Turned off by Christianity?

Question

If you are not a Christian, why aren't you one? (NOT being offensive just curious), what are your reasons for not being a christian?

Answer 1

I think it is because a large number of people who claim to be Christians give us true Christians a bad rap.......

I have heard from so many Atheists and non-believers in general that many people try to force beliefs on them. Remember that we chose God because he first chose us.

2 Thessalonians 2:13

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits[1] to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.

**And this verse always knocks my sock off, especially the last part**

Acts 13:48

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

**Think about that, if someone is not appointed to eternal life, and God has not chosen to save them, we need to pray for them and love them**

This is a good explanation of what a true Christian is. Many people who claim to be Christians but aren't does have a lot to do with pride. As well as pleasing people instead of God........

Webster’s Dictionary defines a Christian as “a person professing belief in Jesus as the Christ or in the religion based on the teaching of Jesus.” While this is a good starting point in understanding what a Christian is, like many secular definitions, it falls somewhat short of really communicating the biblical truth of what it means to be a Christian.

The word Christian is used three times in New Testament (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16). Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. It was originally used by the unsaved people of Antioch as a kind of contemptuous nickname used to make fun of the Christians. It literally means, “belonging to the party of Christ” or an “adherent or follower of Christ,” which is very similar to the way Webster’s Dictionary defines it.

Unfortunately over time, the word "Christian" has lost a great deal of it significance and is often used of someone who is religious or has high moral values instead of a true born again follower of Jesus Christ. Many people who don’t believe and trust in Jesus Christ consider themselves Christians simply because they go to church or they live in a "Christian" nation. But going to church, serving those less fortunate than you, or being a good person does not make you a Christian. As one evangelist once said, “Going to church doesn’t make one a Christian anymore than going to a garage makes one an automobile.” Being a member of a church, attending services regularly, and giving to the work of the church cannot make you a Christian.

The Bible teaches us that the good works we do cannot make us acceptable to God. Titus 3:5 tells us that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” So, a Christian is someone who has been born-again by God (John 3:3; John 3:7; 1 Peter 1:23) and has put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8 tells us that it is “by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” A true Christian is someone who has repented of his or her sin and put faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Their trust is not in following a religion or a set of moral codes, or a list of do’s and don’ts.

A true Christian is a person who has put his or her faith and trust in the person of Jesus Christ and fact that He died on the cross as payment for sins and rose again on the third day to obtain victory over death and to give eternal life to all who believe in Him. John 1:12 tells us: “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” A true Christian is indeed a child of God, a part of God’s true family, and one who has been given new life in Christ. The mark of a true Christian is love for others and obedience to God’s Word (1 John 2:4; 1 John 2:10).

**TO GOD BE THE GLORY**

I hope this answer helped :-)

Answer 2

i'm not christian because i don't see truth in it. having a severly disabled daughter, i can't put faith in a being that would punish a child with pain and early death for my sins or would simply use a child as a pawn in a game of faith and to glorify itself.
also, i have several problems with the text. the people of the faith keep spouting off aout how much god loves marriage, yet the apostle paul believed that it was better if one did not marry so that one could be fully devoted to god. i have a problem with any text that calls for the death of anyone that does not believe in that single deity. i have a problem with a text that can't even be translated correctly or without bias. i have a problem with translators that cannot even take into account the historical context of a document.
i have a problem with a religion that seems to produce hate and hypocrisy like no other. i have a problem with the idea that there are no consequences if you say your sorry and ask for forgiveness. i have a problem with a religion that demands blind obedience and whose sects can't even agree on the proper time or day to worship and then condemns people in the same belief system for practicing a little differently.
lastly, i don't see a single loving male entity who is involved in the world evidenced by nature. what i see in nature is a balnce of the male and female and a circle of ever continuing life and death.

Answer 3

Because you asked honestly, I'll answer honestly.
I was born Catholic. Raised Catholic. When that wasn't clicking I went on a church tour. I found a few that had nice people in it but it still didn't feel right. Through the darkest hours of my life I prayed and begged and tried to feel the holy spirit, to make myself believe. I WANTED to. I TRIED to. Eventually, after having something really bad happen to me, I gave up. Part of me knew something bigger then me was out there, but that it wasn't Christianity, at least not for me.
Eventually I came to where I am today and I feel all those things that Christians talk about, just not with their God.
Blessed BE

Answer 4

I am a Christian but I'll give my theory as to why most people reject Christianity.

1) They base there ideology of Christianity on how the media portrays it. They'll base it on what they see in the secular movies. Therefore, without doing the research themselves they just take their word for it.

2) It's an issue of pride. They have a hard time realizing that Someone may be more powerful over them.

3) They have there own opinions about God, or the afterlife that simply make them feel good but yet it's false and cannot be backed up with fact.

4) Satans completely deceived them into believing otherwise.

Answer 5

Been there, done that.

Many Atheists were once Christians, who finally broke free of the mixed up, damning doctrine and started searching for truth that is supported with evidence.

Many of us didn't want to give up on the good parts of Christianity, (community, friends, Love thy neighbor.. etc) but realized that the whole notion, is based on fear and loathing.

The Christian notion of Hell, is horrific and specifically designed to keep people from questioning the religion. It is really very cultic, but accepted as there are so many followers.

In the end, I realized that life has purpose without the need for an afterlife, and that the future is actually much brighter for the human race without Christianity impeding human progress, and breaking up families, countries and relationships.

Answer 6

Has someone hurt you in church? A pastor? A leader? I'm just adding to the question, which I find very commendable.

A place to check out if you have been turned off by Christianity: http://www.housefellowship.org

:)

Answer 7

There are a lot of individual reasons, but it all boils down to, it's severely dysfunctional.

It doesn't make sense, and its basis is sick and destructive and wrought with fear, shame, false humililty, and a host of other mental illnesses. Although I recognize the value of many different spiritual paths, this is not one I can recommend because it is highly unhealthy. It is strongly out of harmony and has done a lot of damage as a result.

Answer 8

IMO most people are turned off by church politics both locally and globally and very often put off by people purporting to be Christians who have hurt them in the past.

Answer 9

im agnostic, i was a christian a long time ago, i was raised in a christian school so yes ive read the bible and studied it.

my reasons for not being a christian include, most christians are hypocrites and i didnt like to be classified with them, most of them are arrogant and would call anyone (even other christians) not true christians, and i read the bible and found many inconsistancies and flaws.

Answer 10

I just recently turned away from what I was brought up as (a christian). There are a lot of reasons for this, few of which have any coherent or rational answers. Here's a bumper list:

1) Why WON'T God heal amputees? It's a valid point, and it shows that prayer is ineffectual, at best. (http://www.whydoesgodhateamputees.com/important.htm)

2) Ignoring the aforementioned point; what if prayer DID work? Does that not contradict God's omniscience/omnipotence? Suppose that Jane is dying of inoperable brain cancer. Millions of people get together and pray that Jane will recover. God grants their wish. It is hearlded as a miracle. This is my next stumbling block; if we can stall out God's plan, that has been thought up millions of years in advance just by asking nicely, WHO IS THE GOD?

3) What about this loving God? He's killed thousands of people in the old testament, and advocates killing people just because they disobey their parents, among other things. I'll concede the point that that was the old God, and that he changed his ways, as many people have told me. I may be putting words in their mouths, but that's what it boils down to. I asked my old pastor (and several of the people at the church that I trusted, including a man with Ph.Ds in both theology and new testament studies) why there is so much evil in the world if God loves every one of us? All of their answers came back to it being the Devil's world. Satan has control here, and he does the bad things, not god. Well, then God is not omnipotent, and is not worthy of God status. Suppose he could if he wanted to, then it means he CHOSES not to. Either way, that's not a nice God. It can't be both ways, but either way, he comes across as either a) evil or b) untrue.

4) Why hasn't God shown himself, in an unambiguous way, a single time in the course of human history? If he loves us, and wants us to worship him and be with him, why doesn't he come out and say so? What reasonable or loving God would have people sacrifice rational thought in favor of faith? Certainly God knows that some people simply are incable of doing that, myself included. Why then, does he do it, when he could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt if he chose to? This one bugs me the most. Look at what he's done, if he's real: he's caused people to be split into dozens of major religions and innumerable sects within each religion, all because of his ambiguity. Add to that the fact that religion has caused countless murderers and genocides throughout time, all in his name. All he ever would have to do would be to speak up. But he hasn't, which means he is either a cryptic jerk, evil, or not real. I'll assume the best in God, I'll assume he doesn't exist.

These are my biggest sticking points. I have many, many others, but these are the biggest nails in the coffin. If you want more, a lot of people have argued it more effectively than I (I especially like the point that we are all born athiests), and it is all readily available on the internet. If you have any answers to my questions, I'd like to hear them. I can admit that I'm wrong if I am, but I have not yet seen any sign to indicate that yet, quite the opposite, in fact. Hence my conclusion. Hopefully this will provide you with some understanding of why people would believe that way.

EDIT:
Two more reasons that I won't go into detail over:
1) Hell- Loving god's righteous punishment, or means of social control?
2) Other Christians: As Gandhi said "I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."

Interstingly, StPolycarp77 is completely wrong, on every point. I espcially like the control thing. He's clearly a good christian, and helps reaffirm my point 6. I can relate to Daughter of Isis's story reagarding wanting to believe. I wish I could, and have tried. It has caused me much grief in my lifetime. My story mirrors hers, with one large difference: I came to a different conclusion, namely that God is just wishful thinking. I'm not trying to offend anyone, I'm just answering the question honestly. For me, God is wishful thinking. It may not be for others, and if that is the case, I truly envy them.

Answer 11

Belief in a being that smote people like crazy, flooded the planet and then nailed himself to a cross in order to get over the fact that he planted a tree that had fruit he said don't eat seems a little silly doesn't it?