A question for all Christians and Atheists?

Question

Ok, well this has been an ongoing thing, Christians and Atheists arguing and fighting in the Religion and Spirituality section. I want to set the record straight as far as I see it.
Any genuine Christian who is trying to convince an Athiest of his beliefs, feels sorry for people who do not believe in a higher power or morals and values, and also feel that they have a ticket to salvation and want the Athiest to have something to believe in. This is another thing that confuses me, why would Atheists defend a belief in nothing so strongly as if it was its own religion? And Atheists, do you not agree that even if you dont believe in the bible that the ten commandments and the morals in the bible are good rules to live by? Also, i have noticed many atheists saying things like "why would i believe a fictional book written by goat herders" first of all, very few people could write back when it was written, only the intellectual elite could write in ancient times..

EDIT: "even if you dont believe in the bible arent the ten commandments 'still'.."

and to continue..and the bible is
metaphorical
its facts and figures are hard to
interpret in concrete terms
it has been translated so many times
it is meant to inspire and guide

THIS QUESTION, comment on it and give your opinion

oooooooo i mispelled it! that makes my claim immedialy invalid doesnt it!!! lol dude how about offering some facts, read more carefully too i said "any genuine christian" meaning thats MY definition of a good christian, who is good to all.

let me restate my point because i dont think i made myself clear.
All i am saying is that it is hard for me to understand why someone who only believes what they see can believe in much of anything..i mean why would you care about anything, if existence is meaningless..
I am not trying to force anyone to be any religion, -hey! i consider myself catholic-taoist, and ive only been into a church like 3 times, i havent read too much out of the bible either, ive just always been spiritual.

im mostly seen just christians and atheists fighting so dont get ur panties in a bunch because i didnt mention the others

I DIDNT SAY THE BIBLE WAS FICTION! JONNY G!
I said its metaphorical, meaning that it shouldnt be understood concretely.
And your saying that christians do not believe in truth, im not a certified christian keep that in mind. this is not an attack, its more of a discussion then a question.

im not against individuality (to the girl who talked about killing puppies) i do believe there are people who are innately good, and i believe in personal perseverence!

actually do some reseach
the old testament was recently found on a tablet
from ancient sumeria!

like i said i am not confirmed or anything
just spiritual
i was using the bible as an example.
it has guidelines in it, not concrete always
the idea is that if god created you, and you believe that for example a gay person is born gay and cant help it so should be able to get married then you wont go to hell for that, god is understanding!!!!!

how do you know what the generally accepted belief was? im sure some people got the idea that the world was round.
Also, as far as religion causing war..it is meant for the opposite, you are stereotying as you were accusing me of, which i wasnt, i said "it seems" or "i think" and stuff like that. i cant speak for atheists thats why i asked!!
think of all the wars caused by lack of religion or all of the wars that could have took place.

im a vegetarian, and i actually believe
that hinduism..well in hinduism
there are deities such as shiva
but they are all brahman.
So they do believe in one god.
I think ancient religions like odin
were the ways that god chose to show
himself to a
people who were not ready
to accept that one god
created the beauty of everything.

spibbles- You talk of social equality, yet you attack me here. You talk of political correctness yet you argue. Political correctness is for men without convictions.

Answer 1

I agree. I'm a christian and I would think that if an athiesthad a good head on his shoulders he would see that those are good morals to live by. I don't understand athiests. Why do they think its so horrible to believe in something so much better than this world? Isn't it nice to know that there's a reward for everything you did on earth? I guess some people just don't want to be judged for the things they're doing. You have to know what's wrong and right. You know that when you do something bad that you're going to get punished for it. Right? Maybe they just don't want to face their issues and problems. they don't want to look bad or something. I don't know.

Answer 2

Christians do not need to convince Atheists or any other religion, if you dont like then thats fine. The stories of the bible go back a long, long time. But the stories were only assembled into a book we call the Bible during the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine.

And "only the intellectual elite could write in ancient times" is true for Egypt, but not the people who recorded many of the biblical events, those people were the Jewish. In fact Christianity is a branch of Judaism, the separation began with the birth of Christ (who was called the king of the Jews).

But I agree with you, why do they defend nothing as though its something? Is nothing even worth defending? And I worry that without some form of religion that they are not getting good morals and values.

Answer 3

No such thing. An atheist believes in NO god/desses. That would include Allah,Ganesh, Kali, Isis, Thor, Gaia, Danu, etc...most English speaking users are on here and are raised Christian, but I'd say my morals & beliefs are from a mixture of empathy & society. I am pro-choice, and so are many Xians and I am also vegetarian. The Bible is very contradictory. That whole 'not killing' thing? A lot of Xians don't seem to have a problem with factory farms, the death penalty or going to war. And if you read the OT, you don't have to go far to read some story where the 'chosen ones' are commanded to kill. There are over 30,000 Xian denom's out there...there's a reason why.

Answer 4

It's really not that complicated.
In Christianity you are taught that everyone is born innocent and that it is the duty of Christians to spread the word of God. Jesus told them to go to the four corners of the earth and spread the word. It's actually quite vague, and Jesus never actually explained how. If it was friendly advice and caring, no one would care. But many Christians turn into the car-salesman from hell threaten eternal damnation on all who disagree. Nobody likes being told their going to hell just because there opinions differ. How would you like Hindis knocking on your door and telling you that Shiva was pissed and started a mass campaign to make America stop eating beef. Wouldn't that irritate you? If Christians kept their faith to themselves and weren't so pushy, no one would care. Do you ever here people complaining about Buddhists? And do you yourself not get irritated when Jehova's Witnesses or Mormons come to your door.

As for the ten commandments, read the first two and you'd see what the problem is. Besides, Jews, Protestants, and Catholics all have a different set of commandments

Answer 5

"This is another thing that confuses me, why would Atheists defend a belief in nothing so strongly as if it was its own religion?"

Atheism is a lack of belief in God, or a god, or multiple gods, or any kind of spiritual realm inhabited by angels, demons, fairies, and what-not. It is NOT a religion, as a religion is centered around the worship of a deity, and athiests do not believe in deities any more than you believe in the Easter Bunny.

"And Atheists, do you not agree that even if you dont believe in the bible that the ten commandments and the morals in the bible are good rules to live by?"

There are three versions of the Ten Commandments--Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish--so even religious folk are divided as to which commandments should be considered the "Big Ten." And no, I do not believe they are all good rules to live by. One says to keep the Sabbath, which excludes people who worship God on Sundays, and people who don't worship at all. Another says only to worship the Jewish God, which excludes Christianity, Hinduism, Wicca, and many other religions. One says not to covet, which is a rule agains one's thoughts, and how can another person command you not to think something?

Then there are the laws that are LEFT OUT of the Ten. Where is there any law saying "Thou shalt not rape"? How about "Thou shalt not own slaves"? Or "Thou shalt not molest little children"? Not only are these absent from the Ten, they are entirely absent from any of the 613 laws that God allegedly gave to Moses. (In fact, there are laws condoning both slavery and rape, and children had little value.)

"Also, i have noticed many atheists saying things like "why would i believe a fictional book written by goat herders" first of all, very few people could write back when it was written, only the intellectual elite could write in ancient times.."

Yes, but their idea of "intellectual elite" consisted of men who thought the world was flat, that the sky was a solid dome overhead, and that natural disasters and diseases were caused by an angry, invisible being who lived above the heavenly dome. They believed that if goats and sheep stared at tree branches with streaks cut in the bark, the offspring would be born streaked and spotted. (read about it in Gen.30, starting at abt. v. 25) They lived in a world filled with things they could not understand, and so they attributed everything to magical causes. So tell me again why I should believe anything they wrote.

Answer 6

This still sounds like an attack on atheists, and this isn't really a question. The one question I remember is why we defend Atheisim like it is a religion. Well I'd have to answer your question with another question, why is it attacked like its a religion? It is not a belief of nothing, its is a belief in science and the truth. The bible is a fictional book as you said, its full of metaphors. No one can deny whoever wrote the bible didn't just throw a mush of stories together and made it a religion. Like every peice of literature the bible has charecters, scenery, and even a plot. Unfortunatly for Christians, it is just that, litterature. You don't see people going arround talking about hobbits and trolls and elves like the Lord of the Rings is real history, the same should be thought of the bible. I am, however, pleased that you recognize the bible is metaphoric, some Christians don't and thats really irritating.

Answer 7

Christianity does have some good aspects, and I do like the basic idea of loving and respecting others. However, many parts of the Bible are outdated and simply go against my own personal beliefs (such as gay rights, feminism, etc.) When a strict Christian keeps saying I will go to hell despite being a good person simply because I don't pray or attend church, I get offended.

Agnostic.

Answer 8

The argument between christians and atheist is to easy,
what about the arguments between members within the same church or a denominations convention. An example being; I am a christian, I am not prejudice, I do not judge people for the sexual oreintation they choose. Now, the bible says that a man should be with a woman, if you believe in the bible it is on the page in black ink on white paper. Why do people that want to live a gay life desire to force their lifestyle on me and demand that they be able to get married in my church by a gay pastor. There are plenty of gay churches but they insist that I go against what I believe to be God's will and let them do whatever they wish!

Answer 9

An atheist defends his beliefs for the same reason a religious does: to foster correct thought, for the benefit of society. The difference is that a religious relies on opinions, while the atheist relies on facts. There is some good stuff in the bible, including some of the commandments; there is also a considerable amount of trash. The trick is separating the wheat from the chaff.

Answer 10

These answers are amusing. Thanks for asking.

Once again the over-generalization of "all atheists" or "all theists" will lead to many examples of people who don't fit into one another's descriptions of such groups. I imagine there are both passive atheists and aggressive atheists, so not all of them get angry at theists who are trying to help. There are also both loving and combative Christians, so not all Christians are arguing here for the right reasons. I'd like to think that people in this forum are capable of allowing for certain group-wide characteristics, while allowing for diversity within each group.

Oh, and by the way, it's not a fallacy to use the term "genuine Christian" when it's perfectly acceptable to use the term "genuine atheist." The objectors are those who reject the possibility of a God who distinguishes His own people from those who only pretend to be.