A serious inquiry for both sides (Believers & atheists)?

Question

First, for the non-believer:
Please tell me honestly what it is that bugs you the most about the message of Scripture......or about us in general.

For the believer:
Please tell me what it is that bugs you the most about the other side (the atheist).


All I ask is that this doesn't turn into a mud-slinging, lunch room food fight. Please try to be as honest & gentle as possible.

Thanks to all in advance.

I almost forgot.....

Please state your position

Answer 1

Believer - Christian (pentecostal flavor)

It bothers me that people who see miracles don't believe them. And try to explain them away. After the 4 knee surgeries I had I was in constant, all the time, everyday pain. God took it away. I no longer have pain when I go out in the cold (like a thousand sharp knives). I used to be able to tell you when it was raining when someone opened the door without seeing it raining. I don't feel that anymore.

I saw a man in Nigeria prayed to literacy. (Strange as it sounds.) He was illiterate, prayed for and handed a Bible which he started reading out loud.

What about the everyday miracles like losing my keys to find them a few minutes later in a part of the room I hadn't been only to find out later that I "missed" an accident by a few minutes because I was "late" looking for my keys?

The sneeze that kept me from entering an intersection as another car wizzed by (against the light).?

I see God's hand in my life and His protection and wish other people could see His hand in their lives too. Because He loves them so much that He is there even when they don't believe.

Answer 2

I believe the atheists go nuts over the type of pompous Christian who is well meaning and acts as though the Atheists have no intelligence. The Christian goes nuts over the Atheist that is pompous and acts as though the Christian is inane. I think a balance is necessary where the intelligence and heart are connected...not one superseding the other. I am a Christian who pays attention when the Bible tell us that God wants us to come and reason together. Not get crazy together. God says he would prefer that we are either hot or cold because if we are faithful to our belief it means if we are cold and God becomes real to us then we will be just as faithful on the hot side of life. It is we who straddle the fence that are useless because we don't take a stand for anything other than convenience. Mmm

Answer 3

I have seen the answers that both Christians and atheists post.

We are called to love one another. Being humble before the Lord is FAR more important than being right and/or "winning" an argument.

I was damaged by harmful words that were spoken to me as a child and a youth and we should all speak the truth in love Ephesians 4:15

What bothers me is the hostility I have seen on this board by both Christians and atheists.

Atheists I do pray for and I also pray that we would all know the damage of negative and oppressive words wither in spoken form, written form, e-mail form or in this case posting form.

God bless :)

Answer 4

First of all, I'm a believer. I'm simply not a Christian. I'm a witch, and a Pagan.

This brings me to the first thing that bugs me about Christians: They think that you are either one or the other; that if you don't believe in their God, that they are atheists. (True there are some who don't, but your question shows part of the problem at least). Another thing that bugs me about Christians is the high-horse they seem to ride. They tend to be self-righteous with an attitude that seems to state "I'm saved, and you're going to hell because you are naturally evil". (Unfortunately, they really believe that!)

Christians don't understand that one can be moral, just and righteous without the bible. I've heard the ignorant and stupid arguments that try to show that everyone is a lying, cheating, adulterous blasphemer based on scripture. The problem is that this is a flawed and crazy argument. Yet it gets stuffed down Christian's throats so often that they actually believe it.

Christianity has no room for pluralism. It does not wish to exist in a society where other religions are given the same level of freedom of expression.

Is this mud-slinging? Actually, I think it is the naked truth. It looks pretty ugly though. Please show me wrong.

Answer 5

As a former atheist, what really annoyed me about my mate becoming a Christian was that I could no longer get my porn mags from him. I spent 16 months trying to show him how stupid and superstitious he'd become to believe in Jesus, but every -- & I mean every -- argument I threw at him he was able to refute, either from the Bible or from Josh McDowell's book Evidence That Demands a Verdict.
As a result I decided to check God out for myself, & found the evidence overwhelmingly in favour of the Bible. After a further two years -- & some seriously convincing Godincidences (there are no such things as coincidences when you genuinely seek the truth about God) -- I went from being what would now be called a New Age pagan (I believed in ghosts, ESP, UFO's from outer space, channelling, reincarnation, but also in promiscuity & drunkenness) to being an out & out, born-again, Bible-believing, Berean (see Acts 17:11), young-earth creationist, pre-Tribulation rapturist, post-Tribulation millennialist Christian.

Incidentally, for those who say there's no evidence for the Bible's veracity, I challenge you to look at the prophecies it gives that have been literally fulfilled, and also at the ones that are currently being fulfilled; the most obvious of these is the regathering of the Jews & other Israelites into their promised land despite opposition from their neighbours and from most nations of the world.

I recommend four websites for those who really would like to see the evidence from the Christian side:
http://www.thebereancall.org
http://www.christiananswers.net
http://answersingenesis.org
http://lightforthelastdays.co.uk

May God bless all who truly seek the truth about Him.

Answer 6

First I have to ask...when you say "believer", are you talking about any religious belief? Or just Christian? I ask because you then go on to mention "Scripture."

I am a believer, a practicing Wiccan. I live with a hethen who was formerly an atheist.

I suppose what I truly do not understand about atheists, is how they never feel, or admit to feeling, the presence of deity. I have been close to the goddess all of my life, I can't imagine NOT feeling her presence.

But then, atheists look at me when I say that as if I'd tried to hand them a live fish and tell me quite bluntly that I'm likely misinterpreting some psychological phenomenon.

*shrugs*

There's no proof either way, and so after that we generally find other things to talk about.

Answer 7

Hi, Primo.

What bugs me is just that we really don't have any evidence to say that this piece of writing is anything more than an ancient text. It's not that I object to the idea of loving your neighbor as yourself or most of the 10 commandments, but the authority given to that book seems unjustified to me. That alone doesn't bug me either - plenty of people place authority where it doesn't belong. What bothers me is that this text has things in it that I feel are not correct. Things like the place of women as dicussed in the Pauline epistiles and the ubiquitous quote from Leviticus about gays are, to my 21st century mind, wrong, and the only reason they are given credence is because the book claims to be from God.

Of course the next argument I will hear is about the prophecies of the Bible. People always say how all of these prophecies came true, but no one is ever able to cite them. But lets say you do. Are the Bible prophecies any more reliable that Nostradamus? If you write a bunch of vague things and wait 2,000 years, people will be able to interpret them as true. A guy named Neil Marshall wrote a quattrain in the 90s to make this point: if you write something vaguely, it can be interpreted as true eventually. His quattrain was widely circulated via email, attributed to Nostradamus, claiming that it predicted 9/11. Of course it did no such thing, but because it was vague, people interpreted it as prophetic.

I hope this didn't come off as though I was flinging olive loaf at the kids at the cool table! ;-)

Answer 8

Christian here.
I guess what bugs me the most is many (not all) atheists believe we as christians are:
1-from the south and most of us are married to our cousin's.
(I only dated my cousin once!)
2-we quit school at age 13
3-we have never even read about evolution or know much at all about science in general.
(I have an applied science degree).
4-we have never looked at other religions or we were all raised to be born again Christians.
(I wasn't).

These are all generalizations that many atheists believe.
And many times these are false accusations. And that's the truth :-P

†

Answer 9

I am a Christian. What "bothers" me about atheists is that they are not saved. But I am glad they are here, at least being exposed to some form of Christianity. Maybe something I say or another Christian says will plant a seed in their hearts. I have never put down an atheist like I have been put down, but its understandable that they are miserable in their lives... they have nothing to live for.

Yes I believe atheists are miserable, or at least the ones I have been in contact with are. Sorry if I offended anyone by saying I believe they are "miserable". That is tame compared to what we are called and what they have said about Jesus. But Jesus said we would be ridiculed. I am not ridiculing atheists; I feel sorry for them. They have the free will to believe anything they wish, but I don't have to agree with their choice. Hate the sin but not the sinner.

Answer 10

I am a Christian. I am bothered by Atheist when they lay claim to science, logic, and all major discoveries. I saw a question the other day about an educated Christian professor..then there was a series of snickers ..:'yeah like that could happen" was common reply. They seem unaware of the contributions to science and math made by Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Answer 11

Personally I do not ascribe to any religion, mainly because I find it hard to believe that one particular group is entirely correct.
The thing that annoys me however with both sides of this is their unwillingness to listen to different ideas.
I would describe myself as agnostic, I believe that there is more to life than what we can see but to the same extent I do not believe in a god as the bible would portray.

When it comes to concepts like "intelligent design" I can understand that the processes of evolution and the development of the planets etc, could have a greater force behind it, however when it's sold to me that "god" created the world in 7 days, that I don't buy. Mainly because if there is an entity that is our "god" they would be a different type of life form to us, which would also lead me to believe that aspects like time would be perceived differently.

It really annoys me when one side or the other basically shrug off any argument that contradicts their own beliefs.

Also the fact that scripture can be changed from time to time to suit with the respective church, all a little too malleable for me.