions they are practicing, but they aren't Western) and even a Unitarian Universalist church. We even have **gasp** gay people here. Some of them are raising children in openly homosexual atmospheres. To the best of my knowledge no one has suggested that any of these non-Christians be dragged into the town square and stoned for their "sins". We are diverse - not the pod people.

By the way, in Kansas I've had fewer "come to Jesus" door-to-door conversion attempts here than in I ever did in many of the metropolises I've lived in. And no, it is not because ALL our houses are separated by 10 miles of pasture. We have actual towns, a few cities (with suburbs and everything). We also have electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, cable TV, DSL, and cell phone coverage. We are in the middle of the country, not outer Mongolia.

For many of us, the national publicity surrounding things like the State Board of Education science standards decision (which gives a disclaimer about evolution - doesn't eradicate it from the curriculum) and people like Fred Phelps (of military funeral protest fame) is just f*ing embarrasing.

We are not banning or burning books here. I have openly purchased each of the Harry Potter books in my town without anyone warning me that they have hidden Satanic messages. We are not censored, nor is the world censored for us. We get the soft core skin flicks on Cinemax just like in the rest of the country (and yes, we can order the slightly more graphic stuff on pay-per-view, or even go to the adult video store and rent the hard-core stuff if we are still confused about what is actually going on in those flicks).

In short, while I get your point and can even understand where our PR might give the impression that Kansans are universally backwards, ignorant and intolerant, I know for a fact that this is not the case. As with any presupposition about a place or its people (all Muslims are terrorists, all British people have bad teeth, etc.,) broad, sweeping statements implying a universality of some trait or characteristic fail to hold up under close inspection.

Answer 4

People do this all the time. They bring their theories, lies and faked evidence into people's living rooms through the TV. Those of faith, who trust God don't buy into it. Those who are looking for any excuse to grab onto in order to reject God and remain self-willed, will listen.

The Bible is divinely inspired and is without error in the original languages of Hebrew and Greek. Minor translational or copyist errors down through the centuries are human errors and mean nothing. These have not altered any major doctrine of the Christian faith that would affect someone's salvation.

Answer 5

Wouldn't make any difference, they wouldn't listen.

The Cathars back in the middle ages believed that the church was an invention of the devil to lure christians away from the true god so they were killed by the church so it has been considered that the bible is all lies of satan

Answer 6

Dear General Zord I personally would just laugh at you and tell you to have a nice day. Evolution and Creation don't have to be opposites. Only God knows exactly how He did it. If you were a great genius and you were trying to explain Calculus to a 2 year old child do you think you could do it using scientific terms that he would understand or would you just pat him on the head and simply tell him it has to do with numbers and not to worry Daddy has it all under control?

Answer 7

I 'got your point', but I would treat them just the same as I treat Christians who knock on my door trying to convert me to their religion - I don't see "McDonald's" knocking on my door trying to convert me from "Burger King",, my "taste" is different and I have that right. If I choose to "sample" something else, that's my choice, but no-one should be trying to force it down my throat.

I consider myself a Christian, my beliefs are deep, but I'm intelligent enough to know that there are many things in the Bible that were misinterpreted in the re-writing, things omitted. and things people simply misinterpret or don't understand when they read the words.

I'm a Christian who understands that the Bible is a very old history book, written in the language and the comprehension of people of that age. (If they saw a helicopter or airplane, they would call it a 'chariot'. )

Answer 8

Yeah it'd be interesting to turn it on the head.

You might need to wear a bulletproof vest though, these people see no paradox in following Christianity (which teaches turning the other cheek) while maintaining the right to open both barrels on someone walking up the driveway.

Answer 9

obviously he would get in good physical condition! The last time i drove thru Kansas, there was a house about every ten miles! That would be a lot of walking for door to door!

Answer 10

You fools all this so called `evidence` is created by the Flying Spaghetti Monster to fool you into believing the theory of evolution and to actually hide the truth.

Answer 11

I wouldn't do it in Kansas. Some of the "Christians" there have serious mental issues.
You could come to Alabama and do it. I'm especially interested in seeing those maps first hand.
BTW, I'm a Christian. ;*)