If you are not a Christian, why do you think about or discuss the Christian heaven?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I discuss anything that strikes my interest for whatever reason, fiction and non-fiction both. Whether I believe in it or whether it will affect me directly or not does not matter. I discuss lots of topics including but not limited to religion, art, history, science, economics, AI, and Britney Spears.

NP. Ok, so you like to offend religious people. I think that was OP’s question, and you answered it.

I don't know why anybody would be offended by others discussing any topic unless they choose to be offended. When I see a discussion I dislike, I walk away.

And let me add that I find the notion, which OP seems to uphold, that he/she could police what others can or cannot discuss extremely disturbing and dangerous.

I don’t police what people discuss, I am curious why people would spend so much time and mental energy devoting themselves to a topic they don’t believe in.

Because otherwise it would only be people like you who would have the monopoly to offer their perspectives on matters that affect our common reality.

You would have to be incredibly ignorant and dense not to understand why the depiction of heaven, hell, sin and numerous other religious themes, especially by dominant religions, would affect everybody. I mean, seriously?!?! You can't be for real. You're probably the best troll this site has ever seen, for I refuse to believe anybody can be this dumb.

I don’t know how someone who doesn’t believe in God, sin, heaven/hell, etc, would be affected by those things. I thought being an atheist was declaring disbelief in those things and living your life free from those things.

^^corrected post

[Anonymous]

I went to a religious school, my mother's family is steeped in Catholicism, I've read the Bible and the Quran, I've got Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Christian friends and I'm generally interested in religions and academic discussions of same. I do not happen to believe in any God. That doesn't mean I don't feel spiritual.

In the West, our secular ethics, even our European languages, are molded by the Bible and biblical stories. Christianity has influenced our thoughts and morals so profoundly that many non-religious people don't even realize their values are actually derived from it.

So yes, religious questions impact ALL of us.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I discuss anything that strikes my interest for whatever reason, fiction and non-fiction both. Whether I believe in it or whether it will affect me directly or not does not matter. I discuss lots of topics including but not limited to religion, art, history, science, economics, AI, and Britney Spears.

NP. Ok, so you like to offend religious people. I think that was OP’s question, and you answered it.

I don't know why anybody would be offended by others discussing any topic unless they choose to be offended. When I see a discussion I dislike, I walk away.

And let me add that I find the notion, which OP seems to uphold, that he/she could police what others can or cannot discuss extremely disturbing and dangerous.

I don’t police what people discuss, I am curious why people would spend so much time and mental energy devoting themselves to a topic they don’t believe in.

Because otherwise it would only be people like you who would have the monopoly to offer their perspectives on matters that affect our common reality.

You would have to be incredibly ignorant and dense not to understand why the depiction of heaven, hell, sin and numerous other religious themes, especially by dominant religions, would affect everybody. I mean, seriously?!?! You can't be for real. You're probably the best troll this site has ever seen, for I refuse to believe anybody can be this dumb.

I don’t know how someone who doesn’t believe in God, sin, heaven/hell, etc, would be affected by those things. I thought being an atheist was declaring disbelief in those things and living your life free from those things.

^^corrected post

I’m not a pp, but feel compelled to chime in. All Americans are affected by these things because there is a very vocal and dangerous subset of our population and leadership that wants nothing more than for the US to be a Christian nation. They are making inroads in all subsets of their “Seven Mountains” dominionism; hello school vouchers and Fox News.

Whether non Christians want to be affected or not, they have no choice. It’s laughable that you think they should hold their tongue on matters of Christianity even when it’s being shoved down their throats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a non-Christian, why would you discuss Christian heaven?

Do you discuss the heavens of other religions?

How does Christian heaven affect you if you have no belief in it?

What makes you think anyone does this?

[Anonymous]

Not a Christian and never think about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I discuss anything that strikes my interest for whatever reason, fiction and non-fiction both. Whether I believe in it or whether it will affect me directly or not does not matter. I discuss lots of topics including but not limited to religion, art, history, science, economics, AI, and Britney Spears.

NP. Ok, so you like to offend religious people. I think that was OP’s question, and you answered it.

I don't know why anybody would be offended by others discussing any topic unless they choose to be offended. When I see a discussion I dislike, I walk away.

And let me add that I find the notion, which OP seems to uphold, that he/she could police what others can or cannot discuss extremely disturbing and dangerous.

I don’t police what people discuss, I am curious why people would spend so much time and mental energy devoting themselves to a topic they don’t believe in.

Because otherwise it would only be people like you who would have the monopoly to offer their perspectives on matters that affect our common reality.

You would have to be incredibly ignorant and dense not to understand why the depiction of heaven, hell, sin and numerous other religious themes, especially by dominant religions, would affect everybody. I mean, seriously?!?! You can't be for real. You're probably the best troll this site has ever seen, for I refuse to believe anybody can be this dumb.

I don’t know how someone who doesn’t believe in God, sin, heaven/hell, etc, would be affected by those things. I thought being an atheist was declaring disbelief in those things and living your life free from those things.

^^corrected post

I’m not a pp, but feel compelled to chime in. All Americans are affected by these things because there is a very vocal and dangerous subset of our population and leadership that wants nothing more than for the US to be a Christian nation. They are making inroads in all subsets of their “Seven Mountains” dominionism; hello school vouchers and Fox News.

Whether non Christians want to be affected or not, they have no choice. It’s laughable that you think they should hold their tongue on matters of Christianity even when it’s being shoved down their throats.

Heaven isn’t of this world and idk how it affects anyone who isn’t a Christian.

This is the second time in the thread the world “dangerous” has been used, btw.

[Anonymous]

I am a Christian. One possibility is that most people over the course of their life question their own belief system. "Am I wrong? Is there something/nothing out there?" It's how conversions happen, both people finding faith and those falling away from organized religion to become agnostic or atheist.

FWIW, the arguments on this particular board don't necessarily reflect the general population as much as they do the participants on this board who want to argue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I discuss anything that strikes my interest for whatever reason, fiction and non-fiction both. Whether I believe in it or whether it will affect me directly or not does not matter. I discuss lots of topics including but not limited to religion, art, history, science, economics, AI, and Britney Spears.

NP. Ok, so you like to offend religious people. I think that was OP’s question, and you answered it.

I don't know why anybody would be offended by others discussing any topic unless they choose to be offended. When I see a discussion I dislike, I walk away.

And let me add that I find the notion, which OP seems to uphold, that he/she could police what others can or cannot discuss extremely disturbing and dangerous.

Pp you’re responding to. OP isn’t policing anybody, and the fact that you always fall back on misrepresentations is disturbing.

The question, I guess, is why do you spend so much time trying to disprove something, anything, you don’t believe in. Why do you feel it’s necessary to derail threads, like the recent one about heaven and beaches, to make them about yourself and your atheism?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I went to a religious school, my mother's family is steeped in Catholicism, I've read the Bible and the Quran, I've got Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Christian friends and I'm generally interested in religions and academic discussions of same. I do not happen to believe in any God. That doesn't mean I don't feel spiritual.

In the West, our secular ethics, even our European languages, are molded by the Bible and biblical stories. Christianity has influenced our thoughts and morals so profoundly that many non-religious people don't even realize their values are actually derived from it.

So yes, religious questions impact ALL of us.

I agree with the idea that Christianity has impacted us all. We don’t live in the Greco-Roman winner-take-all, kill your rivals and enemies world. And in the West (not claiming around the world) this is down to Christianity.

But that’s neither here nor there. Disrupting OP’s thread on beaches and heaven (I assume that was OP) isn’t a matter of great theological debate. It just seems unnecessary or childish or spiteful or something.

[Anonymous]

Yes, the Jimmy Buffet with there be seaweed/snacks/nude beaches in heaven was extremely impressive and important.

The point of whether the beaches in heaven referred to actual beaches or the movie beaches is one of the greatest theological questions of our time.

And the cast of Baywatch hanging out in heaven- how could we neglect that point? It’s absolutely imperative that be discussed. We need to know where the Hoff will be in the afterlife.

[Anonymous]

Please define "Christian Heaven" as opposed to some other sort of brand of heaven. This sounds like a branded resort system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please define "Christian Heaven" as opposed to some other sort of brand of heaven. This sounds like a branded resort system.

Well there are other religious heavens (and hells) but I only see the Christian heaven discussed here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please define "Christian Heaven" as opposed to some other sort of brand of heaven. This sounds like a branded resort system.

Also the correct terminology is denomination. Religions have denomination, not brands.

[Anonymous]

If I discuss anything it is in the context of "some people believe....:, especially to children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If I discuss anything it is in the context of "some people believe....:, especially to children.

whose children are you discussing religion with? your own, or other people’s children?