christians, why do you do it, whats your motivation?

Question

the first thing preached is origional sin....how does that work with a kind and loving god?
"i love you, come back to me....but you better atone for sins commited millenia ago, also you better not do a bunch of abritrary actions or youll burn in a pool of fire!!!!!! with monsters...and other....medieval creations......also a guy on a cross died for your sins 2k yrs ago.......um....just pray and youll get answered by god....who sees fit to leave you with whatever problem you have to fix yourself....."

seriously, what is the appeal? im not trying to be offensive, but im sure some "radical thinkers" will tell me im going to hell.....but somehow, i cant believe ill be living in a lake of fire with middle ages monsters. its based on something that cannot be substanstiated (the bible, regardless of what you believe, it justan ancient text with some questionable authors), except inside the minds of the believers......
so reall, whats the appeal of this insane religion?

sounds like it is fear

Answer 1

parental association

Answer 2

Christianity tends to appeal to people on a very primal, emotional level. Its basis is fear: fear of what happens after death, that it could be horrible and permanent and there will be nothing you can do about it after you die. After creating this nightmarish problem, it offers a solution: by offering a way out that is supposedly based on love (conveniently forgetting the fact that the source of the love is also and was first the source of the abject terror. The solution is the cause of the problem).

It also offers complete excuse from any responsibility. It doesn't matter what kind of person you are, as long as you pray a certain you are 'saved'. They always say 'we're not perfect, just saved' but (except for an honest few, some of whom I know myself) make no effort to better themselves, since it's not necessary. Please note, they don't even hold their deity responsible for setting up the whole problem in the first place.

By and large it's a worship of power. They say that "God is good" not because he does good things or is good to people or has any innate good qualities, but because he's powerful enough to dictate what is good and what is not.

So you have, fear, love, freedom from responsibility and worship of power... all very, very powerful appeals to the basic instincts of people. That is, as long as no one turns a critical eye.

Although all religions have some very nice wisdom in them, including Christianity, I can't get around the problems with this religion and much prefer other spiritual philosophies. At the moment I describe myself as a Neo-pagan Taoist. And a strong atheist.

primoa: I wouldn't, and it's a sad thing to need to be saved from one's own creator.

Answer 3

The second Article of Faith (LDS, Mormon/Christian)

2 We believe we will be punished for our own sins and not for Adams transgression.

Simple--When one follows Jesus' teachings greater peace, joy and comfort is found in life. We are more than the crude matter that makes up our bodies. We have souls and deep inside we know the truth. If one will be still and not be afraid to find truth they will find it.

You questions show many misinterpretations of the bible.
I don't only think or believe these things are true I know I have a loving Heavenly Father who made a plan so we could become like Him and that He gave His Only Begotten Son.

If you get past the surface it all makes perfect sense.

Answer 4

Ok, I am on a lunch break, so this is the abridged answer...

First of all, you are looking at the Bible from the perspective that it is just a silly story that makes no sense to you; this is because this is all that you have known it to be. Why don't you seriously consider reading it and maybe applying it to your life and then see for yourself if you think that the wisdom and power contained within came from men or from God. Also understand that it was not written by a man to be the "word of a God," but it was written by many men of God, over thousands of years, and for many different reasons; poetry, history, instructions, and some, yes, directly from God. It shows God's relationship to his creation and how humanity has responded to him. You show somewhat of a degree or genuine interst, so let me tell you something; my God has proven himself to me, not because my pastor told me so or because I was raised to follow an insane dogmatic set of rules and rites, but because when I took myself into a deep, dark hole from which I could see no escape, it was Jesus Christ who reached down and delivered me from the point of near death. God answers prayers; coincidence does not. I have more reason to praise God, and to believe the Bible is his Word, than to believe that my own mother is not a figment of my imagination. I truly hope that you continue to seek after that which you currently do not understand, and I will say a prayer for you specifically. God Bless :-)

Answer 5

This is how it works: Adam disobeyed God. He had a choice. God told him not to partake of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He did it any way which brought him and us death and disease.

God said, "I love you. Therefore, I will come down from Heaven and become the human Jesus, I will pay for what you have done to yourself, your sins, I will do this to show you how much I love you so that you will not want to sin any longer and you will want to be with me."

There are two places available after death. We can either choose Jesus, and live forever with Him or choose Hell, which is complete separation from God.

The appeal of this relationship is friendship, safety, freedom from fear, a Heavenly Father who loves me and answers my prayers, a Savior who loves me so much that He was willing to die for me, a Holy Spirit to comfort and guide me, and eternal life.

Answer 6

Love without truth is indulgence. If I am sick and in need of help yet do not realize my actual state, one thing a loving person can do for me is to tell me I am heading for destruction and show me the good way.

I may not believe him, but my suspicion does not make him a liar.

Christianity is not appealing. But if it is telling the truth, I will bank my life on it.

Answer 7

They want everyone to live and think as they do since the more they get the more "right" they are.

They could be right they could be wrong..all I know is I disagree with a vast majority of their ideas since they don't seem to mesh with everything I see, know and feel.

Spending all eternity singing to a big guy on a throne doesn't sound all that great to me...sounds like slavery and I would think God would not need such absolute devotion being above petty human vanity

Answer 8

I thought you werent trying to be offensive. Why are you calling us insane because we choose to follow christ? When I stand before god, I dont want to be thrown into hell for all of eternaty. God is real and Jesus is alive today. We are forgiven of our sins cause of Jesus' death on the cross and by his blood. YOU SHOULD BE PRAISING HIM INSTEAD OF BASHING HIS FOLLOWERS.

Answer 9

Atheist are babies of the father of lies, devil. climate they know it or no longer. As for me and my relatives, we can carry on with God (Jesus Christ). And, pray for people who attempt to deceive. i do no longer carry on with a faith, yet have a relationship with Christ, and carry on with Him. that's in love of Him, that I freely supply of my time and money, to those that do His artwork, and that i've got an amazing time on the privilege to realize this.

Answer 10

The bible says that there will be more in hell than Heaven, so it's depressing, but not surprising that many people deny Christ. Today, there are so many documentaries, saying that Jesus had kids and a wife, that upsets me, because it contradicts the very essence of my beliefs. In regards to what someone said about being saved from your creator, that's crap. Your parents, or at least mine, punished me when I did wrong to teach me that being bad will get you in trouble and to help me be a person to think before I act. I don't know about anyone else, but having a strict mother made me a better person, and made me realize that there are consequences for negative actions. God does the same. Hell is punishment for not accepting Christ and not obeying God's commandments. If there were no such things as sins, the world would be comlete chaos, because there would be no consequence for sin. I'm not perfect, far from it, but there is peace of mind knowing that I have salvation, because a man was willing to give his life to atone for EVERYONE'S sin. We are only liable to God for sins WE commit, not those committed millenia ago. Although, the effects of those sins are still apparent today, but the original punishment for sin is just a reminder that man has a sinful nature, and although we are not worthy, Jesus is there to intercede on our behalf to God. And about prayer, unless you know how powerful prayer is, you really don't need to mock it. I learned at a young age that the power of prayer is real, and the timing in which things that I have asked God for is far from coincidence.

This is an email I received a while ago, but I think it relates to this:

Thought provoking...

In light of the many perversions and jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke, it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding the attacks on Sept. 11).
Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives.
And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"
In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school .
The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.

Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.

Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they WILL think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Answer 11

Jesus is my motivation.

Regarding sin...all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but through Jesus we have a way to approach Him.

We love Him because He first loved us. (and that includes you. He loves YOU.)