One of the things that a good many of these people have said has stuck out with me, and has always seemed ... off.
" Religion is a crutch for the weak"
I've heard men tout this as some new truth, as they throw their Bibles in the trash.
The irony of this, I suppose... is that the book says pretty much that very thing.
IF you read the book, from Genesis to Revelation, the story tells of a broken people. A rebellious people that bring about destruction upon their selves. The book talks about what people do, and live like, at the height of their self reliance and pride. It categories mans wickedness and depravity.
The book records the capabilities of Man, and how evil our hearts are.
Religion is a crutch for the weak. Yet we're all lying to ourselves if we think that any of us, regardless of what we believe, aren't weak.
You have those that see what awful things they are capable of, and what harm and pain people are capable of... Who want to get better. They want to walk right. Stand right. People that want to change, and therefore turn to a loving and accepting God to help them change who they were, into something better.
.... .... What kind of person takes it upon themselves to kick a crutch out from under a broken person?
What kind of person figuratively beats a man in a wheel chair?
Psalms 34:18
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
I've heard many of these men, old friends, close friends, speak as if to say that they are smarter and stronger, wiser, and perhaps even more compassionate than the God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob.
They say these things without holding a respect for the beliefs contrary to their own.
I respect their right to reject God, people have been doing that since the beginning.
Romans 1
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful
