Why do you think people reject Christianity? (suggestions)

[Jarnold4108]

Hey all. I just wanted to ask you guys for your help briefly. I’m starting a YouTube channel where I want to discuss things in the bible and things that are taught that may be “confusing” or cause doubts for people on the fence about Christianity or for atheists altogether. I want to address those questions, talk about them, and hopefully levy some clarity. I notice a lot of youth I encounter nowadays are more and more against the church and it scares me. I’m not old(31) but, I notice it a lot and it is obviously concerning. Some examples I’ve come up with: The church allegedly hating gays/gay marriage, Creationism vs Evolution, Is the Old Testament meant to be taken literally, Why does God allow death/disease, etc.

What are some other things you guys have heard or experienced where you hear someone say, “Well, I don’t believe because of X, Y, and Z.”?

 

[Basil the Great]

Ghandi said that he thought very highly of Christ, but not so much of his Christian followers. No doubt some people reject Christianity because they have met some rather poor examples of the Christian faith who rubbed them the wrong way.

 

[JohnB445]

I am 20, and from what I can tell you there certainly is an agenda in schools. Not saying schools are bad, just there happens to be an agenda at least where I come from.

We watched movies in history class, the professor would play clips of how the south was "Christian" and how they used the Bible to justify racism. We watched clips of the Scopes Trial. The teacher would say how the KKK was Christian, and how the southerners were Christians and how they used their religion during slavery or in an imperialistic patriarchal way. Our teacher did say some good things about communism, in fact, many of my teachers were like this.

Other than that during Biology, our teacher would tell us about Darwinism and evolution, we would study about Darwin. He would say how a human forming in a pregnant woman is just a clump of cells.

Then came social studies were the teacher would really try to push that Jesus was black and that everybody has the wrong Jesus. I don't know why hes making such a big deal about it in the first place. Then he goes to say the Bible isn't against homosexuality and that majority of Christians are bad and patriarchal people.

I am glad I got out away from the crazies and found Jesus through all of this.

 

[Concord1968]

I am 20, and from what I can tell you there certainly is an agenda in schools. Not saying schools are bad, just there happens to be an agenda at least where I come from.

We watched movies in history class, the professor would play clips of how the south was "Christian" and how they used the Bible to justify racism. We watched clips of the Scopes Trial. The teacher would say how the KKK was Christian, and how the southerners were Christians and how they used their religion during slavery or in an imperialistic patriarchal way. Our teacher did say some good things about communism, in fact, many of my teachers were like this.

Other than that during Biology, our teacher would tell us about Darwinism and evolution, we would study about Darwin. He would say how a human forming in a pregnant woman is just a clump of cells.

Then came social studies were the teacher would really try to push that Jesus was black and that everybody has the wrong Jesus. I don't know why hes making such a big deal about it in the first place. Then he goes to say the Bible isn't against homosexuality and that majority of Christians are bad and patriarchal people.

I am glad I got out away from the crazies and found Jesus through all of this.

Marxism runs deep in that school.....

 

[JohnB445]

Also I am taking comparative religion on college for now.

Our professor certainly has a sour taste when it comes to Christianity. He has said some ignorant things.
Here are his quotes.

"So why are people born poor or suffer?" *Nobody in the class replies* "Its God's fault!" He states.
"The Christians believe the Jews killed Jesus"

He goes on to make Christianity seem like a cult and tries to make God look like a tyrant along with being sexist.

Some other comments were about Jones Town, the Crusades, etc. He thinks our religion is bad, when Jesus teachings were completely absent from all those events.

 

[MariaJLM]

Marxism runs deep in that school.....

Not Marxism, but liberalism, sure. Marxism does not mean "anything contrary to my own viewpoint". Even then a lot of the claims made are not inaccurate. The KKK did claim to be Christian, specifically Protestant. The Bible was also used for generations to justify racism. Sure, it's wrong, but it did happen. Whitewashing what really happened certainly is not going to win over any converts.

 

[MariaJLM]

A big point that leads to rejection I think is the hypocrisy coming from many Christians. The Gospels preach compassion and tolerance, yet so many Christians are anything but. They're nasty to others in the worst ways.

 

[JohnB445]

Marxism runs deep in that school.....

I only had 5 Christian teachers throughout my lifetime. And one Jewish teacher. One most prominent thing with these teachers is they have been the most engaging and loving teachers. This was a big reason why I looked into Christianity it was the love.

There wasn't any love with other religions. So Christianity was my first choice, then became my final choice.

 

[Concord1968]

Not Marxism, but liberalism, sure. Marxism does not mean "anything contrary to my own viewpoint". Even then a lot of the claims made are not inaccurate. The KKK did claim to be Christian, specifically Protestant. The Bible was also used for generations to justify racism. Sure, it's wrong, but it did happen. Whitewashing what really happened certainly is not going to win over any converts.

I know Marxism very well and don't need lectures from you. Conversation over and congratulations on being my first ignore.

 

[maintenance man]

I’m starting a YouTube channel where I want to discuss things in the bible and things that are taught that may be “confusing” or cause doubts for people on the fence about Christianity or for atheists altogether.

Keep in mind when you start your YouTube channel you will be attacked by atheists trolls who will be very persistent. Be ready.

You already listed some of the big questions you'll need answers for. I think overall unbelievers see Christianity as restrictive - they don't want to be told what they can and cannot do. I was an unbeliever until the age of 30 and I felt I was having a good life already and didn't believe any religion would make it any better. I also didn't want to be bothered with reading the Bible and learning all the stuff you need to learn to become a Christian. I had my own vision of God and in my mind I was a good person and didn't need religion.

 

[step_by_step]

It seems that, in my generation, everyone tends to reject Christianity because they have seen how hateful Christians themselves can be. They don't feel the need to explore it for themselves or get to know God because they feel they already understand him based on what they've seen. Which is why we need to work more on being examples of Christ.

 

[step_by_step]

Keep in mind when you start your YouTube channel you will be attacked by atheists trolls who will be very persistent. Be ready.
.

Yes, this. Be ready for the backlash you will receive. I think it's good you're planning on doing this, just accept that you're going to get plenty of hate.

 

[MariaJLM]

I know Marxism very well and don't need lectures from you. Conversation over and congratulations on being my first ignore.

And this kind of proves my point about Christians being nasty.

 

[SarahsKnight]

A big point that leads to rejection I think is the hypocrisy coming from many Christians. The Gospels preach compassion and tolerance, yet so many Christians are anything but. They're nasty to others in the worst ways.

Indeed I wondered if that was the reason why so many reject Christ. Why should they want to seek out this Jesus if they see so many of the ones claiming to represent Him are acting so poorly? What incentive is there?

 

[Radagast]

Hey all. I just wanted to ask you guys for your help briefly. I’m starting a YouTube channel where I want to discuss things in the bible and things that are taught that may be “confusing” or cause doubts for people on the fence about Christianity or for atheists altogether.

Some of the surveys of religion at Religion and Public Life may be useful.

 

[ilovejcsog]

Sorry for the double post

 

[Serving Zion]

Hey all. I just wanted to ask you guys for your help briefly. I’m starting a YouTube channel where I want to discuss things in the bible and things that are taught that may be “confusing” or cause doubts for people on the fence about Christianity or for atheists altogether. I want to address those questions, talk about them, and hopefully levy some clarity. I notice a lot of youth I encounter nowadays are more and more against the church and it scares me. I’m not old(31) but, I notice it a lot and it is obviously concerning. Some examples I’ve come up with: The church allegedly hating gays/gay marriage, Creationism vs Evolution, Is the Old Testament meant to be taken literally, Why does God allow death/disease, etc.

What are some other things you guys have heard or experienced where you hear someone say, “Well, I don’t believe because of X, Y, and Z.”?

I wrote some info in this post that can go toward your answer, but then as Basil the Great said in post #2, they look at churches and they don't see Christ - that is the result of the long 2,000 years of the apostasy. Nowadays, anybody can put a sign on a building and as long as they can pay the bills, they look like a church to anybody else .. and that's only the tip of the iceberg! Realistically, people are calling themselves Christian in all places, and non-Christians are judging them as such, thinking "what's the point?".

By far though, the greatest damage is done by those who do Christianity wrongly, as 1 Corinthians 14:23 warns (for example).

Then, it becomes fashionable to joke about it, as on sitcoms and cartoons, and then of course, because we didn't turn back that tide, it's moved forward to real life mockery:

https://static.adonai-reigns.life/hotlinks/videos/dj-sunday-breakdown.mp4

 

[Sparagmos]

Hey all. I just wanted to ask you guys for your help briefly. I’m starting a YouTube channel where I want to discuss things in the bible and things that are taught that may be “confusing” or cause doubts for people on the fence about Christianity or for atheists altogether. I want to address those questions, talk about them, and hopefully levy some clarity. I notice a lot of youth I encounter nowadays are more and more against the church and it scares me. I’m not old(31) but, I notice it a lot and it is obviously concerning. Some examples I’ve come up with: The church allegedly hating gays/gay marriage, Creationism vs Evolution, Is the Old Testament meant to be taken literally, Why does God allow death/disease, etc.

What are some other things you guys have heard or experienced where you hear someone say, “Well, I don’t believe because of X, Y, and Z.”?

I live in an area where there are a lot of non Christians, and the general feeling towards Evangelical Christians is that they are unkind and bigoted. Having grown up this way, I actually have to agree. My parents taught me to look down on non-Christians and were hyper focused on sin. They never spoke of being compassionate.

 

[Sparagmos]

I know Marxism very well and don't need lectures from you. Conversation over and congratulations on being my first ignore.

I gotta say, I didn’t see anything in the post you responded to that was related to Marxism, an economic philosophy of workers owning the means of production.

 

[Shempster]

I saw an interesting street interview video recently. They asked a bunch of people two questions:
1. What do you think of Jesus?
2. What do you think of Christians?

There was a high consensus that people thought of Jesus as kind and gentle. But as far as Christians, they used words like Judgemental, Pushy, Hypocritical, Greedy, Argumentative, etc.
In other words, the exact opposite character of Jesus.

I shouldn't wonder if that might be part of the reason people don't want to join Christianity.
(I'm not suggesting this what all Christians are like. I'm just citing a video)