Atheists: Where have you gotten your narrow views of religion and especially Christianity?

Question

It seems to me that many of the questions and criticisms of Christianity are based on pretty narrow views of faith, religion, the Bible, and Christianity in particular. I would be interested to know how many Atheists on here have actually done some serious study of Christian faith in some of its historical and non-evangelical forms. I would love to see some expanded arguments beyond the whole creation/evolution, literal Bible stuff. Do you know that there are MILLIONS of Christians who don't believe that stuff?? You like to play the intellectual superiority card-so bring it!

Answer 1

*drinks*

You are kidding right? Every discussion like this:

Christian: The bible says so you will go to hell evolution is not real.

Atheist: On the contrary, scientific evidence (multiple sources) refutes the biblical story of creation (the bible)

Point being that many atheists are far more familiar with the Bible than many "xtians" here.

Answer 2

The number of people who believe in something hardly proves that it is true. Do you have any idea how many people believed the world to be flat? Or what about the religions that came before christianity? How many people do you think believed in those? That doesn't make them any more or less true than christianity.

The only thing that the number of christians prove is that there are a lot of sheep who are following the herd, and they're making the whole thing work for them. If they are happy that way, good on them, but I refuse to live my life by ancient superstitions and myths about characters in a fairy tale who are just cheap rip-offs of characters from someone else's even more ancient fairy tales.

If you want to discuss something beyond creation/evolution & "literal bible stuff" why don't you ask a question about it instead because now this becomes a conversation and it has more of a risk of being deleted.

Edit: Narrow view of religion. This coming from some self-righteous christian who probably thinks their religion is the ONLY one that matters out of all the religions that have come and gone in the thousands of years that human beings have had the intellectual capacity to contemplate such things.

Answer 3

Well, 10 years of UCC Church, Sunday school, youth group, and confirmation class for starters.

Also, I've seen the good and the bad via the study of literature, history (specifically US history), and social thought in college.

To what are you alluding? What would you want someone to know?

I think you only hear us atheists preach the "bad stuff" about Christianity because so many Christians distort or lie about certain aspects of Christianity's contribution to history and ignore other aspects that are inconvenient to their argument.

Sure, I can concede that many Christians like William Lloyd Garrison and others were leaders of the Abolitionist movement, but Christians will never speak about how Christianity was inflicted on slaves via the hope of a better after life in order to keep them complacent. They will never quote the passages from "The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass" where the slave owner is quoting the bible as justification while he tortures an old woman slave.

My question is, how does Christianity get a free critical pass in the eyes of many people, even the non-religious? Why can't faith be examined and criticized as thoroughly as a political philosophy, literature, or art?

If someone wants to be a Christian, fine by me. But if they are going to inject Christianity into public debate and governance, then the subject is fair game. And any time that sweeping falsehoods are introduced into the debate (such as trying to portray Washington and Lincoln as Evangelical Christians), those falsehoods need to be countered with reality.

Educated Christians need to educate other Christians or atheists will have to do the job for them, lol.

Answer 4

When I was young, I went to church every week but didn't believe what was said there. Since then, I have talked with Christians of several different persuasions. I have found that those Christians that I consider to be'good' have seldom tried to reconcile their moral beliefs with what is actually written in the Bible. They have usually adopted a 'feel good' Christianity that emphasizes the goodness in people but is not actually based on the Bible. On the other hand, those that have read the Bible and believe it are often among the nastiest people I have met.

As for serious study of the tenets of Christianity, yes I have looked at what various thinkers have said over time in regars to Christianity. Again, they are often very narrow in their views of the possibilities and how the belief in a deity affects morality. For example, in the 'proof' that a deity exists via the 'first cause' argument, it is often forgotten that their could easily be more than one 'uncaused cause'. Other 'proofs' either are based on flimsy logic or ignore the possibilities that are out there.

My basic belief is that people are good or bad independent of their religion. But religion gives bad people a reason to be even more bigotted than they would be otherwise.

Answer 5

Seriously, why do religious people believe atheists don't read the bible. The majority of atheists are atheists because they read the bible.

Christians call themselves Christians because they believe in Jesus and the Christian god. If they claim to be Christians and use the bible then they have to explain it. They say they use it therefore they must be able to understand it. The high majority of people have not actually read the bible and instead only listen to what their pastor has told them. You can claim to have read the bible because you read a chapter or two but really I am betting you haven't at all.

Atheists look objectively at all religion and each religion has the exact same ideals of a cult. In fact the only difference between a cult and religion is a cult isn't popular.

Answer 6

If you decide to read the Bible, and I mean really read it, looking for contradictions, it's there.

The fact that a entire faith is based on a contradicting book, written by humans 30+years after the events, lends a lot of doubt to the people who don't simply listen to what other people say at face value.

What christians believe in terms of Evolution and the rest matter little to me in the grand scheme, until any God comes down and actually writes a bible himself, without contraditions, and makes people follow it. Then and only then will the followers of that faith cease to be blind.

Answer 7

I'll bring it, though I'm not an atheist.

I believe in evolution. I am a pro-choice pro-lifer. I'm a Pagan that believes that Christianity has usurped a great many pagan festivals and celebrations, as well as the idea of the sacrificed and risen God.. I don't believe the Bible. I think that it is Christians who have the narrow view, thinking that everyone else is deceived and evil.

If you honestly don't think that all others are hell-bound, are you actually an orthodox Christian?

Answer 8

I was raised Christian and read the Bible cover to cover which is way more than most Christians have done.

And you want to see some expanded debate, it is simple. The Bible says 7 days. If you don't believe that part, then it isn't the inspired word of God. And if it isn't, then why is it important at all? Then there is the whole absurd story of Noah.... Again if you don't believe it, then why the rest?

At least the Creationists are somewhat consistent in their argument.

Answer 9

My "narrow" views of faith, religion, the Bible, and Christianity in particular come from being a "Pentecostal, born again, livin' for Christ, washed in the blood, holy rollin', bible-believing child of the living God" for years. This led me to enroll in "The Assembly of God University" in Waxahachie, Texas.
About the time that I got my Bachelors degree in Pastoral Ministries, I finally admitted to the truth that had been building inside me.
"Oh, Chock Full O'Nuts, Pray tell!! What might this glorious truth be?"
It is all ka-ka!
The bible is filled with mistakes, inconsistencies and irrationalities.
Even if the bible were true and Christianity were real. The God of the bible is the most blood-thirsty, sick and twisted, psychopath whose description has ever been scratched into a clay tablet.
Hope this helps!

Answer 10

I am neither a believer or an atheist I live in this reality! Now you are saying that most Christians don't believe in the Bible? Then what makes them Christian? And for those who do believe then that is fine go on believing just don't push your opinions on others! Because that is all the Bible and belief is an opinion because there is zero evidence that anything in it actually happened! It is a fiction book! And if you think there is then show me!!!

Answer 11

I don't believe I have "narrow views of religion". I've researched a lot of the world religions, and have even practiced a few different religions sincerely at some points of in my life. And I've pointed out the fact many times on this board that there many Christians who do accept evolution. So I don't know what you're talking about.

It's true that I do have a low opinion on Christianity. This is based off my own personal research of the religion (including reading the Bible, being raised Christian, going to Sunday school, etc.), observing some of the practicioners, and comparing things to my own experiences in the world. It strikes me as a needlessly self-loathing, guilt-tripping religion based off belief in the boogeyman, and I also don't find anything admirable in Jesus. If that works for you, so be it. I'm not here to talk people out of it.