Why do so many assume that because you are a Christian, it is because were either brainwashed or you're stupid

Question

First, those of you who say Christians are either brainwashed or just gullible...you're wrong! I choose to believe in God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Bible as God's word through faith. I don't need any more proof that there is a God than I needed proof to believe the things I was taught in kindergarden by a mere human. I believe because I feel a purpose in life as a result of my faith and my beliefs, I enjoy fellowship with others and know that it gives me strength and peace to do so, not because I'm afraid or because I feel I have to prove anything to anyone. I agree that there are so-called Christians who point fingers and ridicule those who do not believe as they do and that is wrong. God tells us to share gently and with love His grace and mercy, not point fingers and judge. God is to be the judge! The existence of God cannot be proven in a laboratory or through the complicated mechanisms of logic. Neither can love, nor beauty, nor happiness, but that does not mean they are not real. In the same way, just because you cannot "prove" that God exists as you can prove a chemical formula, it does not mean that He is not real. It only means you are using the wrong tools.

I ran out of room for the ? And it does not make me stupid because I believe differently than you! But it makes you ignorant if you believe that only YOU have the right beliefs or answers.

I'm sorry, I was directing that most recent comment, above, to Dino!

Captain, how do you know I don't know all the facts? What makes you an authority on MY personal beliefs or knowledge?

Jack, I don't need "proof". I believe by faith was my point. How do you know the word cat is spelled c-a-t? Because someone told you it is so. What's the difference?

Dark, maybe I was and maybe I wasn't brought up in a Christian household but my point is that you were taught right from wrong by certain beliefs in your household too. Would you call that brainwashing? Or is someone teaching you what they know and trying to guide you?

casingledad, a large part of me agrees with you. It is too bad that we can't just love one another and be compassionate towards one another even if we do believe different things. I am a Christian but I don't believe it is right for me to force my beliefs or tell others they are going to hell. That is not the way I believe God wants His children to behave. I agree that we should all just be able to get along and agree to disagree!

Todd~The word "believe" in the Bible means more than simply agreeing in our minds that something might be true. It means "trust"—that we believe so strongly in God that we are willing to commit our lives to Him and live the way we know He wants us to live.

Suppose you were walking along a path and you came to a bridge which crossed a deep canyon. You might look at it and believe that it would hold you, and you might even see other people walking across it so you knew it would hold our weight. But so far your "belief" in the bridge is only in your head. When do you really believe the bridge will hold you? You only really believe it when you are willing to commit your life to it and actually walk across it.

It is the same way with Christ. Yes, we can believe that God exists, but God wants us to come to know Him personally. And He has bridged the gap between us by sending His Son to remove the barrier of sin and become that "bridge."

Answer 1

You work against that which you try to fight for in saying that you take everything by faith and don't require proof, that God's existence cannot be proven in a labratory or through the "complicated mechanisms of logic". You are feeding into their exact argument that one does not need logic and reason to come to the conclusion that God exists, only "blind" faith, which is why they accuse Christians of not being smart you have allowed them to use your own words against you. You automatically concede that God's existence cannot be explained through logic and reason, then if they are intelligent enough to pick up on it which there are quite a few who are will turn that into Christians do not have the ability to be logical or reasonable when it comes to matters of faith. By doing this you have thus lost all powers of logic and reason to supposed "free thinkers" who now believe that they are intellectually superior to you and their stance can be defended through these methods.

"On the other hand, you can prove God's existence. A building is proof that there was a builder. A painting is absolute proof that there was a painter. You don't need to see him to believe he exists. His painting is all the evidence you need. It wouldn't be there if he didn't exist. Creation proves absolutely that there is a Creator. There wouldn't be a creation if there wasn't a Creator. A child can understand that.

You can also prove that the Bible is God's supernatural revelation to man. All you have to do is study the irrefutable evidence of Bible prophecy (see Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3, Ezekiel 38-40, Joel 2, etc). Go to www.lost-ark.com to see incredible scientific and medical facts in the Bible, proving that it is supernatural in origin. "But . . ." you say, "What about all the mistakes in the Bible?" There aren't any. It's all God-inspired. I've been reading it every day for more than two decades, and I haven't found even one so-called "mistake."

Who Then Made God?
God (like space) has neither beginning nor end. He created time and subjected man to it and because we are subject to time, logic demands that everything must have a beginning and an end. However, God dwells outside of time, in "eternity." Again, you can prove this by studying Bible prophecy, and seeing how God knows the beginning of time from the end."*

The problem is you have it backwards. The proof of God's existence is there for eyes that are willing to see and can be proven both through logic and reason, but evolution is nothing more than a theory that is unprovable, which you can't use the scientist told me so any more than the bible told me so.

"You can't prove evolution. It is something you have to accept by "faith." You have believed what you have heard. You have seen and had faith in evolutionary drawings of reversed osteoporosis. Charles Darwin (the founding father of the faith) said: "I was a young man with unformed ideas. I threw out queries, suggestions, wondering all the time over everything; and to my astonishment the ideas took like wildfire. People made a religion out of them!" They still do. Their language is language of faith. They use words like "believe, assume, surmise, suspect, speculate, perhaps, probably, possibly . . ." Evolution can only be accepted on blind faith . . . because it cannot be proven."*

But like I said, remember this, if a person doesn't believe in God then through all your logic and reasoning they aren't going to believe in the things of God. It's the I will believe it if I see it mentality., but the problem with that train of thought is "We believe in many things that we can’t see. (See Optical Illusions tract) Ask a skeptic if he has ever seen the wind. Has he seen history? Has he ever seen his brain? We see the effects of the wind, but the wind is invisible. We have records of history, but it is by "faith" that we believe certain historical events happened. Television waves are invisible, but an antenna and a receiver can detect their presence. The unregenerate man likewise has a "receiver." However, the receiver (his spirit) is dead because of sin (Ephesians 2:1). He needs to be plugged into the life of God; then he will come alive and be aware of the invisible spiritual realm."**

Answer 2

It's not necessarily that you're stupid or brainwashed. It's that you choose to look at things objectively. If you read the bible objectively and many people on here post quotes to support what I am talking here, there are many places where what the bible says just makes no sense. Such as places where it endorses keeping slaves or raping women etc. I understand that there is good moral values in the bible, but it's surrounded by an overwhelming amount of stupidity that makes me doubt the validity as a whole. This does not invalidate the parables and moral teachings however.

I can see how you have your belief in god much like a kindergartner learning ABC's or what have you. However, I believe you have to suspend your belief in provable entities to believe in god and that is something I am not willing to do. I believe in mathematics. I believe in science. They have been proven to be useful in my every day life. You say you need God because he helps you to have strength and peace. For myself, I find strength and peace without needing god.

I also agree with you that there are so-called Christians pointing fingers, ridiculing everyone that doesn't believe and judging. They seem to forget "Judge not lest ye be judged."

All that being said, I will say I'm an atheist. I believe there is good to be found in the bible, although wading through the absurdity of some of it makes it difficult to find the good. I also believe that it is a rulebook passed down through the ages written by normal men. It has nothing to do with divine inspiration. These are people expressing their common sense or poor sense if you want to bring some of the poorer parts of the bible into question.
Thanks for having an open mind about things and asking this question.

Answer 3

I am Christian but admit I have a zillion questions about things that quite frankly don't make sense to me. Not just the stories about a talking tempting serpent or a great flood, but the violence in the bible, degradation of women, acceptance of slavery etc.

I guess that they figure in order to believe this people must be simpletons. I think it was the sign of the times and some things are just metaphors. I can see where they are coming from though. The bible has been written by men and is so old that negative aspects can creep into it.

One atheist told me the bible is suppose to be the model for how to act and that it's Gods word so those negative things I have stated must be what God wants. I will admit I was at a loss for an answer, the best I could come up with was the paragraph above.

BTW, I know a lot of very smart Christians that could tear apart most athiests in a standard IQ test.

Answer 4

I spent 3 years debating withmyself over the fact of if theres a God or not no one brainwashed me I reasearched as much of the facts as I could find to provide proof there is a God And it supriesed me to find out that what turned me to christ was talking with none believers. They would show proof there is no God and when I went back to check there facts they were ussually wrong and the people they were quoting were actually prooving the existance of God. I am neither brainwashed or gullible. I went were the facts lead me and haven't regreted it since. I have also learned those that aren't able to carry faith all the way look for excuses to refute the existance of God as a way to cover there butts ( my source there is asking non believers you can't be wrong if it comes from the horses mouth).
Self honesty is what so few are lacking and it's by lacking that that they look for the easiest answer..........

Answer 5

"I believe because I feel a purpose in life as a result of my faith and my beliefs"

That doesn't make any sense. You believe as a result of your beliefs? You have faith as a result of your faith? That's circular logic.

"I don't need any more proof that there is a God than I needed proof to believe the things I was taught in kindergartener by a mere human."

I think that's the answer to your question. You believe in god even though you don't have proof just like a kindergartener believes in Peter Pan without any proof. Do you believe in Peter Pan also? Do you believe in the tooth fairy? This is probably why people call you brainwashed and or stupid.

Answer 6

The Christian god does not exist. This has been proven. You are just not aware of it. That's why atheists call you gullible and/or stupid. I don't like to be so insulting about it, but I do agree.

If you knew all the facts about your religion, you would no longer follow it. That's the truth. Though I doubt you care to hear it. (That's where the 'brainwashed' thing comes in, btw...)

Edit - The reason I know you don't know the facts, as I stated above, is because you're still a Christian. To follow Christianity is proof that you do not know the facts surrounding your belief. Christianity is proven to be false, and a bastardization of earlier pagan beliefs. However, you don't hear much about this... yet... because it's not popular amongst Christians, who represent 75% of Americans. But the facts are out there. But as I stated... you just don't know them yet.

Answer 7

I don't need any more proof that there is a God than I needed proof to believe the things I was taught in kindergarden by a mere human.

I think many people here might say that the world is more complicated than what you learned about then. And your role in the world is more than to just believe in Jesus and ty to ask others to do the same.

Answer 8

It is not limited to christians. Those who choose logic cannot accept faith just as those who choose faith have no logical reason. In my opinion the only thing truly worth learning is tolerance. If someone chooses faith, so be it. The same goes for logic. "If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice". Just be happy in your choice and let the rest go. Just because you have conviction does not give you the right to force it on anyone else.

Answer 9

Most people who claim to be christians are brought up in a christian household and go to church regularly as a child. Therefore you have been brainwashed into believing the fiction that is spread on a daily basis.

Answer 10

If people ask you to prove God exists, then they have no understanding of what true faith is. Miracles are around us every second of every minute of every day...we just need to recognize them for what they are. God does not seek us out, we must seek Him. Those who wish to quash the very idea of God, let alone His great majesty will be in His judgment and maybe then they will see the light.