Re: The difference between Christians and Atheists

What a terribly sad statement this post of yours makes. SO if you didn't have belief in God as a dterrent you might be a reckless person, but the knowledge of God checks your behavior.

I am a commited Christian and have been so for many years, but I did not grow up in a Christian home. And yet my home was a place were morality, vaues, good citizenship and lawfulness was a way of life, not in SPITE of lack of Christianity, but because of generations of human decency passed down. Yes, it was probably because of these values that were instilled in me that I eventually was attracted to Christianity, just ONE of the reasons anyway, but I had to get over hurdles of intellectual conditioning from schooling.

The reason to be attracted to Christ is not to learn better moral behavior, but for purposes much grander in the scale of eternity, which out of respect for this forum I will not go into detail. The Holy Spirit doesn't rub things on anyone's nose, so I won't either. But it's easy to see why so many people are turned off to Christianity when so many of its followers make these kinds of self congratulatory statements. Were I an atheist, I would now be more convinced than ever that my position is irrefutable. Fortunately, that line of thinking always makes the loudest noise, but it's not the thinking of the average born again person.