Well I Like Sushi and Bananas

My friend's quote in a recent discussion on Facebook:
“Well I like sushi and bananas. Not together just in general. Sushi has a creator, man. And banana have a creator, God. I believe in both and even though I don't understand how each is made, doesn't mean they are real and don't exist.
Wouldn't you rather believe in God and be wrong someday when you die, or would you rather not believe in Satan and be wrong someday when you die and where will facebook be on that day to debate or state that you made the wrong/bad decision.”

Okay, let me be fair here and state that my friend has a full time job and a large family to attend to, and this post was delivered while he was working during dead line. But, honestly this is the best most Christians that I know can come up with. The banana illustration is pretty funny since it immediately reminds me of Ray Comfort’s peculiar suggestion that the modern banana is evidence for a creator.

My friend starts with an argument from ignorance. He doesn’t know how they are made so he therefore assumes that it must be the work of a creator. It’s basically saying that since he can’t figure out how it happened, we must make the erroneous conclusion that god did it. Then, he throws Pascal’s Wager out there by stating that it’s better to believe than to end up going to hell. Well, why should I believe in one god over any other god? Depending on the culture you grow up in, you may believe in a god very different than the god of the Bible. So, what happens if I end up picking the Biblical God when Allah or Krishna, the Hindu God, is the correct god? Perhaps, Thor or Odin of Norse mythology is the correct god. Once we slice up the possibilities, we understand that the chance for the Christian god being correct is very small indeed. Hell, what if god only awards heaven to those who are skeptical and logical in their thinking and casts all those who were gullible to hell? Bottom line, the god we choose to believe in is generally the same god that was most often worshipped in our culture as John Loftus often beautifully illustrates. One other point, why would I want to believe in someone out of fear but no other concrete reason. So heres the argument, you better believe or god's going to punish you in hell for all eternity (Compulsory love). This is akin to sticking a gun to someone's head and saying, "you better love me dammit or I will kill you!" People don't rationally work that way. You can't force somebody to love you without giving them any reason to love you. I'm not going to love something that doesn't have any proof of it's existence in the first place. If god was really concerned about us believing and following him, he would reveal himself to all of humanity in such a way that they could not doubt. Otherwise, he is allowing people to go to hell by the millions simply because they lack the evidence to believe.


The Bible is the last thing one can use as evidence. Why would I want to worship a god that promotes slavery, genocide, infanticide, rape, female inferiority and a litany of other most unpleasant ideologies? What’s the point in believing in the god of the Bible who has been debunked scientifically (Genesis Myth), morally (Bizarre contradictions between O.T. and New) and logically due to the multitude of contradictions that permeate the O.T. and N.T. alike? The central theme of Christianity is most despicable. God killed his own child to remedy the wrong doings of all humanity. His penal substitution took their guilt and applied it to a guiltless god-man. This is not moral or justified in any manner. I would never allow my child to suffer one little iota for the wrong doings of someone else. Is this the best god can do? The creator of the universe resorts to human sacrifice as a remedy. I mean I realize god likes a good human sacrifice as the O.T. can attest but this is just getting a little ridiculous. Does this make sense to anyone who looks at it logically? * I guess not because even Paul himself remarked that the preaching of the cross was “foolishness” which is derived from the Greek word μωρία that translates to “moronic” in English. 1 Corinthians 1:18-29. Also, the theologian Tertullian is often quoted as saying “I believe because it is absurd”. He says this in regards to the death and resurrection of Christ. In De Carne Christi, he states, “The Son of God was crucified: I am not ashamed--because it is shameful. The Son of God died: it is immediately credible--because it is silly. He was buried, and rose again: it is certain--because it is impossible”.

I’m not about to live the rest of my life in fear over this absurdity, paranoia and irrationality. I suppose that I could convert to every available religion out there that all state that they have the one true god just in case. Or I could appeal to Ockham’s Razor which suggests that the most parsimonious explanation is the best. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in a god or gods. It hasn’t changed its status since the beginning of human history. Whereas, Christianity has segregated and branched off in fifty different directions as over 30,000 different denominations bicker and complain about which brand of Christianity is correct. As for me, I’m going to stick with what is most likely and where the evidence leads me.

UPDATE!!!
My friend's response to the argument I laid out above:
"I just wish you would put this much effort into your job search, and then you could make real money instead of 10/hour, which isn't logical for a guy who has a masters degree, but I'm the ignorant guy with just a associates degree pulling down 35k+ a year?

And for the record, it won't matter how much mumbo jumbo/ "educational" BS liberal junk and arguing you do on facebook, GOD is GOD whether we call him some other name or not and wether we belief He is out there or not....it's called faith.

I know that 35K isn't alot of money at all, but considering I ONLY have a assoc. degree to back it up it's not bad. But on the other hand having a master's and being just a test or two away from making 60K+ starting why BS on facebook and prove me wrong that way is all I'm saying.

If your so smart and think you got this God thing figured out, then go get a decent salary out there and I will jump on your happy train to hell then."

Well, I guess he told me.

*Thanks to Ken Pulliam of Why I Deconverted from Evangelical Christiany fame.