Perhaps one reason why atheist and other non believers don't like religion and christians is to do with ...?..

Question

the way they were brought up?

Their parents force them into it, to go to church, so they resent that, they resent religion, God and faith....... what are your thoughts on this question?

If this is true, and if they find a way to release this resentment, don't you think that they would be able to believe, and find God?
I was raised a Catholic, and do consider to be christian, but feel I don't need to be in a religion, since I feel a connection with God..... You don't have to be in a religion to know God..... that is what I ascertain in my years with God Jesus ~!~
Peace be with you all!

There is only one true God.... that's the only one I believe in.

I go to whatever Church God leads me to, God said not to join any to go to them all and learn their perspective and give yours, that I would learn more that way.

God said that he works in most religions and that he is in most all churches.

Answer 1

You don't have to belong to a religion to believe in God.

Yes, being forced to go to church does drive some people away from religion and God. I think it's mainly because the children don't truly understand why they're going.

However, the Bible doesn't say that you have to go to church or belong to a religion to go to heaven, though. The basic thing you have to believe is this:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." - Matthew 3:16-18

As long as you believe in Jesus Christ, then you will go to heaven. You don't have to go to church, you don't have to belong to a religion, you just have to believe that.

Answer 2

To a point you're right. The upbringing as a deterent angle definately explains my dislike of the Catholic faith. However, it doesn't explain why, after an additional 9 years of independent searching and study, I came to the conclusion that gods don't exist.

The lack of belief has nothing to do with 'resentment'...that comes when we're faced with those who deny their 'god given mind' (to coin a phrase), in order to rationalize their faith. Maybe atheists are resentful because the general populace (if the surveys are to be believed) paint the picture that atheists are the least trusted group. It could even be the cries of persecution that arise when people want faith to be taught at home, not in a government funded school.

I don't honestly believe that there is an atheist who wouldn't accept concrete, scientifically verifible evidence of a god.

Answer 3

I was never forced to go to church. I occasionally went to church or synagog with friends, although they hated having to go. I found the whole experience boring. I'm not impressed by fancy costumes or ceremonies. I did like the candles and incense, but I had those at home.

As a child, I knew more about christianity than my church-going christian friends. I used to explain what holidays were about to them because they had no clue, even though they went to Sunday school, church, and even "release time" on Wednesday afternoons.

I became an atheist because of what I saw and read. The more I looked at religion and theism, the more I realized that there was nothing to it except mindless tradition. Religion was like a family heirloom that was passed from one generation to the next, with no thought involved. It was just what most people did, like getting married and having babies.

When I was about seventeen, I read the entire christian bible, old testament and new, and that clinched it for me. I realized that I did not believe in a god or religion. It was not a choice. It was a conclusion. An unavoidable conclusion.

Answer 4

you don't have to be IN a religion to know God...in fact many "religions" hinder true faith by putting a bunch of man made requirements into the mix, such as salvation not being about grace but about what you do or how much money you give.

What you need to really do is find a Church that preaches the Bible...not man made doctrine. Try a Southern Baptist or Evangelical Free, or even a First Christian Church. Most of these (unless something wierd is going on) teach the Bible unfettered by denominational mumbo-jumbo. Get involved in a small-group Bible study, and learn what the Lord says about worship and faith--I think you will be pleasantly suprised.

Good luck and God Bless!!!

PS. "God said not to join any of them...?" Seriously though, try some out, but you should try to find one that you feel comfortable at, that teaches the Bible, and that cares about your spiritual growth. We can't be "Lone Ranger" Christians...Satan will pick us off---not that he can take away our salvation, but he can destroy your hope and sense of connectedness with God, and your effectiveness as a witness.

Answer 5

I agree that you don't HAVE to be in a religion to have a connection with God. But, part of religion is the faith community. When we live out our faith within community we experience the presence of God in unique ways. We have to do the hard stuff of living together, like forgiveness and mutual caring. I think too that when we work as a community we are more forceful than the individual. A whole church can provide much more for the poor and the homeless than one person.

Answer 6

I was raised Catholic too. It wasn't a matter of feeling like religion was "forced" on me that lead to my opinion that none of this could be right. I tried to believe it. tried to figure out some way it could all make sense. Just that there was so much contradiction, ridiculous explanations & rationalizations, and just a whole lot of things that are all wrong to me. I tried to view it from every angle fairly, yet every shred of logic in me rejects it as wrong. Just doesn't add up - all very far from what my concept of a higher power would be.

Answer 7

I was not forced to believe anything. I was presented with Christianity - I went to church and a Christian school for a while, and became very knowledged in the subject. I reasoned for myself that there is no God, at least not the way Christianity perceives it. However, I have no problem with others believing in one.

There are many faults I have found within the Bible that encouraged my decision. To name a few:

1. The creation of the earth in 7 days. Though i realize they may not be 24 hour days, different species were not created individually.

2. God made the earth and other animals for humans. Unfortunately we are treating the earth as if it were made for us, and are rapidly destroying it. It is selfish and ignorant to believe that we are any better than other organisms simply because we are intelligent and rely on culture rather than nature for our survival.

3. Adam and Eve... though I now understand this can be an allegory, symbolizing our evolution from primitive members of the genus homo.

Answer 8

My parents never forced me to believe in religion it was always my choice..

I have no resentment toward my parents they are great people, funny, insightful, a bit insane around the edges..

I simply do not believe there is some deity/higher power/god moving bits of the world and universe about..

Why is it so difficult for people who believe in a deity to understand there is a flip side to every coin.. I am that flip side..

Answer 9

i've got easily in no way met one. how in the international is it "renowned" or "cool" that persons immediately assume we are terrible, immoral human beings entirely as a results of our atheism? How is it renowned to lose acquaintances and kin basically for being an atheist? How is it renowned to be the main hated minority in u.s.? i don't be attentive to the place those men get their cloth, besides the shown fact that this is downright stupid. EDIT- Yeah, it is not precisely elementary to be an out atheist in u.s.. there is been particularly a variety circumstances my husband and that i've got sighed and concept approximately shifting the 60 miles north to Canada.

Answer 10

"There is only one true God.... that's the only one I believe in"
But can't you see anyone can say that while believing in a totally different God from you? And how is their claim any different from yours?

I was raised to go to church and, yes, stopped going was a teenager because I could see the inconsistency, the logical fallacies etc.

Later, I was challenged that what I had rejected wasn't "real" Christianity, and that I should look again.
It was a fair observation and I later became a Christian.

So far, in support of you.
But wanting to be a good Christian and only teach what was right, I studied the bible and it's history, the history of the Christian church...
And became convinced that, at core, Christianity isn't what it claims to be. That was disturbing, to put it mildly.

I'm now an atheist.