Why don't people understand?

Question

I'm continually amazed at how scornful the reactions are to Christian principles. True, many have committed hate and atrocity in the name of Christ, but so have those of other religions and those of no religion. Besides, how do the actions of some of the adherents of a worldview become the sole factor for judging that worldview's legitamicy? (Muslims, where you at?) Should it not be based on its historical/scientific veracity? Genuine Christians evangelize out of concern for fellow man. Would you not warn someone if they were driving of a cliff, even if the driver thought you were ignorant/misled/bigoted, etc. You have free will. God does not force Christ on people; neither do genuine Christians. But outreach is an essential part of the faith. Don't ya'll understand that? If you hate my beliefs, then go your way, but don't insult us b/c we reach out to you and desire as many as possible to be saved. The vitriol just shows your close-mindedness.

Answer 1

Why do you have a problem with the fact that the ridiculers prophesied in God's word are here?

2Peter 3:. 3 For you know this first, that in the last days there will come ridiculers with their ridicule, proceeding according to their own desires 4 and saying: “Where is this promised presence of his? Why, from the day our forefathers fell asleep [in death], all things are continuing exactly as from creation’s beginning.”

Answer 2

"Genuine Christians evangelize out of concern for fellow man..." It has been my experience that genuine Christians evangelize out of some deep-seated need to be right. At any cost.

"God does not force Christ on people; neither do genuine Christians. But outreach is an essential part of the faith. Don't ya'll understand that?" You people preach at me as if I have no education, as if I am an idiot, as if I don't have a clue about the world. You people knock on my door and try to force conversation on me whether I'm having a good day, or whether I have guests in my home, or whether I have other pressing appointments. You people think you're the only religion on the planet. You're not even a majority religion - compared to the numbers of believers in the world's major religions, Christianity is a minor religion.

"If you hate my beliefs, then go your way, but don't insult us b/c we reach out to you and desire as many as possible to be saved. The vitriol just shows your close-mindedness." Where do you get that I HATE your beliefs? You assume that if I ain't wid ya, I'm agin ya? What a George W. Bush flipping attitude! You people don't see gray; you only see black and white. By the way, MY vitriol doesn't even exist. You people claim to hold the keys to truth and right and all that, but you spend your lives telling lies, putting down anyone who dares to believe differently than you, and trying to foist your version of what's good on the rest of the world.

I will tell you this: if I had the option of selecting a religion based on the members of that religion that I'd met, Christianity would be the first crossed off the list.

Answer 3

I dare say that many people who attack believers of any specific religion usually have had bad personal experiences with them, which have made them develop such a negative reaction against their religion as a whole. Mind you, I'm not justifying their reaction, nor agreeing with it, but only trying to understand it. In the case of Christianity, anti-Christian attitudes can also develop as a reaction against what is perceived as a history of Christian oppression in the Western world. You actually give out a clue for understanding this phenomenon of anti-religious hatred in your question: you say that genuine Christians do not force their religion on people. Well, unfortunately many Christians do (and many more did in the past) impose their beliefs on others, in direct and indirect ways. Think of the intolerance that some Christians still show today, for example in the way many self-described Evangelical Christians despise homosexual unions, or in the way many authorities of the Catholic Church have claimed that using a condom is a sin even when using it would prevent deaths. This, I would say, is the main reason why many people have developed such strong reactions against Christianity as a whole. I agree with you in that this fact alone shouldn't be sufficient to rationally disqualify the whole Christian worldview (which should be judged for its own merits), but humans are not precisely characterized for keeping a cool head when their emotions are stirred. And who would blame them for that?

Answer 4

I don't believe in one's spreading the true faith, whether it be Christianity, Islam, Budhism or Satanism. Conversion always takes on financial and political meanings. That doesn't mean one shouldn't convey the message, hand out leaflets and send e-mails. Outreach is all good.What I am against is talk like 'you are like a newborn child who doesn't know the right path, let me rescue you'. As God told Muhammed, 'If I had wanted, all would believe.' I don't think any religion, including Christianity is specifically violent. But when I get remarks that go 'Islam is a warrior religion', then I fall into the need to bring out the verses in The Bible that refer to violence. But when Clausewitz talks 'The purpose of war is the destruction of the enemy', no one calls him a violent maniac. The corresponding verses in The Koran and The Bible should be taken in context, they refer to strategies that should be followed in specific situations.Man has always found a cover for his bloodlust, and religion is a convenient one.I'll be a 'Muslim there' whenever a subject that reconciles our religions come up.

Answer 5

The ego evangelizes; real experience of God realizes that evangelism is problematic. Those who are really attracted to a thought system's messenger are attracted when the messenger doesn't preach or try to instill any concepts - just love and understanding. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us -- whether christian, atheist, etc... (very much including me here) -- think we need to evangelize our message. Just look at how you've been turned off by the anti-christian 'evangelizing' - it never works. And if a group of people support evangelizing and trying to change society to fit their beliefs and concepts, then that group is going to be treated with disdain because it says nothing about love - only separation.

Answer 6

What would be your reaction if someone came up to you and said "I found this great religion that I'd like you to join. It's called Satanism. It's fantastic, and it can really help you out."?

I don't have a problem with Christians who don't understand my beliefs. I do have a problem with those who feel the need to "change" me or "convert" me. It's what I believe in, and someone questioning that or thinking they know better than me is insulting at best.

Answer 7

Would you appreciate it if every atheist you met tried to make you stop being a christian?

No, certainly not.

All everyone else asks for is the same consideration.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, yes?

And another thing: sure, I'll bet you feel genuinly concerned about other peoples "souls" and the like. But don't forget what the road to hell is paved with: good intentions.

Answer 8

God Bless<><

Answer 9

At first I wasn't going to touch this question, but I am going to because I feel there are people who are wrapped up in their own
selfless world with their money and all their riches. they don't take the time nor want to take the time to really know what the other part of us people are doing and what is really going on in the world . All they know is what they have..
I am not like those people nor would I ever be heartless .. I can't answer for anyone except for what I know and I have just explained it to you...
If this doesn't answer your question or at least some of it then
at least you know how I feel...

Answer 10

Christianity is a criminal business enterprise... the world's most successful and longest-running MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) scam. Evangelizing is a key part of the marketing plan. The main product is institutionalized, dogmatic insanity.

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"Selling eternal life is an unbeatable business, with no customers ever asking for their money back after the goods are not delivered." ~ Victor J. Stenger

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"Businesses may come and go, but religion will last forever, for in no other endeavor does the consumer blame himself for product failure."  ~ Harvard Lamphoon, "Doon" (paraphrase)
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