Mistaken Identity

Whitney Cerak survived. Laura Van Ryn died. But Whitney had a traumatic brain injury and didn't know who she was. And so Laura's family was told that Whitney was Laura, and Laura was buried as Whitney. This is human failing at its worst.

Whitney, however, has had her faith strengthened as her memories have come back. Five people died. Whitney's head suffered a major concussion with post-traumatic brain injury and she had multiple fractured bones. She's lost five weeks of her life and five of her friends. But this was all for the good. It was God's only way of giving her life a purpose.

For those of you who have not had a traumatic brain injury during the death of five friends: How do you make do without a purpose in your life.

So here is my point in bringing this up. Is there really any fact of life at all that can shake the belief of someone? Is there anything God can do that doesn't redound to his glory? Is there a difference between God's plan and the plan of a stone idol?

I submit that this is where most freethinkers get off the bus. If an omnipotent God can't find a better way to infuse the life of a teenager with meaning than to destroy four families and traumatize a fifth, than he's indistinguishable from an imaginary God.

15 comments:

the agnostic rationalist said...

I've been lurking here for awhile, but I'm going to delurk just to give an answer to this.

I was raised in a fundamentalist Baptist church that took the King James Bible as the literal, inerrant word of God. It was a miserable existence that tore my family apart. Just to give you an idea of what it was like, they actually sort of looked forward to nuclear war with Russia (they were the threat at the time) because that would bring back Christ. Many a night I woke up with nightmares about a nuclear bomb exploding near my home and would wake up screaming because that sort of thing was talked about ALOT from the pulpit of the church.

Anyway, I'm nearly 40 now and am agnostic, with atheist tendencies. Don't ask me to explain the intricacies of that label, it's just one I have chosen for myself.

So to answer your question, I do think it is possible that someone with deep faith can encounter a fact of life that shakes their faith. I had great faith in God up until about 2 years ago, although I never believed most of the things in the Bible. What changed me was religion courses in college when I was in my early 20's where I learned that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John weren't actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Yes, I had grown up being taught that they were. From there I slowly started to wonder what else I had been taught that was not true and started to search for answers.

The past 2 years have seen a speeding in my falling away from faith due to personal experiences with unanswered prayer and reading many books oh the actual history of the Jews, not what is taught by the Bible. Just looking at the suffering in the world was a big nail in the coffin of God for me because I can not rationalize a God that would allow children to starve to death, ect. and still be loving.

Also, the internet has been exceedingly helpful with such sites as yours, the Rational Response Squad, Dawkins, ect. The books you have on your theist challenge have also been helpful.

So, yes, I think that it is possible for someone to encounter life facts that change them. Bart Ehrman was also a Christian before he began to do research.

I also know a few people though that refuse to look at any facts because they will outright tell you that they don't want their foundation messed with.

Keep up the good work here. I love your site.

Anonymous said...

Thank you our lurker friend! It's nice to know there are people who like what we do and that it helps.

Thanks a lot!

Mike aka MonolithTMA said...

I'm home sick today, catching up on The Daily Show on Tivo. One of the clips they showed was of President Bush thanking everyone for their prayers and stating that prayer would help in the war on terror. John Stewart's comment was something along the lines of 'Yes, because Muslim extremists certainly don't pray...'.

It's the whole concept of the "right" god that led me to deconvert, that and the kind of blind faith you describe. Shit happens and it's all part of God's plan. Isn't that convenient?

Emilio Mejia Jr. said...

What changed me was religion courses in college when I was in my early 20's where I learned that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John weren't actually written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

I've been referencing this a lot lately when debunking Christianity to my friends. People don't realize how much scripture was altered to make it popular. Entire books and storylines altered. It's like giving the Bible to a Hollywood exec for revision.

Also, I think a big part of discovery comes when you're put in an environment that encourages learning and research, which most churches do not. I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and I was always taught that it was best to not go to college but rather to dedicate myself to the ministry after high school. Luckily we left the church while I was in high school and by the time I was of age, I had questioned my beliefs enough to decide on a college education. But I get sad when I hear about old church friends that have not been encouraged to gain practical knowledge and have instead stayed as drones in the church.

david said...

Emilio Mejia Jr. said...

"People don't realize how much scripture was altered to make it popular. Entire books and storylines altered"

I'm just curious if there is a particular book or passage you are referring to?

Anonymous said...

Since I just started questioning my faith recently, I wouldn't consider myself a total deconvert, although I'm leaning more towards Deism. However, it dawned on me about a week or so ago that Christianity had defined my purpose for most of my life.

Last weekend I was at a church camp, and while a popular chorus was being sung ("I will serve Thee because I love Thee), I remained silent. Inside, I was mortified that I used to sing it, mindlessly, I now wonder. The part of it that I now find obscene is the line - "I was nothing before You found me..."

Nothing? I was NOTHING? Does that mean I had no purpose, no worth until God found me? I could weep now because of the things I used to believe.

In the past, when bad things happened, I think it was more bearable for me to cope by saying that they occurred for a reason; that God was working in them for my or somebody else's good, because He had a plan. That was what I was taught. Yet, when I read or watched the news and saw all the atrocities that were happening, I wondered at the senselessness of it all. And the cliched Christian responses and explanations weren't holding water for me anymore.

Now that I'm on this new path, and embracing a Deist philosophy (while still stuck in a neutral Christianity position), I believe that my purpose comes from just BEING. I'm here, and my responsibility, purpose, even, is to make my earth home the best place possible, and to treat others the way I would want to be treated - with respect, compassion, and justice. Not for any kind of reward in the here or hereafter. Because it's my responsibility as a human being, a person of worth and dignity, living on this planet.

That's why, if in the end, I do walk away from Christianity, I'll still have purpose.

Anonymous said...

This highlights the self-centered nature of religion.

If I do this and this and this, then this, this and this is guranteed to happen to me and I want this this and this to happen to me.

I don't want to go to hell, I do want everlasting life and eternal bliss, so I love god with all my heart and go to church and find ways to defend the things that don't make sense.

Christian what motivates you? Search your "heart". You really want to gain a benefit from God, if you didn't then you wouldn't believe it it. If there was no threat of hell or promise of paradise do you think you'd keep living the dream? I doubt it.

God is chance, bad things happen, people want to avoid bad things, they confuse correlation with cause, they can't help but be self-centered because if they weren't there'd be no humans.

Fundamentally people can't think straight. If they could then there would be no need for books like "How to solve it" by Polya. Reasoning is a skill that has to be practiced.

It is so clear once you get out isn't it?

Emilio Mejia Jr. said...

I'm just curious if there is a particular book or passage you are referring to?

I am by no means any sort of biblical scholar or anything so don't take my word as final, but it's something I've read about on several occasions. The two that most interest me is the book of Enoch which is not considered canon by most religions, but is cited in the New Testament. I haven't read it all but reading about it I love the whole concept of a book dedicated to the spiritual wars in heaven. It's like something out of a science fiction film.

Also of interest to me is the writings of Mary Magdalene and how they are given little to no accreditation in the church. I think if the early church would have recognized the role and importance of a woman in the leadership, history itself would have been rewritten.

Rich said...

Is there a difference between God's plan and the plan of a stone idol?

I think "God's plan" tends to be used too broadly. My older sister was in a crash that involved another sister, two aunts and my mom. One sister died and the rest survived the crash. None of them wore their seat belts and most certainly my sister would still be alive today if she had. She was thrown from the van and then crushed as the van rolled over her. I don't think that this event is something that God made happen for a reason. This happened because she made a choice to not wear a seat belt.
I'm sure people can find ways to strengthen their faith in all kinds of events but I don't think that every single event that happens is something that God "planned" to occur.

Hamilcar said...

Lady Through the Looking Glass,

I just wanted to say "Welcome" and to wish you good luck. It certainly makes me happy to hear your story. It's great to hear about people throwing off dogma and moving towards free thought. It sounds like there's a lot of emotion wrapped up in your spirituality. I hope you find your Deist orientation more liberating and joyful than the "mindless" Christianity you had found yourself in.

I hope you find the answers you seek, or, I hope you find that it's OK not to have all the answers.

Anonymous said...

Lady Through the Looking Glass, likewise, welcome. I wish you the very best. Keep reading and thinking. That should free you from those delusions we all shared at one time.

Evan said...

Rich,

If God isn't involved in everything as you suggest, then how does he pick what things to involve himself in as far as you can tell?

Anonymous said...

@ Hamilcar & John: Thanks for the warm welcome. Actually, I've visited before, but haven't left any other comments in a long while. Will try not to be so delinquent. :)

Rich said...

Hi Evan,

I can't see how you can say that, on one hand we have free will, then on the other hand God has this plan that controls every little detail of each persons life. If the later is true, we have no free will. If we are saying that this follows God's plan, then that means that he caused this truck driver to fall asleep and steered the truck into the van so this girl could have purpose. People always seem to find ways to have their faith strengthened in tragedy, so I won't say that she couldn't have had hers strengthened.
Maybe I don't really get what is meant when someone says that this kind of thing follows God's plan. Maybe this is another difference I have with Christians that I am not fully up to speed on. Are we saying that God has mapped out each individual life so that we all have a planned life to follow? Or is is a master plan God has that he only intervenes at certain times?
When Mormons speak of God's plan, we are specifically meaning the plan of salvation. That is what it is called. So to me it would be the latter that applies. God wants to save all of us and he has put in motion things so that the tools are available to those who choose to use them. So while something like what has happened to this family wouldn't be ruled out as God intervening, just not orchestrating the wreck.
I'm not sure I have a good answer for your question yet Evan, but I haven't stopped thinking about it yet.

Cheri said...

I wonder if the parents of the other children felt comforted knowing their child was sacrificed so that the surviving child could find purpose in living. I would imagine that the other children had purposes that were left unfulfilled.

I used to want to believe in Jesus and God, but was never able to. The more I learn about human brain physiology, the less I believe there is a god or master plan.

When I read your post "The Father of the New Testament" I realized that there isn't anything people won't lie about and believe in to further their own position, and it makes me sad.