The tract is entitled
“What If You Had Been Here?
September 11, 2001
A Day That Began
Like Any Other Day”
and features a picture of the world trade center with various computer added (I’m guessing- it looks fairly unrealistic) mounds of smoke.
Do I even have to add that I think it’s total crap to exploit the fear of terrorist attack for religious (or, for that matter political) purposes?
Regardless, without further ado, I bring to you the words of the Fellowship Tract League (FTP):
WHAT IF YOU had been in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001? What would have happened to YOU? YOU could have died, and YOU would have had to face God.
ME? Not only me, but in CAPITALS? Oh my… this FTP god is one serious critter.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27
That actually makes more sense this morning, sans vodka. However, I’m still not sure that I’d qualify it as good writing. Lots of people, even nonreligious ones, like to point to the Bible as “great literature”. I’ve read the Bible. Parts of it are quite lovely and might qualify as “great literature”. However, other parts just make the writing-tutor in me want to cringe and yell, “keep it short and to the point! Short and to the point!”
Sin is breaking God’s law. It is doing something God said not to do, or not doing something God said to do.
(blinks)
I suppose that makes sense. However, if I take this literally, I fear I shall have to take up arms against opposing tribes or something of that nature. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve used a sword. I’m not sure I’m up for it.
Sin is an offense against God.
Well then, perhaps Mr. FTP god just needs to get over it. I find people using adjectives as adverbs terribly offensive. However, I have yet to suggest that all people who do so be stoned to death. (the population of Ohio would dwindle to nothing, I fear)
Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is as much God as if He had never become man and as much man as if He had never been God.
(blinks)
Well, it’s beyond my comprehension, so it must be true, right?
A gift is free. Eternal life is not anything we can earn, it is something we accept. Romans 6:23 gives us two choices. We can pay for our sin ourselves by dying and going to Hell, or we can accept God’s gift of eternal life and go to Heaven when we die.
Apparently the FTL god has bad management skills. Let’s say you have a group of workers making widgets. I’d imagine the best way to motivate them would be to say, well, you can work as hard as you’d like to make as many widgets as you'd like… however, the only factor used to determine if you’ll get paid is whether or not you ask for your check. I’m sure absolutely everyone will jump at the chance to make widgets, even though it as no effect whatsoever on whether or not they are paid.
Frankly, if there must be religion, I’d rather people feel compelled to do nice things in exchange for salvation.
For whosever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Does calling "upon the name of the Lord" in bed count? I might be saved and not even know it!
Anytime you start telling people, all you have to do is this one religious whatever, and you’ll go to heaven, you open the door to awful interpretations of what that one thing might be. Well, in my version, god wants me to run planes into buildings or well, in my version, god wants me to go kill infidels and take their land.
To be saved, a person must be saved from something. If you were drowning, and someone threw you a rope, you would say that he had saved you from drowning.
(tilts head to the side and stares at the strange analogy)
Sure. So, since there isn’t so much in the way of reasons to believe in hell, I’m not drowning and that rope could obviously be put to better uses.
Thanks K!
