XPost: alt.religion.christian.20-something, alt.agnosticism   
   From: ssake@goldthread.com   
      
   Well, I'm wondering why you're in a church and why you bothered to send this   
   account to them? I would also suggest that the elderly people in the other   
   car may have had people who loved them deeply and whose lives were strongly   
   affected by their being killed; and it's quite possible one of those elderly   
   people had some gift or wisdom to share with others and was at the pinnacle   
   of their work in sharing it. So writing their deaths off as not so bad   
   because they were elderly concerns me.   
      
   Beyond that, if your story is genuine (and I never assume anyone's story is   
   genuine to start with), as another poster said, this may be progress for you   
   to live with gusto and be free of constraining dogma.  I also live with   
   gusto and am free of constraining dogma, but I believe in God and believe   
   that everything that happens, happens ultimately by His will for the highest   
   outcome for everybody. I don't mess with a lot of what's on the internet or   
   in the media, not because some authority forbids it, but because I don't   
   want to "get it on me" (yecch).   
      
    It is true that I'm also gradually tempering my beliefs with an   
   understanding that things happen with a kind of spontaneity that I don't   
   understand. I'm now beginning to feel that they are both random and   
   purposeful at exactly the same time. It is beyond intellectual   
   understanding, I think, but you can get a sense of it by observing nature.   
   Nature displays great order and purposefulness, and also playfulness and   
   whimsy and randomness, at exactly the same time. It's a clue as to how the   
   whole thing works.   
      
   If you go in one extreme, you err. If you bounce to the opposite extreme,   
   you err. The truth is both, and neither--i.e., neither as we (currently)   
   perceive them, both in a way we don't yet understand.   
      
   As for this particular poster, I'd have to say this is a chapter in a longer   
   book.   
   Steve S.   
      
      
      
   "DanGunn"  wrote in message   
   news:d083bb36.0409181548.73a038c1@posting.google.com...   
   > This is a letter I sent to my church's newsletter, which was promptly   
   > returned to me with a rejection. I hope the internet community will be   
   > less judgemental.   
   >   
   >   
   > I had a near death experience involving a huge car accident that I was   
   > at fault for because I drove the wrong way on the highway. The 4   
   > people in the other car died, but they were all very elderly and   
   > probably going to die very soon anyways. I guess I was relieved that a   
   > young child or a newlywed couple weren't the victims instead. The   
   > experience itself was amazing because I was thrown from the driver's   
   > seat and out the opened window, so as I was flying over the ground I   
   > watched my life go by like I was flying past a great long comic strip.   
   > There was a white light and an Indian was standing there infront of   
   > the light and telling me to follow him. Then it got really strange and   
   > we were in a casino!! So I played some craps and rolled a lucky 11,   
   > and boom there I was in the grass at the side of the highway with all   
   > these lights in my face and people around. At that moment I realized   
   > that everything comes down to pure luck, life is just a dice roll and   
   > everything is PURE CHANCE. Years of believing in God and Jesus and the   
   > Ouiju board were just washed down the drain in this moment, which I   
   > have to say was the best moment of my life.   
   >   
   > I served a 2 year stint for manslaughter and now I'm out again ready   
   > to start my Godless life (which actually started in jail). It's like a   
   > great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've started to go out   
   > with girls, and we are doing things together I could never of even   
   > imagined, let alone learn about, during bible study sessions or church   
   > camps. I always had SOME fun at church camps but not this much fun let   
   > me tell you. I no longer use the ISP suggested by the church and have   
   > discovered that they were blocking half the internet sites out there   
   > and about 80% of the fun. I quit my job at the insurance company and   
   > now just do odd jobs when I need money, and spend the rest of the time   
   > at the library reading. Some of my favorite authors are the Marquis de   
   > Sade, CS Lewis, and Douglas Adams. The way I see it the less work I do   
   > the better off I am because you are just going to die anyways, and   
   > that it could happen at anytime: at the drug store during a robbery or   
   > crusing down the highway on the way to Bingo at the Vetran's Hall.   
   >   
   > Life isn't pointless but there isn't a "Great" point to it. We have   
   > invented our Gods to imagine that our lives are great and important,   
   > but really they aren't, it's just a shot of the dice towards the end   
   > of the table. Religion is the arrogance of mankind. Just think about   
   > it the next time you are bored at church, because not everyone will   
   > have a near death experience to show them the light, and that is why I   
   > thought I would share this.   
   >   
   > Dan "Snake Eyes" Gunn   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)