all a bunch of depressed, lonely people?
is it do to arrogence, ignorence, or both?
2006-09-24 06:29:55 · 20 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I think a lot of Christians are in very unhappy situations, from a spititual standpoint. Their validation is through their beliefs. It acts as a life raft holding them afloat.
They look at us and cannot understand how we can make it through life without such a safety net. So they assume that we are suicidal, anxious, lonely, and depressed.
For me, that couldn't be further from the truth. I have the strength within myself to persevere.
2006-09-24 06:35:08 · answer #1 · answered by ? 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Personally I believe, atheism, agnostism and religion are all collaborative. If a believer does not listen to the questions of an atheist, his faith can never be cystallized. If an Atheist or Agnostic cannot have an honest dialogue with a religious person, he can never understand why a person can open his heart to a Divine power on faith. It helps us all, as long as it is an honest dialogue. The fundamental basis for all of this, is having well thought out reasons as to "why" you believe what you believe, and the humility to accept that "your beliefs" may not work for everyone.
The problem happens when one person or group believe that if you don't believe the same way I do, you are a loser. Lets not single out Christians here, some Atheists are quick to label all Christians as whacko Jesus Freaks. Neither assumption is true. There are all kinds of Christians and all kinds of Atheists, and while there are a few depressed and lonely Atheists and a few Whacko Christians, it would be a disrespect to the vast multitudes of people who form either group who are well intentioned and decent people with perfectly valid reasons to believe the way they do.
If either group tries to paint the other with the same brush strokes- i.e all atheists are depressed, or all Christians are Bible thumping fundamentalists, then they are being hopelessly biased and ignorant.
2006-09-24 06:47:44 · answer #2 · answered by imported_beer 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Christianity believes that there is no life except that of Christ reborn in the believer. Therefore, if Christ is not in you, you are dead, spiritually. Since Christ is of God, the atheist denies the source of the life. Since an atheist denies life and the source of life, they have no hope. If a person has no hope, then the only way to live without depression or lonliness is to live a lie. So from a Christian perspective, the atheist is either depressed and lonely or living a life of delusion.
2006-09-24 06:39:59 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Fundamentalist Christians despise atheists and ostracize them. They expect others to do the same. As far as they are concerned, atheists are universally condemned and ostracized by all religious people.
If you thought someone was universally despised and avoided, wouldn't you also expect them to be lonely and depressed?
The difference is that fundamentalist Christians don't really pity atheists. They feel that they deserve it for "denying" the existence of God.
2006-09-24 06:39:33 · answer #4 · answered by scifiguy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I would tend to lean toward ignorance. I am a Christian and I assume atheists would be looking for God if they felt depressed or lonely without him.
2006-09-24 06:32:50 · answer #5 · answered by mortgagegirl101 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think people look for opposites. They see themselves as the happy ones and since atheists, to them, don't have what they have, they see them as unhappy, depressed, searching, etc..
Many people won't step outside of their beliefs for a moment to try to understand how the other side thinks and feels which is why you get so much antipathy and generalizations.
2006-09-24 06:34:24 · answer #6 · answered by genaddt 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Who thinks that? Not me. I am a Christian who believes that Atheists are a group of people who do not believe in God, heaven, hell or the Bible. Period. I know only one Atheist and he is a pretty happy guy-he's married, has kids, is a retired officer of the US Air Force and living a life that few could follow...traveling country with his wife.
2006-09-24 06:35:16 · answer #7 · answered by butrcupps 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I figure a lot of Christians are told as children that God is the source of joy in their lives. They therefore assume that someone who doesn't believe in God has no joy in their life. So arrogance.
2006-09-24 06:37:18 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Personally, I think that it is arrogance. These are the ones who send me emails saying things like I am stupid and I don't know what I'm talking about.
I attempt to detail why I know what I know about the fact there is no god. If they reply with more of the same, I smash them in a figurative sense.
2006-09-24 06:31:32 · answer #9 · answered by JerseyRick 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I don't think all atheists are depressed per se, just not nearly as joy filled as you would be if you had a relationship with God.
2006-09-24 06:41:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋