I believe in Jesus Christ. In college, I learned about many different religions. Never once did I have HATE toward any other religion/deities. So why is it such a strong HATE towards Jesus Christ? Why the hostility? I will share why I think hate rears its ugly head anytime Jesus is brought up in a conversation with or around non believers. I think its because the truth hurts. I have noticed the same type of hate when the truth its revealed in other instances. One can talk about the Dalai Lama /Buddha/satan/atheists beliefs- all day around me. I believe every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is LORD. So I listen and ask my questions ( if speaking with ppl who believe different from me about religion) and move on with my life. I share my testimony, maybe a few verses, then I'm done. I do not intentionally INSULT their beliefs!
But others seem to get a raging attitude and have the most sarcastic, disrespectful and inconsiderate comments about Jesus Christ. They also seem to be eager to break my spirit or try to make me feel dumb about my beliefs!...keep in mind that i don associate with rude ppl on purpose..the rudeness is hidden until religion becomes a topic! Someone asked me at work "how do you deal with the stress of having 3 sons?" I answered.." I pray a lot and lean on Jesus for strength and wisdom"...you would have thought that I said "I kill babies with chainsaws and rape old women"...the look I was given said 1000 words...and I just could not understand why at the time.
Why the hate??? What is your opinion?
First, you generalize all non-believers which would be fine if there were only a handful of exceptions. But explicitly anti-theistic atheists are only a fraction of the totality of non-believers. However, I include myself in that anti-theistic category.
Next, to answer your question, I don't hate the people holding those beliefs. Like you, I think the other side just has it wrong. But unlike you, I have good reasons.
You make assertions about things you cannot possibly know. You mention specific characteristics of God and talk of His wants, desires and plan. But you cannot possibly know that. I don't claim to know. I think that there is no reason to believe in God because there is no evidence to support the existence of God. [And by "you", I mean Christians in general. I too must generalize].
I don't claim with 100% certainty that "God does not exist". Instead, I say "God probably doesn't exist" as absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. I whole-heartedly think that everything has a naturalistic explanation to it - everything can and will eventually be explained by science. I think as humans we should labour towards a comprehensive understanding of the universe.
But Christianity - or religion in particular - is not only intellectual stagnation, but moral stagnation. It starts with the conclusion "God exists" and then works to find evidence, which is the exact opposite of how science works. Then it has the audacity to base a moral code off these unproven assumptions like "God exists and has properties X, Y, and Z", and it tries to enforce it. Not enforcing it through education or awareness or sound logic and reasoning, but by intimidation. "If you do A, B, or C, you're going to Hell where you'll roast forever!!!".
I don't believe in God for the same reason you don't believe in Zeus, Apollo, Thor, or Ammon-Ra. I just go one God further. I find the moral code of Christianity to be very devaluing of humanity. A God who doles out infinite punishments for finite crimes is not a fair judge nor a moral being. A God who screws up in creating humanity is not a perfect God. A God who commands genocide is not worthy of my admiration. A God who kills every first-born in Egypt is not worthy of my respect.
Nor are the institutions that advance God's appalling message. The Catholic Church in particular. These institutions are full of greed, corruption, and hypocrisy. They promote their anti-gay, homophobic agendas with poor reasoning based on obscure Bible verses. They pass around the collection plate and try to make you feel guilty to give to the starving Africans as they laze about in their golden, priceless art-adorned palaces at the Vatican. They spend hundreds of millions of dollars shielding pedophile priests from the cold, rational grip of justice. They spent decades in my country beating, killing, and infecting Native children. This was up until the year 1996.
They support dictatorships and they flagrantly oppose scientific advancements like stem cell research that would save millions of lives. They oppose contraception use that would save millions of lives. And they all do this based on this flawed morality. This disgusting notion that God is pleased with all this. Their unproven assumption.
Fanatical religious followers have done more harm to the world than anything I can think of. And docile beliefs are precisely the same as fanatical ones. This is what makes moderate religion dangerous.
I support people thinking for themselves and using evidence, logic, and reason to determine what is true and moral. I support people shedding the ball-and-chain of religious oppression that threaten eternity in Hell for non-sins like being a homosexual. The very same ball-and-chain that tells them WHAT to think, not HOW to think critically.
If your religion leads you to personal happiness and does not detract from the happiness of others, I wish you all the best in your faith. But realize this. Your faith is not a fact. It is a belief. Do not trumpet it as a fact and do not expect others to follow your highly immoral code of ethics. And where your religion does detract from the happiness of others and their freedoms, you bet your Holy Cross I'm going to denounce the barbarism and incivility and anti-human nature of your beliefs and expose them for what they really are: intolerant bigotry.
Hope that answers your question.
