mmm well maybe you should take a few seconds as to why your parents are doing that, forcing their own personal beliefs upon you.
maybe its cuz they love you? and they want you to be "saved" and not be condemned to hell or w/e? they care for you, and i think you should be thankful for that before complaining :/
i mean, a lot of children in this world dont have parents that give a crap about what their children do. sounds nice doesnt it? but IMO, i would give up carefree parents for strict ones that actually show their love in demanding ways, but still show love in some form.
That's a really good point. You have to look at it from their point of view. While you may well see it as "converting" you, us Christians kind of have a duty. We've found out that God's there, and we've learnt to live as Jesus did. Now, the awesome thing is, when we die, we get to go to Heaven.
Of course, as God said in the Bible, if you don't follow the teachings of Jesus and love God you'll end up in hell. While some may think Christians get some sick satisfaction out of thinking " I'm going to Heaven and you're all going to hell, hahahaha!", the truth is totally the opposite. We don't want to see people suffer eternity in misery, so the only thing we can do to stop it is persuade you God exists and loves you.
It sounds like a load of rubbish to most, I'm sure, but it's the truth.
Think of it this way. If I told you the US is going to get hit by a bomb tomorrow, you'd most probably try and tell everyone so they could save themselves. Same principal, except it's for eternity
.
Anyway, as a child, I hated being forced to go to church. As I've got older, they've allowed me to stop going to Church. And for ages I considered myself agnostic. But when I started secondary school, I ended up being roped into going to the School's Christian Union. Sounds really nerdy and horrible, right? Well, it was a bit weird at first, but the people there were just as normal as anyone, plus they were kinda nice.
For 2 years I went and wrestled with the opinions of those around me (that God exists) and my own scientific knowledge (all the stuff in the Bible's impossible, so God can't exist). After 2 years of seeing people devote their lives to God, worshipping something out there truly and fully with their hearts (they certainly weren't putting on a show, put it that way), and just the passion a lot of people put into doing things for this God. Why on Earth would a person as normal as you and me just bow down and start worshipping some made-up thing in the sky? Why would someone go and make a book full of ridiculously important, unbelievable and philosophical stories? Truth is, no-one would, no matter which way you look at it, evidence of God is in other people.
You don't need to scientifically prove the Bible or have a religious experience, the simple thing is, God works through other people. He cannot be proven. You just have to come to the conclusion yourself based on what you've seen. If you ever encounter one of these amazing people, you'll know exactly what I mean.
And since I came to that conclusion, my life has changed. I've seen people speak in tongues, miracles before my eyes. You can choose to believe people are deluded, and that I have been illusioned by the people around me. But at the end of the day, it's obviously not true. I haven't had a spell put on me, I haven't been dropped on my head, I haven't been "converted". So I'm not speaking rubbish. I'm speaking the truth as any ordinary person would, and saying God exists. Whether you choose to believe me is your own choice of course.
Sorry for the long speech there.
I just had to tell you where your parents are coming from, and to try and persuade you that God exists. Of course, if you see me as just another person trying to "convert" you, that's fine. I'm just here to help.
EDIT:
QUOTEOP - read everything you can by Robert Ingersoll and Bertrand Russell who both make strong points against having a vested belief in ancient fairy tales. Then find internet forums where you can debate the subject and polish your arguments. Although these discussions always end in futility they are good practice. Then you will get to the point where you can shame your parents with logic and common sense over faith in a belief that is a polar opposite of everything we know about biology, physics, archaeology, astronomy etc.
There are really only two tenants to what they believe: One is greed - rich uncle Jesus promises a material heaven and the second is fear - I don't wanna be burned after I'm dead. Use that.
