Which shows greater selfishness: Christianity? Atheism? Or neither? (See Details.)?

Question

Christianity: A person takes on a certain belief system, behavior pattern, and community membership in order to achieve immortality for themself alone.

Atheism: A person takes on a certain belief system with the idea that there is no immortality, no faith community to join, and an expectation that natural consequences and certain death face us all.

I believe I have characterized the two stances accurately. Which shows a greater self-interest and self-seeking: Christianity, Atheism or neither one?

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Dark Aphotic:
Atheists also say that there is no one more important than you. Or your dog. Or the mosquitoes that fly about your head. At least objectively.

Internally, many things gain importance for an individual. For some people, its a religious ideology. Others claim something else.

PBJ:
You said "when God calls us ot obey Him it is for our benefit." What more evidence of selfishness do you need?

Answer 1

Christianity is self-centered and extremely egotistical. "My god", "Jesus loves me", "I will be with him in heaven", "Jesus will choose me when he comes back". Seriously, a lot of the time it's like listening to kids in the playground bragging about their daddies.

Not to mention the whole "eternal life" thing. "I am so special that the laws of nature don't apply to me. My dog doesn't have a soul, but I do. People go to heaven, animal's don't." It's ridiculous.

Answer 2

When you put it like that, it is obviously the Christians. The problem is, that Christians actually believe what they are saying. Hence, they really believe that you are going to hell. They really are trying to save your soul. I think selfishness is not a collective whole, but an individual thing. My best friend is an Atheist and shelfish as hell. I don't think Atheism as a whole though can be defined as being selfish or unselfish. It's just a set of belifes. Same with Christianity.

Answer 3

It is honestly not even close. But first we must define Christian according to it's source, which is the Bible. "And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch" (Acts 11:26). This term denoted a certain class of people who truly turned from sin to the Lord Jesus, trusting Him to save them on His expense and credit (His blood and righteousness), and thus lived unselfish lives following their Master. Not in order to gain Heaven but in love-response to Him "Who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20), and who calls us to repent and trust and obey His word.
Thus, while many churches calling themselves Christian teach that their works merit salvation (Catholicism, etc.), true born again Christians can not. Therefore serving God is to be entirely unselfish even in motive, and when God calls us ot obey Him it is for our benefit, not because He needs anything.
An atheist can be a good person, and do altruistic and sacrificial things, but historically it has been Christians who have built hospitals, feed and clothed the poor, and sacrificially showed the most philanthropy in following Christ. As the apostle Paul entreated, "I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved (2 Cor 12:15).
And rather than such things as the excesses of the Crusades or the Inquisitions being an example of Christianity, these were done by a church which kept the poeple largely ignorant of the Bible, and taught and produced a false form of Christian faith.
Meanwhile, one can easily find multitude examples of men and women who led extremely sacrificial lives for the benefit of others, temporally and eternally, as they sought to follow the example of their Savior, in obedience to the Bible.
Conversely, the testimony of atheism is notably manifest by godless Communism, and men like Hitler and Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, who (despite whatever pretext some may have made of religion) held to godless Darwian evolution. And far more people were murdered under such selfish atheistic belief systems than were under even the Catholic form of the Christian faith.
While many atheists may live overall moral lives, they have no no transcendent proven source of immutable morality, which the Bible is, and when a nation is built upon such a changeable belief system one can know for it will end up doing. And as man is religious by nature, something else will fill the void left by God. Under Communism for instance, man is no less religious than many Theistic faiths, but they will worship a man such as Lenin or Kim Jong Two. (See http://video.google.com/videoplay?
docid=3787046457101273554).
Overall, true Christians have a far more compelling and unselfish motive than atheism has or can provide.
May you give your sins and life to the One who gave Himself for us, the Lord Jesus.

Answer 4

It is not about achieving immortality, you have it all messed up.

As for my opinion, I would say Athiests. Because they rather live in their own little world, rather than believe that there is someone of higher importance than themselves.

~Dark Aphotic

Answer 5

initially, you have not got any concept how all atheists view humanity. Atheists, nonetheless they have comparable perspectives, no longer all think of the comparable or view humanity the comparable. Your assertion approximately all atheists makes you very smug. 2nd, faith or loss of does no longer be certain conceitedness. It relies upon on each and each individual: loss of humbleness, closedminded, intolerance, degrading in the direction of others, and so on makes one smug. i'm specific I ignored some examples yet you get the photograph. via ways, your accuracy is very lacking.

Answer 6

personally i feel that christianity shows greater selfishness, because it claims that it alone holds the key to a happy afterlife. that to me is like a child, going to a petting zoo and screaming "MINE" to the goat. it is no faiths place to claim eternal dominance over something that isn't theirs to claim dominance over. christianity doesnt believe in reincarnation. therefore, no christian can claim to know the eternal truth of the afterlife, because they haven't seen it.
i think this is the best starting point for discussing religions. there is no way for me to prove that my after life exists. there is no way for a christian to prove that their afterlife exists. once you agree that simply put, your faith has just as little proof as mine does, which i am fully willing to accept that my faith has little proof, as the entire purpose of faith, is to describe a belief in something that can't be proven; we can move on, and learn from one another.

Answer 7

Obviously christians they are out for themselves ...
believe the b/s = imorrtatilty
believe reality = life goes on until its over then it over .... ( no self serving b/s )

Answer 8

Neither and both.

You are dealing with real people, not a lab test.

Answer 9

Why are these the choices? How about people with pride issues

Answer 10

Christianity. Their god is a very selfish god.