They don't believe in hell anyway, so what difference does it make. So many posts bring up the fact that some Christian told them they are going to hell. Why should you be offended by that when you don't believe in heaven or hell in the first place?
(BTW I have NEVER damned anyone to hell. I believe that is God's job - not ours and do not agree with that tactic. I feel we are not to be judgmental and that we are to love others unconditionally.)
2007-10-01 04:58:42 · 35 answers · asked by Kaliko 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I am an atheist and I AM OFFENDED !!!.
The issue is NOT whether or not I believe in Hell but rather whether or not THEY believe in Hell . Since they do believe in Hell and to them it IS a real place where people will suffer the insufferable for all of eternity, then knowing that it is their clear intention to send me to a place where THEY KNOW that I will suffer IS OFFENSIVE.-[and a bit sociopathic ]
Quote of the day:
"Never tell a man to go to Hell unless you personally intend to send him there " LBJ
2007-10-01 05:18:54 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know if most atheists would really be offended by it. They are more likely to just come to the conclusion that the Christian zealot is an imbecile. That's not the same thing as being offended.
If you want to see someone get REALLY offended, try telling a Christian zealot that they are going to go to hell. I've caught some Christians lying about what the Bible says before. When I said that knowingly lying about the Bible seemed like a quick way to get to hell they got rather irate.
2007-10-01 05:07:57 · answer #2 · answered by Azure Z 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We aren't. Or at least, I'm not. Like you say, we don't believe in Hell and have no particular fear of it. Personally, what I dislike is not being told I'm going to go to Hell, but rather the fact that people try to use such a totally invalid argument in an attempt to convert me. Imagine if I told you that unless you worship the Tooth Fairy and repent for not flossing and brushing your teeth every night, you would be doomed to a fiery dentist's chair for eternity. Would you believe me? No. Would it change your belief that the Tooth Fairy does not exist? No. Why? Because you already logically know that the Tooth Fairy does not exist, and it takes more than scaring you to make you believe in the Tooth Fairy, it takes actual evidence. We atheists see God and Hell in the same way.
2007-10-01 05:15:17 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I"m not offended at all. It"s just the principle of the thing. The fact is that in Christians minds hell is for real, and some seem to get immense pleasure from condemning people there. I don"t think is a very "Christian" attitude, and i wouldn"t wish harm on anyone, real or imaginary.
2007-10-01 05:06:08 · answer #4 · answered by Nathan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We don't care, it makes no difference what people think will happen to us, they have no effect on the reality of what will happen. We usually pitty the person who thinks people will go to hell, it must be somewhat terrifying to think about burning for an eternity, i mean every christian that has a brain has got to have pondered the idea "what if hell is real and i am following the wrong god?"
2007-10-01 05:04:07 · answer #5 · answered by Seargent Gork 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nope, you're right, I don't believe hell exists.
The person who wishes me there or judges me as belonging there DOES exist, though.
Their behavior represents an incredible amount of hate and arrogance.
Since you include a disclaimer that you have never damned anyone to hell, I would think you'd already know why it's offensive.
2007-10-01 05:03:02 · answer #6 · answered by Snark 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I do not get offended; I just laugh at them. Since I do not believe in god what makes them think that I will believe in a hell.
2007-10-01 05:48:15 · answer #7 · answered by Imagine No Religion 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
We just find it profoundly sad and silly that people believe in this imaginary torture and terrorize their kids with these ideas, while pretending to be moral and loving at the same time. It's the height of duplicity. It makes no sense, and even children can see through it. One needs to use Olympic level mental gymnastics to justify the incongruencies. The fruits of the Christian religion are just divisiveness, bitterness, child molestation, ignorance, and backwardness. Need I say more?
2007-10-01 05:04:09 · answer #8 · answered by Earl Grey 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, if I tell you you're get raped someday, I hope you'd think I was an evil jerk....I wouldn't, but that's besides the point.
Most zealot Christian types damn everyone else to hell so very wishfully....it's not "according to my beliefs, you're damned," it's "You're gonna burn in hell and I'm not."
I'm neither an atheist nor a Christian and I can see that.
2007-10-01 05:03:17 · answer #9 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am a Christian but a queer liberal one so I have told I am damned to hell by others.
It's not that I believe i am actually going there just because someone said so, it's that a religion that is supposed to be based in Love is acting in such an un-loving way. it's FRUSTRATING to watch someone be hypocritical and think they are loving.
2007-10-01 05:04:41 · answer #10 · answered by scoop 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋