This is a true story, by the way.
On his first birthday, my little granson would not try a bite of his birthdday cake. He cried and carried on thinking it was going to be something that tasted bad. Of course, we didn't push it. He hates mashed potatoes. Perhaps he thought the white frosting was mashed potatoes, or maybe it was just because he sensed we wanted him to try it, or maybe he was a little afraid to try something new.
When I was remembering this, it made me think of atheists and how they don't want to give God a try. They think we force it down their throats and it makes them irritated with us. I wanted them to see that we love them. We don't want to push. We just want them to enjoy the cake like we do. God bless everyone.
2006-12-14 23:57:45 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Warren H - If I'm looking for chocolate cake and I find it, I don't need to keep looking for it. You know that it's chocolate once you eat it even if someone tells you it's vanilla.
2006-12-15 00:16:37 · update #1
It's a bit like love. You can't see it, but you sure know it's real. You can't really get anyone to explain it to you. You know it's real because you have experienced it. It's not a myth. It's not make believe. God IS love. God bless you all.
2006-12-15 00:08:23 · answer #1 · answered by Jeanne G 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It's a nice analogy for the courage to try new things, but as far as religion goes it does make a few assumptions. Perhaps some people just don't like invisible cake that can only be experienced by way of imagination.
It's not an issue of seeing the cake and thinking it's a jar of paint. It's being told that there is cake, and being expected to accept it even though we see absolutely nothing. We don't perceive it as being something else, we simple don't perceive it as existing at all.
As for 'giving it a try' - you seem to think that belief is a choice. Could you give atheism a try? Decide that your god is a figment of collective imagination, just for a week, and utterly believe that he is nothing else?
2006-12-15 08:02:08 · answer #2 · answered by DoctorScurvy 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
However, your grandson didn't see it that way. To him, you were forcing something he hated, even if you weren't. I think a majority of Christians don't force the issue, but I have met some who had. Also, to some athiests, the merest mention of God in a context of "Please try it" or "I'm worried about you" is seen as a bad thing.
Perseption is the key. My friends and I have discussions (and one would think being the only Christian of the group, I'd be the one pushing everything) and I've had more then one occasion of them saying, "Why follow a God you've never seen? Why not follow
2006-12-15 08:03:29 · answer #3 · answered by sister steph 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I know how you feel. I used to want to do that too. But I've come to realize that our mission as Christians is simply to scatter the seed. Place the birthday cake crumbs in front of the child, then let him decide if he wants to eat them.
We scatter the seeds, God brings the increase. Whether or not the unsaved chooses to pick up the seed and examine it then even "eat" it, is strictly up to God's Holy Spirit.
2006-12-15 08:07:16 · answer #4 · answered by nancy jo 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I see that you got your grandson a birthday cake ......and that tradition has been handed down for years. I also see that people start expecting many things from others at a very early age.
2006-12-15 08:24:19 · answer #5 · answered by Blondie B 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Blessings of God are always showering. Serving humanity is fine. Imposition of Religion on anyone can only cause irritation, it is the creation of the followers and not the enlightened being, after whom the religion was formed.
2006-12-15 08:07:28 · answer #6 · answered by dd 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Why don't you give FSM a try? Or Zeus, Odin, Thor, Jupiter or any of the thousand others a try?
You act like you aren't mostly an atheist. You have only excluded one god that I didn't. On what rational basis did you make that choice?
2006-12-15 08:03:06 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I think that you have it the wrong way around Christians strike me as far more fearful, with their 'just in case He's real' mentality.
Atheists seem very capable to hold their end of the debate and even support what they say with information from the Bible. It certainly looks like they tried the book but it didn't do for them what it did for Christians.
How many Christians have tried the atheist way on for size?
Karma.
x
2006-12-15 08:13:17 · answer #8 · answered by angelkarmachic 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I guess that's a reasonable analogy. Tried the cake myself for several years. I found there were too many artificial additives for my taste.
2006-12-15 08:02:15 · answer #9 · answered by gerrifriend 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Some atheists have eaten of the cake and thrown it up. Too much cake makes you fat and clogs your arteries.
2006-12-15 08:01:33 · answer #10 · answered by hot carl sagan: ninja for hire 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋