Clearing up a misconception atheists have about practicing Christians

[Turtlesoup]

Christians are called to love other Christians and non-Christians alike. There's a moral goal.

Non Christians have no goal. There are some/many who will be respectful and good, but there's nothing holding them to it. Over time, such a flimsly structure with no reasoning will fall.

If I had no reason to care for anyone else, I'd probably not care about anyone else. To a true atheist, there's no reason to care about anyone else. The outward cries of compassion would be for sheer virtue signaling and vanity. If there's no higher power or no morality.. and we're all just random beings.. giving to other and randomness would be foolish, which is what the world largely thought until Christianity taught the world charity. Most non-believers probably aren't aware of that, and even if they're taught, it hurts their narrative so they'll maliciously and willingly ignore it, so they can live another day as a keyboard warrior who hates Christians, as they do nothing for their community, pray for noone, and care for noone, while exaulting themselves in some mental masterabation practice.

That is not true....I, an atheist, have a strong moral code that I stick too and I hate to break it to you but many atheists are far far more moral than christians. I am good because it is in my nature to be good and honest. I don't do it because I think I will be rewarded with a heaven or because I fear a devil.........it is simply my nature to try to do good. Now christians on the other hand---mainly do what they do in the name of religion because of what they think the group wants to see or what they think can they do and no one will find out.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

I'm not speaking for atheists, I mentioned what I have heard some atheists say. Have you honestly never heard an atheist say something like, "believers have no evidence, they believe because they're gullible" or "christians are christians because of the country they were born in, if they were born somewhere else they'd belong to a different religion" etc, etc.

I mean, if I had a nickel for every time I heard a comment like that....

So where was I wrong? Are you saying that I have never heard people say those things?

You're being kind to the common disrespect atheist keyboard warriors give out. Listen, I want to congratulate every atheists who will approach the subject intellectually on this website. You don't have to agree with any of us Christians. You simply have to acknowledge that nobody has all the answers in life, and we're all on the same team looking for the answers. As for us Christians, that's what we were designed to do, going back to the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible. We as humans rejected being oblivious and cared for, and chose the path of knowing right and wrong, along with dying once we aged. We Christians have always sought the truth of the world in science, and did so throughout the ages as the leaders until the outside world finally caught up in the 1600's, and we were glad to allow them to take the purely scientific burden to figure things out.

 

[buttercup]

You are wrong....atheists realize that religion is basically a social club for group think. Most people need a GROUP to help them form their own views of right and wrong. Christians aren't like the muslims who follow their book to a T. CHRISTIANS religious views are more like fads..they change, ebb and flow, based on whatever the current culture is into. Lonely, insecure, don't know the whys of the world...fall back on a god and supposed human offspring and make them whatever you need to feel all is ok. It's not necessarily wrong---christian beliefs can do a lot of harm but they can also cause a person to do good. Often this depends largely on choice of religious leader.

You just confirmed the original post! Thank you for demonstrating my point.

So where was I wrong? I said that atheists think that believers believe for baseless reasons. You just confirmed that by saying you think of religion as a "social club for groupthink." And that we "need a group" to help us form our ideas of right and wrong. I mean I'm actually laughing at the ignorance of that, but what's even funnier is that you don't realize you confirmed my point. Thank you!

 

[Mr. Friscus]

That is not true....I, an atheist, have a strong moral code that I stick too and I hate to break it to you but many atheists are far far more moral than christians. I am good because it is in my nature to be good and honest. I don't do it because I think I will be rewarded with a heaven or because I fear a devil.........it is simply my nature to try to do good. Now christians on the other hand---mainly do what they do in the name of religion because of what they think the group wants to see or what they think can they do and no one will find out.

Atheists can indeed be good, but there's nothing holding you to it. You could drop that tomorrow for no reason and by your belief system it would make no difference. You know this, but you probably want to hold onto some notion that you're as good as those with a defined moral code. I applaud your personal moral code if it is pure, but just know that your atheist neighbor can have their own moral code, and you'd have no authority to tell them they're wrong, even if they were a blood-thirsty murderer. Under what authority would you tell them they're wrong?

 

[MizMolly]

Yeah, you completely missed the point, just like the last few people who replied. I never said that being an atheist makes one a criminal or a bad person. That's not even remotely what the topic is.

Please re-read the original post. And if you want to reply to the actual topic, please do.

I completely understood your post. The reason "some" Atheist may wonder why "Christians" follow a rule book is because you don't need a book to know how to live right.

 

[MizMolly]

Christians are called to love other Christians and non-Christians alike. There's a moral goal.

Non Christians have no goal. There are some/many who will be respectful and good, but there's nothing holding them to it. Over time, such a flimsly structure with no reasoning will fall.

If I had no reason to care for anyone else, I'd probably not care about anyone else. To a true atheist, there's no reason to care about anyone else. The outward cries of compassion would be for sheer virtue signaling and vanity. If there's no higher power or no morality.. and we're all just random beings.. giving to other and randomness would be foolish, which is what the world largely thought until Christianity taught the world charity. Most non-believers probably aren't aware of that, and even if they're taught, it hurts their narrative so they'll maliciously and willingly ignore it, so they can live another day as a keyboard warrior who hates Christians, as they do nothing for their community, pray for noone, and care for noone, while exaulting themselves in some mental masterabation practice.

And your post shows that some "Christians" are so judgmental. Nothing holds anybody to their beliefs. People change their beliefs all the time. Ironically is usually the agnostic or Atheist who don't, but they aren't usually the ones who judge others.

 

[buttercup]

I completely understood your post. The reason "some" Atheist may wonder why "Christians" follow a rule book is because you don't need a book to know how to live right.

No, this thread is not about the reasons why atheists wonder why we are Christians.

The two main points were:

1) Most atheists think that our reasons for being Christians are baseless (in other words, lame, weak, etc.)

2) What they don't realize is that many of us have been on both sides and we have learned from life experience that living by God's ways is simply BETTER, wiser, and it WORKS, in a practical sense. (As I said in the original post, that's not the only reason, it's just one of many, but it's one that most atheists don't realize.)

That's it. Feel free to disagree, but like many here, don't change the topic.

 

[buttercup]

You are sheep-----there are reasons why the bible and christian religions refer to their flocks in sheep terms. GROUP THINK and need to conform to the GROUP is not exactly baseless but a bred in characteristic for most now. The catholic church and others did a fair amount of killing off of free thinkers leaving the group thinkers to be breeders. You believe as your group does and you use your group to reassure you of your belief system....this isn't exactly baseless reasons. You have your reasons for your beliefs-------you believe what your group thinks no matter how wrong they may or not be.

Atheists tend to not need nor more importantly want anyone else thinking for them................I could care less what anyone else "thinks"...I want a rational reason with evidence as to why something is----believers don't need this.

Needing others to think for you is not a baseless reason-------it served a very useful purpose when the church was going around burning non-conformers at the stake. Needing others to think for you, likely kept many of your ancestors off the church's kill list. It still serves a useful purpose today, as christian groups network to promote one another's advancement.

Everyone loves a suck up who believes as they do-and if you all believe in the same thing, there shouldn't be conflict.

Again, you keep demonstrating my point. Thank you! You keep confirming what I've been saying.

And on top of that, the actual topic completely flew over your head. Good job!

 

[Mr. Friscus]

And your post shows that some "Christians" are so judgmental. Nothing holds anybody to their beliefs. People change their beliefs all the time. Ironically is usually the agnostic or Atheist who don't, but they aren't usually the ones who judge others.

Christians can certainly be judgmental, but I'd invite you explain to me the difference between a Christian judging you if you stole versus you stealing and judging the Christian for judging you.

Christians have a strict, defined moral code. An atheist does not. Most atheists don't realize that their western moral code has been installed in them by Judeo-Christian morals, as in other parts of the world, or in other times of the world, outright murder is accepted and encouraged. Where do you think we Westerners got this moral inclination? Because we just suddenly became super awesome? No. As humans, without strict guidance, we lower to the common denominator. If we can kill someone for food, we can feed ourselves. That's the end game of atheism. No care for others. Giving to others if foolish. It would serve no purpose. Explain to me how a separated individual from all previous influence would suddenly decide to care and provide for others.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

I completely understood your post. The reason "some" Atheist may wonder why "Christians" follow a rule book is because you don't need a book to know how to live right.

And a Christian would come right back and ask you by what guidelines is something "right" and "wrong"? By whatever YOU say so? What if your atheist neighbor says it's right to kill you and take all of your posessions. How, by your standards, would they be wrong? They wouldn't. Their "rule book" would dictate they are fine.

 

[Fort Fun Indiana]

OK, thanks for your thoughts. But that is not what the topic is, not even close.

I'm kind of chuckling here because of all the threads I've ever posted, for some reason with this one very few people understood what the actual topic is.

Maybe it's my fault for putting the word atheist in the title. It seems to elicit a knee-jerk reaction. lol

You posted this in post #1:

In other words, they believe it’s foolish to live your life following "rules from a book" that was written thousands of years ago, by men. Some atheists also say that Christianity or other religions are simply about controlling people.

In response, I posted this:

Personally, I think most of them take their moral and ethical clues from their environment and genetics and then retrofit the handbook to justify them. And thank goodness for that. The last thing we need is another Dark Age.

Seems like a direct response. I think most Christians DO NOT blindly follow the rules of the handbook. This direct response also seems to have been met with a little two-step by you.

 

[buttercup]

You have trouble accepting truth----again, you stick your head in the sand. I was quit clear....needing others to think for you serves several purposes and there are reasons why christians believe their "religion". Your beliefs aren't baseless, they are just unbelievably illogical.

No, you have trouble grasping the topic. And on top of that you are hilariously wrong, so much so that all I can do is laugh at the ignorance coupled with arrogance. Apart from that it's not even worthy of a response.

 

[buttercup]

You posted this in post #1:

In response, I posted this:

Seems like a direct response. I don't think most Christians DO blindly follow the rules of the handbook. The direct response also seems to have been met with a little two-step by you.

No, you were bringing up morality... which is a good topic, but it's not the topic here. Maybe someone should start a thread on that even though we've had those before. It seems to be a topic that people still want to talk about.

Again, my 2 main points were that most atheists think our reasons for being believers are baseless... and more importantly, most atheists don't understand that one of the reasons we are Christians is that we've discovered that following God's ways rather than the ways of this world is simply BETTER, wiser, and the principles actually WORK, in a practical sense.

 

[Mr. Friscus]

Christians MURDER in mass over and over and over and over despite their religion. Hitler for example, the Catholic Spaniards, and so many others....

Most all murderers are BELIEVERS dear...

But since you mentioned murder........babe, you need to read your bible better. It actually calls for the bashing in of babies heads.........which is certainly murder if you haven't figured it out.

If you view Adolph Hitler as an example of a Christian, I cannot help how literally stupid you are.

Nobody can be expected to address such stupidity. I don't insult much, but to say that is just stupid. You have to be purposefully stupid to think that. It would be entertaining if not so tragic. By the way, as a non-believer, you can own the tens of millions of corpses of Joseph Stalin and answer for them (just for starters).. do you accept?

 

[MizMolly]

No, this thread is not about the reasons why atheists wonder why we are Christians.

The two main points were:

1) Most atheists think that our reasons for being Christians are baseless (in other words, lame, weak, etc.)

2) What they don't realize is that many of us have been on both sides and we have learned from life experience that living by God's ways is simply BETTER, wiser, and it WORKS, in a practical sense. (As I said in the original post, that's not the only reason, it's just one of many, but it's one that most atheists don't realize.)

That's it. Feel free to disagree, but like many here, don't change the topic.

I didn't change the topic. You probably don't know most Atheist to make that assumption. You do not know if the way they live is any less better than your way.

 

[MizMolly]

Christians can certainly be judgmental, but I'd invite you explain to me the difference between a Christian judging you if you stole versus you stealing and judging the Christian for judging you.

Christians have a strict, defined moral code. An atheist does not. Most atheists don't realize that their western moral code has been installed in them by Judeo-Christian morals, as in other parts of the world, or in other times of the world, outright murder is accepted and encouraged. Where do you think we Westerners got this moral inclination? Because we just suddenly became super awesome? No. As humans, without strict guidance, we lower to the common denominator. If we can kill someone for food, we can feed ourselves. That's the end game of atheism. No care for others. Giving to others if foolish. It would serve no purpose. Explain to me how a separated individual from all previous influence would suddenly decide to care and provide for others.

LOL I have met sooo many people who call themselves Christian who do NOT live by any moral codes, only as a facade. Atheist are very caring and lovable people. You seem to have less goodness than any Atheist I have encountered.

 

[MizMolly]

And a Christian would come right back and ask you by what guidelines is something "right" and "wrong"? By whatever YOU say so? What if your atheist neighbor says it's right to kill you and take all of your posessions. How, by your standards, would they be wrong? They wouldn't. Their "rule book" would dictate they are fine.

So many wars in the name of religion. You don't know "my standards". Just because someone doesnt believe like you do doesn't make them a lesser person. In fact it appears you have too many issues. How many "Christians" do you know that follow their rule books perfectly?

 

[buttercup]

I didn't change the topic. You probably don't know most Atheist to make that assumption. You do not know if the way they live is any less better than your way.

No, once again you're misunderstanding. As I said in post #9, my intention was not to create a thread that's all about atheists vs Christians. If it turned out that way, that's not what I wanted, that's not the point here.

I never said that the way atheists live is worse than the way I live. How could I say that when I have no idea how you live?

Let me make this as clear as possible. I was comparing MY experience as a nonbeliever (not yours or anyone else's) to MY experience as a believer. In MY experience, living by God's ways has been better, wiser, and it actually WORKS, in a practical sense. I could give you many examples if you want. But before we even get that far I want you to first understand what I've been trying to say all this time

 

[Mr. Friscus]

LOL I have met sooo many people who call themselves Christian who do NOT live by any moral codes, only as a facade. Atheist are very caring and lovable people. You seem to have less goodness than any Atheist I have encountered.

I can't be held to your anecdotal evidence. You seem to claim knowledge of their inner thoughts, which is certainly a superhuman feat. I doubt you're supernatural, thus, are just making assumptions and puffing your chest to maintain some sort of strength in a debate. I'm not trying to defeat you, I need no victories in an online keyboard war. I agree with you that I've met many atheists who are caring and loving people. Meanwhile, your ending statement seems to be more of an attack and a hair flip rather than any sort of point or argument. I can easily prove that people who actually provide physical or monetary support are far more likely to be Christian than Atheist. The proof is in the pudding. You'll probably avoid such data, as it makes your narrative collapse.

 

[Turtlesoup]

No, you have trouble grasping the topic. And on top of that you are hilariously wrong, so much so that all I can do is laugh at the ignorance coupled with arrogance. Apart from that it's not even worthy of a response.

EVERYTHING that I posted is dead on and you know it...hence why you are trying a smear instead of arguing the points.

The bible advocates for murder in mass including infants. Christian believers kill in mass despite your silly claims that christians are the moral standard against murder.

Not all people murder, and I hate to tell you----it has nothing to do with religious belief often but what their nature and views toward others are.