Non-believers of all kinds, do scare tactics and doomsday predictions work for you?

Question

I'm seeing a lot of these christian warnings about the end times, rapture, how we're all going to suffer and the world is going to be in peril.. honestly, does the sale of fire insurance really work ?

sisterzeal, I hate to burst your bubble, but your prophecies have NOT been fulfilled. Twisting events to fit what you want to believe is not fulfillment.

Answer 1

It is strange that the same people who are bewildered why one religions Armageddon tale does not bring everyone to their knees fail to realize that there is more than one religion out here telling us we will burn in hell forever, yadah, yadah, yadah. So when are they converting to a different one? No? Well, I guess having multiple "One True Faiths" confuses the rest of us too. Picking amongst multiple "Join or Suffer" tales sounds like a shell game - "did you chose wisely?" Much easier to believe those stories are all wrong than expect we need to gamble, isn't it? Pushing that aspect also makes your religion seem about sticks and not carrots - not exactly the joyous side of the equation is it? People was joy from their religion, not damnation!

Answer 2

Not in the least bit. If it's going to happen, there's nothing we can do about it.

The world is already in peril. Doomsday started some time ago, people just don't realize it.

I'm a christian, but a non-believer of all kinds of things. I try to go with what I feel, and question many things, before taking them at face value.

Religions of all sorts are always warning about something. I think it's to install fear in the people. If their weak and ignorant, they'll believe anything. If they have some intelligence, they'll question their own beliefs and the things they were conditioned socially to believe.

Well, since it's not the end of this world, fire insurance wouldn't hurt, but it's not going to save us from doomsday.

I was almost killed and raped in a church while praying, and beaten on the head over 10 times with a tire iron. I faught back, and ran like a bat out of hell. Miraculously, I had no concussions. Docters couldn't phantom, why?

That was my doomsday, so no these christian predictions don't grab my attention in the least bit. I really don't care to put so much energy into this belief, because if that's the worlds fate, then no matter what we do, can't prevent it. Just keep truckin and enjoy each day the best you can, have fun in what you do. Try to put your energy into living the Best life, before this doomsday, if there is going to be one.

P.S. Doomsday might come with an atomic bomb, who knows, and wipe out all humanity, with just a few left, and leave earth still standing with evolution to follow. Maybe, this is what they mean by doomsday. Let's not take it at face value.

Answer 3

Haha. Betch, please. NOT EVEN CLOSE.

Lol.

I lived my entire childhood afraid. My parents raised me into their own world, which seemed to shun anyone they didn't feel "fit" into it: atheists, homosexuals, bisexuals, "sinners," people that were "colored," etc.

I was afraid of such people, quite frankly. And I regret that. I was simply raised to fear them, and quite frankly, I blame my parents for that.

When I eventually realized that I am in fact an atheist, and in addition I may be bisexual; technically I'm not, but I'm completely open to a relationship with others of the same sex, I was terrified of the very person I'd become. Bit of a Marilyn Manson moment; "the boy that you loved, is now the man that you fear." The person I used to be had changed, and I was at that point, the very thing I'd feared.

Long periods of serious depression followed, which I still haven't gotten out of, nor recovered from.


In my opinion, every detail of my life thus far has contributed to EVERY detail of the present. My actions, my thoughts, my beliefs.. Because in a way, the tiny details in life affect the small details, which affect the medium details, which affect the larger details, which in turn, may greatly alter the outcome.

So far, everything I've done, seen, said, heard, felt, and experienced, has told me that there is no God. When I lay under stars, I do not sense the divine. When I give to charity, I don't feel that I'm doing God's work; I feel that I'm helping a family in need. When I pet a puppy while volunteering at the Humane Society on Saturday afternoons, I don't feel that I was sent by God, but that I am simply helping out some animals that could use love and care.



I'd rather be be feared because of who I am, than be a different person because of fear.

Answer 4

No. They don't affect me in the least.

They use scare tactics and doomsday predictions as a conversion method. It works only for the weak-minded.

Answer 5

It's the "carrot and stick" method of dealing with people. It has zero impact on me because there is no proof, scientific or otherwise, to support the doomsday scenarios of these religious institutions. Instead...

It's all about control. Control by any means possible. Enter the carrot and stick. It works on a three year old but not on a thinking, creative, intelligent adult.

Answer 6

When I was a teenager, yes. But not now.

I've done some historical research on apocalyptic writings. They sure aren't unique to Christianity. Some of my favorite apocalyptic writings are found within the Hermetica, an ancient text attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. They read in a similar way to the Christians' "Revelations," but the theological implications are completely different.

Other apocalyptic literature is similar. They all predict disaster and doom followed by salvation and renewal for the true believers who are preserved by their Gods.

Answer 7

I think that is a complete turn off! I am not scared of it because I believe in a Deity who would never use things like that to get love. I am Wicca by the way and know that my Deity was around long before the Christan God, I also know there are many paths to salvation, so anyone who pushes will definitely loose me as a fan.

Answer 8

Shoot, the doomsday predictions of my path (Ragnarok) don't even scare me, let alone those of another religion's. Besides which the end of the world has been prophesied over and over again throughout history, and been proven not true over and over again. After all, we're still here.

Answer 9

scare tactics and threats do not work on those who respect themselves and are aware of their own path.
it only works on sheep and those who wish to have power use it.
sorry the child religion of christianity and its offspring still need people to believe so they can believe they are the power.
the portents only show that nature is about to do what nature does. evolve and become better. we as the sentient race have forgotten to live in harmony and have succeeded in speeding this up.
if we where a disease the patient would get treatment. has any one thought of that yet

Answer 10

They don't work for me. I grew up a preacher's kid, and was "saved" in that faith for many years. I now follow a different path - am not a traditional Christian.
My biggest pet peeve is when people try to use the threat of hell to "convert" my children. Or the promise of heaven. Threates and intimidation might work for some people, but I'm going to rely on facts, and what feels right for me.