Why I am not a Christian...

[Bullypulpit]

There are many reasons, of which I will illustrate only a couple, but first, let us define what a Christian is.

Many claim to be "Christian", but what exactly does that label entail? There are, essentially, two factors involved. The first, of a dogmatic nature, is a belief in God and immortality. Failing to belive in these two things, I think, effectively bars one from Christian ranks. The second is a belief in Jesus, which effectively bars Muslims and Jews from the halls of Christendom.

As for a belief in religion, the only reason people accept the teachings of Christianity, or any other religion for that matter, are emotional, and rooted in fear. It is the terror of the unknown, in part, as well as the wish to ahve some sort of big brother to help one through all one's trails and tribulations. But fear is the root of it. Fear of the unkown, fear of the different, fear of death. Fear gives rise to cruelty, and it is no surprise then that religion and cruelty have gone hand in hand down through the centuries.

I don't fear the unkown. I don't fear that which is different. I don't fear death. These things simply are, and to fear them give rise to unwarranted anxietywhich leads one to flee to the vicarious comfort of religion. I grew up, and left childish things behind me, not the least of which was religion. It serves many well, giving them comfort in their daily lives. But too many others use it for their own ends, which have nothing to do with the ideals of their religion. Instead the gratification of their own egos is their goal. Just watch the televised rants of any religious zealot for the proof of that .

 

[Joan]

Religious zealots and good Christians are not one and the same! As in many other facets of life, there are those that go to extremes. So let me ask you - do you believe in doing unto others as they do unto you? Or do you just treat people however the hell you feel at the moment? Although I for one am not overly fond of organized relgion, I still feel one can be a good christian by basically running their life according to the ten commandments. And I do believe that Jews, Arabs and what have you can lead a fine and good life if they are brought up properly and learn good from bad, right from wrong. I don't think anyone in this forum has ever said the only way is the Christian way! The bitterness towards other religions comes when we hear of some of their ways of handling things.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Originally posted by Joan
Religious zealots and good Christians are not one and the same! As in many other facets of life, there are those that go to extremes. So let me ask you - do you believe in doing unto others as they do unto you? Or do you just treat people however the hell you feel at the moment? Although I for one am not overly fond of organized relgion, I still feel one can be a good christian by basically running their life according to the ten commandments. And I do believe that Jews, Arabs and what have you can lead a fine and good life if they are brought up properly and learn good from bad, right from wrong. I don't think anyone in this forum has ever said the only way is the Christian way! The bitterness towards other religions comes when we hear of some of their ways of handling things.

I treat people with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings. One need not be christian to be a good person. It is those who hold that their way is the only way and all others are damned that my ire is directed against.

 

[jon_forward]

Originally posted by Bullypulpit
I treat people with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings. One need not be christian to be a good person. It is those who hold that their way is the only way and all others are damned that my ire is directed against.

way way to black and white Bully, while I respect[ and mostly disagree with the majority of your views] your outlooks. I am not going to have a murdering Mom get off by pleading insanity. I am not going to have my children and grandchildren reading books in the first grade about 2 men falling in love. I am not going to allow my family to be made to believe that having an abortion isnt plain and simple murder. If you want to be like Mother Theresa, go to India. I believe in a higher power, heaven, hell, good and evil. What does that make me?

 

[Moi]

Originally posted by Bullypulpit
I treat people with the respect and dignity they deserve as human beings. One need not be christian to be a good person. It is those who hold that their way is the only way and all others are damned that my ire is directed against.

That's got to be the most hilarious statement you've ever made. Your avatar and the way you speak on this board to those and about whom you do not agree belies your obvious in-adhesion to that dictate.

Yes, many people believe in religion for the comfort it brings them about the afterlife. Your point is?? Many believe in religion because they have something called faith. Many believe in a supreme being because there is no other answer that satisfies. Your pathetic attempt to portray christians as a herd of sheep following dogma is just that, pathetic.

I feel much more contempt for you than I do for the bulk of religious people. At least they are searching for answers and trying to make the world better.

All you do is criticize others and ridicule them. How the heck does that make the world a better place?

 

[Avatar4321]

Originally posted by Bullypulpit
Many claim to be "Christian", but what exactly does that label entail? There are, essentially, two factors involved. The first, of a dogmatic nature, is a belief in God and immortality. Failing to belive in these two things, I think, effectively bars one from Christian ranks. The second is a belief in Jesus, which effectively bars Muslims and Jews from the halls of Christendom.

dont take this the wrong way but that second reason is about the dumbest thing ive ever heard. Why would Muslims and Jews want to be in the halls of Christendom? They dont believe Christ was the Messiah who suffered and died for the sins of the world. Why on earth would they care if they were in the halls of Christendom? Its just silly.

 

[krisy]

I think your idea of religeon is all wrong,Bully. While some religeons do use scare tactics,not all. In the church that I went to growing up and still go to now,fear was never a component of their teaching. Growing up, I was tought faith,acceptance,and love. That God was a forgiving God,and I was never told I was going to Hell for sinning. I was also taught that our God was a loving God. Everyone has there own relationship with God,or not in your case. I feel it in my heart and in no way does he scare me,but helps me when I need it. It comes from the soul for me. If you believe you can be a good person without believing,you can be. But what are you basing your ideas of being a good person on? Not stealing,not lying,not killing-these are all basic rules that society follows. Wonder where we got those ideas? Oh yea-the ten commandments.

 

[eric]

Krisy I could not agree with you more !

Bully is just a little misguided, he has read the texts of his faith but has not been enlightened to their true meanings. He tries to intellectualize what was meant not to be. Very Sad indeed !

 

[William Joyce]

I don't fear the unkown. I don't fear that which is different. I don't fear death.

I fear all these things and I quake before my God.

I bet you'd fear death if a cocked 9mm were pressed to your temple. Jesus, Mohammad, mommy --- you'd be calling out for one of 'em, for damn sure.

 

[Avatar4321]

Originally posted by eric
Bully is just a little misguided, he has read the texts of his faith but has not been enlightened to their true meanings. He tries to intellectualize what was meant not to be. Very Sad indeed !

Wow you are giving him more credit then i would. I wouldnt be surprised if he hasnt read squat

 

[Hobbit]

I'm sick and tired of people calling Christianity bad in general, citing acts of cruelty done by people claiming to be Christians. I can slap Pontiac Firebird stickers all over a Geo Metro, and nobody will claim that Firebirds suck just because this car that claims to be a Firebird takes three hours to get to 60 mph. That's the whole problem. People who claim to be Christians aren't always in alignment with what that title really means.

Let's take a look at the word. The first part, Christ, is a person, believed to have died for the sins of the world. The send part, -ian, is a suffix meaning of, e.g. a Jordanian is of Jordan. Meaning a Christian is a person of Christ. Those who are of Christ are Christ-like, much as a man of America will act like America as a whole and a man of Russia will act like Russia as a whole. In his entire life, Christ was a kind and gentle person who never committed an act of cruelty. No matter their beliefs, those who rape, torture, and kill in the name of Christ are not Christians, they just think they are, and as everybody knows, just because you think it doesn't make it so. There are dozens of people out there who think they're Cleopatra reincarnated, but logic dictates that, at most, only one of them can be right.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Originally posted by William Joyce
I fear all these things and I quake before my God.

I bet you'd fear death if a cocked 9mm were pressed to your temple. Jesus, Mohammad, mommy --- you'd be calling out for one of 'em, for damn sure.

When my time's up...my times up. I've had a couple of close calls. As I recall, my thoughts at the time were "Oh shit...!"

But, given your xenophobic tendencies I do blieve you're afaid of even your own shadow.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Originally posted by Hobbit
I'm sick and tired of people calling Christianity bad in general, citing acts of cruelty done by people claiming to be Christians. I can slap Pontiac Firebird stickers all over a Geo Metro, and nobody will claim that Firebirds suck just because this car that claims to be a Firebird takes three hours to get to 60 mph. That's the whole problem. People who claim to be Christians aren't always in alignment with what that title really means.

Let's take a look at the word. The first part, Christ, is a person, believed to have died for the sins of the world. The send part, -ian, is a suffix meaning of, e.g. a Jordanian is of Jordan. Meaning a Christian is a person of Christ. Those who are of Christ are Christ-like, much as a man of America will act like America as a whole and a man of Russia will act like Russia as a whole. In his entire life, Christ was a kind and gentle person who never committed an act of cruelty. No matter their beliefs, those who rape, torture, and kill in the name of Christ are not Christians, they just think they are, and as everybody knows, just because you think it doesn't make it so. There are dozens of people out there who think they're Cleopatra reincarnated, but logic dictates that, at most, only one of them can be right.

Christianity is not, in and of itself, bad. It is when some of its more overzealous practitioners start thinking they're right and everyone else is wrong that the problems start. Everyone has a religious preference, or lack thereof, which suits their needs. To assume that those needs are the same for everyone is simply ridiculous.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Originally posted by Hobbit
... a Christian is a person of Christ. Those who are of Christ are Christ-like, much as a man of America will act like America as a whole and a man of Russia will act like Russia as a whole. In his entire life, Christ was a kind and gentle person who never committed an act of cruelty. No matter their beliefs, those who rape, torture, and kill in the name of Christ are not Christians, they just think they are, and as everybody knows, just because you think it doesn't make it so.

I'll buy that. So, since Dubbyuh is a born again Christian, and has stated repeatedly that Jesus is his role model, his actions as governor and then president seem to pretty much shoot those claims in the hind end. Does that make him a hypocrite...? Or just your garden variety crap-sack out to use religion to sanctify his attrocities?

 

[Joz]

It's all very quite simple.

You either believe in God or you don't. And you live your life accordingly.

 

[Bullypulpit]

Originally posted by Joz
It's all very quite simple.

You either believe in God or you don't. And you live your life accordingly.

Nicely put.

 

[Hobbit]

Yet you seem to blame Christians as a whole for so many things.

Christianity is quite flexible. There are no cultural obligations or required activities. According to scripture, one only need to confess belief in Jesus and believe that he arose from the dead and *BOOM*, you're in. There are other things Christians would like you to do, such as attend church, tithe, and tell others about Jesus, but nothing constricting. As a whole, most Christians I know are pretty laid back (of course, I'm Assemblies of God, a church known for being relaxed). The only thing you've said that's true of Christianity as a whole is our unwillingness to accept other religions as true. It says in scripture that "There is no way unto the Father except by me." However, most Christians I know do not condemn followers of other religions and instead try to learn more about them, trying later to convert them to Christianity through terms like "love," "peace," and "forgiveness" rather than terms like "sin," "Hell," and "condemn." In the Assemblies of God, (as a whole, mind you. there are exceptions) Hell is not talked about to scare people into conversion, but it is instead talked about to give others a sense of urgency and prupose when trying to preach to those they know.

Now, I will be the first to admit that there are many nasty, stupid, hypocritical "Christians" out there who even condemn such evangelical greats as Bill Gather, Billy Graham, and the Pope, not to mention how they treat people like democrats, homosexuals, and abortion lobbyists, and if that's all I ever saw, it would turn me away from that religion as well. So I ask you to try to stop doing all the mudslinging at my faith and instead confine the mud to specific targets. I can't remember his name, but a guy comes to mind who blamed 9/11 on homosexuals. I'm with the majority of Christians in saying that homosexuality is a sin, but so is lying, and if God poured out vengence on all sinners, then Washington would be a smouldering ruin. I would also remind the self-righteous "...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Oh, for a few quick laughs at extremists, go to www.chick.com. He's possibly the second most misguided Christian in the world, following the people at www.balaams-ass.com.

 

[Joz]

Originally posted by Hobbit
......Christianity is quite flexible.......

How can you say Christianity is flexible? The Bible also says, You cannot serve two masters".

 

[Hobbit]

Take my post as a whole. This is the same problem people have with the Bible. They are quoting out of context. If you continue reading, you will find that what I meant by that is that there are no cultural requirements or strict obligations. Belief in and acceptance of Jesus as Christ is really all that's necessary. Another bit of flexible Christianity is that it's really easy to incorporate other things into Christianity and vice versa. Paul used the shrine to the unknown god in Athens as a starting point in his ministry, and many Christian holidays incoporate old pagan traditions, originally included to make pagans more receptive of the holidays. The Christmas tree, the Easter eggs, and Halloween (or rather, All Hallow's Eve) are all pagan traditions that were incorporated into Christianity. Christianity is flexible in many areas, just not the one you were thinking of.

 

[Joz]

Originally posted by Hobbit

I'm not sure we're on the same page or not. And I did read your whole post. And I don't think I was quoting out of context. Yes, all it takes is belief & acceptance. But along with that there is obedience ; or "strict obligations". Though works will get you nowhere, acts will reflect beliefs.

I know christians who donot participate in the holidays you mention because theyare pagan. Be it so, God is very patient & loving with us. He'd have to be, or none of us would be here.