What's your general opinion of Christianity?

[FAST6191]

Calling someone stupid because they believe in God is unnecessary, maybe you don't believe because you have no proof or whatever, but the religious people are not convinced that God doesn't exist, their right to believe is as legitimate as yours not believing.

You have your beliefs and I have mine

You have the right to believe whatever you like. You absolutely do not have the right to not have those beliefs challenged or laughed at.

 

[Lemmingz]

I don't believe in a god of any kind, like a few other users have posted in this thread I suppose it is everyones own choice for what they believe in.

If god did exist why would he/she/they/it allow bad things to happen in the world, people young & old die each day, natural disasters, people starving & freeshop stopping working

I've always liked to think churches would be like this I'm sure they would get loads of people in

 

[Depravo]

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

- Mahatma Gandhi

 

[FAST6191]

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

- Mahatma Gandhi

True that. I must have met thousands and not one has turned water into booze.

 

[Viri]

The one true faith! Deus Vult!

 

[Subtle Demise]

This may be a long one, apologies in advance.

Throughout my childhood, I've always had a sort of on again off again relationship with God and Christianity. On the days I got taken to church as an elementary school kid, I would do these littke acts of defiance because I didn't believe in God, even at that young age (funnily enough, still believed in Santa lol). Around 5th grade is when I started to believe in it. There would be things that would shake my faith. Such as when I guess you'd call her a step-grandma said she had a vision from God that I was doing something bad at my mom's house. I knew this was bullshit because that thing never happened. I wondered if God actually talked to people, or if they all were just making it up. Science class also made me question things, but the church youth group assured us that it was just Satan's lies. We even had a night where we went through the biology textbook and made fun of it, as if life on Earth taking millions of years to form was somehow less believable than the entire universe being willed into existence in a week.

Anyway, went through middle school trying be a good Christian boy, but high school changed everything. The few friends I made were atheists who dabbled in Wicca and listened to Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails. I tried to tell them the good news of Jesus Christ, but slowly I started to see things their way. I started to see the flaws in intelligent design. Things like birth defects and genetic diseases wouldn't logically be possible if humans were carefully crafted by an intelligent being. Other idiosyncrasies like passing urine through sexual organs left me with more questions than my religion had answers.

I had a hard time trying to figure out just what exactly I believed in, but world history class in my senior year made it very clear to me. I learned that there were religions long before Christianity, and that it is a relatively young religion. Also, many of the early beliefs, rituals and traditions were borrowed from Paganism. If the Bible and Christianity is the divine word of the one true God who created the universe and this earth, why wasn't it one of the first? Why did it have to adopt things from other religions? That's what turned me fully atheist.

After that, I'd still get dragged to church because I never told my dad. It was fun to read ahead from the verse the pastor gave. I found some pretty nasty stuff in there. Atheists often get accused of taking the Bible out of context, but honestly it works both ways. Preachers often pick out a single verse and build a lesson around it, often taking it out of the context of violence and sex. There's things in there that would put 80s anime to shame. People say that mankind can't have morality without God, but religion in general is on the decline and each generation is more sensitive to others than in the past. We value human life way more now than we did in ancient days. It used to be common to go to the colisseum and watch slaves kill each other and then get mauled by starving animals. The authors of the Bible actually seemed to have little regard for human life. God passing down laws about stoning disobedient children and smashing babies against rocks. I guess my point here is that man doesn't need a god for morality and the Christian God is the last being I'd take morality advice from. That brings me to the next point: the inconsistencies and contradictions in the Bible. What's with God's sudden personality change between the old and new testament? Why are there over 20 different creation stories? I like the way Penn Jillette puts it: "Take some time and put the Bible on your summer reading list. Try and stick with it cover to cover. Not because it teaches history; we've shown you it doesn't. Read it because you'll see for yourself what the Bible is all about. It sure isn't great literature. If it were published as fiction, no reviewer would give it a passing grade. There are some vivid scenes and some quotable phrases, but there's no plot, no structure, there's a tremendous amount of filler, and the characters are painfully one-dimensional. Whatever you do, don't read the Bible for a moral code: it advocates prejudice, cruelty, superstition, and murder. Read it because: we need more atheists — and nothin' will get you there faster than readin' the damn Bible."

Now I know I've been ragging on Christianity a lot in this post, but even I acknowledge that they do a lot of good in their communities. The Witch Trials, Crusades, The Prohibition, Westboro's "God Hates Fags" protestors, and the million-dollar faith healers and money scamming mega churches are the exception rather than the rule. Most churches and their followers do good things, like serve at soup kitchens, open food pantries, run those Christian thrift stores where you can buy clothes for pennies, among many other things. Even the homophobia is slowly becoming a thing of the past.

All in all, it's not for me, and I tend to leave the followers alone unless they are doing something that affects me or my loved ones, such as wanting the USA to be a theocracy.

 

[bennyman123abc]

Gandhi disputably has said something along the lines of, "I love your Christ, but not your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ." While people can argue on whether or not he actually said that, it pretty much sums up my feelings. If you're a Christian and preach your religion, and actually follow those teachings of love and tolerance, I think that's just fine. It's when you start beating people overhead with the Bible that I get mad.

This couldn't have been said any better

 

[Deleted User]

Similarly, and putting aside the semantic argument of "atheism is not a belief but the absence of them" for a minute despite it being very relevant here, I am not quite sure what extremist atheism is. Black metal church burning? USSR style imposed atheism? I have never seen anybody blow themselves up or take a pop at a medic screaming "IN THE NAME OF NOTHING!!!!".

Ehhh. A fair amount of the worst Extremist religious types were most likely agnostic to atheist, and were simply using religion as a justification. It could be argued that it was nihilism of some type, but I doubt it.

Some I speak to seem to have a "I was raised and then I reached the age of reason" story. In my case, and in the words of a favourite song, I started out with nothing, still got most of it left.
Anyway I quite like this life business, as do most that experience it, and like it to be the best it can be for me. Praying and religious morality then seemed far less effective than trying to understand how the world works and the rather less contradictory and easier to understand morality of the modern world. Worse still was the controlling bent that many religions seem to go in for. To finish it off I learned something of psychology, economics and general argumentation and it seemed the religions that survived employed suspect methods or were artefacts of all three -- for economics a classic one is noted as those religions with many gods split their population and thus are primed to be overtaken with those with a singular god and a singular mission and singular set of overheads.

Extremism, and possibly fundamentalism as they tend to go hand in hand, is a major problem but I would not say it is the major problem. The low level moralistic undercurrent a lot of Christians and recovering Christians (same for many other religions, though the effects and approaches vary somewhat) exhibit and its effects on raising kids. This guy ( https://www.youtube.com/user/TheraminTrees/videos ) does lots of stuff I would +1 here -- raising kids to believe, the nature of gods if they are supposed to be all loving, all knowing and all powerful, the creation of less than sceptical mindsets (it is often noted that father christmas/santa claus is kind of god lite, I notice similar things for other aspects).

I suppose it depends more on your personal viewpoint more then anything else. I think you and I both know that there are people who would lose their heads if their belief of their God was shattered. And there are far more whose lives have become significantly better as a result of moderate religious practice and faith.

 

[FAST6191]

I suppose it depends more on your personal viewpoint more then anything else. I think you and I both know that there are people who would lose their heads if their belief of their God was shattered. And there are far more whose lives have become significantly better as a result of moderate religious practice and faith.

And the knowledge that there are such people as the former in this world is terrifying to me, and why I will needle and test anybody with a growing sense of faith.

As for improving lives then sure, however I would immediately wonder how much of that is some sense of belonging and community. Humans are social creatures and loneliness and a meaningful things to do is a chronic problem in the modern world. To that end I have similarly seen any number of people join clubs and learn skills -- the amount of times me and mine have taught people something like woodwork, metalwork, programming or dragged them on job sites and got them to do... its efficacy compared to religion there would be rather more.

 

[Deleted User]

As for improving lives then sure, however I would immediately wonder how much of that is some sense of belonging and community. Humans are social creatures and loneliness and a meaningful things to do is a chronic problem in the modern world. To that end I have similarly seen any number of people join clubs and learn skills -- the amount of times me and mine have taught people something like woodwork, metalwork, programming or dragged them on job sites and got them to do... its efficacy compared to religion there would be rather more.

There is a moral aspect as well, though. While I know that you don't need religion to have a moral system, there is an aspect that encourages moral behaviour. It's rarely an atheist I see running the local soup kitchen or engaging in a charity event.

 

[ROMANREIGNS599]

Fake religion. Islam is the true one, but many people confuse Islam as being the religion of terrorists, they are not real Muslims and are hypocrites. In real Islam, there is no such thing as killing to attain peace. Terrorists' main goal is to wipe the real Islam

 

[Deleted User]

Personally I honestly don't really care too much about religion.
If someone is christian that is fine.
If someone tries forcing it on me then it isn't. Unless of course it's for something emotional and personal.
(I've gone through hell in my childhood. So when I was leaving my town. My best friends Mom, which in a way I was a second child to that family. Took my hand on prayed on it without my consent and without warning. Which is ok. As it had no ill will behind it. And it was clear that I wasn't christian)
In other words, if it's a complete stranger forcing things on me, it's not ok.
But if it's a friend, or someone I'm close to. I'm fine with that, depending on the situation.
Personally I don't believe in a good incarnate, or a evil incarnate. I don't believe there is heaven or hell, but I do believe there is some type of purgatory, but it's nothing like what we think it is.
And this is the part were I shutup and say nothing else.

 

[ROMANREIGNS599]

Personally. A lot like how a lot of religions I know about.
I honestly don't really care too much.
If someone is christian that is fine.
If someone tries forcing it on me then it isn't. Unless of course it's for something emotional and personal.
(I've gone through hell in my childhood. So when I was leaving my town. My best friends Mom, which in a way I was a second child to that family. Took my hand on prayed on it without my consent and without warning. Which is ok. As it had no ill will behind it. And it was clear that I wasn't christian)
In other words, if it's a complete stranger forcing things on me, it's not ok.
But if it's a friend, or someone I'm close to. I'm fine with that, depending on the situation.
Personally I don't believe in a good incarnate, or a evil incarnate. I don't believe there is heaven or hell, but I do believe there is some type of purgatory, but it's nothing like what we think it is.
And this is the part were I shutup and say nothing else.

Bro, just advising that you should read about all the religions and understand that real Islam, not the fake one terrorists follow, is the true religion. You have to make a lot of sacrifices but in the end, only you will be benefited by the reward of Paradise. I don't know how much more I can tell you

 

[JaapDaniels]

first thing you need to know about the idea is that every law means to effect on everyone, not just the ones you like... there for is almost any relegion (though everyone makes some religgion in thier mind, some truth that keeps popping up eover evidence) is bound to fail eventually:

• if every christian would relive in paradise, then there's a poppulation of trillions of peopple by now, given it counts from the time of Jezus death.
  this also means that in the afterlife not only your mother in law and grand mother in law think they've got something to say about how you treat your wife, your husband or your child, but even your great grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand grand comes to tell you what you should've done better.
• why if god is so good in everithing, that he knows how to be perfect, and made us all, that he can see the future, then why didn't he prevent the snake, then why must there be a test, a test he already knew we'd fail.
  
• why do we need to explain our actions to each other and to god, while he's not?
• since when is it okay when 2 children get killed by a bear (old testamony)? really just because they made fun of a so called profet?
  
• why is killing okay when chieftain mozes or any profet tells to even if the clear law says it's not?
• if you have a pet you know that if you love it you don't mind him being gay, kill something or distroy something... why would a all loving god that loves us far more than we could think of bitch about how we treat our friends, wifes/husbands, mothers... and why would he care if you be gay?
• God be so perfect? okay i repair electronic boards, i get fired if i fail tostay under the 3% waranty rate. tell me what percentage of human created by god's own hand had a warranty issue?
  did you know about 5% of the general population is gay, that might not sound much to you, but that means to follow the bible on its word taht abount 5% of the creation is mallfunctioning, that's 2% more than your supervisor will ever accept you to fail in manufacturing.
  
• did you know that in the enigma code, the nazi encryption for telegrams was only cracked by a gay person, that he got driven into suicide by christian laws?
• did you mean almost any relegion either means winning in money for those who tell the tale, or winning in sexual favors and in some cases to get peaple to kill for the tellers tells them.
• did you know that King Salmon a son of King David, who'd beeing so extremely rich is never been talked about in the countries around israel? really there's almost no proof outside the bible that the'res even been a King David.
• there's little to no proof, except that there's proof of some carracters to have lived, that the bible or any religion has something in it to say well i could see this as a true story.
• i surrely hope that i never see a judge that is religious, since he's blind to seek for proof in his religion, then he might be blind to proof in court i tell you.
• what good ever came from reliogion other then the people who meet helping eachother in time of need?
• why believe in a god that doesn't care for you now, that he's got something great for you in death?

while we indeed make our own religions by creating new tales, like when you got cheated a few times in life, you might think that all girls or all boys are the same in this, such is a religious thinking, you see something happening over and over in your past so it must be true... could also being self forfilling profecies... if you treat your girl or boy with checking all actions for you think he might cheat on you, then it's bound that at some point he or she says to himself or herself why not giving him or her what he or she wants to?

see:

 

[Cubuss]

yall need jesus,

 

[JaapDaniels]

yall need jesus,

never needed him, never gonna need him.
and now i think about it, how many straight guys do you know with only 12 men friends till he's 35? oops, shit, there i gave away why he really got crusified.

 

[kingfrost]

You have the right to believe whatever you like. You absolutely do not have the right to not have those beliefs challenged or laughed at.

Remind me who wants safe spaces again? Seems like a large portion of the religious, and I mean all religions, want our whole country to be a giant safe space.

I feel like I live in bizaro world sometimes.

 

[jahrs]

As both a life long born and raised christian with an actual brain and the ability to think for myself i can tell you with some actual authority seeing as my parents and grandparents and eventually even i will run the family church. Most incarnations of christianity are 10% based on the bible usually in some way that benefits the creator of the variant. The rest is just BS they add in for control of their sheep.

After all jesus never preached religion or bondage but rather freedom and acceptance along side being a general good person. He also taught that people should think for themselves using parables as ways to hide answers and allow people to use their own intellect to solve their problems.

This sorta question is really big flame bait for people who just cant deal with those of different mindsets. Regardless my belief that i will eventual use in the family church. is that all religions have inheritantly something right and as such instead of forcing my thoughts on them ill say my case of basically "come here ask questions and ill tell you what i know and then go and see/search for yourself if this works for you if not have a nice day ill be here."

Honestly id open a thread for question on christianity and stuff but itd more or less get torched by gods not real and trolling.

 

[lafleche]

Fake religion. Islam is the true one, but many people confuse Islam as being the religion of terrorists, they are not real Muslims and are hypocrites. In real Islam, there is no such thing as killing to attain peace. Terrorists' main goal is to wipe the real Islam

Don't be stupid... Choran is 'dictated' to the prophet... Who probably was drunk or high on some narcotics. It is a book written and modified by people to suit their own Interests.... Learn to think for yourself

 

[Subtle Demise]

Fake religion. Islam is the true one, but many people confuse Islam as being the religion of terrorists, they are not real Muslims and are hypocrites. In real Islam, there is no such thing as killing to attain peace. Terrorists' main goal is to wipe the real Islam

Every religion ever states it's the true one. I could say that Cthulhu is the one true God, but that doesn't make it true.