That christianity, seemingly more so than other religions, has a way of convincing its adherents that if they stop believing in God they will become immoral, terrible, horrible people? Why is this, and why does it work so well?
I actually had to wake up and realize that just because I stop believing in God, doesn't mean that I have to become evil.
2007-05-01 10:17:44 · 36 answers · asked by elchistoso69 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Story Junkie, yes. I absolutely AM doing that. Don't worry. The world will get by just fine without your imagined god. Probably better.
2007-05-01 11:42:24 · update #1
Mantazma, Here are some quotes from Hitler...
"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter."
"To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow my self to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice…"
“The anti-Semitism of the new movement [Christian Social movement] was based on religious ideas instead of racial knowledge.”
Clearly, Hitler's bigotry was not fueled by atheism.
2007-05-01 11:48:07 · update #2
Wrecks, I have read the bible extensively. I used to be a "born again christian," you know. I did seek knowlege. I did ask Him for answers. I did invite "Him" into my life. He must not have heard, because common sense is the only thing that came of it, and now I reject the idea of a personal God and an afterlife.
2007-05-01 11:51:14 · update #3
Jiloth, I'm not scared in the least of your imaginary God. Imaginary beings can't punish me. If he really exists and wants my faith, then he should give me reasons to have it. Your yelling, bloviating, finger pointing scare tactics aren't going to cut it. If I'm wrong, and there is a God, I think he would respect me more than you for having been able to think for myself, rather than follow the other sheep over the cliff.
2007-05-01 11:55:07 · update #4
Jiloth, that's the problem with your kind. Disbelief is not mockery. I don't mock God, and never will, because it is ridiculous to mock something that exists only in the minds of certain gullible human beings.
2007-05-03 11:03:06 · update #5
To stop believing in God makes Him a liar in your heart and so you become evil and guilty of calling God a liar when He is holy and pure and perfect and cannot lie.
Not only that it is a direct violation of your conscience that He gave you. He has placed the knowledge of Himself in every human so that none have an excuse for not believing in Him.
Your argument will be of no value when you stand face-to-face
with Him on the day when all the world will be judged.
SURE ARE A LOT OF HEATHEN IN HERE.
I CHANGED MY MIND. THIS PLACE IS LOADED WITH HEATHEN. THE DEVIL IS WATCHING AND LAUGHING!
WHEN WILL YOU PEOPLE EVER LEARN! GOD IS NOT MOCKED BY PUNY MORTALS WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!
ANSWER TO YOUR ANSWER COPIED & PASTED
Jiloth, I'm not scared in the least of your imaginary God. Imaginary beings can't punish me. YOU WILL FIND OUT HE IS NOT IMAGINARY.
If he really exists and wants my faith, then he should give me reasons to have it. HE HAS GIVEN YOU PLENTY OF REASONS INCLUDING THE FACT THAT YOU ARE A SINNER AND UNDESERVING OF ANYTHING BUT HELL.
THE FACT THAT YOU ARE ALLOWED TO LIVE IN THIS CONDITION SHOULD SHOW YOU HE IS MERCIFUL EVEN
TO THOSE WHO DON'T BELIEVE IN HIM. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE FOR NOT BELIEVING IN HIM SINCE DEEP IN YOUR BEING GOD HAS PLACED THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS EXISTENCE AND YOU KNOW IN YOUR HEART THAT IS TRUE. TO DENY IT IS TO DENY GOD AGAIN!
Your yelling, bloviating, finger pointing scare tactics aren't going to cut it. THREATS ARE FOR THOSE WHO ARE MOCKERS OF GOD AND HIS PEOPLE. I DIDN'T USE A THREAT BUT SIMPLY PUT THE TRUTH IN FRONT OF YOU
SO YOU COULD CHOOSE TO AVOID THE PRICE FOR YOUR SIN AND REAP THE FULL CONSEQUENCES. IF YOU ARE CONVICTED IN YOUR HEART, DEAL WITH IT AND DON'T TRY TO USE THE WORDS OF OTHERS TO EXCUSE YOUR REBELLION.
If I'm wrong, and there is a God, I think he would respect me more than you for having been able to think for myself, rather than follow the other sheep over the cliff. GOD DOESN'T WANT YOU TO FOLLOW ANYONE BUT JESUS CHRIST!
HOWEVER HE DOES EXPECT YOU TO USE YOUR MIND
AND INTELLECT TO BE TEACHABLE AND NOT BE OPINONATED ABOUT OTHERS BEFORE YOU KNOW THEM PERSONALLY. I AM NOT ADVERSE TO BEING YOUR FRIEND IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DISCUSS THINGS
WITHOUT TRYING TO BELITTLE OR MOCK WHAT I AM TRYING TO SHARE WITH YOU. I HAVE WALKED WITH HIM FOR OVER 33 YEARS AND MAY HAVE SOME GOOD INSIGHT YOU COULD USE TO CLEAR UP ANY QUESTION
YOU MAY HAVE IN YOUR HEART AND MIND.
TRY NOT TO READ INTO WHAT I AM WRITING ANYTHING THAT IS NOT THERE. YOU HAVE JUDGED ME WRONG!
MY ONLY PURPOSE IN REACHING OUT TO YOU OR ANYONE IS THAT THEY MAY ATTAIN ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST. COMPARED TO EVERYTHING ELSE ON EARTH
IT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ANYONE WILL EVER HEAR ABOUT IN THIS LIFE. AFTER THIS LIFE IS OVER THERE IS NO MORE CHANCE TO BE SAVED.
2007-05-01 10:23:56 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 4⤋
Lol. Before I 'saw the light', I used to think not believing in God was something only flamboyant gays in New York or San Francisco or druggies in any large city did. Then I met real people in all sorts of places and it occurred to me that I was more loving than God is supposed to be. From there, it occurred to me that life simply can not go on without the feminine aspect and reproduction-often sexual (therefore, the idea of a single male deity seemed unrealistic). Then I started realizing more and more that when the Bible says something is evil, in fact, it's not. Here, I've read even more answers to questions I didn't even know I had. The whole thing about Christianity being one of many myths is becoming more and more understandable, the more I read.
2007-05-03 02:46:24 · answer #2 · answered by strpenta 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Evil isn't dependent on not believing in God, evil is dependent on not believing in mankind. You see Christianity discounts mankind as a viable tool while Jesus teaches that humaness is necessary else he wouldn't have performed the miracles on other humans like he did. Of course many believe that Chrristianity is the best we have and make themselves believe. Rather than just learn how to be a loving human and when one rejects God as you say you have we tend to miss that.
2007-05-01 23:47:23 · answer #3 · answered by Marcus R. 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Religion, in general, is a means to control behaviour. If you do not follow certain tenets, then you become ostracized. Faith, on the other hand, is different. You can still believe in something regardless of what others may think. This is what all great leaders in faith have done. Just look at all the risks Martin Luther took to declare his faith. I once heard a Muslim educator say, "God created faith to give to man" and the devil said "Let's make it better and call it religion."
If you look up "religion" in the dictionary, you will see that it means "to bind". The "lig" part in "religion" may be familiar from biology, as in "ligament", that part which binds bones together.
Religion, in and of itself, is not necessarily bad. It can help unify people and create a network of support.
As to being a non-believer, I like to express it this way: I believe in God; I just don't believe in everone who claims to work for God.
2007-05-01 10:29:00 · answer #4 · answered by Neskire 2 · 3⤊ 2⤋
It isn't that you are evil, but because your views have changed, those of us who have faith, can be 'influenced' by your 'non-faith' This is why the Israelites were told by God not to have any dealings with the people that were occupying the Promised Land, because " the people of the land would turn them away from worshiping Jehovah" their god.
2007-05-01 10:27:14 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
I am a Christian and I don't think that a non Christian or even an atheist is necessarily evil or immoral. You don't have to be a Christian to do the right thing most of the time although I do believe it helps.
2007-05-01 10:24:47 · answer #6 · answered by Poohcat1 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Actually, this is not at all what Christians are trying to say. We believe that everyone (ourselves included) is inherently evil and that only by the grace of God can we be forgiven. As believers we have the Holy Spirit working in us to sanctify us, so that we are slowly becoming better, but we are still evil at our core. But believing in God doesn't mean we're not sinners, it just means we're no longer held accountable.
2007-05-01 10:24:35 · answer #7 · answered by nancydrew 2 · 4⤊ 3⤋
In Hinduism, there is no hell. Your afterlife reward is based on your life, but if you do lots of bad you are just "reincarnated" more quickly, as opposed to being sent to hell. You still get heaven time, but that heaven actually isn't the ultimate goal.
In Christianity, follow a strict code set down 2000 years ago, that has many blatant fallacies in it, word for word (at least word for word how the Church interprets it) or you go to hell.
Christianity is about controlling people, and theres your answer.
2007-05-01 10:24:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 4⤋
What denomination teaches this? The Unitarians? Try to avoid these absurd generalizations. Otherwise you'll become immoral,terrible,horrible.
2007-05-01 10:29:38 · answer #9 · answered by River Jordan 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
You are right morals are God given, but look at what a decline in belief has done to some people ie. Stalin, Robespierre, and Hitler (Hitler was actually studying to be a Catholic priest, but following World War 1, he began to believe his own ideology as a religion).
2007-05-01 10:21:10 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 4⤋