Is Christianity a Negative Religion?

[lunamoth]

OK, obviously my answer is no.

But people who leave Christianity, either drifting off into a secular life or actually converting to a different religion, sometimes site a negative perspective toward humanity or too much emphasis on 'sin' in Christianity as the reason they were turned off from it.

Do you agree that Christianity has a more negative outlook on things? Please say whether you are or were a Christian, and if you left what made you do so. Was it the teachings, the people, a particular experience?

From my own perspective, I think Christianity is a very (the most) hopeful and positive religion. I can understand however that the emphasis on sin, and especially the doctrine of Original Sin, is viewed by many as a negative aspect of Christianity, especially when combined with some Protestant teachings about predestination and hell. Personally I think that while some meditation on sin and hell (as separation from God) can deepen our faith, to only emphasize these aspects is a shallow, hollow approach to Christianity and yes, I consider that a very negative face of the religion. It can also be noted that not all Christian denominations, notably the Eastern Orthodox, have Original Sin as part of their doctrine, and the ideas of theosis and apacatastasis are not/have not always been viewed as heresies.

 

[Aqualung]

I don't think it's negative, but it's certainly an outlook that takes a lot of effort to follow. A lot of people equate effort with negativity, though, so maybe in that regard it's yes.

 

[ChristineES]

How can a Religion whose biggest rules are 1. Love God with all your heart, mind and strength and 2. Love your neighbor as yourself... be negative?
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[Ðanisty]

I think it's only natural that people leaving a religion would be dissatisfied with it.

 

[Mister_T]

OK, obviously my answer is no.

But people who leave Christianity, either drifting off into a secular life or actually converting to a different religion, sometimes site a negative perspective toward humanity or too much emphasis on 'sin' in Christianity as the reason they were turned off from it.

Do you agree that Christianity has a more negative outlook on things? Please say whether you are or were a Christian, and if you left what made you do so. Was it the teachings, the people, a particular experience?

From my own perspective, I think Christianity is a very (the most) hopeful and positive religion. I can understand however that the emphasis on sin, and especially the doctrine of Original Sin, is viewed by many as a negative aspect of Christianity, especially when combined with some Protestant teachings about predestination and hell. Personally I think that while some meditation on sin and hell (as separation from God) can deepen our faith, to only emphasize these aspects is a shallow, hollow approach to Christianity and yes, I consider that a very negative face of the religion. It can also be noted that not all Christian denominations, notably the Eastern Orthodox, have Original Sin as part of their doctrine, and the ideas of theosis and apacatastasis are not/have not always been viewed as heresies.

The message of Christianity is beautiful. There is no other like it IMO. Unfortunatley, it only a few to make it seem ugly.

The problem I see with Christianity is that people tend to follow one of the two "greatest of all rules" more than the other.

For those of you who are not familiar, the two greatest commands were to love God with all of you heart, body and soul, and to love others as you would love yourself. A lot of Christians tend to neglect (sometimes, completely disregard) the latter while practicing the former. You can see this in a number of ways by peoples actions and attitudes towards their fellow man.

People tend to get caught up in self righteousness and elitism, thus viewing others who differ from them in a negative light. They tend to view/treat the "lost" as beneath them (sometimes not intentionally). And a lot of time this results in hateful actions and motives. But this is not what God has commanded. I forget the book and the verse but it went something like "Anyone who says they love God but hate their brother is a liar. He who loves God loves his brother."

Jesus didn't say one was more important than the other. He did not say to put those in any kind of order. He said to do both.

I think if people did both equally than a lot of the bad rep that Christianity gets would dissolve.

 

[Jaymes]

How can a Religion whose biggest rules are 1. Love God with all your heart, mind and strength and 2. Love your neighbor as yourself... be negative?
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While that seems to be the focus of the religion, I'd say the followers (at least where I am) focus much more on the hellfire and brimstone aspects. "You deserve to go to hell", "Jesus is the only reason you aren't", "you're a sinner not worthy of heaven", etc. Those are things I've heard multiple preachers say, btw. :areyoucra

 

[lunamoth]

I forget the book and the verse but it went something like "Anyone who says they love God but hate their brother is a liar. He who loves God loves his brother."

I think you may mean in 1 John 4:

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[b] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[c] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Good call! This passage is the heart of my faith.

 

[ChristineES]

While that seems to be the focus of the religion, I'd say the followers (at least where I am) focus much more on the hellfire and brimstone aspects. "You deserve to go to hell", "Jesus is the only reason you aren't", "you're a sinner not worthy of heaven", etc. Those are things I've heard multiple preachers say, btw. :areyoucra

Preachers say those things, but Jesus never said them himself. I listen to Jesus' words and not men's. :yes:

 

[Runlikethewind]

It seems most important in this question to separate the teachings of Christ from those who practice/teach/follow/proclaim those teachings. I think that the teachings of Christ are inherently positive but that this positivity is often lost in those people who try to follow it. I think that everyone who has had any experience with Christianity can point to some person or preacher or whatever who was negative in the way they proclaimed the message or focus to heavily on the negative aspects of the teachings of Christ. If we go by Christian people one can easily conclude that Christianity is negative. But we should not judge the teachings of Christ on how they are followed but on what they are.

The message of Christ is a message of love, it is a positive message, I think. As a Catholic I have seen the Church in recent years begin to focus much more on the positive than it has in the past. My dad even complains that the priests don't talk about sin anymore, he actually missed the fire and brimstone stuff. Of course I think there is a place for reminding ourselves that we are not perfect and that we do fail to live up to the teachings of Christ and that we need to try harder, but this doesn't have to be seen as negativity. It can be seen as a motivation toward self improvement to focus on sin once in a while, and self improvement is a positive thing.

 

[Reverend Rick]

If you look for negativity, you most likely will find it.

 

[Mike182]

i was a Christian, i was at an evangelical church, though i never considered myself an evangelical. i left the faith because of the negative teachings on homosexuality, and the attitudes of some of the people within the religion.

 

[Mister_T]

I think you may mean in 1 John 4:




Good call! This passage is the heart of my faith.

Yeah that's one! Thanks.

 

[BFD_Zayl]

often those people have has traumatic experiences with radicals within the religion, if not that then something that they see is wrong. christianity is a very positive religion promoting peace. it is only when rulers with a thirst for power mis-use it and its people does it become negative (I.E. inqusition, crusades, etc.)

 

[constantine]

oh, nothing negative about being brainwashed for the last 2000 years. follow christianity or die. nothing negative about that religion.:no: lts like there's nothing wrong with building a country on slavery.... nothing wrong with that:no: :areyoucra

 

[lunamoth]

oh, nothing negative about being brainwashed for the last 2000 years. follow christianity or die. nothing negative about that religion.:no: lts like there's nothing wrong with building a country on slavery.... nothing wrong with that:no: :areyoucra

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm in that post?

 

[Ðanisty]

oh, nothing negative about being brainwashed for the last 2000 years. follow christianity or die. nothing negative about that religion.:no: lts like there's nothing wrong with building a country on slavery.... nothing wrong with that:no: :areyoucra

Yeah, but you aren't judging Christianity, the belief. You're judging Christianity, the organized religion.

 

[logician]

Considering that Xianity has killed and tortured millions over the last 2k years, as well as destroyed many cultures, I would consider it to be a very negative religion.

 

[lilithu]

Like all religions, Christianity has a positive side and a negative side. It is unfortunate that so many people are taught the negative side, and also taught that's all there is.

Addendum:
oops, sorry.

Do you agree that Christianity has a more negative outlook on things?

Christianity, meaning the teachings of Jesus? Or Christianity meaning the official doctrine for the last however many years? As much as I revere the teachings of Jesus, as well as I get along with most "red-letter" Christians, I cannot help but believe that the idea of damnation for those "outside the church" is one of the more negative/damaging ideas in religion.

Please say whether you are or were a Christian, and if you left what made you do so. Was it the teachings, the people, a particular experience?

No, I'm not Christian. I was from the age of 9 until around 15. It was both the teachings and the people that made me leave. I could not reconcile the teachings of hell for all non-Christians and predestination with a just, loving God. When I asked about this, I was made to feel as if the act of questioning was sinful. That was at a conservative Lutheran school. When I was in high school, I hooked up very briefly with some non-denominational evangelical Christians, who told me to abandon studying science because it would weaken my faith. And when we prayed (out loud in a circle) I had the uncomfortable impression that each person there was trying to outdo each other in piety. Strange to say, but that may have been even more off-putting than the theology that I couldn't accept.

Looking back, I also realize that I never was a trinitarian, no matter how hard I tried to be. I believed Jesus was the Son of God, but not God the Son. I believed he was holy, wonderful, beautiful, amazing, etc. (Still do.) But when I thought of God, when I prayed, when I argued, it was always the "Father" that I had in mind. And when I thought of Jesus, it was always as a human who loved and suffered greatly. (And I never understood back then what the Holy Ghost was all about.)

 

[constantine]

Yeah, but you aren't judging Christianity, the belief. You're judging Christianity, the organized religion.

l dont judge

 

[Ðanisty]

Like all religions, Christianity has a positive side and a negative side. It is unfortunate that so many people are taught the negative side, and also taught that's all there is.

It's equally unfortunate when people are taught only the positive side and don't understand what has happened historically and why that upsets some people. The best is obviously for people to look at all sides. :yes: