Are you a man of faith?

An atheist and a believer had the same doctor. Every time they met in the doctor's waiting room, they would argue and end up insulting each other.

"You really believe that you are going to be saved on Judgment Day and go up to heaven. Do you really believe everything you read in the Bible, and everything they told you in church?" said the atheist.

"I'm not certain of anything," the believer replied. "Like you I have doubts. But I still have hope."

"But I don't have doubts," the atheist cried. "I have only certainties. For example, I can assure you that God has nothing to do with the ache in your knee, and that He doesn't care in the least how you feel."

"You don't know what you're talking about. And do you know something? You are a believer too. I can prove it to you."

"Really? That I'd like to see!"

"Will you be straightforward and answer my questions honestly?"

"Of course. I'm an honest atheist."

"Okay. Can you tell me what the name of the doctor is who you came to see?"

"Well no, he's not here. And I can't pronounce the replacement's name."

"Well, when you leave his office, will you check the prescription he gives you for mistakes, like you would a lottery ticket?"

"No, of course not. The doctor knows what he's doing."

"Are you a close friend of the pharmacist who is going to fill the prescription?"

"No, I go to a big pharmacy, and I rarely get served by the same person."

"Do you know what medication the doctor is going to give you, and what its side effects are?"

"No."

"And yet you are going to take it, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, dear friend, I am happy to announce that you too are a man of faith!"

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Many of us behave like the atheist: we don't understand how believers can have blind faith in their God, and we often find their fervor ridiculous.

And yet, we also have well established beliefs, and not only when we go to see the doctor!

Think about it: without faith, without any certainties, life would be impossible. We sometimes have to have blind faith to survive.

(c)2006, www.positive-club.com

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"You should never criticize another's beliefs. That's how you
can avoid doing wrong to people. And there are even times
when we must honor a belief that we do not share."
- Buddha
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