Christians, do you have any respect for...?

Question

...anyone who has different beliefs than yours or that does not believe at all? Honest answers please!

Answer 1

Well, I am not a Christian myself but the reason I'm answering this is to say that I've never met a Christian that thought it was OK to be interested in any other religion. I think the main reason for it is that it says in the bible something along the lines of, "You shall not worship any other God or image of any other God before me."
Well if that's not a lack of flexibility, I don't know what is. Ironic then that they demand flexibility from others when they themselves lack it in the extreme.
So they basically feel that if they are going to go along with the faith, they have to exclude any other religion. This is only my opinion though - maybe not all Christians are that way.

It's funny though. If you say anything to a Christian that challenges their beliefs too strongly, you get a response along the lines of "Wake up! There are other religions you know!" They become super-defensive about the issue but if someone were to approach a Christian to introduce their religion to the Christian, the answer would be like this: "No! I'm a Christian and I don't believe in any other faith."

So basically Christians will demand that others agree with them and accuse others of not being flexible enough in thought and in speech when it comes to understanding their religion, but then when a different religion is introduced to them they dismiss the idea instantly without even considering it.

Remember, I'm talking about the hardcore Christians that are dead-set on being Christian. Not the sitting on the fence, "I might be Christian" types.

Note to the hardcore types: There is nothing about your religion that you have heard from any divine source! All you know of it was told to you either by other people or in the bible. Don't forget that the bible is printed by machines made by human beings and was written by human beings. It is not a magic book that fell from the sky. No big magic hand from the cosmos came down and put ink to paper. PEOPLE wrote the bible.
Don't believe me? Well then, go back in your mind to the first time you decided to be a Christian. You will find that there was another person there encouraging you to believe it. Whether it be out of fear of burning in hell, or the temptation of going to heaven - there was a PERSON who motivated you. God didn't pop into your room one night and say, "If you don't worship me, I will BBQ you!!"

It NEVER happened. What an amazing delusion.

I can now imagine tons of Christians reading this SUPER ANGRY at me for contradicting them. How sad indeed it is that they do not know that as a religion, I think that Christianity has a LOT of good in it. They think that someone is either for or against it. They do not see how a person could be both for and against it like me.

Answer 2

Respect is a word that all people should have. We all need to Respect what others believe in. As a Christian I do not hate, nor dis-respect anyone, unless they are totally mean to the core. Then I do not hate, but I don't respect the meaness. I know many people from different cultures and Beliefs, and who are we to say they are wrong or should be treated badly ? Live and Let Live. Leave other people alone and do not dis-respect them. That means Christians, should be respected too.

Answer 3

Yes respect it considering it someone own right to do what they choose to do.

I believe when it comes to belief respect is what a person must show a fellow human being. If not, then you aren't really being christ like, you're more like a pharisee who can't see their own sin, and doesn't consider others better than themself (which is also a command in the bible).
God respects my freedom and allows me to choose my own actions, aswell as allowing others the same right. While this is the case, what right would I have to oppose God? People are not clones or animals, we can't just give someone a command and say do this and they do.


Everyone has a right to think on their own and make their own decisions. That is the truth and no matter how anone feels it will always be that way. Now what happends afterwards is a different story. The consequences of someone actions I may not respect.

Answer 4

Yes in general. I have less respect for some that just seem to parrot the popular Atheist argument of the day, and that haven't really explored religion with any depth or an open mind. It's not really belief or lack that I respect or not, it's more the attitude of the person. I don't respect the attitude of Christians or people of other faiths who insist their way is the only way, or act like they have THE TRUTH.

Answer 5

i am a christian but yes i do have respect for anyone with different beilefs than i do i mean i am not going to judge a person because of their beliefs one of my best friends has such a different outlook in religion than me but we just stopped talking about it because we got no where but that doesnt keep us from respecting each other and being good friends she is one of the best friends i could ever ask for i am being so honest many of my friends are not with the things i believe but i dont mind it doesnt bother me im not going to try and change their mind and they respect me as well with my beliefs but i mean just to say this i am not like a huge religious freak there are some things about my religion i may question myself but i am not going to show any disrespect to others at all just for what they believe that would be shallow

Answer 6

I am not a christian. However your question intrigued me. I bet many people will interpret the word "respect" differently.

If you had asked the question where the word "respect" meant to accept people's choices in life without looking down on them....I bet you would get different answers.

From my experience, many christians do not "respect" people of other beliefs or non-beliefs. They do mention that anyone who is not for christ is a servant of satan. If they respected unbelievers, they would not be witnessing to them.

They do not accept unbelievers for who and what they believe. They want to convert unbelievers. One cannot want to convert others if one truly respected others.

Answer 7

Hello

Yes, 1.5 billion out of 6 billion people in the world are Christians. So many others born into other faiths are also taught that there's is the way to God or the gods and are indoctrinated into the idea that you must follow this faith or else. We must have empathy for these people and respect their positions. For those who are atheists by choice, they are big boys and girls, have a free will and we should respect their decisions whether we agree it is the right course or not.

Michael Kelly

Answer 8

i'm no longer saying I do on the following, for some would say so otherwise, yet at the same time as i pass hoem to UT and that i'm in my father's residing house, I respect him because the single which added me into this international, and that i attempt to stay faraway from arguements liek "we are christians to." anythign that would celeb a theological arguement between christianity and mormon beliefs, he respects my atheist brother's beliefs, so I attempt no longer to argue with him, because i comprehend it would want to reason alot of words that i do not opt to be suggested to him. If all and sundry can believe that.

Answer 9

Yes. If I expect respect for my beliefs, I need to first give respect to other beliefs.

Besides... Love the Sinner hate the Sin doesn't just cover that... You aren't suppose to judge, just love the person and pray for them. You can love (or respect) the person while not agreeing with their beliefs.

Answer 10

I truly do. I am so thankful for all I have learned from the folks here on Y!A. I have learned so much about so many religions that I never knew, and have learned to think of a lot of things in a fresh new way because of it.

There is a great phrase in the Bible which is: "As iron sharpens iron" referring to the way that 2 strong persons can rub up against each other in a strong way, and get more finely honed and "sharper" in their beliefs.

The atheists absolutely have done this for me (I'm speaking only of the thoughtful and deeply entrenched ones, not the bozoes that go around with chips on their shoulder and try to merely provoke Christians with no intent other than to annoy).

I have the deepest respect for anyone who truly practices the tenents of their religion. Hindi, Muslim, etc.
However, many times I am dismayed to find that I know more about the tenets of their religion than they do. This makes me realize that that is not really their religion at all, but perhaps more of a cultural orientation.

Give me an honest Atheist any day over a lukewarm religious person of any stripe. There is much more hope in my opinion. (This is not God's opinion, however---he has hope for all---and more mercy ,grace and provision than I can fathom.)

Many people for example, identify themselves as Jewish, but unless they are orthodox Jews, they are in no way religious people. Muslims who are suicide bombers are not in any way following the tenets of Islam. Atheists who go to church because they lost a bet are more hopelessly lost than the Agnostic.

To me, the most worrisome of "different beliefs" than mine are people who believe themselves to be Christians, call themselves Christians, but post things on Y!A that make me do a double take and wonder if they're not Atheist trolls trying to discredit Christ. Some of them probably really are Christians, but are so undiscerning that they don't even realize the damage they are doing to the kingdom.....
I pray to not be one of them.