ME and Ophelia

MICHAEL WILLIAMS
Writing About Writing About Religion

Michael Williams blogs about religion, politics, technology and computers, movies, books, and his day-to-day life. He describes himself as, quote: "A UCLA grad student who is ever-so-close to finishing a PhD in computer science (ask Zeno); my major field is artificial intelligence and I have minors in psychology and computational algorithms. I enjoy international politics, law, history, all sorts of gaming, and long walks on the beach. My favorite color is clear. I'm a Christian who wasn't born into it but chose it voluntarily. I am currently working at an aerospace company in El Segundo, California (who knows how long that will last?), and I design and build satellites for the government. Don't tell anyone.

I have a dedicated library in my house and I make good use of it. I also like to run and lift weights, and I invented the polystyrene packing peanut. I enjoy Asimov, Dostoevsky, Robert Jordan, and everyone in between. I like to write, and this whole blog is basically just a giant attempt to improve my skill; I also write mediocre fiction when the mood strikes me."

The following post is an extract taken from Michael's blog. It is about choosing between God and non-God as the most important decision every soul makes:

"The main reason why posts about religion get so many comments is that the issue of spirituality is the most important question that every human faces. No matter what your beliefs are, you must admit that your answers to:

1. Is there a God?
2. Does he expect something from me?

... are the most important decisions you'll ever make.

If I'm wrong about Christianity, I want to know.

1 Corinthians 15:12-19

But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

I've talked to some people about God actually gotten the response: "I don't know, and I guess I don't really care." Anyone who says something like that shows that they don't really understand the question. If God exists, and if he has expectations for us, we'd be foolish to ignore them. We may not like what he wants us to do -- we may not even like him -- but only a fool blinds himself to reality for momentary pleasure.

On the other hand, if God doesn't exist, or if he doesn't care what we do, then we'd be foolish to spend our lives trying to please him. If religion really is just the opiate of the masses, we'd be suckers to buy into the illusion and waste our lives on a fantasy.

If someone is apathetic about God, it means he's already answered one of those two questions with "no", or he's a fool. If it's the former, it's important that he recognize the significance of his decision; if it's the latter... well, more than religion, I think ignorance is the opiate of the masses."

Source: courtesy makeoutcity