I was wondering, what type of negative encounters have any of you had with Christians?

Question

Yes, Im a Christian but I was just curious as to what causes so much anger towards us at times? Plenty of my friends are of different religions and we get along fine. Im just curious and want to hear your stories...

I think your answers might help some of us see how we look in your eyes. And recognize that some of our attitudes need to be readjusted. By the way I apologize for some of the things these people have said that have hurt you. Its terrible

Answer 1

I have met many protestants who say that they hate Catholics. I was brought up Catholic so it was threatening. I think that they just did not know my background but it was still offensive. I have also had many scary dialogues with fundamentalist Christians. They seem to have an irrational hate for muslims. I am a pretty peaceful guy so these people seem to want to confide in me. I wish they would not. In answer to your question, I guess it runs both ways. People stop looking at the individual and only see labels. Christian, Moslim, Jew whatever. When it comes down to it most people can't hate or kill a person but you can easily hate or kill a label. They hate us as Christians because they don't see us as people, only labels. That is the same thing that many Christians and Jews do to them. That kind of hatred can take on a religious dimension but it is not restricted to it. It can be applied to racial groups. Any attempt to see an individual as a part of a whole can lead to serious hatred, killing mayhem etc. No wars could ever progress very far if there was not the idea of group identity and group responsibility. They hate ALL Christians for the things that have been done by A Christian or SOME Christians. Many Americans hate ALL Moslims for the acts of a FEW Moslims. I think that is why the Israeli's find it so easy to devastate an entire country for the acts of a small group. It is also why Hezbollah is able to launch indiscrimante missile attacks into Israel. If you talk to some older people that have been around for the previous wars, they will tell you that it is the same every time. The players change but the ideas are the same.

Answer 2

I have had a few run-ins with Christians as I am Wiccan. I try not to let it cloud my vision and try to judge people as individuals. One run-in in particular was when a group of friends of different faiths were just hanging out in a public park and two members of the God Squad came over and immediately interrupted us and began regurgitating their sales pitch about Jesus and God. This I find offensive and rude and to be honest I viewed those two not as people but as you would a pop up on the net or a telemarketer. But also I had two younger Mormon men come to my door to spread their word. They were a little surprised that I am Wiccan and politely responded that they didn't understand Wicca. We stood outside for a good half hour and explained the basics of our respected faiths. This didn't bother me in the least. So I guess I would have to say that I don't judge all Christians the same but if you are going to act like an automaton about your faith then I am not interested in what you have to say.

Answer 3

I don't generally talk about it...a friend of 17 years only just now realized it about me...so I don't hear too much since I normally don't be too open about it (you can never know who you are dealing with)... But what little there is...Oh just the usual nasty attitude and words of "your going to hell" if we ARE honest about who we are. My sister once has a girl come up and tell her she couldn't be her friend anymore when she found out she wasn't a believer. Just the typical nice, friendly things... : (

I think my only big one was in regard to an assignment in school in a class... Given a list of 10 things, put them in order from the most important to you, then give reasons why. Then we'd have to present it in front of the class. One of those things was religion. There was maybe only one other student in the class like me, thought I didn't even know it until he presented his list. Both of us tried to brush by the last one on our list, religion, but I still heard a b*tchy remark out of someone. This was not a comfortable situation, as anyone else would not have to say what their religion was if they didn't want to, but it was totally "out the atheist" in front of a class of mostly believers. And non religious people generally consider these beliefs private, don't often talk about it, and here we were basically forced into being outed.

Answer 4

Well, because I refuse to bare my body and prefer being modestly dressed, including covering my hair, I was told "Take that bag off. It's HOT!!!" The thing is, it wasn't a bag, it was a very stylish and pretty ababy with a flowered head cover that had sparkling things on it. Not ugly or extremely baggy at all. I used to work at McDonald's and was covered there, too. A customer thought have it your way meant being able to preach to a person who didn't want to hear it. When I threw his literature back at him, he tried complaining to my boss. My boss looked at him and told him that I hadn't done anything wrong because religion plays no part in taking his order and giving him his food. That was years ago. Now I'm in marketing and in college, and haven't really had any bad encounters. I get the rude look or getting ignored when I say hi to a customer, but that's on them for being childish and immature, so it doesn't get to me.

Answer 5

I was told the Jews are definitely G-d's Chosen People, but only those who accept Jesus as their lord & savior will go to Heaven, and everyone else will spend all of Eternity in hell's lake of fire.

That includes aboriginal peoples the Christian missionaries haven't gotten to yet.

The same guy told me "all religions except Christianity are false, including the Mormons". Last time I checked, the Mormons regard Jesus Christ as G-d's only begotten son, sent to Earth to die for humankind's sins (sounds pretty Christian to me).
That's my story -- happened last March '06 in Indiana. Talk about narrow-minded!

Answer 6

In high school, a friend of mine who's a very talented artist, was told he was burning in hell because the painting he did of the crucifixion was a graven image, and inaccurate to the bible's description.

I walk down the street, and have people forcing their literature on me.

I was told by clergy, at the age of 5, that I was doomed to hell because my parents were not married in a church, and I wasn't baptized.

I attended a catholic school for 9 years.

I am told on an almost daily basis: that I will be prayed for, God loves me even if I don't love him, that the way to salvation is to deny myself the pleasures of this world, etc.

School districts nationwide having to vote on whether or not to allow "intelligent" design (a theological train of thought with no scientific basis or background) belongs in a public school system...you know the ones funded by tax dollars thru a gov't that endorses no religion.

The list can go on and on...

If you want to redeem yourself (don't worry about everyone, just yourself...trust me, it'll be easier), keep your beliefs to yourself. If you do have a public debate, offer PROOF, not anecdotal stories handed down and translated so many times that NO ONE knows what the original intent was. Open your eyes to the scientific proof presented on a daily basis.

Oh yeah...and quit believing yourself better because you believe in a god...

Answer 7

Christianity has had a long and sordid history. It has, from it's very institution, been political and tyrannical. It is spiritual slavery and mind-poison. It had no structure, no basis for being a religion except for some homeless Hebrew rabbi's blatherings, so they stole and appropriated what they needed from the Pagan faiths of the time.
It forcibly converted most of the world, both economically and militarily. It cut down the Holy Groves, smashed the icons of the Pagan Gods and built arrogant cathedrals of stone over those very sites, so that if the Pagan people wanted to worship in the Holy Places, they had to enter the church and listen to the priest pratter on in Latin. They burned everyone who did not agree with them at the stake, the drove cats to extinction in Britain, they tortured women simply because they had an herb garden or knew how to bring children into the world (aka midwifery). They drowned redhaired women, they tortured my people to convert them and denyed them the rights to trade with the "Christian" world unless they bowed their knee before the weak, pathetic christ.

And this legacy continues today, though in a more "civilized" manner. When I woke up and turned away from the xtian hypocrisy of my parents, my family flipped a lid, disowning me and saying I had no right to call myself by the family name! My father told me I was no longer welcome in his house and that I was not to talk to my siblings, lest I pollute them with my idolatries.
All the "good" they do in World Aid comes at a price, that those poor, war-ravaged, starving people have to listen to their "gospel" if they want to eat. When the tsunamis hit in Indonesia, the bible-thumpers were there in a heartbeat, giving out food and insisting those Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims save their souls by reading their hallelieujah happy-crappy gospel tracts.
The only Utility Assistance program in my city is provided by the Salvation Army, so to get help paying my exorbitant utility bill I had to be subjected to listening to praise music, having portraits of jesus stare at me, and have the lady pray for me!
The xtians push their filthy pacifist doctrines down indigenous peoples' throats, which in turn causes long established cultural traditions to die out, causing the break-up of the Tribe and the family unit.

Like I said, what is *GOOD* about xtianity?????

Answer 8

A good example is the way you phrased your question. For some reason they(so called Christians) just have that I'm closer to the truth and therefore closer to the almighty type of attitude and it is annoying!

Answer 9

I had one knock on the door at 2 a.m. and tell me that God woke him up out of a sound sleep TWO TIMES to send him to my house to save my soul. AT TWO A.M. He said the first time he went back to sleep, so the second time God knocked him out of bed, (okay, by this time I'm thinking, "Houston, we have a problem," just be nice, talk a bit, and you should be safe). I mean, God doesn't just go knocking people around, does he? Wow.

So, he stands there at the end of my bed, (oh, yeah, forgot to mention that he let himself in) and I ask him to wait in the living room, I excuse myself from the bedroom (no, I'm not alone, thanks), and go in to speak to him. By this time, I'm no longer scared, but not really po'd either. In fact, I feel downright bad for the guy. I mean, God's been knocking him around the bedroom, it can't be fun! So we talk until 3 a.m. and I make excuses and say I'll call him the next day, BUT I HAVE TO GO TO BED! So he leaves happy. I MAKE SURE THE DOORS LOCKED THIS TIME.

Answer 10

I have a lot of friends who are Christians. I get along fine with them. I have also met a lot of holier-than-thou-bible-thumping-poke-my-nose-in-your-business Christians. I am not angry just irritated because many of them are hypocrites who have no understanding of the Bible and are just preaching what their preacher told them. They are consumed by hate, anger, intolerance, ignorance, fear of everyone else who doesn't think like them.