A question directed at Non-Christians.?

Question

Half of my family is Christian, and they actually agree with me on this. Does anyone else find the demeanor of most Christians extremely arrogant?
"It's my religion or none, if you don't believe you're damned. I'm trying to help you."
Personally, I feel that's a load of crap and they are driving me even further from close even wanting to have a shadow of a discussion with any of them. Suddenly if you're not Christian, you're a bad person. (This is a pet peeve of mine, sorry. I'd like to use this as an outlet to vent as well as discover the opinions of others)
I'd like to be more accepting, but they make it so difficult when they say something ridiculous, like I'm going to some ficticious Hell because I don't believe in THEIR religion. They also seem to think that they can fix all of the worldly issues. Many wars are CAUSED by conflicting religious groups, so I'm having a lot of difficulty buying into their whole "Religion can fix the world ideal."
Does anyone else think that we would

all get along much better if we could just accept religious differences and many Christians would stop being so pushy?

Christians - don't answer, I didn't ask you.

Zorg, I asked that Christians not answer. Still, I thank you for being respectful, but please follow the guidelines in the future.

Patricia, I asked that you not answer, you are not helping your case in the arugements I have presented. You are just as arrogant and closed-minded as the others like you. Learn some tolerance, you hypocrite.

hmmm
ask that Christians not answer, and what do they do? Of course they answer anyway. Have you no respect?
Your opinions are biased and therefore asked to be excluded. Just because you may work something similar of what my question asks for does not mean that it is an answer I would appreciate.
So, Tim M, my home on fire has nothing to with your religion, and stop trying to convert me.
Stay where your answers are asked for.

Answer 1

Exactly! I Couldn't agree with you more, It's so funny because I feel like I have more values and morals then they do and I don't even believe in God. They support war and the Killing of people. I don't believe in Killing in any way shape or form. The funny thing about Christians is there are 2 kinds. The ones who think that everyone except Christians are going to burn in hell...and then you have the moderates who try to avoid that issue by saying we are all God's children and maybe they are legit because they have interpreted god in a different way. I think both groups are dangerous because they do not benefit human grown in any intelligent manner. My Family sadly is extreamly religious and talking to them is like talking to a brick wall...they continually remind me that I'm going to burn in hell and the things they say to me are evil in my opinion.

Answer 2

Yes I observe that attitude all the time. I try to be understanding but it can very hard and I fail sometimes when it is obvious they are not even trying to be decent about it.

I find that in this world the worst thing humanity has ever done is take a religious belief and organize it into a sociological structure. Religion would be fine if it was a personal thing and everyone had their own seperate belief. Because then it would be a private matter and if 2 people disagreed it would just be 2 people not seeing things the same way.

Once a religion is codified and organized that ability to see differences as just different outlooks is destroyed in the vast majority of the organization's "faithful" and personal accountability and interpretation are exchanged for a rulebook made by other men and a mission to convert all unbelievers.


If I said the word "chair" most people would think of a chair but the vast majority would be thinking of different types and colors of chairs, but even though different they are all correct.
Now if I make a chair religious organization i would pick a chair and tell people that this particular chair is the only true chair and all others are heretics and going to eternal punishment.

My hope is that eventually humanity will grow up and stop trying to make everyone identical in every way.


patricia:: This is exactly where this question should be. You should read title of the room. "Religion AND Spirituality" and this is a question about a religion and also spirituality so this is the perfect place for it. Why don't you go to the "Religion is wonderful and free of flaws" room?

Answer 3

Yes I do find Christians this way, on the whole. Most seem like hypocrites that don't follow the teachings of Christ. I attended church a few weeks ago as a favor to someone that needed help looking after their toddler (my nephew). So I went along and watched with amusement at all these massive new SUVs being driven around. There is simply no excuse for a Christian to purchase a $40,000 gas guzzling SUV. Is that what Jesus would have done? I don't think so.

Living in Bible belt I have found the Christians around here to be highly judgmental and preachy. They also seem to go to church more than once a week, attend Bible study, and yet still know almost nothing about the actual content of the Bible. I even got into an argument with a friend of mine who is a minister. He claimed that the word 'bastard' was not in the Bible. I took out his Bible and showed it to him. (Deuteronomy 23:2 - When the Bible tells you that an illegitimate child cannot attend church nor can the next ten generations of his family). I am constantly amazed by how little these self proclaimed Christians know about the Bible. It's almost like voting for the Patriot Act without reading it.

But anyway, yes you are right. It's not so much arrogance it's the way that religion is designed to recruit and control more people. They make up a fictional Hell, and then convince people that disobedience will lead to that place. Once you have convinced people that this is the case, controlling them is easy.

Religion is all about money, control, and power.

patricia: Are you always this defensive and rude to people who don't think like you? Did you learn to 'wright' like that at a Christian school/home school per chance?

Answer 4

You family says - "It's my religion or none, if you don't believe you're damned. I'm trying to help you."

This is truly amazing behavior on your families part. While this is obviously against the spirit of christ they still persist correct. Well, they really have a right to be obnoxious and offensive in their religous belief. You have a right to accept or reject their beliefs.

However...try asking them a few simple questions to qualify their statements.

1) Would christ really belive that good hearted and honest people who work for the good of their family, friends and the community should be excluded from heaven when a murderer who takes the word on his death bed covered with the blood of innocent lives he has taken should be allowed to be saved? Do they really believe this?

2) Do they undrstand that christ himself was Jewish and a semite?

3) can they make peace with setting themslves above and beyond their neighbors who are good and righteous but have a different religous belief...and how is this christian.

bravo - keep thinking for yourself.

Answer 5

Agreed. It's the aggrssiveness that is often the most irritating, and the arrogant presumption that they are absolutely right and there is not even the vaguest possibility they could be mistaken about it.

Whether they intend to or not, Christians tend to adopt a condescending attitude when they discover someone does not share their superstition...even when they encounter members of different sects. I was raised with the idea that everyone had to find their own "truth" for themselves...that it was important that individuals figure out what worked for them personally and that everyone had a right to their own opinion. The evangelical Christians in particular seem unable to comprehend that what works so spectactularly well for them is not likely to bring peace or contentment for everyone in the world.

If you want samples of how rediculous Christian (or for that matter, any religion) individuals can be, check out here: http://www.fstdt.com/fundies.asp

Answer 6

Christians have been on a warpath since day 1.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the librarian of Alexandria was pulled off her carriage and skinned alive. Literacy dropped. Even the Pope had to have the Bible read to him. In the first crusade, Christians killed tens of thousands of people they called "infidels". The Children's Crusade (1212) caused the deaths of nearly 50,000 children. Preachers sentenced to death and executed thousands during the Inquisition (1233-1834) for heresy and witchcraft. There were the Salem witch trials (1692) in America. The 17th Century Thirty Years War (Catholics v. protestants) wiped out tens of millions in Europe. In the Taiping Rebellion in China in the 1850's a Christian cult started a war that resulted in the slaughter of twenty million people. In the Holocaust six million Jews were murdered. Muslims and Christians in Bosnia reached a death toll of over 250,000.

If they and the Muslims were more accepting of other people's beliefs, we would not be at war today and there would have been fewer wars and deaths from war in history.

Answer 7

I am a christian, but as one very differnt to the others I will still answer.

I find MANY christians to be very pushy in this respect as you described. Their problem as I see it, is they are convinced they are true yet don't use logical arguments to push their point. They say you are going to hell in their belife, and threats arn't good ways to convert people. Christians are reknowned for being very unnaccepting of other religons which is a real shame and indeed if you look at "the holy land" it has been the cause of at least 50% of the world major wars. Religon cannot fix the world, however it can help.

I suggest if you want to look into religon or aetheism you check out sources yourself (NOT the bible), and see which makes most sense to you.

Answer 8

I've met many pushy Christians -- but I have met MORE christians with wonderful personalities, true belief in God and their religious convictions who are good and open people. I am glad their are christians in this world. They are inspiring to many people. The only thing I dont like is when they tell me I will go to Hell if I dont do this or that (in their views) because I believe that it is up to God (not them) to decide where I go after my death.

Answer 9

If your house were on fire, and you wanted to stay there, and I came in shouting "FIRE", would I be intolerant and judgmental? Or would you be grateful? If you are NOT a Christian, ... well you know.

If we Christians are to win people to faith in God, we should be winsome without compromising the Gospel. We should speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15 but speaking the truth in love, ...), yet we cannot deny the truths that are revealed in God's Word.

You say that Hell is fictional. Are you positive? If you denied the existence of the Milky Way galaxy, would it cease to exist? If you looked past it, and through it, and never saw it, would that mean it is not there? What proof do you have, other than your faith in astronomers who have studied the subject?

When Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," (John 14:6) was He lying? Could Jesus have lied? Not and still be the Christ of the Bible.

I sympathize with your feelings of being pushed, and some Christians can be REALLY pushy; however, might not those feelings also be conviction that the truth is there somewhere?

Your becoming a Christian would not solve the world's problems, this is a fallen world, and things will not be the way God intended until He sets them right in His time.

Yes, wars have been caused by religious factions. I hated it when the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland were killing each other; that was disgraceful. Even today, Muslims kill Muslims in Iraq. Wahabist Muslims want to kill all non-Muslims around the world. Christians were involved in the disgraceful Crusades. But those are sinful aberrations of God's command to love one another.

Answer 10

Well I think that we all know that no religion can fix the world. Perhaps your relatives just rely on what they know. It is all a question of faith and they must believe in something. You can have your own beliefs without putting it on them and vice versa. Just do your thing and agree to disagree nothing is perfect for everyone. It is all a question of choice they have found their holy grail perhaps you are still searching. Good luck