Have you ever been rejected by a church?

[~Anastasia~]

I have had stuff thrown at me at age ten, when my baby sitter took me to church with her. A couple of old ladies saw me out in a waiting area with the sermon onscreen rather than actually attending and asked me if I believed in god. I said I don't know, and in response, they cursed at me, calling me a harlot who would burn forever, and one threw a pen at me. They yelled at me to leave, but another adult intervened. suffice to say I was never taken there again.

Seriously? That's awful. I'm sorry something like that happened to you. I've never seen anything like that.

 

[PsychoSarah]

There is a reason why a lot of atheists don't like being around religious people. This isn't exactly the only incident like that I have experienced over the course of my life.

 

[TillICollapse]

It's said the Christian church is the only "army" that shoots their own wounded.

I used to think people who do this: claim to know Christ but shoot the wounded, further victimize the victim, demand sacrifice from believers, etc ... did so because they still wanted more blood than Christ's to atone for something. Still seeking to sacrifice people to some god.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Pointless harassment is how I label that.

 

[TillICollapse]

I think something like internet trolling is closer to pointless harassment ... when someone goes out of their way to harass someone and they think they are justified in doing so, there is arguably a point in their own mind at the very least.

But I would say pointless harassing and harassing "with a point" both point to how people can behave in vile ways.

 

[seashale76]

There is a reason why a lot of atheists don't like being around religious people. This isn't exactly the only incident like that I have experienced over the course of my life.

It pains me that you went through that, as well. However, what you've said is an awfully broad brushed statement there. I count a lot of atheists and agnostics among friends and family and they have no trouble being around religious people. In my experience, most don't care.

 

[PsychoSarah]

I never said that was my personal judgment on the matter. I do not discriminate on the basis of religion. Remember, it was another church goer that made the crazy old ladies go away.

 

[TillICollapse]

It pains me that you went through that, as well. However, what you've said is an awfully broad brushed statement there. I count a lot of atheists and agnostics among friends and family and they have no trouble being around religious people. In my experience, most don't care.

Do you think your experience with atheists and agnostics is able to reflect upon everyone else with a broad brush outside of your experience ?

 

[PsychoSarah]

Well, there are basically 2 kinds of atheists. The kinds you normally hear about are aggressive atheists, who in addition believe that religion is malevolent in the modern world and seek to convert others to atheism. I would say between 30-40% of atheists are like that. The rest are passive atheists, who will defend their beliefs when asked to do so but will generally respect the religious beliefs of others and will not bring up religion randomly. There are of course various degrees between these two spectrums, but these are the basic descriptions I have to offer.

 

[PsychoSarah]

Agnostics, who have no specific belief, tend not to get into philosophical conversations too much. Ones like my grandmother, who tells people she knows are religious that she is Protestant (even though she is agnostic) just to avoid conflict. You cannot really defend a belief when your belief is "I don't know" nor can you attack the beliefs of others.

 

[ViaCrucis]

There is a reason why a lot of atheists don't like being around religious people. This isn't exactly the only incident like that I have experienced over the course of my life.

For what it's worth, those are the sorts of reasons that a lot of religious people don't like being around religious people.

I often feel that my prayer is, "Lord, save me from Your followers."

-CryptoLutheran

 

[PsychoSarah]

Hahaha atheists suck to be around sometimes too.

 

[Metal Minister]

For what it's worth, those are the sorts of reasons that a lot of religious people don't like being around religious people.

I often feel that my prayer is, "Lord, save me from Your followers."

-CryptoLutheran

Amen to that! Lol! I left one church because of that very thing! Actually 2, but to get into it would take up a lot of thread space.

 

[TillICollapse]

Well, there are basically 2 kinds of atheists. The kinds you normally hear about are aggressive atheists, who in addition believe that religion is malevolent in the modern world and seek to convert others to atheism. I would say between 30-40% of atheists are like that. The rest are passive atheists, who will defend their beliefs when asked to do so but will generally respect the religious beliefs of others and will not bring up religion randomly. There are of course various degrees between these two spectrums, but these are the basic descriptions I have to offer.

Not to derail the thread, but what you are describing with the "aggressive" type person is basically an antitheist, and a person can be an antitheist without also claiming to be an atheist.

 

[Metal Minister]

Hahaha atheists suck to be around sometimes too.

I think people just stink to be around sometimes. I have a friend, great guy to be around, and he's atheist, and I've got friends that are devoutly religious, and can be a real bummer to be around! It's just people, not necessarily religion, that gives us a hard time.

 

[seashale76]

Well, there are basically 2 kinds of atheists. The kinds you normally hear about are aggressive atheists, who in addition believe that religion is malevolent in the modern world and seek to convert others to atheism. I would say between 30-40% of atheists are like that. The rest are passive atheists, who will defend their beliefs when asked to do so but will generally respect the religious beliefs of others and will not bring up religion randomly. There are of course various degrees between these two spectrums, but these are the basic descriptions I have to offer.

I didn't mean to imply that you personally felt that way. Yes- there are all sorts- and the internet can make one believe that people are more one way than the other. One guy I know is only aggressive like that on the internet. In real life you'd have no idea. I used to post (very infrequently) and lurk on the old IIDB years ago (when it still existed) when I wasn't calling myself a Christian. I came across his posts there (as he left no doubt as to his non-internet identity). I've never let on that I know about his internet activities. In real life, he does hang out with religious people.

 

[PsychoSarah]

I am on here as I am face to face. Brutally honest, a cynic, and open about what I feel.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Virtually all my friends today are atheists, agnostics, or at the very least non-religious. I still keep in touch with some of my older friends from high school who are Christian, but they also have families and have lives completely separate from my own and thus we don't spend much time together except for the occasional once or twice a year visit to share a few beers and the like.

There was a kind of falling away incident in my early twenties when, because I was questioning a lot of what I had been taught in my Evangelical upbringing, began looking into more traditional Christianity (Catholicism, Orthodox, Lutheranism, etc) that I began hearing about some rumors about me. Namely that I was no longer a Christian, that I was an "apostate" or equivalent. And because I occasionally went with some friends to bars to drink a couple beers and play pool, or we'd drink a few at home, the big rumor I remember hearing was that I had become a drug dealer, and apparently I was dealing in more than just the green stuff, apparently I was peddling smack or something.

The last one stung pretty hard, but it was simultaneously pretty hilarious. I don't even like drinking too much coffee--gives me the shakes--so the idea that I'd be selling junk is just oh so weird.

It honestly never occurred to me back then that the rumor mill would turn ugly on me simply because I was investigating my faith and because I--horror of horrors--had a beer once in a while.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[PsychoSarah]

Wow, that is cutthroat.

 

[Metal Minister]

Virtually all my friends today are atheists, agnostics, or at the very least non-religious. I still keep in touch with some of my older friends from high school who are Christian, but they also have families and have lives completely separate from my own and thus we don't spend much time together except for the occasional once or twice a year visit to share a few beers and the like.

There was a kind of falling away incident in my early twenties when, because I was questioning a lot of what I had been taught in my Evangelical upbringing, began looking into more traditional Christianity (Catholicism, Orthodox, Lutheranism, etc) that I began hearing about some rumors about me. Namely that I was no longer a Christian, that I was an "apostate" or equivalent. And because I occasionally went with some friends to bars to drink a couple beers and play pool, or we'd drink a few at home, the big rumor I remember hearing was that I had become a drug dealer, and apparently I was dealing in more than just the green stuff, apparently I was peddling smack or something.

The last one stung pretty hard, but it was simultaneously pretty hilarious. I don't even like drinking too much coffee--gives me the shakes--so the idea that I'd be selling junk is just oh so weird.

It honestly never occurred to me back then that the rumor mill would turn ugly on me simply because I was investigating my faith and because I--horror of horrors--had a beer once in a while.

-CryptoLutheran

Good grief! That's pretty nasty! I had the exact opposite thing happen in terms of faith. I was Catholic, and as I began to question, I was shunned and even verbally attacked for "daring to question the church and its authority!" I thought that odd, as I wasn't questioning authority, just asking simple questions. It's hard because most of my family is devoutly Catholic, so I still get the occasional odd stare or cold shoulder brush off at family functions, but for the most part my family are just happy I have faith in Christ at all. (I was an atheist for a while after this experience.)