Reply to Discover Atheism

Forum Index » Religion

Reply to "Discover Atheism "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I grew up in a pretty non religious place and no one I knew really took religion or god seriously, in fact it was weird if you did, and it still a functioning society with laws and justice etc.    I find all the current religious ideas of god very lacking.  I used to want to be religious, but now I'm very much at peace as an atheist.  like the PP I find the universe/nature awe-inspiring.   [/quote]

This is pretty much me. I had a close friend in middle school who was mildly religious and I joined her at church a few times out of curiosity and also went on a youth group trip. I liked the sense of community but never bought into the "faith" side. Around that same time I had some extended family members join a "born again" church and to me it they seemed like they went mad. Even now I really don't understand some of their actions. And they've been very hateful to me and other members of my family. 
[/quote]

PP here - I can relate to that.  Praying in tongues the whole bit, raving on about sin and how god will punish us all for our sins and how every natural event is because god is angry...yeah.  it seems very odd to me too.

that said, I've known some religious people in my life who are fantastic people.  [/quote]
Well...

1. The speaking in tongues thing as it's practiced in pentecostal churches is not modeled on anything biblically. You can see the references to it in Acts as speaking a known language. This is not what is practiced in this strain of Christianity.
2. God will indeed punish unforgiven sin, but He gave us a way to be forgiven through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, Christians are told to judge fellow believers, because believers are both a living temple of God and because they are a testimony of their belief. But we are not told to judge unbelievers. You can see this in 1 Corinthians 5:11-12. We are all sinners, and Christians are told to offer the good news of Christ's forgiveness, not condemnation.
3. Jesus said bad things will happen in this world, but he cautioned people against thinking that everything is a judgment, as in Luke 13:1-5.

[b]The problem is that many believers haven't learned Christian theology enough to represent it at all points. We are supposed to learn and know this so we can be good witnesses for the faith. But the solution is not to not believe but to learn what Christianity truly teaches.[/b][/quote]

I assume this is the reason that Trump enjoyed 80% of the evangelical vote?

I know, this is not a political threat...I'm sorry to bring it up. I promise I am not making assumptions about how you personally vote, PP. It's just I'm the atheist that great up evangelical (though it was called "fundamentalist" in the 90s) and so I do have a solid base of knowledge about what the Bible teaches. A Christian's life is their testimony and the strongest witness to the "truth" of the Bible. I still believe that, actually. In that the way one acts is a testament to what is in their hearts. And I do believe the message of Christ is worthy of following, I just lack the faith part.

And so with that, I am absolutely disgusted and appalled at the marriage of politics and modern American Christianity. It's not all Christians, obviously, but it's nearly all that I grew up knowing. And their testimony of late has made me even more at peace with state of nonbelief.

PP, I don't know you or what is in your heart. But as you are in an atheist here representing Christianity, I just need to make sure you understand how Christians are being perceived. [/quote]
This is a nice, reasonable response. My belief is that we should put our trust in the LORD, not in men. I didn't vote in this last election. Both candidates were extremely distasteful to me. It was disheartening to see evangelical leaders stand up publicly with Trump, but it would also have been disheartening to see them stand up publicly with Clinton. But not everyone who professes a faith is a faithful disciple of that faith, or even genuine in their belief. I'm not judging them, or anyone else. Christians will indeed answer to Christ for how they lived out their faith here on Earth. But doing so poorly again reflects poorly on them, or it shows a lack of spiritual maturity. What it doesn't mean is that Christianity isn't true. We're all hypocrites to some extent. No one faithfully lives out their convictions at all times, and we should have humility about that in ourselves and not forget that about ourselves when we look down on others.

But if you look at the Gospel message of the Bible, our salvation is not based on how well we do being good or not being bad; it's based on whether we have faith in Christ. So it's good to focus on our faith and not worry so much about politics. We have to vote our consciences, and sometimes there are bad choices on both sides. Picking the lesser of two evils doesn't make you a bad Christian, but putting your faith in politicians might.[/quote]

Different PP - the above is a nice, reasonable response too, describing a Christian perspective.  It doesn't apply to atheists who don't believe in the Lord so therefore would not place trust in him.  Atheists also would not look to the Bible for guidance and don't seek salvation, which is another concept in which they don't believe.[/quote]

She was responding to me and even while we have different perspectives I can respect where she is coming from. [/quote]

"different pp" here -- yes, I know and understand.  I did not intend to speak for you.   This is an open forum. Anyone can respond to a post.   [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics