Non-Belief: Not a Choice

Okay, this post is going to be a short one, one where I'm going to quickly cover three separate but related topics. The reason being, something came up in my FB notifications again, which was the result of me chiming in on a meme that a mutual friend posted.

The topics are, 1) belief Vs non-belief(what's a choice, and what is not a choice), 2) No true Scotsman fallacy, and 3) the false dichotomy of "Heaven" and "Hell".

Again, keeping it simple:

1. Belief is a choice, but non-belief is not always a choice. For instance, I've read, cover-to-cover,  L. Ron Hubbard's book "Dianetics". I find the claims therein unbelievable, and much of it downright absurd. No matter how many times Tom Cruise types on his Twitter page, "Scientology is true!", or "Dianetics changed my life!!!" it's not going to matter to me until I see some objective evidence that it's true, and until then, I don't believe it, and furthermore, to think that I can just "decide" to believe it, is just plain asinine. The same holds true for ANY proposition or belief-system, including Islam, including Christianity, including Buddhism, and on and on.

2. Saying that "True Christians" do X, Y, and Z(or that they don't do A, B, and C) is to commit the logical fallacy of "No True Scotsman". The most glaring problem with this is the sheer fact that Christians try to distance themselves from those Christians who are crooks or scammers. But why? Take for instance, "Joel Osteen", who bilks millions of believers out their hard-earned money. IOW, he's a scammer who preys on people's gullibility and faithfulness. Which believer can say with any certainty that "Joel Osteen" isn't forgiven? Under what authority can a believer tell another believer that they're not a "True Christian"??? Answer: There is no such authority, because, by mere definition(according to the bible), ALL believers are "sinners" and "fall short". And then of course there's, "Thou shalt not judge".

3. What if I told a Christian..."Look, you're in danger of ending up in Jahannam if you don't accept and bow down to the Almighty Allah!!". Do you think that that would phase them one little bit? No, right? Right, because of course, those aren't the only choices. A third choice is pointing out that Islam is a bunch of man-made nonsense, and that such a "dilemma" is a figment of someone's imagination. Welp, it's no different with "Heaven" and "Hell". Telling me that I'm in "danger" and that there are two things to choose from..i.e.. 1) choose to "be saved", or 2) choose to suffer bodily harm, is a false dichotomy(and yes, being thrown in a "lake of fire" constitutes bodily harm, so, no, "Hell" isn't just a "separation from God").

One last thing, debating the issues isn't "an attack on Christianity". This is where Christians and other theists have it wrong. They believe that their respective religion is somehow above criticism or close examination. And, well, that's just not so.