How Does anybody accept a religion as controlling as Christianity without researching answers in history?

Question

Christianity is just a compilation of past religions. The past religions explain so much more, so much better. How doesn't anybody see that? How is it nobody cares about the knowledge we can gain from past civilizations? How does anybody accept a God/Creator that is so selfish to only want worship and control over it's creations? How does anybody accept a religion without doing research on where it came from and the holes,oxymorons, and hypocritical statements that exist within it. Only answer if you've done research, and don't just accept what your parents/clergymen tell you.

Answer 1

I think that it's clear that some people do see that past religions explain so much more, so much better, since you stated it yourself. I think that people accept religions without researching them because when one is brought up being told something is truth, one may accept it as truth. The fact that there are so many followers of the same beliefs only reassures the false truth. In addition, I believe that (at least in America) people live hectic lives and are too busy worrying about
a)their paychecks
b)Nick and Jessica's relationship
c)when gas prices will drop so it doesn't cost them $100 to fill the tank of their Hummer
d)where the crazy Afghanistanis/Muslims/Iraqis/terrorists/Al-Quaida/Taliban will strike next (they're all the same right?)
e) if they should pay the extra $2 and get whipped cream on their $5 latte from Starbucks

and countless other things. We live such hectic lives that we don't have enough time to research anything. I mean, isn't that what tv news is for?

Answer 2

"Christianity is just a compilation of past religions."

Not quite. The uniqueness of God's son on earth dying as sacrifice for our sins was a unique idea in its time. The Buddhist Bodhisattva, for example, merely delays his journey to Nirvana in order to help others, not sacrifice himself.

"The past religions explain so much more, so much better."

This is incorrect. The scientific record matches the Bible much better than the Koran, for example, or the plethora of Eastern mythologies.

"How is it nobody cares about the knowledge we can gain from past civilizations?"

Normal human ignorance isn't confined to Christians. Did you know that the Big Brother TV show airs in 70 countries?

"How does anybody accept a God/Creator that is so selfish to only want worship and control over it's creations?"

It's a small price to pay for the gift of life, which, according to Christian beliefs, is a direct and intentional creation of God.

"How does anybody accept a religion without doing research..."

Like their mother language, most people's religous beliefs were first developed as a young child. Therefore, it is deeply entrenched in a person's identity, which is why it's offensive when people "spread the word" without considering other's feelings.

I myself am a mathematician, and therefore concerned about the relationship between science and religion. The organization below is the only one I know that is logically sound. For example, they do not assume a God has created the universe, they present a model built from known science and predictions based on scripture, and use it to anticipate futher research results.

A recent example - near the end of the book of Job, God challenges the knowledge of one of Job's friends, with questions including "Where does the darkness reside?" This would suggest that the universe isn't what it seems, that there is much more darkness than we would know. The organization not only anticipated the discovery of 'dark matter' by the WMAP surver, but also predicted that it would be in very large amounts.

I am assuming that you aren't merely venting here, or being insulting. You have asked nothing but reasonable questions, and I attempt to give you some reasonable answers, although I am not the expert here. If you'd like, I can answer follow-ups.

Answer 3

Christianity is truly nothing more than neo-Judaism. I completely agree with your above statement, that most people accept religion without researching its meanings. But then again, that is the nature of humans, It is easier to be told what to believe and why, than find out what you should believe in through research. Unfortunately, most people blindly accept the religion they were born into "because their parents told them to", or otherwise. If you look back through history, you'll be able to notice the ways of Christianity. Stuart Mills referred to the Christian church as one of "the most intolerant of churches". The sad part is Christianity has been widespread for centuries now, ever since the Byzantine emperor Justinian made Christianity the state religion of choice. Unfortunately, as you may already know Christianity has been the cause of much bloodshed and conflict. The saddest part of all is that the blame is hard to place. Can we blame religious figures for having made up a convenient religion, or should we blame men for being so blind (not to mention, ignorant).

Answer 4

It's about blind faith as Soren Kierkegaard noted. You publically admit something is true aka God exists but inside you're constantly reevaluating your belief system or you don't really belief in God or at least Christian customs/morals yet you still abide by them. It's like Simone Beauvoir's example of the white Southern man who hates blacks with a passion but his actions don't match his thoughts. He hates black people but he does his best to accomodate them. He's always helping them out and lending a hand to them. If you look closely, you'll see countries like America really don't have an adequate culture that goes well with Christianity. Christianity is a poor man's religion. There are many phrases and passages that acknowledge this in the Bible. America on the other hand is expected to be the world's lone superpower for the next 100 or so years unless some rapture occurs. To my knowledge America is probably the biggest proponent of Christianity due to it's far reaching economic and cultural influence. Americans, being among the richest people in the world and at the same time most of them are Christians? Doesn't make sense. Early Christianity had it right. Poor modest pacifist martyrs. But with the influence of people like Aquinas and Augustine, violence and materialism somehow got into the mix. My answer is, it's OK to be Christian if you're poor and humble. But if you're relatively rich and still Christian, it's a shame to confine yourself to Christianity when there's so much to read and you can afford to read things beyond the Bible. It's like voluntarily keeping yourself imprisoned.

Answer 5

I think Christianity, along with other religions, relies heavily on affective(is it a,or e?) systems of childhood indoctrination. So that by the time people are old enough to think for themselves, they've already had this fictive faith pounded into their psyche, in some cases, permanently. Plus, it may be easier for some people to just go along with their Christian faith, satisfied with a very general understanding/knowledge of the bible and Christian history, rather than to critically examine the basics of their faith. Remember, that there are very strong social, familial, cultural, and, even, nationalistic ties to Christianity, some/all of which may supersede the factual bases of the theology to the indoctrinated(faithful.
Plus, we're aware of our mortality for most of our lives...it's comforting to have a place to go, heaven, upon our death. It's reassuring to believe there's a magic force that we can appeal to for direction and help. I worry that faith may erode self-reliance.

Answer 6

I don't think that Christianity is controlling, you accept Jesus into your life because you want to do the right thing .
God gives each of us humans a free will. If you think that Christianity is controlling, then any religion to you is controlling because it is all about having morals, dignity etc... to do less sinning possible.

Who cares about past history , ONE believes in God should want to do the right thing , Christianity (the bible) to me explains what the right thing to do and makes more sense to me .

I rather live my life as if there is a GOD and then die to find out there isn't ,,,
Than to Live my life as though there is no GOD and then die to find out that there is!!!

Answer 7

Because what it teaches makes sense to me. Besides i was born a christian and did my confimation. So i already vowed to be a follower of Christianity. If i change to another religion i'll become a liar.

Answer 8

u dont need big explanation here ! like u said control means absolute power that can define new channels or redefine the existing channels to their belief!

Answer 9

maybe it's not a matter of what a person wants to know, it's a matter of what a person believes in, people want to feel safe, they want to feel secure, they want to feel there is someone controlling their lives, and that in the end, it's all for the best.

Answer 10

People are too afraid to question their god because it would surely mean hell for them