I am confused

[ChristineES]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.
If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

 

[TashaN]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.

If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

I don't think your post is offensive, and i understand excatly how you feel.

Actually, you have to know that some of those who won't just leave you alone used to bully people and they enjoy doing it, and some others feel that they need to nail other beliefs to prove for themselves that they are not wrong in being unbelievers. They will feel so desprate if they noticed that faith is good for most of people because they know that they don't have faith in a deity for instance, and if they could prove that your beliefs are all wrong so they will feel good about their disbelief. this is a challenge for the believer which i hope you will be able to bear.

Nevertheless, there are alot of people in here whom i might see without faith according to my beliefs, but they are honest, and always look for the truth, and after all, they have their own faith and ethics which i highly respect them for.

 

[FFH]

Christine, you are so sweet...you have a great spirit about you...just noticed Christ is in your name...never really looked at that name before that way..

Yeah, I've had some bad days here to, especially today was very waning, but in real life if you were to voice your opinions as we do here you would be pummeled a lot worse...

Here people expect you to voice your beliefs and are ready to pummel you.. and know exactly what to say before you say it...

Most are pros here...

Professional pummelers...

We can sharpen our wits here which can be fun...

 

[wizanda]

All these traditions passed down are baffling our children and after a long time of studying, to be treated as a second class individual for it by many is so unfair…

 

[angellous_evangellous]

Christine,

The best thing to do is just represent what you believe. Don't worry about challenges - let them refine you - think about them and represent your faith more carefully or simply faithfully.

There are *rarely* people who spam RF with anti-religious propaganda, but these folks usually get eaten alive quickly.

Blessings,
AE

 

[xexon]

You'll never learn to fly if you don't leave the nest. Consider my gentle nudges for your benefit. I WANT to see you fly. So do alot of others. x

 

[angellous_evangellous]

...it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in?

Because what you believe affects your actions, and your actions effect all of us. Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable for us to try and to convince one another to believe that which brings us to mutually beneficial actions.

 

[FatMan]

When you have a community of different faiths and beliefs coming together, you also have to remember that misunderstandings and miscommunications can happen in the written word, whether it be from one poster not stating their position or response clearly enough or whether it be sarcasm that didn't translate well into written words.

Sometimes, too - people want to understand other faiths more clearly and when asking questions or asking for clarification on points, it may incorrectly come across as being rude.

 

[Wisdom_Seeker]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.
If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

People put what we are "told to believe" in a place in our brains called our "ego". You can look at it sort of a shell outside your body, to protect you from society and your enviroment rules. If you trust something, you don´t need to put it in your ego, it is just there, but if you don´t trust it, but you were told to trust it, then you are going to put that in you ego.
How do you know which one did you choose? If you get angry when someone insults your belief, then that belief is in your ego, and you don´t really trust it.

Were I´m going with this is, some people have had it with religions, so this is in their ego, because you cannot really say all religions are fake, and thats it, there is no way you can discredit all religions for sure. So this goes to their egos, and when someone appears with a strong faith, they want to change them to what they believe in order to feel better about themselves.

So this is really a both sides issue. There are atheists who don´t trust atheism, because nobody can just say all is fake, and there is no God, there is no way of knowing that, and to believe that, it is only closed-minded. On the other hand, some people believe in a God that they are told to believe, but they don´t trust it, so it is the same situation, this belief goes to the ego, and if someone tells you that it isn´t so, then you will get angry. Anger is the ego´s best tool for protection.

On the other hand, there are people who believe in God, and trust him, because they have experienced for themselves. If you say to a person like that that God doesn´t exists, it makes no difference to his emotions, because he knows that God exists, and that what other people tell him makes no difference at all in matters of trust.

 

[Muffled]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.
If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

It is the nature of debate to challenge what a person believes. If you are on solid ground and not sinking sand your beliefs will withstand the storm. People who find themselves on sinking sand tend to revert to name calling.

 

[worshiper]

dearest Christine,

let them say what they want. you know what you know. and you believe in what you know. they know nothing about you and your belief.

i believe those kind of people are actually the ones who aren't sure about their belief. so they try to make other people's belief look bad to make themselves feel good.

be grateful that you are not one of them.

regards
The Nose Picker

 

[Booko]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?

I don't know why people do that, Christine. Insecurity in their own beliefs, maybe? Who knows.

Well, in the case of some atheists, they may feel they've been abused by a theists, and in this country that translates as "Chrsitian." It does rather paint a big target on your head, I know. If that's the case, give them some time to grow up and get out more and realize that whoever harmed them in the past -- that was them, and not every Christian everywhere.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.

If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

Offensive? I think it's a great post. :hug:

 

[ChristineES]

Thank you all for the wonderful responses.

 

[Quagmire]

That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in?

It's like Booko said, Christine;

Insecurity in their own beliefs, maybe?...

Just as alot of the professed faith of religious people is often founded on convienance and fear, the same can be said for the disbelief of many non-believers.

These are shaky foundations and easily rocked. In both cases the idea that a reasonable, intellegent person might hold the opposite view is extremely threatening. The very existence of such a person is seen as an attack on their belief system in and of itself.

In order to argue intellegentlly and reasonably against someone else's belief or disbelief, the offended party would first have to re-examine their own belief system, which would entail an honest evaluation of why they believe (or disbelieve) what they do in the first place.

Someone in denial can't afford to do that.

So, the only option they have left is to somehow turn you into an unintellegent, unreasonable person (at least in their own minds) by declaring that that's what you are and turning a deaf ear to anything you might have to say in your defense.

 

[*Paul*]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.
If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

Don't let them get to you sister, all they are doing is rehashing very old arguements that have been answered again and again, just spewing the bile of professional anti christians and haters of the bible, people such as Robert Ingersoll and richard dawkins self styled free thinkers who are really in bondage.

If you ever want a debate free chat come and post in the protestant dir section, that is why I have started the chat about anything there to give as break from fighting others and to encourage and refresh each other and hopefully to remind each other how great it is to be a Christian.

 

[Vassal]

When I first joined this forum, I though it was a place where people talked and debated about their respective religions, about their similarities and differences, and answered questions about them. Instead I find myself more and more having to defend my belief and listen to others belittle my beliefs. I don't mind people disagreeing with me and saying so, but why do they have to belittle what I believe?
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good debate and good discussions including with atheists. But it seems that some people can't even accept my even having any faith at all. That makes no sense to me. Why would it bother someone else what I believe in? I am not telling anyone that they have to believe, too. After all, belief is a personal choice for each person and if someone chooses not to believe in any religion at all, we all have to accept that.
If this post is offensive, you have my permission to delete it. I just needed to vent.

If you truly feel that what you believe is true, then you shouldn't care if it bothers other people. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that what you believe is true, but if other people not accepting your beliefs bothers you so much then you probably don't believe what you believe as sincerely as you think you do. On the other hand, if you're angry because someone has brought up something that has made you question if what you believe is true then you should do some research. Don't just ignore it, be sure of what you believe, unless of course you don't care if what you believe is true or not, in which case I would be wondering why you even made this post in the first place.

 

[Bishka]

answered again and again

Perhaps to your satisfaction, but not to theirs.

just spewing the bile of professional anti christians and haters of the bible, people such as Robert Ingersoll and richard dawkins self styled free thinkers who are really in bondage.

Everyone who doesn't agree with the Bible is not a 'bible hater'. :no:

remind each other how great it is to be a Christian.

Or we could try to spread the love around the forum and remind each other how great it is to be alive. Just a thought.

 

[wizanda]

Depends really who you are arguing with....especially if it is yourself....feel allot of us are here to help people see....
Maybe converse and not debate as no one wins in arguing....

 

[worshiper]

I don't know why people do that, Christine. Insecurity in their own beliefs, maybe? Who knows.

Yes!! insecurity that is the word i was meaning to say


excuse my lack of vocabularies... i'm from an "English as a Foreign Language" country

 

[ChristineES]

If you truly feel that what you believe is true, then you shouldn't care if it bothers other people. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that what you believe is true, but if other people not accepting your beliefs bothers you so much then you probably don't believe what you believe as sincerely as you think you do. On the other hand, if you're angry because someone has brought up something that has made you question if what you believe is true then you should do some research. Don't just ignore it, be sure of what you believe, unless of course you don't care if what you believe is true or not, in which case I would be wondering why you even made this post in the first place.

As I said, I am not angry that someone chooses not to believe or that someone does not agree with me, that would be petty. I have been running into posts that go beyond that, they say things that ridicule my and other Christians and even other religions faith. I am strong in my faith,however, I am still a human being, who doesn't like to be ridiculed for what I choose to believe. I don't need to have my opinions accepted by everyone, but I like to have my opinions at least respected, as I always respect different opinions than mine including those I don't agree with. I guess I want what everyone else wants, respect. I know that not everyone will accept me and I never have expected everyone to accept me or my beliefs, but I think that all people deserve respect for their individual beliefs or lack thereof. Most people do that, but there are a few who don't.