Non-Christians - Where do you get your knowledge about God?

Question

I'm asking this in all seriousness because as I watch tv and movies in this culture, I see no accurate representation of the God that I know nor of Christians I know. It seems to me that people have a strange idea of what Christianity is and they reject it, but that idea they have is so far off base according to what the Bible actually says and teaches. So, if you are not a Christian, not raised in a church, where do you get your information about what it means to be a Christian?? Do you think that what movies show is the truth?? Do you think that your impression of it is right?? Do you yourself belong to a group that is wrongly portrayed in movies?

Answer 1

I get my knowledge of Christianity from reading the bible and various Christian texts; of Islam, from reading the Qur'an and various Islamic texts, and so on. None of these contain any verifiable information about god (or, indeed, facts of any kind), nor have I (or anyone else, for that matter) ever had any credible interaction with god, so the totality of my knowledge of god is zero.

Answer 2

I'm an atheist.

So we think the media is just putting Christianity in a bad light, and THAT'S why we "refuse" to believe? Need a better ad campaign?

My knowledge of Christianity is based on extensive reading of the Bible, having been a "born again "Christian and raised in a Christian household. TV and movies mostly portray caricatures of Christianity. All caricatures however do have some basis in reality.

In general, I have found that atheists are better educated and more knowledgeable about the Bible, and the history of Christianity than the vast majority of so called "believers" . Christians tend to confine their Bible knowledge and reading to very small, selected parts, and don't know much else. I know when I was a Christian the same passages were read over and over, entire books never mentioned at all.

The documentary "The God Who Wasn't There" has a great series of interviews with everyday Christians attending a crusade of some sort, and their knowledge is appallingly bad.

Answer 3

I was Christian myself for many years (raised Anglican and then Roman Catholic in high school), so my knowledge comes "from the horses mouth", so to speak.

I think every religious group suffers from an inaccurate portrayal in the media, because generally speaking the media is not concerned with the truth -- it is concerned with telling an engaging and interesting story, whether we're talking about the 6 pm newscast or the latest movie to hit the cineplex. The facts of a religion tend to get stretched and manipulated in the process.

Certainly as a Wiccan who does "Pagan PR" with the local media, I'm very careful when accepting interviews and ask a few questions of my own before agreeing to take part in any portrayal of my religion. I've been fortunate to have a series of reporters lately who have been respectful of my faith and done their best to portray it accurately, but I'm under no illusions that that is the goal of all (or even most) of the media people I run into. Through hard work, Wiccans are slowly changing the general perception of our religion, but it's an uphill battle and the struggle is far from over.

Answer 4

I can only speak of experience, because I was at one time a Non-Christian. Even though I went through 2 religions before actually finding a religion that believed in God. It wasn't that I was ignorant, but I was more lost with so many religions available to me.

Born and raised as a Buddhist, since religion was crammed and shoved down my throat at an early age. I didn't really practice it, because I was young. I then followed what my mom believed in thinking it was the right one, it was half Christian/half Buddhist where it was mostly about meditation and vegetarianism really.

I was in it for 2 years, after really thinking about it I wanted to leave and know more about God. Forced to stay under my mom, I had to get my uncle involved because as my a person I should have my choice, decision, and beliefs and not be influenced by someone whether they believe what they follow is good. So I decided to visit the church across the street to know more, unfortunately the experience where I didn't feel loved or wanted and being baptized in vain made me go elsewhere.

Answer 5

Response to Paul S. You asked us to point out what christianity got wrong. The old testament for starters cannot possibly be inspired because of the screwball god it portrays. Salvation is through a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, not Jesus. If you knew this you could throw away the bible because the Holy Spirit has it down pat and is not shy about sharing. If you ever get serious about a real transformation read the apocryphon of John and learn the true account of creation. God did not create the universe, Satan did.

Answer 6

Same place Christians do - from having been a Christian. I grew up going to church, going to a Lutheran school, reading the Bible, getting confirmed, taking adult Bible classes, the whole nine yards. Now I work at a Catholic institution. I'm also surrounded by Christians, who of course more-or-less dominate American culture.

If you're thinking that we get our ideas from "The DaVinci Code", well, there may be some religious folks who buy that, but you'll find that atheists are at least as skeptical of that stuff as Catholics are.

Now, if you think there's some specific thing about Christianity that we're getting wrong, you might point it out. Frankly, it seems that Christians complain a lot that atheists* don't know something, but don't seem to be able to point out what it is that we supposedly don't know. I don't buy it - I think they're frustrated that we don't agree, and would rather pretend that we don't know than accept that we don't agree.

* Yes, I know you're not doing this here, and I appreciate the respectful tone.

Answer 7

I feel that the root of the problem lies with the church, rather that with God, Jesus, or the Bible. I've noticed a desire to have more direct participation in religious/spiritual matters. Humanity has evolved (grown up?) to the point of learning for ourselves, and not needing the infrastructure of a church. Being told to accept something without proof is dogma, and I think we're too smart for that these days. We are asking questions and not getting useful answers. Being Non-christian allows greater acceptance of other methods of worship, even to designing one's own. After all, we are all trying to accomplish the same thing, we fight over mere methodology. What's right for me may not be for you applies elsewhere, why not here?

Answer 8

I got my info on God from the bible, which quickly showed me how much I really did not need to believe in God. I also had some help from my boyfriend's mom, an Evangelical Christian, who thinks Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 were divine punishment for sin, that Wicca is black magic, that gays are inherently evil, and who never actually read all of the bible herself. She finds it confusing, so she just skips from Genesis to Exodus to Matthew. She thinks that the bible should be taught in school, but no other religion should. She thinks Jews are bad, because they don't believe in Jesus. She doesn't want me to marry her son, because that means her son would go to hell because he would be "unevenly yolked" to me. She swears she is a True Christian, but doesn't think that Jesus meant that you're supposed to be tolerant of everyone and love everyone.

How many people do you know who are like her? I know many, many others who feel exactly the way she does. I reject it based on her and the Bible, not some movie or tv show. Give us some credit for not being mindless zombies who are slaves to culture, will you? All of us have our reasons for rejection, and I doubt that many of them come from Hollywood.

Answer 9

I studied the bible for over 20 years.. many of us know it better than christians do.
Try being a pagan if you want to see a group that is wrongly portrayed, not only in the movies, but in every other medium as well.

Answer 10

I disproved Christianity by reading the Bible and comparing its physical/moral claims against our scientific and ethical understanding of the world.

Example of physical claims:
Evolution and genetic variance disprove the Garden of Eden. Understanding of weather, physics, and astronomy disproves the story of Noah and the idea that 3 days of darkness passed after the death of Christ.

Ethics:

The bible says that women were forced to have childbirth pain because they were seduced by fruit of knowledge. Other parts call for murder of homosexual men and recalcitrant children.

Explanation: The bible was written by those who did not understand modern ethics or codes for compassion or individualism in today's world. Nor did they understand science. Result: The bible is a fallible religious text.

Bingo!

And the Christians I have met, the "true" ones who have followed the bible to the letter supposedly, including my mother, have condemned all human accomplishments in science and film and the arts to be "secular tools of the devil," while spouting the bigotry of hellfire to Christians who don't believe in their exact interpretation. Others hide behind a facade of love and faith while denying scientific theories that contradict their point of view (ex. evolution). Others disagree with the use of emergency contraception for rape victims.

This is how I get my knowledge of Christianity. From firsthand chats and my own inquiries.