Why are christians so intolerant? We don't knock on your door trying to get YOU to believe what we do!?

Question

Christians say the atheists need to be more tolerant, but we have done nothing to you. You are the intolerant ones! In the past you have killed, tortured, hated, forcefully converted, and enslaved millions of people for not agreeing with your religion. Atheists are shunned and told they are going to hell, and fired and even thrown out of their own homes for years and we are the hateful ones?? Today christians burn down buildings and kill people who disagree with them. Even if they don't hate people the imagine them burning in hell! How righteous. In 7 different states (in the US) Atheists are not allowed to hold office. Atheists are considered the most hated and least trusted minority in the US. Only 1-3% of Americans are atheist. FIND SOME OTHER RELIGION TO ATTACK!!!! Stop trying to shopve your religeon down everybody's throughts! It may shock you t'o hear that not everyone wants to believe in what you do. I don't care if you believe in imaginary beings. Just don't take away myrights!

*sorry for the spelling errors! I couldn't get the spellcheck to work, so do not use my typos as proof that I am unintelligent. That would be stupid don't you agree?

I have come across this problem many times. People think I am reffering directly to them. Crawl out from under your rock and look around! And I am not being intolerant by stating thinks that the majority of christians do. I am simply questioning your (obviously flawed) reasoning. Oh and I would like you to find proof of god. Why should you have to prove what youbelieve? Why should I have to?

Answer 1

Can I offer you a hug?

Answer 2

In the past you have killed, tortured, hated, forcefully converted, and enslaved millions of people for not agreeing with your religion<<<<<<<< The two largest societal killers and enslavers are actually Communist Russia and Communist China, both of which are delcared atheist countries (60 million and 77 million under Stalin and Mao (respectively alone)


Atheists are shunned and told they are going to hell, and fired and even thrown out of their own homes for years <<<<< So where religious people and religious organizations in atheistic countries (see above as well as Vietnam (another declared atheist country)

christians burn down buildings and kill people who disagree with them.<<<< Alot of people do this of every religion or non religion


In 7 different states (in the US) Atheists are not allowed to hold office<<<< In the past several states (and still several places) Christians of various types were not allowed to hold office.


Atheists are considered the most hated and least trusted minority in the US.<<<

FIND SOME OTHER RELIGION TO ATTACK!!!!<<<< hmmm atheism is not suppose to be a religion

Not that it makes any of these things correct whether done to Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Hindus or whoever it is done to. But you need to get over yourself in thinking that you are more persecuted and more unjustly or harshly then anyone else. Everyone is persecuted and oppressed in some way somewhere. It is because ALL people are intolerant and ALL people have to work on that and be more tolerant and accepting.

Answer 3

INTOLERANT AND PROUD OF IT!!!

Who says tolerance is good? Where do you draw the line? Let's start being tolerant about murder, or rape, or child molestation! Oh, well, okay, I know the "Church" has condoned each of these on some level through its history, but I would be hard pressed to say that God condones those things.

Tolerance and intolerance are far different from the actions you describe. Those things are hate-filled acts of evil. (If, as an atheist, you can recognize such a concept as "evil".) Christians ought to love their enemies.

You are confusing two different issues as I see it. I understand the connection between, "leave me alone" and "burn down the abortion clinic" but I don't think it is an accurate connection.

I don't imagine anyone burning in hell, because no one is far away from that fate. If it weren't for the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, God's grace, and a plan to reconcile me and give me new life, I'd be there too. But I have confidence and hope in my salvation, and if need be, I'll be a "fruit inspector" pointing out the things that ought not to be ignored.

Answer 4

To Kelly W.

I will give you every single thing that I own and dedicate every single dollar that I make for the rest of my life to you if you can offer evidence that proves intelligent design.

Interesting how some people just cannot read. I looked at the question and it never once mentions evolution. Maybe if these people went to school and learned how to read that maybe the world would be a better place. One person accused the asker of saying that 1 out 3 Americans are atheist, yet the question clearly states that 1-3% are atheist. I have heard of some studies that indicate even higher numbers. Plus those numbers are rising every single decade.

The asker has a very valid point. There are many christians who vocally say that non-christians should leave this country. There are even some who say that non-christians should be removed from this country. Christianity has a very long history of hatred, violence, persecution of non-christians, and bigotry. Look in the news and you will see instances of people committing crimes in the name of christianity. How many times to you see someone committing crimes in the name of atheism.

To the above Person: The asker made a valid point that some state constitutions require a person holding office to affirm a belief in god. You say that some states prohibit christians from holding office. I can only guess that you are talking about other countries. What is your point? The US is supposed to the country with freedom of religion. Don't complain that another country does not have freedom of religion until this one truly has freedom of religion. That is hypocritical. What is going on is that there is freedom of religion if you are christian and you are fine with that. You do not care about non-christians and their rights so you ignore that and focus on what other countries are doing. Also, you point out that Russia and China have the history of being the biggest societal killers and being atheist. The difference is that those countries had state imposed religious beliefs. They did not care about human rights to begin with. They were blindly following the ideas of a Marxist communism. They were also headed up by madmen. At no point did someone say "The atheist belief is that the believers should die." Those countries killed people to empower mad dictators. What the person asking the question is focusing on is that people should leave him alone in the area of religion. Do not pass laws based on your religion. Do not force people to observe religion if they do not want to. Let people practice whatever they want as long as they do no harm and they do not infringe upon someone else's freedom of religion.

Answer 5

In defense of the original question, I HAVE been told I was going to Hell if I didn't accept God into my life. I've also had many different Christians try to persuade me to join their church. So I would say the original question is a bit of an exagerration, but I understand where they're coming from. Of course, I don't characterize ALL Christians in the same way but I do find it a bit odd that there are so many different denominations of Christianity and that they're seemingly intolerant of each other.

Answer 6

Oh, dear. Why the rant? A simple, "Sorry, I'm not interested" would do.
Why do you burden anyone with "In the past"? What group of human beings, including atheists, are exempt from that judgement? If people who think like you do did it in the past, does that mean I should blame you, personally? Hey, atheist regimes have not been famous for their compassion.
If you work hard and own your own business, surely you have the right to hire or fire anyone you please? I know I would rather not hire an atheist, but if it is my company, surely it is my right to say so? I'm not sure how anyone got thrown out of their home for years...for being an atheist? That's a new one on me. The whole burning in hell thing is really not original with Christians, and there are alot of us who don't believe in it. I don't think God ever thought that one up.
OK...where am I?
Atheists can't hold office...well, think about it. Doesn't that tell you that the people who put that law in place were religious? But, but, but...I thought America was not a Christian nation!!!!
Now, while I don't hate you because you are an atheist, I am, indeed, less likely to trust you. After all, you have no belief in any god, you don't believe in any afterlife...what reason do you have to be honest with me, other than you're just a nice guy? That may be narrow minded of me, and I'm sorry. Actually, I do know one or two atheists I'd trust, but only because I know them well. Come to think of it, there are Christians I do not trust. Ahh, well.
I thought you guys were up over 10% now? Seems like for such a minority, you are making alot of noise about what our government should and should not allow, especially in our schools. But then, each of us has the right to his/her opinion, don't we? I would say, DON'T TAKE AWAY MY RIGHTS! My kid DOES have a right to pray, yes, even in the public school system, and yes, even out loud. As long as there are final exams, you will never get rid of school prayer. My kid has the right to thank her God, yes, even in the auditorim on Graduation Day. Next time, we'll bring our own microphone.
My kid has the RIGHT to sing Christmas carols. If you are afraid your precious progeny might be warped for life, put him in a private school. Why should I have to pay for what is my RIGHT to my religion, my RIGHT to free speech, because YOU don't like what I might have to say?
I guess we can mark you down as one who has heard what we have to tell the world, and has rejected it. I'm sorry to hear that, but if it were up to me, I promise, you would never hear it again. Especially since you seem to think that someone wanting to share their faith with you is the same thing as shoving it down your throat. Remember that, to a Christian, our faith is the most precious thing we have. Put a sign on your door...
CHRISTIANS BEWARE
hungry lion inside!!!!!!!!!

Answer 7

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Answer 8

WOW,

Why do atheists have to be so generalizing?

I am a devout Catholic Christian and I have never burned down a building, killed, tortured, hated, forcefully converted, anyone, let alone millions. And guess what? I have never is 30 years of being both a Protestant and now Catholic Christian NEVER had ANY Christian suggest we should do so.

I have never knocked on ANY door where I was not first invited to and tried to impose my beliefs on others, and Many of us Christians have fought and died for you to be free to believe or not to believe as you wish.

Good Luck, grab a Tylenol and I hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Peace!

Answer 9

How about taking the log out of our own eye before we tell the atheist to take the speck out of his? I know there are many Christians who do not insult the nonchristians they know, do not harass them constantly about converting, do not tell them several times a day that they are going to Hell. And you know that there are many Christians who DO do those things. And rather than do anything to discourage that, to condemn it, to protect the victims of it, all we can say is, "*I* don't do that, don't blame *me*"?

All of us humans have a weakness for dividing into Us versus Them, minimizing the wrongs done by Our Kind, and dramatizing the wrongs done by Their Kind (which excuse all the wrongs Our Kind does to Their Kind.) It has happened down through history, and Christians have been just as guilty of it as anyone else. It is happening right now, and Christians are just as guilty of it as anyone else.

Some people read the Bible and are inspired to transcend the divisions between people and see everyone as One of Ours, to treat everyone as we would be treated -- regardless of their gender, ethnicity, OR CREED. Some people read the Bible and find justification for why Christians are better than everyone else and have the right to abuse anyone else in the name of "telling them the truth." If we don't admit that that happens, we can't do anything to stop it. And aren't we supposed to do something about cruelty and injustice? Something more than just saying, "I'M not doing it!"?

Answer 10

I'm not intolerant. Unlike a majority of Christians, I actually respect other beliefs and ways of living, and always try to keep an open mind.
So, like yourself, I don't knock down YOUR door trying to get you to believe what I do. I find trying to convert people a little too arr agent for my tastes.
Unlike yourself though, I know that the actions of some does not reflect the actions of all.

Answer 11

Wow... you're obviously pretty upset by this. I recommend calming down before you post your next question. It'll make you point seem more valid. And you'll probably have less spelling errors.

It's unfortunate that you view Christians as intolerant. I, personally feel that you must have a right to believe as you wish. ( About 50% of my closest friends are atheist.) I can't and won't say what will happen to you (or anyone else) after you die, but I believe that God loves you just as much as He loves me.

As for Christians 'trying to shove our religion down your throat,' you can't blame us for trying to share what we love. It'd be like me getting mad at you because you wanted me to go see a movie that you thought was amazing. 'Stop trying to shove that movie down my throat!' ; ) I agree that sometimes, some Christians get carried away and can cross the line; I promise they do so with good intentions.

You said:
"Atheists are... thrown out of their own homes for years... Today Christians burn down buildings and kill people who disagree with them."

I don't know where you're getting that information from. I haven't heard of anything like that anytime recently.

It’s true that many times Atheists are considered intolerant. These accusations probably stem from topics like taking 'God' out of our Pledge of Allegiance, and taking 'In God We Trust.' off of our money. To you these issues might seem trivial, but they are very important to us. It items like these that give Atheists an 'intolerant' persona.

You have your right to believe, or not to believe, in whatever you wish. But please don't insult my beliefs by saying that I believe in 'imaginary beings.' You ask for acceptance on one hand, and then make blasphemous insults on the other. You're not making a very good case for yourself.