And One More Thing ...

A joke, an old one, which I personally have only heard from and among Christians, which I share with you in response to having only just now read this Althouse post (the story itself to which she links I did see earlier). You will appreciate why I was put in mind of this joke much more if you follow the link and read the comments, but being a strong believer in free will and, in the final analysis, accountability of the individual, among other tenets, as part of my own beliefs, I have no problem leaving that decision to you.

A preacher was having his usual sermon when all of a sudden there was a cloud burst. After about one full hour of complete non-stop rain, everyone began to evacuate because the whole church was flooding, but the preacher just stood there preaching in the ankle-deep water.

A man drives by in a car and shouts through the church doors, "Preacher, you better get out of there before you drown!"

The preacher replied, "Don't worry. God will save me."

The man then drove away.

The water was now knee-deep and a man in a raft floated over to the church and said to the preacher, "You better get in here before you drown!"

Despite the second warning the preacher just stood there and replied, "Don't worry. God will save me."

The man then rowed away.

The water was now waist-deep and a man in a power boat came to the preacher and said, "You better get out of there before you drown!"

Despite the third warning, the preacher just stood there and replied "Don't worry. God will save me." With that the man jetted away.

The water was now neck-deep and a man in a helicopter came by and yelled to the preacher, "You better get out of there before you drown!"

The preacher refused to move and replied, "Don't worry. God will save me."

With that the man flew away.

The water then got so deep that the preacher was sucked under and died. When he opened his eyes he noticed that he was in heaven.

He then saw God and asked, "Oh God! Why didn't you save me from that horrible flood?"

God then replied, "I sent you a car, a raft, a power boat, and a helicopter! What else do you want from me?"