Atheistic preacher?

When you say "relatively few", what are you comparing that to?I expect to live for about 120 years, barring any unfortunate circumstance. That doesn't seem like "few" to me, but rather, "much." Especially since it's all the life I probably get. In that case, it's not "few" but "all".There's much living to do. If you can't shake the mindset that this is all a brief introduction to the infinite main attraction, you're going to miss a lot of life. Why, pure, unadulterated altruism. Unlike you Christians, who have to have a reward in order to do the right thing, or a punishment to avoid wrongdoing: See what I mean? I know it chafes that we're better people than you, Buz, but I wish you wouldn't take it out on us.

But we don't have eternity. We have 120 years, tops. (Unless they solve some tricky biochemical problems.) That's it. That's all we have. Why waste it? Why would I waste all the life I'll ever have? Tried it; wasn't really for me. I'm much happier as an atheist, though. But compared to all the life we'll ever have, our life in this world is all of it. 100%. There's nothing "relatively short" about it. Apparently, you don't understand altruism.

You know, B2P, I think that if you follow your own path and are honest about what you do and say and the consequences, good and bad, that your actions have, I think you'll be a great teacher and a great preacher.I don't think anybody should give a damn about what you do, or the "example" you set, or whether you believe in God or what-have-you. If you conduct yourself with forthrightness and can talk, without fear or shame, about the good and bad experiences that you have (and choices that you've made), then you have nothing to be ashamed of, and I think you'd be a great role-model.Does any of that make sense? You strike me as a guy who's not afraid to be who he is, and takes ownership of his actions. If that is indeed the case then you have a lot of wisdom to offer.But hey, what do I know? We've never met. And you're only 17. There's a lot of time ahead of you to learn to view your life dishonestly; I hope you can steer clear of that path.This message has been edited by crashfrog, 11-01-2004 09:10 PM

And have my own pointed out, I hope.I hope you don't mind that I haven't participated in this thread; other than this, I don't feel as I have much to add. I'm not interested in trying to convince you of anything. In order to be a good preacher you're going to have to be the kind of guy that ignores what people tell him and finds out on his own, don't you think?Be an atheist, or don't. But you won't be much help to folks with spiritual struggles if you've never had any of your own, I guess. The struggle is good. That's what you should be doing at your age; thinking through things like this.