Just a question

[The Moment]

Alright guys, as many of you may know, I am a Christian. I don't try to hide that, but I don't actively force it upon others. In the past few weeks, I've been doing some thinking. What has really been bugging me is why people don't embrace the Christian faith. Not only that, but any faith really. I would like to pose a question, not for argument, but rather for discussion. Please no rage, hate, or tediously long posts (unless entirely necessary, TheDude...). This is strictly for informational purposes and I will not be using it in any other context.

Question: What makes you disagree with Christianity? What makes you disagree with any religion? What makes you embrace Atheism?

Not all of these need be addressed, I would just like some feedback.

 

[Trasgu]

You want it short... well here it is: I just dont believe there is such a thing as God

 

[Gage]

Speaking for myself, I don't believe in anything unless given solid proof of its existence. I feel that believing in God is many peoples way of substituting their fear of death. No one wants to believe that there is the possibility that nothing is there after we die. Many would rather affirm themselves of life after death through religion. That is the only way we get closure from the passing of loved ones (that our loved ones are in a better place) and acceptance that we will all inevitably die one day.

 

[Finch]

You want it short... well here it is: I just dont believe there is such a thing as God

Same here but it's I still respect religion and people's faith.
I think the church is something that brings people together but also separates them.
Think about how many people are being killed because of religion every year.
I think if there was no religion the world would be a better place sometimes.
Think about it: Hitler killed the jews and you'd only have to tell people you're Muslim and they will assume you're a terrorist and dislike you (at least many people in 'Murica are like that)
But church is also a good thing as it helps desperate people believe in the good and it also provides a community supporting them..

 

[Gage]

Same here but it's I still respect religion and people's faith.
I think the church is something that brings people together but also separates them.
Think about how many people are being killed because of religion every year.
I think if there was no religion the world would be a better place sometimes.
Think about it: Hitler killed the jews and you'd only have to tell people you're Muslim and they will assume you're a terrorist and dislike you (at least many people in 'Murica are like that)
But church is also a good thing as it helps desperate people believe in the good and it also provides a community supporting them..

The psychologist, Freud, said that humans are all animals by nature and are motivated by drives and instinct. I feel like religion was created to make sure that humans just don't do what they want like steal, kill, etc. Religion maintains order and without it, it would just be chaos throughout the world. Its like a Catch 22. With religion, people are still being killed, and without it, people will just go do anything they desire and people will still get killed.

 

[PwnSauce]

I think religions are a thing from the past modern people consider to be 'quaint'.

No offense but come on. Live in the modern world.

 

[Finch]

 

[Kessa]

I think religion is based on a person's moral values.

Whatever you think is right or wrong, you follow that.
If your God fearing, then you tend to do a little less wrong-doing if you're afraid of going to hell.

/me is God Fearing. But I respect every religion, and never judge people by them.

I like to believe that there is an afterlife. If there's not then oh well, it'll be too late by the time I find out.

 

[Bambi]

So, first off, I am agnostic rather than atheist. So I believe that the question of whether there is a God or not is not one that you can resolve, and therefore not worth thinking about; for some of the reasons rather elegantly stated by Gage above. I believe faith and religion is a good thing, a thing to be admired and respected. However, like any other right, right to religious freedom is a qualified right, and must be balanced against the rights of society as a whole. This, as with other qualified rights, is where the situation gets difficult ... (and that is another story).

My problem with recognized religions in general comes from the outdated texts that they use, the concentration/centralization of power and wealth they tend to seek, and the somewhat antiquated ways in which they can operate (see for example the recent vote against women Bishops in the UK). The laws of all modern democracies have very well defined rules of statutory interpretation, and this means that any ambiguity can be resolved in a consistent way with what has gone before. Religious texts do not have these conventions, are very loosely written, and can therefore be twisted and manipulated to show anything the reader wants (much like statistics).

I, like you, have a belief in a higher moral code, and in human kind in general. I choose not to embody that belief in a single deity. Many agnostics feel this way, some simply do not care. Most people, I would hazard a guess, who describe themselves as atheist are probably agnostic (and mistake the term). As for the atheists ... why do you think what you think? In any case, I would argue you have a belief: (1) the burden of proof to disprove a higher power is upon you, (2) you cannot disprove the existence of a higher power - can merely provide evidence against it, therefore (3) you BELIEVE there is no God. So in some sense we all have belief. Anyways, that's just me ...

 

[NickHouston]

I'm not going to put my opinions on religion in here but I will put why I think people agree/disagree.

Agree:
People agree with religions because that's what they grew up being told. They also want a way to explain the unexplainable. They want to believe that some being is watching them, keeping them safe until their time has come to die. They also need someone to forgive the wrong doings they commit every day and want to feel loved no matter what.

Disagree:
People who don't agree generally don't do it because Science disproves most of religion's teachings. They also don't do it because religions like Christians constantly contradict themselves. This is most commonly found when some Christians say "God created and loves every one of us. Only he can judge" and then go on to say "God hates gay people. Being gay is a sin." which makes people not want to be associated with them. If religious people believed in a God who creates and loves everyone then why aren't God's people being accepted into said religion just the way God made them?

 

[Gavin]

I believe religion is a superstition, but also a mentallity too. I say this because we want an explanation for our "Leader" or "Creator" amd its something to choose- have faith, or don't. And thats how i see as i do believe in Jesus Christ, being a Catholic. I was glad to talk about this without being critisized

 

[The Moment]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Keep it coming.

My reasons for believing in Christianity/God in general:
1. Evidence found in nature. Read Thomas Aquinas before you respond to that. (Aka no Freud arguments)
2. Revelation found in my own life. It's impossible for that to be evidence to others, but I know it to be true.
3. The Bible is historically accurate. Pagan records coincide with Biblical events and the book is coherent over a long period of time with multiple authors.

 

[TheDude]

Speaking for myself, I don't believe in anything unless given solid proof of its existence. I feel that believing in God is many peoples way of substituting their fear of death. No one wants to believe that there is the possibility that nothing is there after we die. Many would rather affirm themselves of life after death through religion. That is the only way we get closure from the passing of loved ones (that our loved ones are in a better place) and acceptance that we will all inevitably die one day.

I think that gravity, relativity, darwinian evolution, and the missing link in the evolution of humans are all still theories...


Just sayin'

 

[Gage]

I think that gravity, relativity, darwinian evolution, and the missing link in the evolution of humans are all still theories...


Just sayin'

well verified theories

 

[The Moment]

well verified theories

Until one piece of evidence proves contrary. Think about religion. For thousands of years, it was undisputed, until the Enlightenment when people started to be able to rationally explain things. New evidence arises to contradict old theories. That's how the world works.

 

[PaigeBoo]

I don't have a religion really. But I do believe there is a 'god' because when I needed someone in my darkest hours, I felt that he was there and he got me through the nights that I wouldn't have otherwise gotten through.

 

[Jack]

Taking my beliefs into account I guess you could say I'm a 'Christian' but, seeing as Christian in essence means follower of Christ, I wouldn't use that term to describe my faith, because I find myself being more interested in living how I want.

That being said, while I believe those things I find myself wishing they aren't true sometimes, because I know that if I died today id be going to hell.

 

[Gage]

Until one piece of evidence proves contrary. Think about religion. For thousands of years, it was undisputed, until the Enlightenment when people started to be able to rationally explain things. New evidence arises to contradict old theories. That's how the world works.

like you said new evidence arises to contradict old theories. Increasingly, throughout the years, science has been proving many factors of the bible wrong. New evidence from archaeological digs has been disproving that many events in the bible actually happened.

Going back to topic, my belief is that those who are religious were "conditioned" too as a child. They were spoon fed on scripture since birth and that's how a number of religion were spread and thrived for centuries. Because I'm more scientific (because I didn't grow up in a religious family) than religious, I feel like people turned to religion only as a way of getting through each day of their lives. Without a single passing day where a crime isn't committed throughout the world, people can only turn to hope and faith in a higher power and that some good is still out there in the world. In other words, i don't believe in religion because i see reality as it is. There will always be war, crimes, and death because humans are naturally driven by greed.
We have to see the possibility if this higher being existed, he has long since given up on humanity. Only hope and faith we can have is that humans will come to their senses and stop their unnecessary bloodshed.
I'm not saying religion is bs though. This is just my opinion and i still value the opinions and ideas of religious people.

 

[MikeK]

I'm a non-believer and I actually prefer to separate church and religion.

IMO, you can believe in God or anything else and it's fine.

Tho I think the church affects people's life too much. Basically I'm talking about politics and economics. Roman empire was convented to Christianity because Constantin (the emperor) wanted to control people's life more. Countries and people spend a lot of money to build churches and stuff. Crusaders killed a lot of people fighting for Christianity (and echonomic benifits at the same time).

The Pope as the leader of the Catholic Church represnts God. So I think God (if he exists) should control the Pope and help the right person to become the pope. Tho one of the popes was a women and nobody knew until she gave birth to a baby what's clearly agains the rules, the last pope said something about Jews and that Hitler was actually right (something like that, I don't really remember) and he's probably a homosexual as some other people in Vatican.

That's why I dislike church. Not only christian but all of them. I actually dislike Islam much more because it's much more aggressive.

I also think that people believe in God because they need to believe there's something powerful that might help them when they are in trouble..

After all, As Gage said, I don't believe in anything unless given solid proof of its existence.

Just some thoughts..

 

[Freeze]

I agree with the many statements made above. My personal conviction: Prove something is right before you start believing it. There is absolutely NO proof of an existing god for me or for society as a whole, probably only for the individual that almost drove off a cliff but had Jesus "save him".

Religion makes no sense to me as it has caused the most deaths in the world to date. Why the fuck would people kill in the name of god? It just completely shocks me that so many can keep faith with such little proof of a religion that has caused more rape, death and pain in the entire history of man kind.

I can carry on writing 1000's of words about this but I don't want people to feel hurt by my words. I'm happy that The Moment keeps such a peaceful state of mind with all this criticism.