Most times the panhandlers wouldn't show up the next day. But one lady did, with a filled-out application to boot. I gave her the $10, then walked her into McDonald's and up to the manager. After looking at her application, he looked straight at me, in her presence and said, "Are you kidding me? Is this a joke?"

As Ebonmuse said, "Submitted without further comment."

As soon as the begger offers me some service I could use (say... repair my barbed-wire fences, for example) I'll be happy to discuss wages with him.

Heh, why does it not surprise me that Christopher owns a fence made of barbed wire?

Sorry, i just couldn't resist. ;)

My only qualm about atheism is that the religious have a monopoly on the phrase, "There but for the grace of God go thee." This story (and many user's subsequent comments) demonstrate an important point. Likewise the responses - on both the religious and the non-religious end - demonstrate an important aspect of human nature, namely how good people are at divorcing themselves from reality.

Okay, end moral observation.

I found it amusing, though, that the man who was convinced that he was "saved" would allow an earthly inconvenience to get under his skin. Piety apparently does not make one immune to petty torment.

But as they say, little things affect little minds.

you said "While he was still singing, he got up from his seat and went to the back of the car and ministered to a drunkard sitting on the floor in his filth. He laid hands on him and prayed for him." What do you expect when you pray? What did this person expect? That the drunk would rise and walk never to take another drink? That he would be cleansed from his "filth"? What about actually helping the man get home, get to a shelter, get clean clothes, etc?

Praying is a great way to do nothing and convince yourself you are doing something.

Your experience with religion may not have been what you expected, but consider that Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

...and this is an argument in FAVOR of Christianity...why exactly?

Of course my relatives were mistaken! They believed in God, they believed in heaven and hell, they believed in eternal salvation. There is no evidence that any of those things are real. Nevertheless, their beliefs were strong enough to cause incredible hurt and conflict in my family, which had a lot to do with me getting turned off to the whole idea of religion.

As for that creepy quote you cite, oh, I've "considered" that one before. And rejected it. Sorry, but I feel no need to worship someone who claims to come with a sword to turn loved ones against each other. Doesn't sound like a very nice guy to me.

And if you're trying to convince me that your version of xianity is somehow better or different than what I heard in my family, I have to say, yours sounds every bit as implausible, weird, and unpleasant as theirs did.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Translate: we are to take the things we value and throw them all alway at the command of this entity - just to show that we are somehow "worthy" of its attention.

If such a controlling entity did exist and demanded that of me it would find itself on the business end of my blades - I don't take too kindly to any being that would tell me to deny everything I am or be destroyed for saying "no."

You are judging a man just because he got a bad t-shirt. He was obviously very poor and that is why he did not give any money.

"Obviously"? Do you suppose that by tacking that word onto your unsubstantiated assertions, you can make them more plausible?

Had you read my post more carefully, Ben, you'd have noticed that what I thought worthy of comment was not just the fact that this evangelical didn't give money, but his blatant rudeness in overtly attempting to shut out the young man's plea.

Is it possible that either your relatives were mistaken or that you misunderstood them? The reason I suggest this is because you wrote that they "knew they were going to heaven," but in fact Jesus never said that heaven was the destiny of the saved. Jesus said heaven would pass away.

Your experience with religion may not have been what you expected, but consider that Jesus said, "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man's foes [shall be] they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."