People of non-belief in Christ............Why is it so important to you to try to change the?

Question

mind of someone who believes and has faith in Christ. What do you have to gain from it? The same question can be flipped to me, I am aware, and what do I have to gain from it. Well, for me, I gain the knowledge that I have done as God commanded me to do and seek to find favor in the Lords eyes. I do it for God to help to contribute to his Kingdom and lead those, his creation, that he loves back to him. Muslims, well, I see you with a similar answer to mine, but we know our beliefs differ, so please answer as well. Christians, please feel free to comment.

Answer 1

If christians have a right to proselytize to people who don't want to hear it, then men have a right to rape women who say no. It's the same argument. Unless you personally enjoy being raped, why would you defend loathesome acts like proselytizing?

Cultist christians like you are not under attack. You and others of your ilk behave the same way as neo-nazis who assault people: you annoy and harass people until they respond, then you use knives and jackboots on anyone who tells you to go away.

Another similarity between you and neo-nazi skinheads: you're terrified of *anyone* who can defend themselves. You only make up your false claims of being a "victim" when you think your target is an easy victim.

Self defense is not assault and you are not a victim. You are a loathesome coward who skulks around, waiting for easy targets. That's very much like a neo-nazi skinhead.


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Answer 2

I feel no need to change what anyone else thinks or believes in. Those who feel this need either do it out of ridicule to those who beleive in any sort of spirituality, to get revenge for being Witnessed to by believers in Christ who nag them to join the One Truth, or some do it just to irritate you. I know that the human spirit is universal, that is to say there is no One True Faith. If there was, it would have sprung up at many different places on Earth, not just from one place. My opinion is that the idea of One True Faith, which makes all others False, Paths to Damnation, and the result of 'deception' cheapens the human spirit. It is extremist. There are some followers of Christ who eagerly await the end of the world. To me this is a morbidly obvious sign that their faith, to them at least, is some sort of death cult. I guess it's different from your side of the fence, but from where I stand people are hoping the world ends, estinguishing all life on it, and the vast majority of people are cast into Eternal Torment for not belonging to the 'right' religion. Fanatical, extreme, and just plain evil. I used to be a Christian, back in my early high school years. I went to youth group several times a week, carried the Bible to school, and sought a personal relationship with Christ. I was also very judgmental, shallow, and as a result not very loving. While this was probably just more of a personal problem, I always felt that something was wrong with my beleifs. I wasn't happy or loving. Shouldn't a relationship with the Only God be a joyous thing? I felt like a humorless, joyless absolutist whenever I tried to convert the un-believers. I now know that I was wrong and that every spiritual path is valid. That is what I gain. I hope to show Christians that some aspects of their faith is evil. I want them to work on being tolerant of other faiths and accept that there is no One True Faith. I wouldn't care if they were just another belief system, but the vast majority of my neighbors, co-workers, and people that I see everyday are Christian. Some are decent, some are fanatical extremists who pray for Earth's annihilation. Ask yourself this: When you see something that is Evil, do you ignore it or work to change it?

Answer 3

You do it to spread "the truth", they do it to spread "the truth". Everyone tries to change another's opinion because they feel they are right. They don't just think they are right, they BELIEVE what they are selling is absolutely the truth. The gain for atheists? Enlightening someone to reality, breaking someone out of a box of beliefs, helping someone determine their own destiny, etc. You may disagree that these things can be gained from helping someone discard religious beliefs, but atheists believe these are some of the results, so they try to spread their ideas to spread the benefits they have received from holding their ideas. It's the same thing for Christians. Or Muslims. Or whoever.

Answer 4

As a Humanist, and answering solely for myself, I don't consider it important to try to change the minds of believers. I concentrate more on trying to help believers understand what Humanism is all about and show that, even though we look at the sources of morality differently from religious people, we Humanists are not amoral or immoral. We try very hard to live moral, useful, and fulfilling lives. I'm here to educate others and to learn more about how others think, not to convert.

My only agenda, if indeed I have one, is to encourage those who think their viewpoint is the only valid one to open their minds to other possibilities and avoid forcing their beliefs on others.

Answer 5

Hmmmm,

It's not just the athiests here.

There are those guilty of this in all religious and non-religious groups.

I don't believe they are really trying to change anyone's beliefs.

There are definately some here though who take great delight in ATTACKING peoples' beliefs.

It really makes those people who are non-believers but still respectful of other peoples beliefs (Spooky is a good example) look bad.

Just as those who claim to be Christian, Muslim, etc. that attack other peoples' beliefs or lack of beliefs make their respective religions look bad.

They are just hateful people, I guess.

All we can do is pray for them.

Answer 6

Nothing. I asked myself this question before delving into the last translation of the Bible I read. I want more Christians to be more like Christ and less like Paul. I strive to drive them further into their religion as the foundation of it is basically universally good. It's the people that get caught up in the semantics that drive me up a wall. Christians should strive to be good Christians and let me worry about my own soul. If they want to engage in conversation about it, that's fine, just don't expect me to accept the Bible as the ultimate source of truth.

Answer 7

This has been answered quite a few times already, but here goes again.

If christians just kept their beliefs private and didn't bother me with them, I really wouldn't be bothered by them at all. I know several devout christians that I get along with just fine, we never discuss religion with each other.

However, when christians start messing with me - either by bashing me over the head with a bible, or by passing laws in furtherance of a christian worldview - then you can expect me to respond.

For example:
- It's kinda important to me to keep creationism out of science class, because quite simply put, it isn't science. There isn't a shred of scientific evidence for it, and there are volumes of evidence against it.
- It's kinda important to me to keep religious sentiments from halting research that could potentially save lives.
- It's kinda important to me to oppose a religious fanatic president whose mideast policies seem driven by end time prophecy. (All this WMD talk was never more than an excuse, for both Iraq and Iran).
There are countless other minor annoyances that I don't waste time fighting, but are nevertheless annoying. For example, mention of "god" on currency and in the pledge, tax breaks for religion, taxpayer money spent in ways that promote religion, and so forth.

The elder Bush once said, "I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God." If he said the same kind of thing about blacks, gays, jews, muslims, or any other minority, there would've been a tremendous outcry. He said it about atheists, though, so the response was... dead silence. There are a LOT of christians with the same kind of mindset, and atheists never forget that we used to be burned at the stake for our non-beliefs.

To this day, six states have clauses in their constitutions that prohibit atheists from holding public office. The supreme court has invalidated those clauses, but if you don't think there's a strong discriminatory mindset among a lot of christians, you haven't been following the issue much.

Yeah, atheists think it would be nice if all the religious folks gave up their beliefs in various skydaddys, but the reason we debate religion isn't just because we want to "convert" you. It's more a matter of self-defense... atheists need to be accepted as part of the mainstream, if only to prevent the kind of oppression that many religious folks would be only too happy to institute.

This is also why I speak up regularly against muslim-bashing. I think islam is every bit as ridiculous as christianity, but I know that the hatred and demonization that's directed at muslims could just as easily be directed at atheists. I'm not one to forget Martin Niemoller's "first they came for..." quote.

Answer 8

I actually don't care about other peoples' beliefs. I just want to be left alone and free to live my life. I get especially concerned when Christians talk about enforcing their values through legislation. As a bi Pagan woman, that usually means a raw deal for me.

Answer 9

How very presumptious of you to think that I would try to change yours or anyone's beliefs. We all possess the power of free will and the ability to control our own thoughts. What you believe is really no concern of mine, nor should my beliefs be a concern of yours.

Answer 10

I can give you the reasons why I believe what I believe and the errors I see in your beliefs, but only you can change your mind.