Step Away From The Ledge

Today I saw a video online where Cenk Uygur was responding to the recent attacks in Paris at the offices of the Charlie Hebdo (Jan 2015).  Cenk described himself as agnostic and he made some good points I would like to recap and respond to.

He asks if God rules the universe, then how likely is he to look down at Earth and respond "Oh no, someone has drawn a negative cartoon about me and my prophets.  I don't know what to do about that.  I sure hope someone defends my honor and gets revenge."

Cenk went on to say that Islam (and other religions) teach that disrespect and/or denial of God and his prophets can lead to eternal pain, suffering, and damnation.  If that is true, then why do offenders need to be killed or punished now?  Isn't it enough that they will suffer for all of eternity?   Compared to that, torture or murder is a walk in the park.

He said that his god is science.  One of the prophets of science is gravity.  The prophet Gravity is not tolerant of disobedience.  If someone where to disrespect Gravity and step off the ledge of a great cliff, there would would be no need to for anyone to defend the honor of Gravity.  No one would need to seek revenge for Gravity.  Upon stepping off the ledge, Gravity would serve his justice swiftly and severely.

Although Cenk may be agnostic, I could not agree with him more.  God does not need me to defend him.  If you deny or dishonor him, that is between you and him.  Those who do not wish to spend eternity with him can spend eternity without him.  In my view, those that reject, ignore, or insult God (however you choose to define that) are indeed headed for a ledge.  I am not injured by such actions.  There is no harm I could do that would be greater than what happens once they leave the ledge.  On the contrary, my compassion for them would lead me to draw them away from the ledge.  I would hope to convince them to stay on solid ground.  I would tell them in caring and compassionate terms about the dangers of the ledge, the wisdom of keeping their distance from it, and the safety and peace that could be found if they would just turn and walk the other way.  The decision would be theirs to make.  I would not (could not) force them to choose the way that I have chosen.  

In short, I would lovingly plead with them to please step away from the ledge.