Can't we all just believe what we want to believe if it's not hurting others?

Question

I am a Christian. I guess you could say "born again" although I never really stopped believing- I just didn't give it much thought. I won't get into details about what turned my life around, but they were meaningful to me and the only proof I need of God's existence ist he feeling I got that day when I opened my heart back up to him.

My husband is an atheist. I don't mind. That's his belief. We don't agree, so we don't really discuss. I love him- not what he believes about God or anything else.

I am not a bigot. I don't discriminate against anyone else's race, religion, culture, or sexual preference. My own Bible says the greatest thing God gave us was love- so when I get to my last day and, if I'm right, and there is a God and he asks how I spent my life- I think "I tried to love everyone regardless" will be a far better answer than "I hated the right people."

So why can't ALL people just agree to disagree and quit picking each other apart? You can't enjoy faith & hate..

I think a true Christian believes in love over hate. I also believe my Bible says not to judge other human beings and that all sins are viewed alike.. so if I judge another man's sin, I'm just as bad as he is.

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If you told me I was going to Hell, I'm confident enough in my own beliefs that it would not bother me that you said so, because I would know in my heart otherwise. I'd probably just smile and move on with my day.

Nathan- 1 Corinthians 13 has a passage somewhere in it about Faith, Hope, and Love being a few of the gifts God has given us, but his greatest gift has been love.

Answer 1

I think you are the perfect example of what every Christian should strive for (and those of other religions as well).
I believe that there is something of value in almost all religions and philosophies. It only stops being valuable when it is used to justify bigotry or make yourself feel superior to others.

Answer 2

Of course you can believe what you want to believe. But which is the more important question: (a) What do you *want* to believe? Or (b), What is the *truth*?

Do you know what truth is? When something is true, that means it's real. If I steal a cookie, and you ask me, did you steal a cookie, only one answer is the truth. If I say no, then what I'm saying does not match reality, because the reality is that I stole the cookie.

By the same token, if you ask a man, are you a man or a fire engine? And he answers, "a fire engine!", if he really means it, that means he's insane. Why? Because in reality he is a man, not a fire engine. If he believes he's a fire engine, he has somehow lost touch with reality.

Religious truth is no different! This is a very important fact which people forget for some reason. They think it's sad for a man to think he's a fire engine, but they think it's fine if he thinks there's no God.

Think about it: If there is a God, and a heaven and a hell, then it *matters* whether you get it right or wrong. It's not like having a disagreement about whether chocolate ice cream or vanilla is better, which is a matter of taste. Questions about God are questions about *ultimate reality*. If you get it wrong, you are out of touch with reality, just as if you thought you were a fire engine.

I agree that there should not be anger and hate when discussing ultimate reality. Christians should love everyone, and atheists should too, for that matter. But if you say it doesn't matter what you believe, I strongly disagree. For a Christian to say that it's fine for someone to be an atheist, means that Christian doesn't care much about that atheist. He should not hate the atheist, but he should try to show him why he's wrong, so he can be in touch with God, the ultimate reality, the only source of ultimate, permanent happiness.

Answer 3

Most of the time I find myself battling against 'religion'. Even the pseudo religion of Atheism.

The nature of religion, and you can see it in the Atheists who come here as well, is to eliminate the other religions. ( My pastor was a Philosophies of Education professor from Stanford University, so I got a lot of that stuff to consider) . So what you are seeing here is the attempt by many religions to overcome the others in reason and conviction. Some by enthusiasm.

But not all of the body of Christ is purposed towards the same gifts. I have no idea what your gifts from God are. But as for me, I tend to explain things that people respond to, either positively or negatively. As it is said, " The same words bring life to some and death to others."

So I am not expecting to get along with other people. My purpose is to serve God in the capacity He makes me able.

Whatever comes along, God will see me through. So to the Lord you do not seek this, but to the Lord I do seek this. I will not judge you in your observances to Him, and neither should I be judged according to what He has brought me to do.

Peace to you, and I hope you are reading your Bible daily.

Answer 4

Err...
Oldthinkers unbellyfeel Ingsoc.

Do you begin to see, then, what kind of world we are creating? It is the exact opposite of the stupid hedonistic Utopias that the old reformers imagined. A world of fear and treachery and torment, a world of trampling and being trampled upon, a world which will grow not less but more merciless as it refines itself.

The old civilizations claimed that they were founded on love or justice. Ours is founded upon hatred. In our world there will be no emotions except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else we shall destroy— everything.

Answer 5

I think that it's funny that people who think that religious people are closed-minded are, in fact, very closed minded themselves about religious people... assuming that they hate others so much.

Truth is truth. How someone FEELS about truth does not change the nature of truth. If you truly believed with all your heart that those who do not have a saving faith in God, wouldn't you want your loved ones to also believe in that truth? If you're right about heaven and your husband is wrong, what do you think will happen to him? Doesn't that concern you? I'd re-evalute what you truly believe.

And, no, the greatest thing God gave us, according to the ACTUAL Bible is NOT love. It is Christ. I don't know what Bible you're reading. It is BECAUSE God loved the world that he gave us Christ, his only son, to die for us... as a sacrifice for the price of sin.

The world could be filled with all the love there is, but without Christ, there is no hope for this world that is so filled with "love" because there is no love apart from God after we die.

Answer 6

It's the last part of your question, "if it's not hurting others," that's tricky. People's religious beliefs have real consequences in society; from how they vote, to whether or not they are willing to kill for their beliefs. In real life, organized religion will always have these kinds of effects, so I will always be opposed to it.

Please note that I said "organized religion." I'm not opposed to people believing whatever they want in the privacy of their own head. However, the institutionalization of a system of belief will always have these kinds of negative consequences. I think that would even be true of atheism. This is why I support the separation of church and state.

*Edit* -- Since I'm getting thumbs down, perhaps I've been too harsh. Show me an organized religion that doesn't have these effects and I'll support it. I think Buddhism and Taoism qualify, for the most part. I wholeheartedly support these religions. When Christianity learns to do the same, I'll support it as well.

Answer 7

If you are a Christian you believe you must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ in order to go to heaven. And you said that you love your husband, if this true then why don't you care that if he dies as a atheist he will go to Hell which is a horrible place. Please I don't know you or your husband but please don't let him go to Hell if you are unable to share with him about becoming a Christian find someone that will, just don't let the time pass without giving him a chance to accept Christ. Hell and Heaven are very real and that too is why we can't allow everyone to believe in whatever b/c Jesus is the way the truth and the life.

Answer 8

that's really well said. I'm an atheist, but I believe that if people use religion to make their life better and that of others, then what's the harm.

Answer 9

Oh Mama Bean, Mama Bean...

*sigh*

The issue is that main message of Christianity is the "Gospel", which means "good news"...
And basically is this:
God is holy and perfect and commands us to be holy and perfect as He is holy and perfect. However, none of us are holy and perfect as God. Thus, in God's sight, we are ALL sinners and fall short of His glory. AND the wages (or results) of sin is death...and separation from God, eternally in the torments of hell.
HOWEVER, the "good news" is that although this is true...and that we all deserve to go to hell, God provided a way that we may be forgiven of our sins...and this is by His grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died a sacrifice for the sins of those who believe in Him.
Therefore, while ALL deserve to go to hell, and MOST will go to hell, there are a "few" who, by God's grace will go to heaven.
Jesus Himself said that He was the way, truth, and life...and that there was NO OTHER way to heaven. (See John 14:6).
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Above, I have written the ESSENTIALS of Christianity. Rejecting these means you reject the Gospel...which means you reject God's gift of eternal life...which means you are not a Christian (no matter which bubble you circle on the religion question)...which means that unless you repent and believe, you, too, are headed for hell for all eternity.

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Now then, can we just "believe" what we want...so as to not hurt others?

ABSOLUTELY.

But it would be PROFOUNDLY unloving not to share the Gospel to others, so as to convert them...that is, so as to "save" them.

Knowing that your husband is NOT a Christian...and is therefore surely headed for the horrific torments of hell for ALL eternity...and for you sit idly by...and say, "I love him" just doesn't jive.

Now NO, you can't "force him" to believe, but you go so far as to say that "we don't really discuss"...!

How can you not discuss?

And you say, "I don't mind".

How can you not "mind" the fact that your husband is headed for hell for all eternity?

And if you don't believe this is true, then you most certainly are NOT a Christian...and do take His name in vain when you call yourself such.
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You are contradiction in the highest sense.
Either:
1) You are not a Christian....and are headed to hell with your husband
2) You are an immature or foolish or deceived Christian who has devoured "bad" teaching

Either way, you need to WAKE UP!

The Lord despises what He calls "lukewarm" followers...and states He will spit them out of His mouth.

You have swallowed the deception of "moral relativity" and the new "religion" of tolerance.

Read some of my other questions on this...and answers to other questions...

...before it is too late...not only for your husband, but also for you.

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Sincerely.
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Grace and peace in Christ.

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Answer 10

Well what if i said i belive your going to Hell (just an example)? I mean there is no truth to that you would think right? You would want the truth.