We do know what dead people thought!!!

We do know what they thought because they wrote a lot.

Quite often I find myself quoting the founding fathers or other dead people.  Recently I did this while debating with a friend of mine who happens to be a liberal and an atheist.  I essentially was explaining to her that belief in God is integral to any functioning society, and the founding fathers knew this.

She argued that there is no way I could know what the founding fathers were thinking.  She said there are many times people like me (meaning God fearing conservatives) say that they know what people of the past were thinking, and that this is not possible. Her exact words were:  "But, you shouldn't claim that dead people believed things that you can't personally witness."

To this I said: "Isn't that the purpose of writing, to share what you witness?"

Thomas Jefferson was a founding father, and we have many copies of things he wrote while he was alive, and it is through these writings that we know what he thought on various issues. It's often believed that he did not believe in God. Whether this is true or not does not matter.  

Jefferson and John Adams wrote many letters back and forth, and in many of these letters they discussed the importance of religion.  They discussed how the young United States could not afford to keep up a military, and therefore they were concerned that the nation would be able to prevent people from committing crimes that might destroy the nation from within.  

By their review of history, they believed that no nation could exist without people who were fearful of a greater power.  They believed that nations that feared God and the Devil were able to keep their people under control.  

It was for this reason the founding fathers believed it was essential for America to be a Christian Nation. It was for this reason the Ten Commandments are etched on the walls where the Senate meets.  It's for this reason "In God We Trust" is engraved on coins.  

This strategy worked, thus holding the nation together through some really defenseless and tough times early on it its existence.  This strategy worked until the 1960s, when progressives started to break down the infrastructure of this nation, first and foremost by their efforts to extricate God from schools and God from Government.  

My point here is that we do too know what dead people thought, especially when these dead people wrote their thoughts and opinions when they were alive.  

However, despite her claims that there is no way I could know what dead people thought, she wrote: "Einstein found the Bible 'childish, primitive.'  

So, while I can't say that dead people believed things, she did the same thing.  So obviously, either she has been reading the writings of Einstein, a dead person, or she somehow knows what a dead person thinks.  Yet since she doesn't believe in God, nor angels, then how is it that she can possibly speak with dead people? 

So I come back with this: "Einstein believed in God, and said that he sees no reason why God and science cannot co-exist. He said, 'Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind.'

Rush Limbaugh once said that liberalism is the cowardly choice, because all you have to do to be a liberal is say you care for something or someone, and come up with a solution that someone else pays for.  Then when someone criticizes your idea, you attack them with vitriol such as: "You are an idiot, Nazi, child hater, women hater, homophobe, racist."  Sometimes they say nice things like, "You are not being nice."

In this case, such vitriol came out as, "You can't possibly know what dead people thought." In other words, she had no argument to refute what I said, so she attacked my words.  She did this even though what she said was untrue, made no sense, and was hypocritical.    

I'm used to this, as this is what usually happens when you debate someone who has no facts to back up their opinion.  That's how these discussions usually go.  This is what I'm used to, considering I like to challenge people with facts and logic.  Sometimes though, as was the case here, continuing the discussion wasn't worth my time. 

My point here is not to criticize my friend's comments. My point is that I often like to quote the founding fathers to prove a point that my liberal friends have no counter argument for.  So, instead of citing facts, they attack me with vitriol like, "There's no way you can possibly know what dead people thought.  

Quite the contrary: "You can know what dead people thought."

Who gets to Heaven?

Whether you get to Heaven is between you and God.  So it doesn't matter what I think, nor what I assume.  However, it appears to me that not all people who believe will get to Heaven.

So what does the Bible say about Heaven and who will get there.  The answer comes from Psalm 15, or a Psalm of David, "Who Shall Abide in God’s Sanctuary?"  David asked: "O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?"

The Lord answers: 

"Those who walk blamelessly, and do what is right, and speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with their tongue, and do no evil to their friends, nor take up a reproach against their neighbors; in whose eyes the wicked are despised, but who honor those who fear the Lord; who stand by their oath even to their hurt; who do not lend money at interest, and do not take a bribe against the innocent. Those who do these things shall never be moved."

The subject was addressed again in John 14: 2-3.  Here,  Jesus said:

"Do not think of trouble. You believe in God. Believe in me also. In my father's house are many rooms. What I tell you is true. I will go there to prepare a place for you. Because I will prepare a place for you, I will come back for you. Where I am you will be also. You know where I am going. You also know the way"

Doubting Thomas, a friend of Jesus, said, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?"

To this Jesus replied, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the father except by knowing me"

So the way to Heaven is to believe in Jesus and to live through Him.  The way Jesus would live is described in Psalm 14 by David.

Of course it's not possible for us to live exactly the way Jesus did, and so we all make mistakes (i.e. sins) from time to time.  Good Christians will feel guilty when they sin, and ask for forgiveness.

This brings us to 1 John 1:9, which states, "If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing."

Why the push to get rid of religion?

What harm has religion done to anyone? Why do some people work so hard to try to get rid of religion in this world?  Prominent Cosmologist and theoretical physicist Lawrence M. Krauss believes he has developed a method that would eradicate religion in one generation. Why would he want to?

He said: "“What we need to do is present comparative religion as a bunch of interesting historical anecdotes and show the silly reasons why they each did what they did. Instead of shying away from it, we have to explicitly educate people to confront their own misconceptions.”

Rather than do this, why don't people just leave religious minded people alone. Every study ever done on the matter shows that children who grow up in religious minded homes are more likely to grow up to become productive members of society than children who grow up in non-religious homes.

According to the Heritage Foundation, "Why Religion Matters Even More: The Impact of Religious Practice on Social Stability," by Patrick F. Fagan, studies also show that people who believe in God, and who regularly attend religious services, develop morals and values essential to forming:

• A stable family life
• Strong marriages and stable marriages
• Well behaved children
• Less incidence of domestic abuse
• Less incidence of crime
• Less incidence of substance abuse
• Less incidence of addiction 
• Increased physical health
• Increased mental health
• Longevity
• Educational attainment
• Satisfaction in life
• Higher self esteem
• Increased confidence
• Decreased incidence of divorce 

Perhaps equally important, is that the morals and values inculcated by the Bible are "intergenerational, as grandparents and parents pass on the benefits to the next generation."

And it's not just the Heritage Foundation that reports such studies, as you can find them by any simple Google search.  It's also common sense, as people five thousand years ago found the advantages of religion and Christianity without doing a single poll. 

The best way to raise a family is under God

I like to equate God with virtues, values, and morals.  In that way, it's from reading the Bible, from going to Church, that we learn these things.  It is for this reason that it's important that if you have kids that you take them to Church and raise them under the influence of God and Jesus and Christianity.

Both my parents and both sets of grandparents did this, and all of their children grew up to become respectable adults.  So when I started a family there wasn't a thought in my mind to try something different.  I am presently raising all my kids under the influence of God.

However, I know people who aren't.  And I have no problem with it.  I mean, you do what you feel you have to do.  I'm not saying you can't raise good kids without going to Church, but studies show it's harder.  In fact, every study ever done on the subject shows that children raised under God have a significantly higher chance of succeeding in life.

I mean, the numbers are so much higher it's not even close.  Kids not raised under god have a significantly higher risk of depression, anxiety, fear of death, anger, hate, etc.  They also have a significantly higher rate of getting in trouble, spending time in jail or prison, etc.

The neat thing is, however, is that without doing one study, people over 2,000 years ago figured this out.  Anyone who reads history books knows that prior to the Hebrews people married whomever they wanted to marry, had sex with whomever they desired, raped whomever they desired, aborted babies they didn't want. The result of this was lots of children in many families, and no family stability.  It also resulted in the spread of disease.

It was for this reason that the Jews, the Hebrews, created the laws they did.  It was for this reason that God, through Moses, created the laws he did.  He wanted to make sure people respected him.  He wanted to make sure people had morals and virtues.  He wanted to make sure people respected him and feared him, the way they should respect and fear their parents.

And it worked.  The Jews learned that in homes with a mom and a dad children had the stability they needed.  From mom they learned to love and respect God, and from dad they learned how to work hard and to respect women.

I'm not an expert on this subject, but I've read many books where the authors say that people who don't go to church don't go because they don't want to be judged. Christians do judge.  But we also love and respect people.

I have never once ever saw a Christian, a good Christian anyway, ever say anything bad at another person because he had a child out of wedlock, or a divorce, or anything like that.  They just don't do that.

Another reason they say people don't go to church is because it's too inconvenient.  And I will admit that it is inconvenient.  But the end product of children who love and fear the Lord, and who learn about the values and virtues that are needed to live a successful life makes all this inconvenience worth it in the end.

The Bible and God and Christianity are morals, virtues, and principles.  That's the bottom line here.  People figured this out over 2,000 years ago, so why would you want to go and wreck a system that has worked so well for so many years?

You don't learn morals and values when the dad is the government.

 I mean, even if you don't believe in God, you should do it for the children.