It seems to me that some Christians on here do not understand Atheists

[JustWondering]

It seems to me that some Christians, being submerged in a social group that is all about Jesus, assume that Atheists don't believe as they do because one of the following:

1. They are bad people who want to sin and so screw god and his rules.
2. Had something bad happen to them or a loved one and blame god for it.
3. Haven't been exposed to the gospel yet so you need to tell them about it and "save" them.

There is at least one other possibility though:

4. They find the claims/stories of Christianity unconvincing and not rooted in reality.

No anger or sin required, just reason and evidence (or lack thereof). Your religion is not the center of the universe. People do not need deep emotional reasons to disbelieve in Christianity.

I have some questions for Christians. Do you hate Hinduism? Can you even say anything good about Hinduism? How did you come to your realization that Hinduism is not the one true religion?

I'm not picking on Hinduism by the way, it's just the first major non-Abrahamic religion that sprang to mind that has beliefs that contradict those of Christianity.

 

[Flankerl]

Dude we've been living with them for 1900 years and they still don't get us.

 

[Kirran]

Dude we've been living with them for 1900 years and they still don't get us.

That's almost as long as the Hindus have been living with them! :O

 

[Neo Deist]

The reverse is also true. Many atheists do not understand Christians, and many will go out of their way to belittle them, try and prove that their religion is false, and verbally assault anyone that identifies as a Christian.

 

[JustWondering]

The reverse is also true. Many atheists do not understand Christians, and many will go out of their way to belittle them, try and prove that their religion is false, and verbally assault anyone that identifies as a Christian.

So do you think exposing a harmful religion as being false is a bad thing?

 

[Neo Deist]

So do you think exposing a harmful religion as being false is a bad thing?

Who determines what is harmful or false?

 

[Nietzsche]

Who determines what is harmful or false?

Golden Rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.

You used to be a cop, you ought to know this!

 

[columbus]

The reverse is also true. Many atheists do not understand Christians, and many will go out of their way to belittle them, try and prove that their religion is false, and verbally assault anyone that identifies as a Christian.

I think the main reason that this happens so much on RF is that it is a level playing field. Real life rarely is.
In real life Christians often feel completely entitled to say mean and false things about anybody who doesn't share their irrational beliefs. And they usually get away with it because even nicer Christians won't normally call them out.
RF is different. The same standards apply to everyone, and many Christians aren't used to that.
Tom

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

It seems to me that some Christians, being submerged in a social group that is all about Jesus, assume that Atheists don't believe as they do because one of the following:

1. They are bad people who want to sin and so screw god and his rules.
2. Had something bad happen to them or a loved one and blame god for it.
3. Haven't been exposed to the gospel yet so you need to tell them about it and "save" them.

There is at least one other possibility though:

4. They find the claims/stories of Christianity unconvincing and not rooted in reality.

No anger or sin required, just reason and evidence (or lack thereof). Your religion is not the center of the universe. People do not need deep emotional reasons to disbelieve in Christianity.

I have some questions for Christians. Do you hate Hinduism? Can you even say anything good about Hinduism? How did you come to your realization that Hinduism is not the one true religion?

I'm not picking on Hinduism by the way, it's just the first major non-Abrahamic religion that sprang to mind that has beliefs that contradict those of Christianity.

That 4th item is me. Born in Canada, in what used to be known as "Toronto the Good," I certainly had exposure to Christianity. I had Sunday school, too, and some church services. No idea if I was baptized (I'm children's aid from the age of about 4).

But it dawned on me quite early that what I was being told in Sunday school and church was simply not reasonable. It did not square with the world that I could know. And so, like many other childish things, it simply got left behind with Santa and fairies and other such. In terms of how these things square with reality, the Christian story simply did not fit any better.

And then in later life, as I learned more and more about the world, scientifically, socially, historically and so forth, Christianity fared even worse in my thinking -- sometimes seeming to me to be the proximate cause of some very bad stuff indeed.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

So do you think exposing a harmful religion as being false is a bad thing?

Its more exposing a harmless (edit or false) religion as if it were harmful.

Using the harmless religion for his own purposes either to convert, kill, save, heal to the other side to argue and debate over what you dont believe, is abusing something that in itself cannot do.

Both Christian X and Atheist Y are abusing christianity as if it were a tool for some sort of opossition against the other party. All along both are thinking "that the religion" is what saves (former) or harms (latter) people...

Drop the book. Not all christians want to convert and stereotypes of fundementalist.

Not all atheist even care what christians believe nonelessthen go against their own logicnof convincing a christian god doesnt exist when he doesnt believe in him to begin with.

Its not the religion. Thats a scapegoat for what you two really have issues with.

Nartles my nerves.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Any religious follower who has convinced themselves that their God objectively exists is going to have a hard time understanding atheists. They shouldn't as in their daily lives they carry a good deal of skepticism with them, which is what makes them able to recognize all the other gods as false, and only theirs as real or "true". But they're blinded by their faith...

It's not just Christians who have this problem.

 

[JustWondering]

Who determines what is harmful or false?

As for harmful, that should be obvious right? Wouldn't a religion that bans it adherents from modern medicine for themselves and their children be considered harmful? Wouldn't a religion that stifles critical thinking and causes people to deny science and reason be harmful?

As for false, why not use reason and evidence to determine that like we do for everything else? Why should religions that make supremely extraordinary claims be given a free pass when they offer NO credible evidence whatsoever in any form to support their claims? If someone told you they could fly by flapping their arms you would likely call BS, right? We live in a world where a handful of people dictate how we take care of the only planet we have to live on (regulations on pollution, use/fabrication of weapons of mass destruction). Humanities capacity for destruction has already far outpaced our capacity for reason and getting along. I firmly believe that indulging the whims and demands of religions that warp people's sense of reality and stifle critical thinking is detrimental to our species future. People don't worship Ra or Zeus anymore. People call it mythology and realize it is obviously just stories made up by people long ago. Then they turn around and embrace the mythology their parents taught them and say "but this is 100% fact, even though there is no more logical reason or evidence supporting it then Ra or Zeus!". Don't you want to live in a world filled with rational people?

 

[Neo Deist]

Golden Rule. He who has the gold, makes the rules.

You used to be a cop, you ought to know this!

Still am a cop!

 

[LuisDantas]

The reverse is also true. Many atheists do not understand Christians, and many will go out of their way to belittle them, try and prove that their religion is false, and verbally assault anyone that identifies as a Christian.

Really? I don't that is true even in communities with atheist majorities.

 

[Neo Deist]

As for false, why not use reason and evidence to determine that like we do for everything else?

I am a deist. By that nature, I am 100% behind being philosophical and logical. I also believe in God, but my belief has nothing to do with any holy book or organized religion. Where atheists see random happenchance, I see design and purpose. Neither position can be proven beyond a doubt. It is then left up to personal belief.

Don't you want to live in a world filled with rational people?

As long as there are extremes on both ends, there will always be conflict. Why not just accept that we are all unique individuals with the freedom to make our own choices? If my belief in God causes you no harm, then why worry about it?

If you demand that believers stop believing and conform to your ideals, then you are basically trying to be dictatorial.

 

[Deathbydefault]

The reverse is also true. Many atheists do not understand Christians, and many will go out of their way to belittle them, try and prove that their religion is false, and verbally assault anyone that identifies as a Christian.

Many but not a majority.
I would say more atheists understand Christians than the other way around, as many or most atheists used to be religious.
At the very least, they understand the mindset of the religious environment they grew up in.

I fully understand how a fundamentalist christian household operates in modern day america, because I grew up in one.

Who determines what is harmful or false?

It isn't "who determines" but "how do we determine."

Rationality, logic, observation, free discourse and the list goes on.
There is a lot more that goes into it than "this is the word of god and therefore correct,"

 

[Neo Deist]

Really? I don't that is true even in communities with atheist majorities.

I have seen it so...

 

[Neo Deist]

There is a lot more that goes into it than "this is the word of god and therefore correct,"

I am a deist. I already reject divinely inspired holy books.

 

[JustWondering]

Its more exposing a harmless (edit or false) religion as if it were harmful.

Please see post 12.

Using the harmless religion for his own purposes either to convert, kill, save, heal to the other side to argue and debate over what you dont believe, is abusing something that in itself cannot do.

Both Christian X and Atheist Y are abusing christianity as if it were a tool for some sort of opossition against the other party. All along both are thinking "that the religion" is what saves (former) or harms (latter) people...

The problem with this argument is that Atheism does not hold up fantasies as reality and use said fantasies to invoke obedience from its followers.

Drop the book. Not all christians want to convert and stereotypes of fundementalist.

I never said all, I said some.

Not all atheist even care what christians believe nonelessthen go against their own logicnof convincing a christian god doesnt exist when he doesnt believe in him to begin with.

Which is a shame. I have no interest in seeing the world going back to being ruled by theocracies that despise reason and free speech because it threatens their power.

Its not the religion. Thats a scapegoat for what you two really have issues with.

Nartles my nerves.

Religion's continued existence is a symptom of Humanities short sightedness, greed, willful ignorance, and inability to get along. If our species is to have a good future or possibly any future I believe we need to confront our flaws and problems with a rational mind in reality and leave all the supernatural mumbo jumbo for entertainment in books, movies, and television where it belongs. Saying religion is harmless when it quite obviously warps peoples sense of reality and hinders critical thinking is willful ignorance.

 

[JustWondering]

I am a deist. By that nature, I am 100% behind being philosophical and logical. I also believe in God, but my belief has nothing to do with any holy book or organized religion. Where atheists see random happenchance, I see design and purpose. Neither position can be proven beyond a doubt. It is then left up to personal belief.

That begs the question of who designed the universe for what purpose? The human brain is wired to see patterns. This has helped us out but it also misguides us when we see patterns that aren't really there.

As long as there are extremes on both ends, there will always be conflict. Why not just accept that we are all unique individuals with the freedom to make our own choices? If my belief in God causes you no harm, then why worry about it?

If you demand that believers stop believing and conform to your ideals, then you are basically trying to be dictatorial.

Yes, there will always be conflict as long as there are two people who can interact with each other. I use words and ideas to fight this conflict. Should I not have the freedom to do that?