Why do some people on here think that if you have a faith you must be mentally challenged in some way?

Question

There seem to be a few Christian bashing questions on here at the moment. And notice I said Christian, would they get away with it for other religions?

Two points to add,
1) I'm not saying people without faith don't have the right to challenge people's beliefs, it would just be nice if they could do it without resorting to insults.
2) Saying that only people who are unhappy or stupid believe in a God is totally wrong and quite a sweeping judgement

Answer 1

I am agnostic and I don't in anyway think that people who have a strong religious belief are in any way mentally challenged. I think it takes a strong person to belief in something that has not been seen or touched and then to say that they belief in it. On the other hand I think it takes a strong person to stand up against the "norm" and to say that they don't belief. Yes I do think there are bashers on here.... but I know that it goes both ways. I think people need to believe more in tolerance and trying to see the other point of view that is offered.... you never know when you may learn something!

Answer 2

Not that I always agree with what is said, but, Christianity has dominated the west for hundreds of years. It has been oppressive and genocidal on a number of occasions. It is natural to have a backlash against anything of this nature.

Today also many political or other topics are influenced by faith. Again predominantly Christianity in the western world. For some being told they can't do something, due to someone else's belief in an unsubstantiated idea, also gives fuel to the fire.

Sadly many of the people standing public domain and sharing or pushing their faiths do come across as challenged. I suspect those who are happy in their faiths and themselves have less need to advertise it.

Personally I believe any faith should be equally accepted... and derided if people who preach it also attempt to influence my life. It is my right also to defend myself against it.

Answer 3

Well if you actually look at the spelling and use of the english language kookie you will see that these christian bashers do not have english as their first language. You will find that there are a lot of mischief makers who like to pretend they are from the west. It's called divide and conquer. So, if the christians, athiests, agnostics, hindus, j.witness' and all the other religions are divided, then the troublemakers will get what they want. Which is first and foremost to make out that the whole western society, European and Indian and Israel are all racist. Unless you are one of those antagonisers too and this question was to divide further.

Answer 4

People have always dismissed as mentally ill or worse (such as witchcraft in Middle Ages) something that they do not understand. To grapple with and understand a faith requires intelligence and the ability to question. I returned to Christian faith after studying the Philosophy of Religion and realising that the arguments against the existence of God and for Pure Evolutionism were so shot full of holes and requiring huge leaps of faith in themselves that belief in God made more logical sense. 20 years later, I still challenge my faith and ask difficult questions. It's the sign of a higher IQ...
And you are quite correct, very few who denigrate Christian belief would have the courage openly to criticise other faiths. It's just fashionable to knock us - fashion changes, faith doesn't.

Answer 5

Wow! That Brenda's World is one spazzed out babe. She almost had me sympathetic to her pathetic cries for recognition, significance and deliverance from her deep seated feelings of inferiority, inadequacy, and p.nis envy. She and her ilk are the very same weak minded illiterates with whom Socrates and Plato had to deal. They, like she, believed that if they cited enough unsubstantiated assertions, engaged in enough sophistry, and committed enough egregious ad hominems, ad baculums, ad misericordiums, and non sequiturs that their rhetoric would when the day. Unfortunately for ancient Greece the sophists prevailed. Fortuantely for America, there remains yet a few of us skilled in the full Trivium and Quadrivium and able to reason through even the most subtle web of fallacious argumentation (which Brenda’s most certainly was not!)

But as for your originally question, the reason is that we as Christians more often that not can even articulate what it is we believe, much less defend those beliefs in the face of an endless onslaught of fallacious, malicious rhetoric.

Don’t assume that because I’m a Texan that I’m ignorant or weak. Santa Ana made that mistake once. You know the rest (actually give the blatant ignorance expressed on this forum I doubt that many of you do! Especially dearest Brenda.)

Answer 6

I dont think christians are mentally challenged or ill, as a catholic i believe in God and believe that having a faith and believing in something is very normal, giving perspective on life and comfort in times of need, not to upset those that are normal but believing that your god wants you to blow yourself up taking others with them giving u a place in whatever heaven they go to, that is mentally challenged.. how many christians do that... NONE

Answer 7

Oh, please. People "bash" lots of religions lots of places, here and elsewhere. Islam, Wicca, various forms of Christianity, cults...it's all fair game. It might be legitimate--you might consider something bashing because you're very sensitive about it, but it might be true.

Christianity is easy to criticize because a lot of conservative Christians just follow historical precedents without considering whether it's truly in the mode of Christ. What would Jesus do? He probably wouldn't be in a church that condones hate for certain groups in his name. He wouldn't support a group that exploits faith to make money. He wouldn't advocate voting for a candidate just because he or she is pro-life--it's like if they say that, they have a free ride to do whatever else they want in the eyes of many Christians. I think that a lot of "Christian" behaviors would make him sick. So that's my beef with Christianity, in a very condensed version.

If I find something to hate about another religion, I'll talk about that, too.

Answer 8

Of course they would.

The reason you get things like that is there is an endless cycle of people saying atheists are pieces of **** who are hellbound and atheists insulting back that all believers are mentally ill.

With the occasional jab at pagans, and people saying that muslims are goats, Jews are dumb, et cetera.

Stop trying to make one section look all caring but persecuted.
There are asses from every group - saying otherwise makes you sound pretty damn arrogant.

There you go, it is not the prettiest thing but it is the truth.

And if you think that Christians are not insulting, have a look at this damn question. The answers I see back make it look more and more like we are all pretty much the same, and just people like to insult others who they don't think are part of the same 'group'.

For the record, I don't think that religion is a mental illness.

Answer 9

i think u would need to be mentally challenged to believe in something theres no proof in. to believe in all those "miracles" that happened thousands of years ago and told by ppl third hand. if ur faith was so steadfast u wouldnt complain or moan about what anyone said ud just sit back and have a laugh into urself knowing ur 100% sure their all going to hell while u have a glorious future!!

Answer 10

People just reflect their own fear back onto those with no fear, I believe in God, but do not go to church and don't think I should be condemned for that, I have faith, but do not expect anyone to have any themselves, I believe in what I do for my own reasons and not because it is expected of me, I believe everyone has a right to an opinion religious or otherwise, what I don't expect is for people to agree with my opinion, free speech is not about preach.