Why is it so hard for religious?

Question

Why is it so hard for religious/believers to understand why atheist don't believe in (x) god (x) thing in the bible.....? when they dont believe the (x) god of another religion or (x) thing in the bible of another religion?

ok isaiah,now can you think for yourself instead of quoting the bible, i cant tell you or explain to you how silly it is for me for someone to quote the bible to me........lulz

very interestig dashes, but after you talk to them, how can they not rationalize what you explain to them? they just instead excuse why their beliefs are totally valid and the others arent......i just dont understand.

and my religious friends, do also consider that most atheists come away from religion, meaning they de-converted so to speak.......

jenx, very interesting, and yes everyone is free to believe what they want, but in a way it does bother me, how they use their beliefs and distort them to impose their views upon me....i dont know if you understand what im saying.

jocko, its funny you say you dont care what i do or dont believe yet you still come here and 'answer' the question.

'like a rolling stone'
you first of all assume that there is even a god
second of all you assume the bible you believe in is a reliable source of information ......
what now?

Answer 1

For an atheist I would say that is a great observation. Now as to "why I don't" do as you say that is because I believe there is only one true God, and one true "complete written word" for all man kind to believe in. For the Christan Bible has all of the books of Judaism in it that is called the Old Testament.

Answer 2

I'll give this anecdote.

I was debating with a Christian friend of mine and he described Scientology as "some book some guy wrote". When I countered and said: "Like the Bible?" (ok, many people wrote that one but that's nitpicking :-) ). It shut him up real quick. He hadn't even thought of it.

They don't look at the Bible like we do. They don't see it as a book. They take it as a fact without stopping to think about it form an outside perspective. I suppose it could be somewhat of a defense mechanism to preserve their faith, subconsciously.

Addendum:
"very interestig dashes, but after you talk to them, how can they not rationalize what you explain to them? they just instead excuse why their beliefs are totally valid and the others arent......i just dont understand."

It's not that they cannot rationalize it; it's that they WILL not. They refuse to. They are quite comfortable where they are. Above all, they are in love. When one is in love, rationality goes out the window.
On occasion I have met a few that will actually stop and look at their views objectively. Only once had I seen, personally, someone actually take what they saw seriously and deconvert themselves.
In The God Delusion, Dawkins talks about a deeply religious yet extremely talented scientist (I cant remember his name) who sat down with the Bible and a pair of scissors and began taring through the book, cutting out everything that didn't make sense or was scientifically impossible. In the end he was left with very little still in the binding. He then made a decision: The Bible was right, because it's god's word.
Rationalization is just not an option for some people.


Addendum 2:
A good test to see who can understand a view counter to their own religious one completely is to:
1) Know exactly what it would take to make you a religious person; to falsify your outlook.
2) Tell them this.
3) Ask them what it would take to falsify their belief in god. Either way, whether they can or cannot answer, you have yours.

Also, as Dawkins referred to it, have someone "put on the atheist goggles" lol :-)

Answer 3

Why is it so hard for "some" atheists to understand why Christians believe in God.
It is all to your own belief and understanding.
Some Christians probably find it hard to think that every one would not want the love and peace that God offers, and that they have experienced.
Some atheist, probably find it hard to believe in something that they have not personally experienced.
So, why don't we just let each think the way they want to.
Or does it bother you that much to have some Christians not understand the way you think?


Actually I do understand, because some atheists do the same thing to Christians. They also distort what we believe in and same mock and belittle my faith. It use to bother me more then it does now, but I decided to either ignore the rude ones, or try to explain the best way I could. But Some will never see your point of view and others will never see mine.

Answer 4

very true-- in fact a truly religious person should be able to accept god in any form. The hatred one religion shows to another has made me not believe in any religion. The warmth and love of a religious person is shown not when he is in the church or masjid mingling with his own, but in the sacrifices he is willing to make to accomodate persons of a different religion than his own. So in the final analysis an atheist can live a life better as he doen not have that much to hate

Answer 5

Well I think you answered your own question. Believing and understanding are two different things. If you consider that most things are learned by example, then it's quite easy to come to the realization that some religions preach understanding, tolerance and love but don't teach it.

The failsafe for most religious people is "if i think like they do, I'll go to hell/ be punished." That prevents them from considering why someone believes and feels the way that they do. It prevents them from "seeing it from another point of view."

Answer 6

I jest answered a similar question. There can only be one correct Bible and only one real God. If there are thousands of Bible-like books and thousands of gods, only one of them is the real deal. 4 is the only right answer to the question "what is 2+2?) The God of the Christian Bible is the only correct answer. If you don't want someone to quote from the Bible you are telling them not to use references, not to show from where they get there information, you don't want to check their story out, and not to use the "text or reference" book in their answer. It's like asking you to answer questions about German history but not to use history books in doing so. A Christian tries to tell you about God in an effort to help you. It is out of care that this is done and not out of hate, anger, or prodigious. A Christian already knows about God and the way to salvation. They just want you to know and accept it too. It's mainly for the others they do this and not for themselves. Like God, a Christian is to desire that all are saved and not just a select few. You are included in the reason this is done. Besides that, God wants us to do such things.

Answer 7

Exactly---atheists don't believe in any of the over 8,000 Gods man has created---theists--like Christians,Jews & Muslims are just one god away from being atheist themselves,!

Answer 8

all religions are born of deception made to enslave the human race... what is refered to as the devil.. works hard to keep humanity blind... he don't care what you believe by now as long as you don't see the truth...

Answer 9

I don't think I can emphasize how little I care what you do or do not believe in.

Answer 10

Ah. That is the $64,000 question, is it not?