Do Christians feel annoyed or threatened by Atheism?

Question

or is there still a kind compassion for atheists? Since it's second nature and "as Jesus requested" to bear your testimony and
"spread The Gospel to all the Nations.", are you locked up or frustrated by atheists who not only don't want to hear it, but will also gladly challenge your beliefs? I've got friends on both sides of the aisle. ..but that aisle is not in a church!! How do you handle the rejection, while still maintaining your faith,
"as Jesus would do"?

This is not a trick question. I would like to hear from some devout Christians on the topic. I myself believe in practicing "Christ consciousness", but that's about where it stops for me. Your feed back please..

Cricket..you are the Christian I've always wanted to meet..great answer!

Mr.Bad Day: One thing all religions have in common is that we worship ONE God, whatever
flavor or title you choose to call it/her/him/the force. Many of our religious beliefs have to do with the part of the world we grew up in. I don't see why someone devoutly Buddhist would be a threat to Christian sensibilites. It's all ONE GOD. There's where we should be tolerant and accepting of each other..IMO

Catherine Earnshaw: Me too.Raised full-blooded Episcopalian..what's happening in the news now is a good example of how you have to hold true
to your personal relationship with God, and not be swayed by the headlines..I find it useful to remind myself that Christianity is not a "club"
and churches are not "it's headquarters."

Una dynamita: Yeah, my question was how do YOU overcome the spiritual dilemma?You didn't answer that. In fact, in your own words "Real Christians aren't tolerant of anyone different".
How are you going to get us all to heaven? Not good missionary work on your part. Your take on Christianity seems "exclusive, judgemental,
and selfish", as I interperet what you wrote. "Christ consciousness" is seeking to harm no one, living in grattitude, and saying or demonstrating "Peace Be With You when you
enter a room or situation, as Jesus taught.
Did I mention unconditional love? Jesus loved his enemies all the way to the grave. How could the word "intolerant "even uttered by your Christian lips? You are not coming from love. IMO..but thanx anyway. This is a real education for me.

glgjns: Invade my answer space anytime. That was a more fair and balanced take on my question than I ever found on FOX.

Answer 1

Neither annoyed nor threatened. I love atheists genuinely, as people. Their lack of religion means nothing to me. I have just as much compassion for them as I do for anyone else who has morals, no matter which religion they do or do not claim.

But yes, I do still try to preach the Gospel, using words when necessary. I can't control their actions though, nor do I want to. I just hope they look at me, and my life, and say that I truly am trying to be like Christ.

I hope this answers your question.

Answer 2

I feel bad that they're choosing not to experience God in any way, but in the end it's not my life so I don't have the right to judge. That's in the Bible too, that none have the right to judge another except the Lord. I mind when people challenge my beliefs because they simply want to get my goat, or when they have stupid, roundabout arguments. I'm at college, so most of the atheists I meet really don't have a sound handle on Christianity or any other religion and either operate on false "knowledge" or make things up as they go along. I love a good debate with someone who knows what she's talking about and having to match her point-for-point. That's what helps me keep my faith strong and reminds me why the Lord is part of my life. At the end of the day, I simply believe that people experience God differently, whether that be through different religions or choosing to ignore God entirely. It's not for me to tell someone what will work best in his life.

Answer 3

Truthfully, I feel sad for atheists. It's interesting to see how many atheists have come on here and started bashing right away the answers that Christians have given. I try to keep an open mind about the Bible and other religious beliefs. I have read alot more posts from atheists knocking Christians than the other way around. Just my thought, but why is there so much anger towards Christians? You cannot hold the Crusades that happened in the dark ages against Christians of today. Sorry, that's my view.

Proverbs 14:10 - For there is a way that seems right to man but in the end it leads to death.

Answer 4

This is an extremely difficult question to answer for me, because I have sat on both sides of the aisle. I was raised Jewish, so naturally I never possessed any Christian beliefs. However, I wasn't that much into Judaism either. I did believe in God, though, even if I wasn't a practitioner of any particular faith. Most of the religious rites are man-made anyway, in my opinion.

As for atheism, I couldn't imagine not having a belief in a Supreme Being. My impression of atheism was emptiness.

Then I experienced a personal crisis, for which I blamed God. Everyone said it wasn't His fault, and that He doesn't cause illness or tragedies. However, I felt that God, being omnipotent and powerful could fix all that is broken. When I hear of all the disasters that occur in the world, I often wonder where He is, or if He really cares. My daughter, who is a Christian, keeps telling me of God's love. I haven't seen much evidence of it in my life. But since atheism is not the answer for me, nor is Christianity, I am retaining my belief in God who works in mysterious ways, and reverting back to my Judaic roots. I could go on and tell you so much more, but I don't want to hog any more space on here.

Answer 5

No.

In fact quite a few are annoyed by me, because I am not acting the way they think a Christian should act. They are expecting a wimpy Christian. When I do not act wimpy like some Christians then they say you can not do that. They even start telling me what the bible says.
Guess what life is hard, rough and it is not a rose garden. Life is literally a bi tch. Nobody told me about it. I have my own experience and I went thru it being a Christian.If you want a wimpy Christian then go find one. I am not the only one, I have read what other tough Christians have written on this site.

Answer 6

Am I annoyed by Atheism? No, because the word annoyed implies something of relatively little importance. For example, I am annoyed by flies buzzing near my face, but I am not annoyed by a person who believes that they are not in danger despite being told of the danger. Instead of annoyance, I am saddened by the disbelief. Let's face this head on; since I am a Christian I believe anyone not accepting the message of the Bible is going to suffer. Is this something that I want? Absolutely not! Furthermore, if annoyance is increased, it usually leads to anger. I certainly do not see the point in becoming angry with an atheist because they don't believe.

Am I threatened by Atheism? To be threatened I would need to have something which I am afraid to lose. I have nothing which I can lose because of the atheist's disbelief. I don't have power or influence because of my faith, but I realize that there are many religious leaders who probably do feel threatened by a decreasing belief in God. So, no, I do not feel in any way threatened by atheism.

As I already said, I think we all need to accept the message of the Bible. For those who not only don't want to hear it, but want to challenge its validity, I say bring it on. I don't say that in a hostile way but rather I would like to see a calm discussion between believers and non-believers without the anger, hostility, name-calling, and overt emotionalism. Perhaps if we all checked our emotions but not our minds, we would actually understand each other.

Answer 7

It is a sad fact, that unknown to many Christians, there is a highly sophisticated intellectual tradition that is able to engage atheism at a a level of depth. Faith, being a virtue, must be freely chosen, or it is not virtuous. As such, no believer should be personally annoyed by another person's lack of faith, as this is something that they are not personally responsible for. As far as being threatened, as I stated, there is a highly developed intellectual discipline called theology that has for centuries engaged the queries of believers and unbelievers alike. Many Christians do not appreciate this and many atheists have limited understanding of this discipline as well. It is likely the mutual ignorance about this that makes debate between atheists and believers so rancorous and unproductive.

Answer 8

Yes, there's a genuine desire to tell them about the gospel. The feeling is not so much to convert, but share something that I have experienced in my life, and see where they are coming from.

That being said, I think not every Christian has the calling or the capacity to preach the gospel. The first requirement to do that, is love, which is not easy to achieve.

For e.g. what would mother teresa do, she wouldn't send out hate mail to atheists. she wouldn't be preaching lengthy sermons. She worked in a poorest section in Calcutta with the lepers, pre-dominantly Hindus. That kind of love is difficult to find.

Answer 9

Stay on here until things pick up this evening. Then you'll see more than your share of "Why are Atheists so stupid?" questions. We have made a drinking game out of some of the questions for how frequently we have to provide answers.

Nearly all of the hate mail I've received as the result of my participation on this site has been from Christians. And we're talking brutal threats here: One member threatened to kill my wife if I didn't publicly apologize and "repent" for the "hateful" things I said about God. You read that right. He threatened to kill my wife. I used to list that I'm married on my profile, and I'm sure that's where this member got that information. Needless to say, we're both here and fine--and that's the worst of the hate mail I've received. Sometimes it's just a poorly-typed rant that's almost impossible to follow. Ah, Christian love!

Mostly, I get tons of Bible verses... I guess they figure I've never read that thing. That, and conversion attempts. The trouble with that approach is that I came from Christianity, and have yet to enter a religious debate that I couldn't hold my own in.

Answer 10

I am a Christian first of all. Threatened?
Not at all! People who have nto ask Christ to be their Savior do not have the Holy Spirit to help guide and direct their lives. Therefore, they do not have the understanding of the Bible and the Trinity as a Christion has. Christ says "to pick up your cross and follow Me daily"", and " to consider it joy when others persecute you". If I go through daily things and am not tested on my faith, thats whats scary. Am I being to much like the world and riding the fence that people cant even tell Im a Christian?