[ExI] Fw: Re: atheists declare religions as scams.

[Ben Zaiboc]

"spike" <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
 
> I ask you then: suppose I personally knew a way to write
> something
> inspirational.  I know an inspiring story based on
> something that actually
> happened, which I could fictionalize to protect the
> identities, and it
> involves one who came thru a very trying time by faith in
> god.  It really is
> a good story.  But you know and I know I am a flaming
> atheist now.  I could
> use a pseudonym.  Is it ethical for me to write
> it?  Would I be lying in a
> sense?  I have been struggling with this question for
> years, and I am asking
> for advice here.  Johnny?  Adrian? 
> Ben?  Damien?  Keith?  Others?


Of course you wouldn't be lying, not if you know it's a true story.  
As for whether you *should* write it, that's another thing.  There are pros and cons.  One of the cons is providing fuel for the god-squad.

I'm thinking, thought, that there must be a way to write it in such a way that you tell the truth of the story, yet make it plain that it was the person's own resources, not the existence of a supernatural being, 
that made the difference.  People can do good, or remarkable things, while holding false beliefs, so imagine how much better they could do with true ones!

Something along the lines of the Wizard of Oz, where the protagonists are all after something external, only to discover they had it inside them all along.

This guy came through a very trying time by faith in god, but we know there isn't a god (almost certainly), so it was the belief, not the god, that was the important thing.  If we believe in things, we can do wonders.
If we believe in things that are actually true, rather than imagined, we can do even more.  It's belief in yourself that's the most important thing.

That sort of slant.

Ben Zaiboc