What your doing on your website is soo disrespectful i can't believe it that someone would do that it is sooo rude how dare you do that you are obviosly NOT a christian becuase a REAL christian would NOT do that to jesus Why would someone cherish a picture of jesus in some STUPID STUPID STUPID out fit i could go on all day writing about how stupid disrespectful rude your web site is, this isn't the half of what i could say A skull t-shirt a devil outfit !!!!!!!!!!!! your just making fun of jesus that is not right you may not believe in him but you don't have to do what you did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am furios at you and your website why why why why did you do it that is all i want to know.

Why ?
I'm discusted
Annie Wigton
bobkat82@hotmail.com

Hi Annie! Thanks for your inquiry. Jesus Dress Up has had its two year anniversary this month and in the last two years I've gotten the question"why?" many many times.

When I first drew the picture way back in 1989 I was actually a born again Christian! What the? Yup, that's right! I was going to church 3 times a week, prayed to God and looked forward to an eternal afterlife in blissful, cozy paradise. I drew Jesus Dress Up because I was being a naughty rebellious teenager. I thought it was funny, clever and even though I was a believer I knew that the drawing wasn't going to get me struck by lightning or give God bad dreams.

The picture went basically unseen for more than a decade. It was in 2000 that my belief started to crumble apart. I began examining the reasons I believed (& why others believed) and noticed that the reasons were mostly really really silly. People believe out of confusion, fear, self righteousness, misinformation and a lot of Christians simply don't really even believe. They go through the motions just in case. It's true!

For myself I started to realize that the only reason I believed was because that's just what I'd always believed. There was no better reason. I'd never really felt the presence of God or anything that couldn't be explained away more logically.

All of the stories I'd been taught made sense when I was 12 but now when I'd be explaining my beliefs to other adults I would hear myself and thought like I was coming off like a crazy person.

"You see, Jesus is the Son of God and He died for everyone so that when we die we're all going to face God and be judged for all the sins we committed. If you believe all of this you get to go to Heaven too!"

I just started to realize that the things I was saying sounded like kooky talk. No different than ghost stories, tarot readings, alien encounters or urban legends. And that just wasn't me. It was a life altering realization and it wasn't fun.

What I'd been taught by the church and my parents clashed with everything I knew and had learned from the life I'd lived. It was a frightening realization but in the end completely unavoidable. Suddenly the picture I'd drawn ten years prior had more meaning than ever before and would offer up a forum to explain myself to no end and showcase the ignorance of most people who were believers.

So I posted my drawing on the Internet and looked forward to the emails I could respond to. Two years later and I've never been more sure of my atheist beliefs (or lack of). Emails like yours still come in daily and the ignorance they showcase only makes me more sure. No constructive thoughts, no insight or valid argument. Not even proper spelling or punctuation. Just stupidity, pointlessness and embarrassing displays of thoughtlessness. The answer to your question "why?" seems obvious to me. Because I don't think it's true.

Now your reply to the question "why?" in regards to your belief strikes me as a far more interesting topic. That is only if you're willing to be honest in your answer and from the heart. Stay away from reasons like "I just do." or "The Bible says..." and give me a real reason why you believe everything the Bible tells you.

I must warn you Annie that I expect you to put very little thought into your reply. What I expect is more anger, more frustration and a lot more exclamation points.

Bob

I'm sorry but you must be mistaken i am not going to react with anger because its not healthy to get that angry.

Instead i will pray for you, i will ask god to forgive you cause you know not what you do

To answer YOUR question ever since i can remember i have believed and i have no reason not to at one piont i thought i didn't but i was mistaken i will always believe because i will never find a reason not to and i believe that what the bible says is true because thats what i've been taught and i'm never gonna find a reason not to. i will pray for you and hope that you change your ways.

Sincerley
Annie Wigton
bobkat82@hotmail.com

Thank you Annie for not coming at me again with the anger and scolding me like you did in your first email. You're right, that isn't healthy.

I also appreciate you answering my question with something other than a "I just do." or "The Bible says...". You've really given me something to think about with the reasoning you've gone through and the thought you've put into it.

I have to admit that you've really taken the high road with me and I respect that.

Bob

Thanks for respecting me, but i shouldn't have said "i will ask god to forgive you cause you know not what you do"

I think it was rude of me to say that. I'm sorry. Please forgive me.

Sincerley
Annie Wigton
bobkat82@hotmail.com

Yes, no problem. Apology accepted.

I had initially thought that you were going to tell me that you believed because "you just did" or "The Bible says...". Those kind of reasons convince no one and say nothing of one's true belief.

You on the other hand said "i have believed and i have no reason not to" and "i believe that what the bible says is true because thats what i've been taught".

Those are real reasons that an Atheist can actually grasp and understand. And now you're apologizing to ME!

Once again you've really taken me aback.

Just one question...
What is an Atheist?
I hope i don't sound too stupid for asking, but i really have no idea what it is.

Sincerley
Annie Wigton
bobkat82@hotmail.com

An atheist Annie is someone who doesn't believe that God exists. For me this also includes no Heaven or Hell, no angels or devils, no voodoo curses, haunted houses, faith healings or psychic powers. No genies in lamps, super heroes, or guardian angels. No Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, Elves, Knombs, Leprechauns or Fraggles. No final judgment, eternal punishment or blissful reward.

The only thing that all atheists do agree on is the existence of the gilled antelope. That's it.

Bob

hi i just had some questions to tie this up before i delete your e-mail from my contacts and forget about you and totally wipe you from my files.

since you don't believe in god then waht do you believe created you?

why do you give me crap answers and still ask me to give you good answers?

Why did you make that website if you don't believe why were you making fun of jesus?

if athiest s are supposed to be the people who don't believe anything why has it become a religion not to belive anything.

so athiests don't belive in the devil right?

and they don't believe in god or heaven or hell

so what do you think will happen to you once you die?

why do you think you are alive?

what do you think the purpose of living is ,as an athiest?

why did you tell me basically the whole history of jesus dress up except why you did it?

why don't you believe?

what does an athiest do?

how did you go from believing to not believeing?

are you going to answer any of my questions? i hope you do, and thoughtfully

this is soo off topic but do you think the "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt" thing is true?

well thats it
i thought about this and allmost sent you a nasty e-mail but you really haven't done anything to me so wouldn't have had a right to do that so bye

Sincerley
Annie Wigton
bobkat82@hotmail.com

I would be happy to answer all of your questions the best that I can and as thoughtfully as humanly possible... at least for me.

since you don't believe in god then waht do you believe created you?
I believe that my parents created me. My dad's sperm and my mom's egg combined together and invented me... Bob! There's a chance that if you asked my parents this same question they'd each deny responsibility, but it's what I truly believe with all my heart.

why do you give me crap answers and still ask me to give you good answers?
I don't know how to make my answers any clearer to you. They all seem so obvious to me. I really don't understand why you're confused. I feel that I've answered all of your questions and the crap answers I gave you were to emails that didn't ask questions, they were simply scolding me. And I thought that I had explained what an atheist was rather thoroughly.

Why did you make that website if you don't believe why were you making fun of jesus?
The main reason that I made Jesus Dress Up is because I found it amusing.

A more involved explanation is that I believe all of the questions you've been asking me have obvious answers but you don't see the answers because you've been taught from the very beginning that all the answers lay in that symbol I've desecrated.

That symbol you worship is the heart of the ignorance and it needs to be stomped before you're an adult who fears her own shadow. The sky is not falling.

so athiests don't belive in the devil right?
Correct-a-mundo. Atheists do not believe that the devil is a reasonable explanation for why bad things happen or why a six year old steals a lollipop. That is right. Absolutely.

and they don't believe in god or heaven or hell
Correct again. No god, heaven or hell. An atheist thinks that the only reason people invented those things is because humans want everything to be fair and a fear of death.

so what do you think will happen to you once you die?
Do you remember that time before you were born? Back when your parents were being born and if you were to have held up your hand in front of your face it wouldn't have existed? Well that goes for when you die too. No more Annie Wigton any more, at all. Period.

why do you think you are alive?
This goes back to your first question. Back when my parents had sexual intercourse. Ak! Do we have to keep going to this moment in time?
Beyond that I don't think that there is a preconceived agenda for me to fulfill or a scripted plot for the story of my life. Maybe I'm not understanding your question but I believe my life is written out as it happens and no earlier.

what do you think the purpose of living is, as an athiest?
Well it most certainly is not to spend life worshipping another. My own opinion is it's to find happiness, seek out truth, confront fears and waste no time trying to please a crowd of strangers. It's a waste of time and will leave you feeling empty and lost.

why did you tell me basically the whole history of jesus dress up except why you did it?
I think it was because you yelled at me and name called. If you read back through it I do explain why it happened and the frustration I felt. I knew people would hate it yet I felt I was right. There.

why don't you believe?
I don't believe because it doesn't make sense. Atheism makes perfect sense. It's the same reason you wouldn't believe any ridiculous story told to you by a stranger... or would you?

what does an athiest do?
This by far is the most bizarre of all your questions. What do we do? We live life to its fullest. It's the only one we've been guaranteed, we respect its rules more because of it and we value it more than someone who thinks there's a better one after this. We appreciate life completely. That's what we do.

I think it'd be funny if you answered this same question only in regards to what Christians do.
"We fold our hands and whisper to ourselves, chant along with a guy behind a podium and sing scary songs to a man in another dimension that we think listens to our songs. And then we go to Heaven."
I think that answer is much more amusing than mine.

how did you go from believing to not believeing?
I went from believing to not believing when I realized that truth was more important than feelings. When being honest with myself outweighed the comfort found in fantasies. Oh yeah, and when my pastor ran over my dog.

are you going to answer any of my questions?
I hope that I finally have.

this is soo off topic but do you think the "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt" thing is true?
Yes, that is what I totally believe. Words only hurt me when it's from someone I care about and who cares about me as well. I couldn't care less about what anybody else thinks of me... unless it's a cute punker girl. Please tell me you're not a cute punker girl.

Before you completely delete me from your files let me know if I successfully answered all of your questions. Again, the answers seem so basic to me but I guess that I understand how a lifetime of having someone point at a symbol for every answer can really fuck with your head... and this is why I mock it.

Bob