Shoving religion down one's throat?

Question

What exactly constitutes a Christian shoving their religion down someone's throat? If a Christian mentions as an answer on here that "Jesus died for their sins and He is real", is that considered shoving? I feel this would be an opinion and not preaching, personally. Just as a Pagan could say I think fundamentalist christians are idiots, that is just an opinion they are stating to be fact for them. I also, would not consider that shoving their beliefs. This is an honest question, I would appreciate no one bashing anyone and just specify what you personally believe to be shoving religion down one's throat. Gods peace

Answer 1

Go to the Middle East and then you will understand the meaning of SHOVING religion down your throat.

I wonder how you feel when you hear sermons from five different loud speakers, and in many places more than one place! At the same time!
Or, how would you feel if by chewing gum in public in the month of Ramadan can end you up in prison. or even smoking a cig!

Answer 2

Not realy sure what you are trying to accomplish with all of this that you posted but I thought it was worthy of a response. Even though I hold to Christian values and moralities I don't consider myself a fundamental Christian idiot. I do know what you are talking about, yes indeed. There are a lot of people claiming to be Christians that are indeed idiots and do nothing but cause more trouble than good. I guess you could say I am an open minded Educated Christian. I have been focussing on learning the truth and history of the Christian faith. I am learning Hebrew and Greek so I can accurately read and understand just exactly what the Bible says and just what Christianity is supposed to be. From my understanding of the history of Christianity, the form of Christianity we have today is nothing like it was 1900 years ago when the first Christians lived. I would say if the Christians of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Centuries AD realized what a monster the Christian religion has turned into they would have never let the Romans throw them to the lions and be fodder for the Gladiators in training. Well then again this is just the opinion of an educated Christian idiot.

Answer 3

You are right in that an opinion genuinely held and stated cannot be described as 'shoving'. However, if you look at many of the spiritual questions asked and the way people answer them it is interesting to see how many profess to be christian who are intolerant of others views and take a 'one view is right' stance. Also how often lengthy quotes are seen as a substitute for personal opinion as though just because someone who lived 2000+ years ago had an opinion and recorded it, it is less an opinion and suddenly 'hard fact'. I do not personally accept that texts from the past are meant to be other than guidance to finding our own way, in fact I am sure several different prophets have actually said that, from different belief systems. Christ was amongst the most tolerant and accepting moral arbiters there have been, so anyone who states intolerance cannot be a true believer and anyone who uses texts written by people to justify that intolerance compounds their error and becomes a bigot. The real trouble comes not from the openly bigotted but from those who seek to influence behind the scenes politically. Then the language of 'demonisation' becomes a political tool and can be directed at any target that suits those in power. that is the worst kind of 'Shoving' and is prevalent in all societies whose demarkation between secular government and established religion has been eroded or taken over. Just look around and realise how dangerous to us all that is, wars for an ideological purpose that just happen to suit financial or strategic interests, ring any bells? May whichever God you believe in go with you.

Answer 4

If they've already told you they flat out don't want to discuss religion or that they want to change the topic, continuing to talk about it could be interpreted as being preachy.

Also, when people try to legislate against things based solely upon religious beliefs, it could be considered shoving it down their throat. Example: Jews who keep kosher don't eat meat and dairy together. That's fine--they can do whatever they want. But I'd be mad if there was some law passed saying that NO ONE could eat cheeseburgers because Kosher laws say it's wrong!

I think you're right--that everyone is entitled to their own opinions; sometimes how someone phrases something can turn a passive opinion into a "I can't believe you're lecturing me again!" Examples: There's also a big difference between saying "Jesus died for YOU!," and "I personally believe that Jesus died for all of us."

Answer 5

It depends upon the question, and the relevance of the answer. If someone was, say, asking a question about Ramadan, and somebody posted back a comment about Jesus dying for their sins (and adding in several Biblical quotes in the process), I'd say that we're starting to get into the right area.

Shoving your beliefs down someone's throat typically involves repeated and unwanted attempts to convert someone else. While that's a little difficult to do here due to the nature of Y!A itself, people have proven it's possible by just spamming an assortment of unrelated questions with the same answers.

Answer 6

Shoving christianity down one's throat happens when extreme proselytizing takes place.
The ebullient & bigoted christian would dare say without batting an eylid that the other person's religion is false, he would go to hell if he's not christian, he's stupid to believe in nonsense, only the christian god can give him salvation etc2.
This sort of proselytizing takes place all the time, and it doesn't do any good to the good name of christianity. Unfortunately, this is the reality, so many non-christians say that christians are trying to shove their religion down their throat. I can't agree more.
I'm not bashing the christians either, just an honest answer to an honest question.
Have a great day.

Answer 7

Religion has always been shoved down people's throats - the shoving starts from the parents to the priests and the teachers.
Why don't they say discover for yourself - (they do that in home work) - but want to impose their ignorance on the poor infant and child.
This shoving is in all families, religions and races/countries - like patriotism, culture and habits.
God created the earth, man created the divisions into countries - and religions, culture, good/bad, right/wrong, etc.
All religions are man made and man shoved.
Even the god we know is man made and not the real Creator of all animate and inanimate things of the Universe.

Answer 8

Opinions and religious beliefs are on different levels... the key difference is "I think". When you say "I think [insert something]", it's an opinion. However when you state something as if it were an absolute fact, that's a different case.

Also, it depends on the question they answer. If somebody asks a question about Wicca and someone posts "omg Jesus died for you", that's shoving it down the throat. Now if the question is about Jesus, then it's not really...

Answer 9

I'm a Christian and i would never shove religion down someones throat. any any Christian who does has never heard Matthew 7:6
6 "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
this means, do not throw the Gospel (pearls) to people who don't care (pigs) because if you do, they'll ignore it and get mad at you for forcing.
one of the guys from my school forces. he tells people quite adamantly that they cannot be Christian unless they go to church every Sunday. but true Christians know this to be untrue. all you need is faith.
berating people to become Christian is shoving. instead you should be persistent but not to a level that makes people defensive, uncomfortable and angry. God wants us to evangelise, and spread the word. not to harass people and to shove it in people's faces

Answer 10

In my opinion, what constitutes as "shoving religion down one's throat" being force to listen to that your beliefs are wrong and theirs are right and we're all going to hell in a hand basket, over & over & over again.
And they cannot answer a simple question without throwing a biblical quote here and there.
I have learned that here, when you answer something & it is your opinion, it is nice if you state it so.
Every one is entitled to their opinion & their beliefs, and it would be nice if they could just simply answer the question at hand.
We do not want to hear all the extra, if you don't believe this or that or whatever, you are not going to be washed in the blood of the lamb.
My answers to these is usually, big deal, but every now & then, it just gets "old".
I realize that this is Religion & Spirituality section,
but Christians dont have the only belief out here.
The rest of us do have beliefs, it's just not theirs.
Even the Atheists have beliefs and concepts.
I'm not basing anyone's beliefs,
but I just wish the "born-again bunch"
could just ease up.
They dont understand our beliefs and don't want to
and we feel the same about them.

Answer 11

When someone expresses a desire to talk about something else in a social setting and another person absolutely refuses to focus on anything but religious thoughts, it is considered rude. If someone is on Yahoo Answers in the Religion & Spirituality section, I doubt it is possible to "shove religion down someone's throat," since it is an open forum dedicated to discussing religion.