A question for Christians - not trying to be mean, but...?

Question

Okay, I just answered a post from a pagan who received a hate-filled answer from someone and wanted to know if all Christians felt that way about pagans. While probably 99% of the answers were very nice, quite a few of them said, "No, a real Christian would say that they'd pray for your soul to reach Jesus", and then they actually listed out a Christian prayer for the asker's soul/health/that she would find Jesus.

I'm not trying to pick a fight, truly, but do the Christians who post these kinds of answers - however well-intended they may be - understand that by adding their own prayers for the asker's salvation on top of their otherwise very kind answers, they are implying that the asker is wrong and needs to be "saved", which is inherently offensive and genuinely rude? Especially when the asker is not saying, "I have been a pagan for X number of years and feel like my soul needs to be saved", why do the people who tack prayers onto their answers not see the disrespect?

Can everyone posting please read KJV and Steph w's post? This is my point. I don't find it disrespectful that Christians pray for our souls. I find it disrespectful that they NEED TO TELL US that they are praying for our souls. THAT is where the inherent disrespect lies. I don't care if you pray for me - knock yourself out, that is your belief and I don't deny you the right! But when you TELL ME that you're praying for me, that is a direct statement that you're praying for me because I'm WRONG. I would never go around performing a ritual for a anyone who didn't specifically ask for one, and if I were the sort of person who did, I certainly wouldn't go, "So, I did this love spell for you because what you're trying isn't working, from my point of view." Because that would be RUDE. See the difference? It isn't the act, it's the need to state "I'm doing this FOR you even though you didn't ASK me to because what you're doing IS WRONG."

Padwinlearner - you actually weren't the one that sent me off on my broomstick, LOL, but thanks for the clarification.

Victoryshout - thanks for your posting. However, I didn't say it was WRONG. I said it was RUDE. I'm talking etiquette in addition to sensitivity.

Answer 1

It's because they are worried about that person's soul and are scared that the pagan in question will go to hell.

Personlly, unless asked to pray for someone, I never tell anyone who I pray for. I do so in private and it's between me and God. To announce it is to show off, in my opinion. I really have no problem pagans lighting candles for me (a few of my friends do this because of my health problems). It's kinda the same thing. You're asking your diety to watch over said person.

Answer 2

Nice question, and well put. I guess they do not know better and since many are young and new, this mistake will always be made on this site, due to turnover. It is good to post your question every now and then to remind people of this.

I should be able to assume, the R/S section in general is for R/S issues. However, if you read the posts, maybe 50%-90% are very anti-religious. Yes, there are some stupid anti-atheist posts also, but, count them, there are far fewer (10%), and some are so weird, that I think they are contrived.

Again, I think if you add up questions and answers and rate them, you will find by a wide margin, the believers are trying to reach out to and understand the non-believers, far more than vice versa.

Some people come here just to fight, to be rude, some to learn. If I was a believer, I'd assume, right or wrong, that a person might be here because they are searching, and that is good. I might say more than I should, not to be mean, but to offer something that I didn't know would be a negative.

Do not get me wrong, I agree with you. The heart is in the right place, it just seems like a error in good manners that is annoying.

Thanks for the good question.

BTW: if some of these people read their bibles, and what Jesus says in the Gospels, it is clear that you should pray in private and not tell others, or.... how will your prayer be perceived? Look it up.

Answer 3

Well, I'm not acquainted with the actual posting to which you refer. However, in response to the statements I read here I must say that I agree with you on one point but I disagree with you on the other. I don't feel it is wrong to imply or even say outright that you think someone is wrong no matter whether it's Christian views you're expressing or those contrary. I mean seriously, that's pretty much what you've just told some people here in your posting (that they are WRONG in telling you you're WRONG. However, I do understand how some Christians can provoke others to indignation or even anger in the way we express our views. The thing is...that is true of anyone, Christian or not, when it come to expressing beliefs or opinions, don't you think? We all need to be careful to be respectful to others when expressing ourselves.

Answer 4

To a Christian, praying for someone is the most respect thing that they can do. Sometimes they are guilty of not doing it in the most tackful manner - good intentions and good manners do not always go hand in hand. But hopefully the bad manners will not completely negate the good intents.

As the Christian religion teachs that practicing a pagen faith is a sin, to be true to their faith, they would have to include in that prayer that the person be "saved" from their pagen beliefs. (You would not want them to be hypocrites and prayer different then they say they believe, would you?) Not to do so what be a sin for the Christian.

Answer 5

The pagan shouldn't ask questions from Christians if he doesn't want to be prosetylized. That's what Christians do. Jesus called us to spread the Gospel.

Why should a non-Christian be offended if a Christian implies they are wrong about their beliefs? Isn't this assumed? How can we carry on a dialogue if we can't state our position?

The prayers are meant to be an expression of compassion, not an insult. You don't pray for people you don't care about.

Answer 6

I am a Christian however I don't really know that much of pagan beliefs. That person that emailed that girl was to harsh and not loving to her. As personal experience wtih non believers in my family and other beliefs. I did condemn people until recently. I would say that the person shouldn't say I'll pray for you. That person should automatically pray for the person instead of telling them.
It's up to the individual what he and she feels comfortable with.

Answer 7

The answer is simple, and you are going to probably find it offensive. It is because God reached out to human beings by sending his Son to earth about 2,006 years ago. Either you believe this or you don't. If you don't, then you will not be saved. If you do, it is part of your job to spread the news of salvation.

In other words, Christians like me believe God's Word to be the truth from God's mouth. Therefore any other attempts or pathways to reach God are wrong.

The best that any of us can do is to agree to disagree...which I do with most folks once I realize that they don't want to be told that Jesus is God's Son. But still we Christians will pray that God's will be done--and it is God's will to save all from sin through the mercy of Jesus Christ.

If you don't believe this, fine. But you probably won't stop anybody from praying for you. It isn't really offensive when people pray for you. You can look at it as a little gift. I understand that you may think it's offensive because you feel that Christians think we're "right" and everyone else is "wrong." This is just one of those things we're all going to have to accept, though. To make it more palatable to you, you can try to accept that Christians believe that God is right--not that we're right. In other words, you can pity us for believing that God's Word is the truth, and just sort of smile a wry little smile for those among us who are evidently pathetic enough to want God's grace to extend to and envelop others.

Best to you in your searches, friend.

Answer 8

Everyone is intitled to their own opion. People like us want to help. Think about it, We could send hate mail to this person and bash him for being a pagen and act supieior, but really that would be more disrespectful than any prayer we could "tack on."

Answer 9

it's all in perception.
To a Christian, the most noble thing to do is to help someone "come to Christ".
To a pagan, they find that offensive.

If it were me, were I pagan, it wouldn't make that much difference to me. if I didn't believe in G_d, why would someone asking a mythical being for guidance in helping me be offensive?

Personally I am not offended by Jews claiming to be the "chosen" people, nor am I offended by Catholics saying I'm going to purgatory because I'm not of their faith, and I'm not upset because some mormons baptized (via proxy) one of my dead ancestors. If I dont believe in their religions, it's not going to hurt me if they want to pray FOR me..

Answer 10

Praying for someone shows the ultimate amount of respect. If the person to whom the prayer is directed doesn't want the prayer, that's not going to stop a true Christian from praying.