The other day I was at the post office to buy some stamps (yes, I still use snail mail). After I was done purchasing stamps (I'd actually gone to try and buy a single stamp, but the machine at this location would only sell them by the book, and I also noticed that the stamps were on thinner paper than regular stamps) I exited and as I was walking to my car I saw a religious tract taped to a pay phone (yes, there are still a few of those left; gee, stamps and pay phones in the 21st century, what's up with that)? and I grabbed it. You can see the cover to your left. It's from the Fellowship Tract League and from browsing their website, they have an abundance of tracts to choose from. Most of the tracts they have available seem to be text only, but this one is a comic (though atrociously drawn, see this page). The story inside tells of a teenager involved in "booze...drugs" and apparently triple X porn (there is a magazine pictured with PORN across the top and XXX taking up the rest of the cover). I wonder about the people who feel the need to leave these things everywhere, though maybe this next tract from the same source explains it:
I wonder what those Evangelical Christians who deny that hell is a place of literal flames (they only have come to this position because we as a society no longer believe torture is a legitimate form of punishment, so their "Hell" has become a bit more humane) think of the millions in this country and around the world that still do believe such a monstrously evil idea. Of course don't expect them to denounce such a horrific doctrine, for they reserve their condemnations for non-Christians only (I'm talking about conservative evangelicals, you understand, not the theologically liberal) and any disagreement with other "brothers and sisters in Christ" is an "in-house" debate. Therefore believing in such awful and evil things does not disqualify one from being a "true" Christian. Sickening! You'll notice the cover of the Hell tract says "thousands of degrees hot." Can anyone seriously believe that a god that would create such a place and send people there FOREVER could be called good? Would not such a being instead be a demon of great evil?
Who then is a winner? Those who free themselves from such restricted thoughts and unburden their minds and their lives from the shackles of religious dogma. Those who live for this life in this real world, instead of the imaginary, invisible world of Heaven and the sadistic torture chamber called Hell. Those who love this life and cherish it because they know it won't last forever, instead of those who long for another world no one has ever seen and who can't wait for the "rapture".
But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Jerry Falwell was right when he said "If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being." That's what I thought when I was a "born again." Even then I used to wonder about all the great men and women of history that weren't saved and that had gone or were going to hell. They seemed so much more worthy to me than the "great" Christians of history. I suppressed such thoughts, of course. I "knew" that human beings were fallen and depraved and that all our goodness was as "filthy rags" in the sight of God. The born-agains speak of the blindness of the unbeliever. They need to look in the mirror.
You may have seen the video below before, but it's worth watching again. Always, think for yourself. And if you find yourself doubting, don't dismiss those doubts as satanic temptations. Look into your heart, be willing to examine what you believe, and then start thinking for yourself, and live!
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