Some Christians seem to think that we non-Christians are inferior to them for having rejected Jesus. Really it doesn't make us weaker or dumber or lazier, just different - so let's clear up some misconceptions.
Why aren't YOU a Christian?
When I was younger, I was raised Christian so I believed in the Christian God. I was aware friends of mine had different beliefs than me and I didn't necessarily think they were wrong- just different. I always had the mindset though towards the Christian God, even though these years were pretty troubled for me.
When I started to grow and actually read the Bible, I started getting doubts. Reading the Gospel was good, I very much like Christ's teachings and try to make them a part of my life, but reading the rest of the NT gave me a lot of doubt. It describes miracles, yet I have never seen a miracle. It is inconsistent in its reports, and is full of vague threats. Then when I read the OT, I even had more doubt. It just seemed like any other pagan god, a god thought up by a culture that had views that paralleled their own. There is so much killing, so much violence, genocide, awkward rules. God allows slavery, kills children, is jealous and wrathful, etc. It all just didn't seem real at all to me, and if it was real, I certainly didn't like it.
I was basically agnostic all through high school- I went to church only on Christmas and Easter, hardly prayed, yet still had a general view that some type of good god was probably real. Then I tried becoming more religious again, going to church more, but I couldn't stand it. Every time I was in Church it just felt like such a lie. People would give me the advice that to believe more all you have to do is pray and read the Bible, but doing either of those things just made me believe
less.
Christianity as a whole just doesn't stand out to me. It has done good, but it has also been responsible for tremendous evil. The concept of hell is terrible, and people hold onto it like a comfort blanket that they will be taken care of and people who disagree with them will be punished. It just promotes an "us vs them" mentality. Generally the more devout a Christian is, the less educated they are (big generalization, but I'm talking as a whole). They reject other religions before learning anything about them, and use their faith as a reason why they are better or more important than others.
The Catholic church seems full of itself, no different than the Pharisees. They put so much emphasis on rules and regulations, and forget what Christ's teachings were. They criticize other religions, even the fractured web of other Christian denominations, yet they let scandal continue in their own midst. Christianity has too often been used as a tool to further the goals of evil people. They wield the ultimate threat- eternal punishment after death- to get people to do what they want.
I won't have it though- I want to think for myself. I doubt God would give us reason and then expect us not to use it. I doubt that God would hinge the salvation of a person on their amount of skepticism, when he supposedly gave them the very mind they have. When I joined these forums, I decided to use the Catholic icon, because I still went to Church occasionally. I still had a vague concept that
something out there exists, but my beliefs were best described as agnostic. I took down the icon a week or so ago because I was just fooling myself by having it up. I don't know what the truth is about religion or spirituality, but I don't really hold any beliefs of my own. I just learn as much as I can about the world, try to examine all sides, all stories, and I'll just see what happens.
I'm fine though with whatever people believe. Religion can be a good thing at times- it can give people hope when there is no other source for it. It can bring people together, help them through trouble and give life meaning. Unfortunately, it can also destroy hope, tear people apart, create trouble, and take every ounce of meaning out of life. It all depends on what the person does with it.
