Ignorant religious people?

Question

Before I start, don't get me wrong.. I respect your religion and what you believe in.

I have been to three different churches (various girlfriends dragged me there).. Catholic, Baptist, and an Atheist church. And within the 3 or 4 hours of sitting there, all three of those churches said the same thing "if your not a devowed _______, your going to hell."

I began to think, if that's the case, we're all pretty much screwed.

Anyway, my question is this.. why are religious people so bent on this is the way it HAS to be. "The way of god", "jesus is the path", etc etc.. "let jesus into your heart", all the rest. I try to explain to people that I am not a devowed anything, and the serious religious people look at me like im the devil's son or something.

Just because I am not religious doesn't make me a bad person, and yet some seriously devowed people look at me like im the anti-christ. What is it about these people?

It was either an atheist church or a christian church.. the sermon was at 6am on a Sunday morning, I was still half asleep.

Ok, so you are not a devowed Christian but, your not going to get into heaven if your not in God's family. Which means, even if your not a bad person, your still not going to make it to heaven unless you belive in God and ask him to forgive you. If that dosn't make sense or you want to know more about God
Myself


-- This is exactly what im talking about.. she heard nothing about what I said, except the fact that im not a Christian.

Answer 1

Atheist church? so whats the deal there?

to blessedservant: qoute 'you are right. religious people are ignorant. We need to be spiritual'

ermm being religious means being spiritual, or did i miss something on the way there??

some seriously confused people here

i am a religious person but i dont feel the need to preach to anyone to become a believer, its upto u at the end of the day.

i agree with you on one point: not having a religion does not mean ur immoral or bad, infact i witnessed quite the opposite in life,

Answer 2

Well, like the other person who answered, I too am confused by the atheist church thing, but here goes:

It's not ignorance. It's belief in truth. Truth isn't part of the modern/post-modern construct, which is all about perception and experience. It's also about a reality beyond what our senses can perceive, contrary to the naturalism of modern thought. It isn't about what "HAS to be", as if by believing it we could make it so; it is about what IS, and we either align with reality or fight against it.

If religion is, as Marx and Nietzche believed, just a social construct designed to encourage (or coerce) people to be nice, then why bother with it if you're a "good person" without it? And it sounds very much like you are approaching it in this way -- it doesn't matter what you believe as long as those beliefs help you to be a "good person". But, if it doesn't matter what you believe, it it because none of it is really true. On the other hand, if there is in fact a God, in Whose image we are created, from Whose essence all virtue proceeds, and from Whom we have been cut off by our sin, then that reverses things entirely. If that is the case, then it isn't about being a good person. It is about who God is. If that is the case, then we really are in need of mercy and grace, although most of us could care less about it.

I suggest you read Jesus' parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector. We have come to associate the name of Pharisee with "religious people", but Our Lord's point was not about the Pharisee's religiosity and the tax collector's lack of it, but rather that the Pharisee was confident that he was "not a bad person". It is possible to be a Pharisee without religion, but it is not possible to pray the prayer of the tax collector -- Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner -- without it.

Answer 3

Ok, so you are not a devowed Christian but, your not going to get into heaven if your not in God's family. Which means, even if your not a bad person, your still not going to make it to heaven unless you belive in God and ask him to forgive you. If that dosn't make sense or you want to know more about God (maybe you do, maybe not) just emial me. ♥

Answer 4

None of the Atheist churches I attend have a doctrine of hell. We believe all the bad people go to DisneyLand. But if you throw an extra $20 in the basket, you can buy an indulgence.

Answer 5

You went to an Atheist church and they said you were going to hell? Is that a tragic typo?

There are no Atheist churches. Atheists do not believe in "god" and do not go to church. Most certainly they do not believe in "hell" which is just a byproduct of a non-existent god.

Answer 6

Atheist...church...hell belief... confused is I.

Geez, even religions that don't believe in a deity and people call them "atheistic" beliefs...I don't think they believe in hell either, do they...?


"It was either an atheist church or a christian church..."
Ah, well, we all know how easy those might be to confuse...

(I want smileys on this thing...where is my one eyebrow up smiley?)

Answer 7

That would have to be the most confused group of Atheists the world has seen. Wow! Atheists don't believe in hell...

Answer 8

An atheist church told you that you were going to hell? Those are some deeply confused atheists.

Answer 9

how in the world could an atheist church have told you that if you werent atheist you were going to hell when atheist dont believe in hell?

Answer 10

The concept of an Atheist 'church' is ludicrous. We don't believe in any god(s).