By insisting all are sinners, does Christianity humiliate people in order to secure converts?

Question

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While repentence is one possible response to humiliation, rageful anger is another equally common and unpredictable reaction.

If Christianity uses humiliation as a tool of conversion, how can it be justified when there is an equally likely chance that it will provoke anger rather than repentence?

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Answer 1

By insisting that you've never in your life committed a sin, are you a liar?

Answer 2

I odn't believe in a tool or conversion. Conversion is a personal experience that no-one can force onto anyone else.
I am sure there are those out there who do that sort of thing.
I am sorry if someone has done that to you. They are sadly mistaken. You can't make someone believe and you can't make someone be saved or go through the conversion process. Its futile.
Also not all sin is humiliating, many are glorified by our society. Some may argue it humiliating to not sin. I wish I had the problem of not sinning. I seem to do it more often than I would like.

Answer 3

Well not all Christians try to "humiliate" you (Is that the right word?)

SOME Christians in an attempt to evoke a need for their Diety or belief when trying to convert you would try to "create a feeling of undeservedness, guilt and self depreciation".
In other words, no matter how good life is going for you, how successful you are and at peace with yourself you are, they need to make you feel "in need of a Savior" which means stressing to you that you are a worthless sinner. If they can do this, then it will naturally progress from there that you need a Savior and you feel obligated or indepted to their God because he suffered for your sins (it is YOUR fault Christ suffered) so you now you OWE him. It's a kind of emotional blackmail in a way. But then again, I am an outsider and my
observations are based on how I see it.

Just seems to me like people who are ALREADY self-assured, contented and fulfilled in their life and now turn their attention or are simply curious about spiritual matters join more non-Christian/Abrahamic religions and those with severe lack, personal problems, crisis, desperate need for comfort, friends or emptiness to fill or once again, feel like a worthless sinners join CERTAIN Christian sects.

Answer 4

Well I think if people are angered when they are asked to be called to repentance, it's because they're in denial. I don't think it's humiliating to admit you made mistakes. EVERYONE makes mistakes. This doesn't make us bad people, this simply makes us human. Jesus Christ DIED for us, suffered and died so that through such a SIMPLE yet neccisary process like repentance, all our sins can be washed away and we can return to live with him and our heavenly father again. He loves ALL of us THAT much. Don't let pride get in the way of eternal blessings and happiness. You can't HELP but be humbled when you think of all the blessings big and small our lord and his son the savior has blessed us with. The bible does say that the Lord WILL have a humble people, if you don't humble yourself, I think we are put into positions that DO humble us. It's so much easier to do it yourself then to have it done for you BELIEVE ME!!!! I learned the hard way.

Answer 5

I find ur quesiton pretty contradictory. If humiliation provokes anger, and there is in fact an equally likey chance that it will do so, then how could humiliation be considred a way for Christianity to secure converts. You just said that although it works for half the people, its equally likely not to work.

Answer 6

If I believe that all are sinners, doesn't that include myself?
If I can admit that I am a sinner, does that make me "better than you"??
Or, maybe, possibly, is it that Christians have humbled themselves in the sight of the Lord?

Why do you suppose Christians should care whether you convert or not, actually? Would you, in any way, be an asset to the Christian faith?
If you are as likely to strike out in anger as to listen to my pleas, why would I even take the chance to talk to you in the first place? Are you that important to me?
Or maybe it is that you are that important to God...

Answer 7

That's exactly what it's all about. Christian churches convince people that they're horrible, depraved sinners and that God is an angry Judge. Or, because life is complicated and people are always unhappy about something, the Christian Churches convince people that the reason why they are unhappy is because they don't believe the things that the church has to offer or that they aren't members of the church.

It's very similar to what advertisers do. You create problem X, and then create solution Y. Your life is bad because of bad breath, or you don't have the cool kid clothes, or you don't have the latest thing they want to sell you. But if you buy our product, everything will be ok again.

Answer 8

I think there is some humiliation involved but I think fear is the bigger factor. You get people so worked up about what happens after they leave the earth they fall right in line and forget about living for the here and now.

Answer 9

Well, first it has to present a problem, so that it can provide a solution.

Problem: all are sinners and fall short of god
Solution: Jesus will save you!

..However, if you don't buy into the problem, the solution becomes meaningless.

It can be looked at alternatively:
Problem: Nobody's perfect.
Solution: Who cares? Most people try their best.

You see this is not very useful for controlling people. ;-)

Answer 10

I don't think it's as much trying to humiliate, as it's trying to instill FEAR. (You're a sinner, so you need to accept our beliefs and repent or you're going to suffer in the eternal fires of Hell.)

Answer 11

Interesting take.

I don't feel humilated. It frees me, really. Because I screw up every single day, if I thought there were people that didn't, I would feel lousy and probably give up.

Why would "Christianity" want to secure converts? In what way does it benefit them? You are overdramatizing. Christians wish to share that which brings them joy, nothing more. There's no conspiracy.