When it comes to God, do you practice contempt prior to investigation?

Here is a small segment of Gravity True For You But Not For Me: Evidence for God Existence and Identity

The entire book can be downloaded and read for free at www.god-evidence-truth or on Amazon here

http://www.amazon.com/Gravity-True-You-But-ebook/dp/B006XG0ID4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326574922&sr=1-1


Jury Box
Since we determined that truth is important to you, I believe you really want to know if the facts say God exists and the Bible is true, once and for all. To do so, you must be willing to consider the evidence in an honest and impartial manner. When it comes to God, many practice “contempt prior to investigation.” This has nothing to do with the evidence or the truth of the subject at hand. It’s about rejecting something based upon emotions or as an act of the will, prior to an honest and impartial examination of the facts."There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against
all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance-that principle is contempt prior to investigation." Herbert Spencer a 19th century philosopher adapted from and earlier quote from William Paley an 18th century British theologian In A View of the Evidences of Christianity , 1794, popular phrase in AA.


To make an impartial decision, you need to set aside any thoughts of how God may have let you down, how a Christian may have hurt you or any negative feelings about church. If you were forced to go to church as a kid and are using this as an excuse to reject God, you are allowing
those who controlled you then, to control you now, by using their errors as an
excuse to ignore the facts. If your life is a disaster and every Christian you have
ever met failed in your eyes, it does not prove the Bible and Jesus are false. You
also need to understand that Christians do not claim to be Jesus and thus
perfect, we claim to need Jesus because we recognize our imperfections.

As you consider the evidence, your goal is to see if it’s convincing beyond a reasonable doubt. A reasonable doubt is based on reason and common sense after an impartial examination of all the evidence in the case. Very little in life is convincing beyond all possible doubt including
the evidence you are about to view. The truth is, if we lived our lives
requiring proof beyond all possible doubt before making decisions, we would
remain paralyzed in bed. There is no guarantee our car won’t crash, our food
isn’t contaminated or our neighbor isn’t going to shoot us. Even in the most
conclusive cases offering the best evidence, jurors often walk away with a
measure of doubt regarding their decision.

Contempt prior to investigation and wanting proof beyond all possible doubt are really about our will and desire to ignore the truth and do as we want, answering to no one. In interviewing a
young man named Sly who claimed to be an atheist, I found he had no evidence to
support his atheism. This is common for most atheists I’ve met, but since they
are claiming to know that God does not exist, they need to back it up. I like
to point out to atheists like Sly that our best minds admit mankind knows far
less than ten percent of all knowledge in the universe. So if a person is
reasonable, they must admit that God could exist in the 90 percent we know
nothing about. Three times in our conversation Sly got honest and said, “I just
don’t want there to be a God.” To which I replied, “So what, if it’s true, what
you want won’t matter.” With Sly’s attitude do you think he would look at the
evidence impartially or look for ways to continue to justify his choices? If you have thoughts like Sly you must understand, ignoring the truth won’t make it go away. The best thing we can do
is face the truth now so we won’t collide with its consequences in eternity.

“Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time,
but it ain't goin' away.” Elvis Presley. www.thinkexist.com

Christianity is true for you but fill in the blank is true for me

I have spoken to thousands of people face to face about Jesus and
once in awhile I will hear the "true for you but not for me" excuse. The problem
is that many people do not understand how truth works. Here is a short piece
from my free e-book designed for evangelisim. The title is Gravity True For You
But Not For Me - Evidence for Gods Existence and Identity. You can get your free
copy at www.god-evidence-truth.com to read and forward to
frinds and family. Most e-reader formats are supported like Kindle. Donations
are also being accepted for print copies that you can hand out yourself. I am
thankful to be saved and I want to bring as many people with me as I possibly
can.
True for You But Not for Me

The statement, true for you but not for me has a long list of problems that
tell us it is false. I bring it up because people sometimes claim, “Christianity
is true for you but not for me.” People that make this statement have confused
belief with truth. But belief alone does not guarantee the matter at hand is
true. Truth on the other hand is not a respecter of any belief that contradicts
it. Truth conforms to reality and the object being referred to. The title of
this book is a contradiction on purpose to get your attention, Gravity -
True For You But Not For Me. It suggests that an objective truth
like gravity does not apply to a person who does not believe in it. But since
this is simply not how truth works, the title of this book is self-defeating as
is the claim, “The Bible is true for you but something else is true for me.” The
following quote reveals an easy way to prove this to yourself:
“True for you but not for me is a self-defeating and therefore false
statement. You can prove this one conclusively to yourself today, just drive 90
in a 55 and when the cop stops you for speeding, just say, “That’s true for you
but not for me.” and speed off. Since it’s not true for you he can’t give you a
ticket, right?”Dr. Frank Turek, author and speaker. www.Crossexamined.org

True for you but not for me is also claiming every-thing is true as
long as someone believes it. If that’s the case we should have all gotten
perfect grades in school. Every answer I gave was true for me.

It can be argued that true for you but not for me is even false when it comes
to flavors of ice cream or the temperature in a room, because truth applies to
its object. For example - you like vanilla, I like chocolate and we are in the
same room and you feel cold and I feel warm. Referring to you as the object of
the statement, it’s true for everyone everywhere that you like vanilla and feel
cold. Referring to me as the object of the statement, it’s true for everyone
everywhere that I like chocolate and feel warm. Here is a verse from a rap song
that adds more clarity to the contradictory nature of our topic.
“If what's true for you is true for you and what's true for
me is true for me, what if my truth says yours is a lie? Is it still true?”
Lecrae, Rebel Album.
In opposition to how things really work, the true for you but not for me
argument comes from a flawed understanding of how truth works and leads to
the faulty conclusion, “What I believe about God is true just because I believe
it.” Ironically it’s a way people play god, by imagining God doesn’t exist or
creating a god who works for them.
In my opinion, true for you but not for me is really an attempt to escape the
truth by denying or ignoring it. While it may work for a while, in the end the
truth we have been avoiding must still be dealt with and usually the longer we
wait the higher the cost. Just ask any alcoholic, drug addict or over spender
how well denial worked for them after reality hits. Truth always surfaces and
the truth about God is no exception. It’s always better to face truth early,
accept it and deal with it.
“It is utterly wrongheaded to say that something is true for you but not for
me. For example, what if I think fascism is true and you think liberal democracy
is equally true? Should the fascist’s repression be tolerated by the believer in
liberal democracy? If not, on what grounds? Why not permit Stalinism or Satanism
or Nazism? Without criteria to determine truth, this relativism fails
miserably.” Allister McGrath Professor of Theology Kings College, taken from
Paul Copan’s book, “True For You, But Not For Me”.

Conclusion – True for you but not for me is self –defeating and
false. If the Bible is really true, it is true for everyone, if
they believe it or not.