Struggling with faith,both Christians and athetist?

Question

I was raised in the church, after which I started to question a lot about religion. Why god would pick just one, I took jobs that put me up close and personal with human suffering. Now, I have a daughter that is going to church with her father. (we are split) She told me from the back seat that I needed Jesus in my heart to go to heaven. The same thing I was exposed to as a child, the concept of heaven and hell. Trust me, it did not do me any favors growing up.
I ran across this quote from a book tonight..
I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion. ... If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?”

I want to believe but somehow it does not make sense anymore.

Wow, I was asking for help with faith from Christians, and I get slammed. Is this what your church teaches?
Correct me if I'm wrong but Jesus himself was not in your face about believing, he did not condem people that did not believe, as a matter of fact-he went out of his way to help, sinners.
Doubting Thomas felt the nails in his hands.
I was looking for faith, answers to human suffering not the same speaches about heaven and hell that I had as a child. If that is all you have then save your diatribes for another post.

Answer 1

It is a beautiful story!! But you have to look at it from the beginning. God gave us a wonderful place to live and some rules to follow. What did we do? Muck it up! So, God came in, saved us, and gave us another chance. Years go by, and what did we do? Muck it up! So, once again, God comes in and gives us another chance. We muck up! Then He sends the flood, and then promises to never do it again. So we go along happily, until we start mucking up. And He saves us yet again. He makes promise after promise to save our sorry little behinds, and we keep breaking it. So.... to finish it once and for all, He gives us the ultimate promise. He sends His Son to pay for ALL of the sins of humanity, from beginning to end, so that we could remain His children. It is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate punishment for our misbehavior. And He was willing to pay it so that we didn't have to.
Unfortunately, the story continues, but a little differently now.... We muck up, we ask God for forgiveness, He says, "of course, I already did through My Son", and we continue on our way. And now we continue this new cycle, without the threat of hell or damnation, unless we totally turn from God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and reject Him.
So.... it is a good story! But you have to know all of it. And once you know all of it, you don't have to worry about the scary stuff anymore!

Answer 2

I agree with you. If 50 billion people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.I have come to the conclusion that any law that accepts the sufferings of the innocent as atonement for the guilty cannot be a good law! No honorable man should accept that another should suffer for him, for where then lies the notion of responsibility which is crucial to the Law of Retributive Justice.
To my mind, the idea that God wants blood (as if He is a vampire!) is at the bottom of the atonement doctrine, and requires the most fearsome savagery to fulfil. Even the so-called barbaric age in Africa, when sacrifice - including that of humans- was required, was better off; because at least you have to bring the object of sacrifice, and thereby display some sense of responsibility: The debt had to be paid, and by the man who owed it. But the christian of today will say, "Charge it on the Lord, the Saviour will pay"! In this way, rascality was sold on credit, and this credit system breeds a lot more crime. No wonder then that our world is now filled with so much violence, rape, murder and war! Afterall we can always ask the good Lord to remember His precious Blood! Indeed, the rascality of man has reached its zenith; he has brought his god to the earth and murdered him in the name of vicarious sacrifice! How infinitely arrogant! Anyway credulity is not a crime, otherwise it would not have accepted this rather obscene proposition as Truth.
It was the eminent Bertrand Russel who once declared that:
"Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones."

Answer 3

a real Christian is someone that displays the behavior of Christ, you cannot identify someone by what they happen to call themselves, take that into consideration when you read the answers. Why would we think of it as God picking a religion? If God is a person then he is a particular person . He has also executed particular acts (described in the bible). That particular personality and the particular things that he has done are why God must be "particular", or only one(and that God is described in the Bible) . If God were only an idea, then he could exist IN GENERAL (and not be "particular" in any way) but then he would not ba a Person. The Bible explains how death and suffering came into the world and also how individuals can come to resist them. Check out this site if you still have questions. kcm.org

Answer 4

sweet t, there is nothing wrong with having doubts and asking questions. I grew up baptist, was batised, born again, you name it, but it was all because i was frightened of hell. (as a child you would be!) we used to sing "watch and be ready for the lord may come today"! I was petrified. Faith through fear is wrong. A loving god would not have a problem with people asking questions, rather than foolishly following like sheep. Now I dont know what to believe, but I do know not to force religion onto children, I agree with you! Think of the parable of the prodigal son, if god is real, he would welcome you whatever. Live a good life, continue to ask questions, raise your children in a loving way, do not condemn or judge anyone else and you wont go far wrong. I would say "god bless" but that seems wrong somehow. Am I a christian now? I have no idea, but I do know I am no longer afraid. Live for now, don't worry about what "might" happen in the future. (and take no notice of narrow minded biggots...)

Answer 5

Well, I have a moderately high IQ, am compassionate and kind, and have given a great deal of thought to religion over the past 2 decades or so. I have been an atheist since I have memories, and have only become more confident over the years. Perhaps it would help you snuff out any belief if you played devil's advocate and debated me... I know the atheist position fairly well.

Otherwise, keep reading good material on either side of it; reading Christian apologetic work is just as good as atheist musings, as long as you have enough philosophical background. When you see what little they have to go on (after removing the various non sequiturs, red herrings, and obvious falsehoods), then perhaps you will feel better about going with your heart and mind instead of your cult.

Answer 6

First question. God has only one way to reach him. Satan made many false ways { religions } to mask the real way that God made. Second question. Sin was introduced into the world by Satan when he came as a snake in the garden of Eden. He told Eve a half lie. You can be like God, knowing right and wrong, by eating this forbidden fruit. He did not tell them that there came with it sin and death. Eve ate and gave some to Adam. Because they disobeyed God { they made a choice using their free will } sin { disobeying } entered in to them and all who descend from them. Sin separated us from God at that point. In order to get back to God, a price for the sin { to make it right again } had to be paid. For now you can pay it with a sacrifice on a alter with the blood of a animal. This was done by Adam and Eve and thought out the ages down the line of the Jews once a year for the forgiveness of what happen at the garden of Eden. Then a Messiah came to shed his blood for the sacrifice of the world. This blood not only covered once a year but for all time. The Jews didn't like the idea of non-Jews to be saved too. They trided to stop him by killing Jesus, but God sent him to shed his blood for all the world. Not just the Jews. Once this happen, all the decendents of Adam and Eve, then, now and the future { till the world ends } have a choise. Jesus, when he died for three days, decended to hades to preach the good news to all who died before he did, right up to Adam and Eve, to repent, change from your sinfull ways { not following God as before } and come back to God through Me!

Answer 7

Christian is a label I no longer apply to myself. The thought of it and the knowing of what people do under that label is vile. Myself and my brothers and sisters now refer to ourselves as Sons and Daughters of God, for this is who we are! The simplest definition of faith I know is: To be actively seeking to bring forth the Kingdom Of God On Earth.

The christian religion uses fear as the main tool in it's arsenal. For they do not, on the whole, know the true love of God. They think they know God through Jesus Christ but 99.999% do not have a clue. They never followed the example of christ, so they live outside of love. The love they think they know is a false love.

You are welcome to email me with any questions you may have. As a servant of Christ I'm bound to be of help in any way I can to help restore your faith, it is my duty and my joy to do so.

Larry T Son Of God

Answer 8

Every human on the planet is under a test of faith by God their entire life on Earth. Some pass it every day. Others fail half their life and then see the light. Some are doing good until something bad happens then they give up. Others don't pass their entire life letting the devil win their souls instead of God. What ever you decide to do for yourself is your choice. Just remember who your letting win the bet on your soul when you die. The devil or God. Also don't be mad at your child for wanting God to win your soul even if you don't.

Answer 9

Atheists at the instant are not prepared in a manner that could lead them to burn a go. you're able to be questioning of the KKK, who, curiously adequate, think of of themselves as Christians. some atheists hate Christians, i assume, for the comparable reason some Christians hate atheists. They experience threatened by capacity of them. considering neither theory device would be supported by capacity of irrefutable data, it incredibly is all hypothesis on the two factors. (in spite of the incontrovertible fact that I incredibly tend in direction of the atheistic, i'm particularly agnostic myself.) i think of that atheists and Christians want one yet another desperately it incredibly is one in all those Sado-masochistic tango.

Answer 10

I agree with you.
Christianity with the threats of eternal damnation is just evil, and should be considered child abuse.
Children get traumatized and brainwashed that they need to accept Christianity or burn in hell.
It is terrible. I am glad you are in the right direction.
KEEP THINKING!