Why do I get attacked by Christians when I say I do not believe in God?

Question

When I speak to friends or family who have known me for over 30 years they tell me what a great dad I am, how I am a good husband to my wife etc. Friends who have known me since elementary school will tell me they don't know how they got through life without some of my advice.

BUT, in the past year or so I have been a little more verbal about the fact that I have never believed in a God or Jesus etc. Now they all gang up and tell me I am going to hell and they cannot believe they know me.

First off, please understand I do not believe in God, so that also means I do not believe in Hell or Satan or whoever you want to group me with to spend my eternal days of damnation.

Christians generally believe that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own...so why are they the most hostile?

Answer 1

Because they are immature. Jesus told us to be wise as serpents, yet gentle as doves. Not clueless as doves and hostile as serpents.

Wouldn't it have been better for them to ask, "What is it that makes you feel there is no God?" or "How then do you explain the fact that you are a living soul?" Basically, to honestly challenge your belief system for thought and general debate. When you answer, just say, "I see where you are coming from. I don't agree, of course, but I can understand your view."

It is usually the new or immature Christian (or even impostors that are part of cult sects) that will lambaste you in a rude way. They need to be seen with a level of understanding that these are but children having a spiritual tantrum. It is not to be taken personally. But it does happen. Even to me.

Answer 2

They love you...they are not nor should not attack you. Do you realize that just because you don't believe...it doesn't change what is. I can say the world is flat and that air tastes like grape kool-aid...but it doesn't make it so. You have the choice to believe. Paul says that in II Thess 2:8-12,
8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;

9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,

12in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

Like when God hardened Pharohs heart to use him as an example. The scarier thing is if you teach your children to "not believe", you are also held accountable for them.
It's a huge price to not believe...you need to be sure. If you are waiting for God to make the world flat or make the air taste like grape kool-aid as a sign...AND THEN you will believe, it won't happen. There will be many tears in the end.
Seek, ask, knock. Everyones plane eventually goes down and for some it is not until the end that they realize they needed a parachute on the whole time.

Answer 3

I don't mean to be harsh, but Christians who believe that their faith is the best and those that don't believe will go to hell are just plain ignorant...
It comes from fear...
It is their own fear...what it is and where it comes from can be very complicated.
Sometimes I think much of the fear comes from the fact that they are afraid that their strong convictions may be mistaken...that perhaps they may be wrong.
So much harm has been done in the world in the name of religion...its really sad.
If the so called Christians really believed in the love that Jesus preached, they would not attack you.
However, if I were you, I would refrain from being so vocal...
The way I feel is that what each person believes and feels is their own business and nobody has the right to judge you. That being said, I would keep such personal things to myself.

Answer 4

You're right, they have no right to hostile and attack you for your choices. You have free-will to decide if you want to receive your salvation through belief in Christ or to reject it and endure the consequence of that decision. But why would a good person like yourself, who is full of good advice for the benefit of others, not want to take some good advice from others who love you? They see your virtues of goodness and think a guy like you deserves to go to heaven, but also they know that no matter how good you are in this life, without believing in Jesus Christ there is no salvation available to you. You won't damn yourself for the good you have done, you damn yourself by your stubbornness, arrogance, and rebelliousness. Get smart, give your heart to Jesus, and be all you can be!

Answer 5

I don't think you should label ALL Christians as this.
I am a Christian, I'm proud to say, but I think if you want to believe in nothing (as in no god at all) or another religion, so be it. In the end we will all see what the truth is and probably feel guilty for the bickering between religions.

I think we can all agree on the world being created someway or another.

If you don't have a god or whatever, I don't think that is an issue whatsoever.

Believe in what you want. After all, it is your life.

Have a great day!

Answer 6

first i want to apologize on behalf of the christian community for how your "friends" and family have attacked you. that is totally wrong- christ did not teach us to shove our beliefs down peoples throats or disown those who arent christians. we'ree to show love and compassion to the people who dont follow christ, not be hostile and cold. with that said...

you know the drill. now its time for me to talk to you about what i believe, please read and if you dont accept it than i will just pray for you. first a question, what is good and what is evil? what is acceptable and what is wrong? is it okay to kill an unborn baby or okay to kill a two day old baby becuase it is inconvenient to the mother? is it wrong to commit adultery? hopefully you said that some of these are wrong- but why are they wrong? is there one person who decides what is right and wrong? or do you just do what feels right and hopefully dont feel like hanging your three children? you could say the law says what is right and wrong and what should and shouldnt be allowed but then what happens if a bill is passed making it okay to rape women or some vile thing like that? my point is, we cant say what is right or wrong- no one can becuase everyone is sinful. the law and morals that are ingrained deep within us come from the One who made us. please but this book im going to recommend, it is written by a christian but is presented fairly as if written by someone in the no-mans land. its called Do Fish Know They're Wet? by tom neven (im pretty sure its tom, i know its neven though). it goes over all this.

thanks for reading and even though you probably dont want to hear it im praying for you.

much love,

funisunderrated

Answer 7

Because that's what religion is all about. Getting you to agree with them so as for them to be empowered. They don't care if your soul will be saved. They sort people by what god they believe in, not who they really are. That concerns all religions on earth, which I deeply respect. And I also respect anyone who chooses to embrace religious beliefs. But why indeed do they have to persuade others?

And, by the way, what if someone does not want to be saved. What if one only wants to be saved from religious hypocrisy.

Answer 8

That's a good question, and I think I have a decent answer for you. Let me start by saying that I am a Christian, and I agree with you about your latter statement about Christian virtues versus Christian hostility. It is an aspect of some Christians that I do not understand myself, but we are not all like that.

Here is the thing, though: a lot of athiests are hostile, too. Many, many atheists on Y!A, for example, come on here simply to put down religious people and insult their intelligence. There are atheists out there like Richard Dawkins and Samuel Harris who are actively trying to stamp out religion, and this is a legitimate threat to people who believe in God. Theoretically, if atheists came to power, religious toleration could potentially come to an end. Not necessarily, but it is a fair concern. So one reason for the reaction of some of the less mature Christians is fear.

No doubt, however, that many Christians act in the same way as the atheists above, and of course that is not right. Some of them do it because they have ignorant and misinterpreted traditional views. These few actually believe they are doing you a favor. They believe what they say. Think of it this way: if you thought that someone you cared about was going to die a horrible death doing something, would you not try whatever you could to warn them? It may be misdirected on their part to act that way, but some of these people really have the best of intentions.

Finally, some Christians (like some atheists, for that matter) are simply bad. Every group, organization, occupation, race, gender, nationality, and religion has some people in it that are selfish, greedy, arrogant, and readily willing to put others down to make themselves look good. There is no reason why Christianity would not any different. The big problem is that people like that tend to be loud and noticeable, whereas good and tolerant people who live their lives in peace and try to mind their own business tend to be quiet. So all you hear are the idiots out there spouting off about how you are allegedly going to hell, because decent Christians who are rational and thoughtful tend to keep more to themselves.

I think much of this applies to atheists, too, or pretty much anyone. I have met many an atheist that was hostile and quick to point out to me how crazy and stupid I supposedly am for believing what I do, threatening to do away with my alleged superstitions when they were able. I have been blamed for all the ills of the world, as if I had personally tortured or killed people, or as if humans would all be good and wonderful if not for religion. Fat chance. But the fact is that MOST atheists I have known were really nice, hard-working, thoughtful people who were just trying to live their life the best they can. They were good people, plain and simple. I even call one atheist my best friend. I suspect the problem you are experiencing is similar. It is not Christians, generally speaking, but the specific individuals with whom you are in contact. You can evaluate their intentions if you choose, but odds are it is best to ignore them. They are likely just ignorant and scared. If you choose to debate this with them, kill them with logic, rational thought, and kindness. In my personal view, if there is a God and he is good (what I always thought Christians are supposed to believe), then if you are a good person, you have little to worry about. I believe in God. I don't believe in a crazy, arbitrary, nutzoid God that slays people for no reason.

Hope this is helpful and somewhat productive. Have a good one!

Answer 9

Imagine that it is a very dark night, and you are standing near the edge of a cliff. Someone comes jogging out of the forest and is heading directly for the edge of the cliff. You have about five seconds to react before they reach the edge, so you jump out and tackle them to the ground just before they would have gone over. Would this be an act of aggression or an act of love?

Answer 10

the majority of Christians don't know what is all said in the bible, therefor only saying what they have heard or read, many of them disregard "ye who is without sin cast the first stone" they only hear and believe what they want, yet not all Christians are that way to sound like an anti-religious person although many of them are and yes they are the first to judge a person for what they are and what they do without looking into who they are and why they do it it is just like there belief in homosexuality is a sin yet god made man in his own image therefor if god wanted them to be straight he would have.