How do you feel when you figure out a magician's trick? Perhaps there was a little intellectual superiority as you watched your friends continue to be baffled and amazed by it. Do you tell them that there's a trap door, or do you let them believe the magic? Perhaps I'm making it worse and further proving your point by equating it to a magician's trick.
Does that make me feel enlightened? A little. And even a little superior. Do I need to get called out for it? Probably, and I thank you for doing it. I'm glad we know each other well enough that we can do it openly. My humility comes from these discussions with others. I do need my friends to call me an asshole when I'm being an asshole. But I also hope my friends can see that when I criticize their beliefs, I'm not trying to put myself up on a pedestal, but rather trying to understand why they believe what they do.
Am I insecure? Of course I am. Show me someone who isn't and I'll show you a liar.
Immature? No shit. We've known each other long enough for me to definitely prove that multiple times.
Asshole? Again, you know me. I've done worse and been called worse.
I've been avoiding this thread because I knew it would take more time to respond than I want to put into it.
We (christians) feel the same way as far as knowing something others don't, but in my experience that knowledge has a different affect on us. I don't feel superior for knowing the secret, but I do want to tell others so they can know it too. You mention humility, but that is not reflected in your post. I also know there are some (read: 0.001%) militant believers that are used as a crutch to give the rest of us a bad name. That's a pretty weak argument against Christianity when the amount of good the church does for humanity is so great. Show me any other group that has come anywhere close to doing things for mankind that Christianity has. Noone else even comes close. Feeding the hungry, cheering the sad, housing the homeless, healing the sick, etc. is not done to show our superiority, but simply to help and directly due to our faith. Another major difference between us is the affect our "secrets" can have on peoples lives. Yours opens eyes to a cynical, aimless life that tends to being bound by vices, things, happenings and ends in literal nothingness (by your own admission). Mine can give life a purpose, hope in a number of ways, help for the weary, encouragement for the downtrodden, feed the hungry, love for your neighbor, strength for the weak, peace in death and so much more. I don't say that to imply your not a good person (even though you're admitting in this thread to several issues) or that you may do good things, but to point out that there are so many things you miss out on by not knowing God. Some would say I miss out on so much because of my relationship with God. The rules and restrictions placed on me are a blessing and show me that God loves and cares for me. We all need boundaries. A child without boundaries will turn into a useless adult. A dog without boundaries turns into road kill. A human without boundaries is capable of immense, terrible evil. Again, not saying you guys are evil, but you have to admit without God and rules, that is where your line of thought leads. Yes, people that call themselves christians have done much evil, but when they do it is done in direct contradiction to our guidebook and I do not condone it. I'm sure I've ticked you off even more, but that was not my intention.
It is not possible to get all of my thoughts into a post short enough that anyone wants to take time to read. That said, this is a pitifully short response that should be a couple more thousand words long, but I gots engineerin to do.
