Originally Posted by Mike Dunbar
It sometimes amazes me that folks who do not believe in heaven or hell get mad at those who do. It's like offering someone who is hungry a nice dinner, but they do not believe there will really be a dinner so they do not come, then they get mad at you for offering the dinner because they are hungry.


It's not the dinner offer that's the problem. It's the insistence that unless you eat THEIR dinner and only THEIR dinner and no other dinner, then you'll starve to death regardless of what you decide to eat.

It's like, thanks, but I have plenty of dinner choices, so why are you telling me if I don't eat your dinner I'm going to die horribly? Pardon my insolence, but that sounds a little crazy.

And in extreme cases, the chefs love to tell those who refuse their dinner that not only will they die, but they'll deserve to die because they're fundamentally hungry in a way that no other dinner will satiate and it doesn't matter how good of a person you are, in the end you'll die because you didn't eat what they offered, and you'll deserve it, and good riddance, dinner-refuser!

The next time someone "gets mad" it might be wise to examine what's actually being offered: dinner, or the threat of starvation. A lot of people seem unhealthily obsessed with the latter.

I think Tim nailed it. That someone believes in heaven/hell is not the problem. The problem arises when that person demands respect for a belief system that requires them to disrespect others.