How dangerous is christian religion?

My opinion after having been a christian for like 8 years and after having seen lots of weird and repelling things is that actually becoming a christian and entering the "christian field" so to say is actually pretty dangerous. This doesn't mean I would keep anyone from becoming a christian but once he becomes a christian I would really be worried about what might happen to this person now and who she might be exposed to and where she might end up going and listening to.
I mean if you're lucky and find a good church or at least find some sane christians who you can discuss things with then you're on the safe side but let's say you end up in the wrong church with the wrong people and are taught false, destructive doctrines then this can as well totally mess you up. I remember seeing a video a while ago of a young christian girl who switched churches and then went to a fanatic christian sect and within a few months she committed suicide.
That's one of the reasons why I'm not keen on belonging to a church and I probably never will because I am not interested in being spiritually abused, threatened or manipulated or being ruled over by a supposedly super anointed pastor who claims to hear God and know everything.
I'm rather a lonely christian than be a member of a church where I feel miserable and where I have to deal with weird christians who drag me down.
It can really drag you down when you see others who claim to be christians act like lunatics because then you automatically think that christianity is only for disturbed people who have all kinds of issues and this will tempt you.
Am I alone with this opinion?
It's sad but I really don't like most flavours of christianity which are out there. When I only think about having to join a church it already makes me feel sick.
And why do I have to like everyone and call him brother only because he's a christian? What if I cannot stand this person and actually wouldn't talk to him at all if I met him on the street?
I think this whole "you're my brother in Christ" stuff is depressing because what do you do if you don't want to have anything to do with another christian because he's so repelling and then you have to call him brother?
That's like having somebody in the family who you cannot stand and at the same time there is no way to escape from this person. Isn't this depressing?

I mean I have listened to sermons which would absolutely terrify me and the sad thing is that in the bible there are also many terrifying passages even from Jesus himself. How do you deal with that?
Just take some of Jesus' parables about the lazy servant or the vine and the branches, do they not scare you when you read them? I cannot even read this stuff without being dragged down by it. If you don't bear enough fruit you get cut off and thrown into the fire. Do such things not scare you? This creates an insane pressure and then you can always ask yourself "Am I bearing enough fruit?" or "Am I bearing fruit at all?".
How do these things bring peace or liberation? In my opinion they only cause pressure and fear. Some christians obviously can read those passages and not be scared by them but I don't know how they do this. It's kinda strange when you're a christian and at the same time scared of opening the bible isn't it?

How can you feel close to God when at the same time you have to fear him because he can punish you and send you to hell? How does this fit together? That's like having a lion as a pet who could tear you apart at any time how could you feel close to the lion and not be afraid all the time?

Sounds like you need to sit down and really think about what you believe and what you want in your life. One can believe in a deity without having to be a part of Christianity, or any religion.

How can you feel close to God when at the same time you have to fear him because he can punish you and send you to hell? How does this fit together? That's like having a lion as a pet who could tear you apart at any time how could you feel close to the lion and not be afraid all the time?

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That's a interesting parallel you made, it reminds of the Lion Aslan in "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. In the books (and movies now) the Lion represents Jesus Christ and although He is the most powerful and even dangerous animal and being in the books, He is also the most loving, just, forgiving and sacrificing.

In "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe." He lays down His life to pay for the consequences of a wrong action of one of the human children. Although C.S. Lewis turned this truth into a fairytale. The gospel of Jesus Christ is very true, He did die in our place and took the wrath of a Holy God for our sin.

There is also another thing I would like to say to you, I heard this on the radio today, There was a caller who was asking a bunch of questions about God, like you are now, what they told her really made me think. They said that you can believe anything about God that you want and just because you believe it you will think its true. But what you really need to do is to believe what He says about Himself. God said that He holy, that He will punish sin and that He will pour out His wrath one day for all the evil done on this earth.

But He has also said that He loves us, that He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked but wants all to come to repentance. (Ezekiel 33:11) He says that He is merciful to us sinners, He says that His grace will be enough and that the love He has for us will sustain us. And not only has He spoken it but He has shown His love for us on Calvary, He has poured out His blood for the sake of humanity.

What you and me friend need to do is to get our thinking right about who God really is, God says He is love and that He loves you and me, we need to believe this truth and submit to it.

Those poll options are rather biased....

I do not simply want to believe in a deity. Either it's Jesus or nothing at all. I could not believe in any other religion I'd rather be an atheist than that.

@ SoldierofSoul

Sure the bible says those things about God being love and so on but there are still many things which aren't clear. I cannot really tell how God is only from reading the bible. I can't tell wether God is angry or not or if he gets angry then how quickly he gets angry. And the church also doesn't seem to agree on God's character. I mean when a tragedy like 911 happens then God often gets the blame or when the tsunami happened in 2004 they also blamed God and said that "God did this in in mercy to wake the people up". I think this sounds rather disturbing and yet they paint God in such a way.

Sure the bible says those things about God being love and so on but there are still many things which aren't clear. I cannot really tell how God is only from reading the bible. I can't tell wether God is angry or not or if he gets angry then how quickly he gets angry.

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He says in His word that He is slow to anger.

1. Exodus 34:6
   And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,
   Exodus 34:5-7 (in Context) Exodus 34 (Whole Chapter)
2. Numbers 14:18
   ‘The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’
   Numbers 14:17-19 (in Context) Numbers 14 (Whole Chapter)
3. Nehemiah 9:17
   They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them,
   Nehemiah 9:16-18 (in Context) Nehemiah 9 (Whole Chapter)
4. Psalm 86:15
   But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
   Psalm 86:14-16 (in Context) Psalm 86 (Whole Chapter)
5. Psalm 103:8
   The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
   Psalm 103:7-9 (in Context) Psalm 103 (Whole Chapter)
6. Psalm 145:8
   The LORD is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
   Psalm 145:7-9 (in Context) Psalm 145 (Whole Chapter)
7. Joel 2:13
   Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
   Joel 2:12-14 (in Context) Joel 2 (Whole Chapter)
8. Jonah 4:2
   He prayed to the LORD, “Isn’t this what I said, LORD, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
   Jonah 4:1-3 (in Context) Jonah 4 (Whole Chapter)
9. Nahum 1:3
   The LORD is slow to anger but great in power; the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm, and clouds are the dust of his feet.
   Nahum 1:2-4 (in Context) Nahum 1 (Whole Chapter)http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=slow+to+anger&qs_version=NIV

And the church also doesn't seem to agree on God's character. I mean when a tragedy like 911 happens then God often gets the blame or when the tsunami happened in 2004 they also blamed God and said that "God did this in in mercy to wake the people up". I think this sounds rather disturbing and yet they paint God in such a way.

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I am not going to offer more theories to you as to why He allows evil things to happen, but I can give you this verse:

"That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25)

This is Abraham interceding to God about Sodom and Gomorrah, notice the last sentence, that's what you need to ask yourself, shall He not do right in the world? When I pondered this point I realized that I am not the judge of good and evil, God is and that He is in control and that in the end all of His judgements will be right and good. If we try and justify ourselves in this world over bad things that happen than we are trying to justify ourselves in God's sight (saying we deserve nothing that happens to us for one) and condemn God in the process. We are in affect saying "I am right in what I think and you are wrong God, therefore I condemn your knowledge and trust in mine." The sanest thing we can do is to trust in the true God who sent us His Son, He is trustworthy and He loves us. This is how I feel on that issue.

I went through these doubts too bro, I got through it by lots of study: the Bible and Christian Apologetics. Check out C.S. Lewis "Problem of Pain" and also Phillip Yancy "Where is God When it Hurts" (you can get both on Amazon) among many others, there are many good books on the subject of evil in the world.

God bless you my friend! you will come out of this with a stronger faith in the true God, He does love you and the Lord Jesus His Son died for you in love, only believe!

"Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently search for him." (Hebrews 11:6)

wretched said:

I do not simply want to believe in a deity. Either it's Jesus or nothing at all. I could not believe in any other religion I'd rather be an atheist than that.

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Religion and belief in God/gods don't have to go together. You can believe in Jesus without associating yourself with Christianity. I know many people who do, because they've seen what so many of the more extreme "Christians" can be like, and they don't want to be lumped in with them.

@ SoS

I know it says God is slow to anger but do you remember the scene between God and Moses? In this scene God became angry pretty fast in my opinion.

@ jade

I don't know if everybody who says he believes in Jesus really believes in the right Jesus. For example it could also be a new-age version of jesus or it could be a self-made jesus where they simply believe things about him but not the important things.

Anyway, I also feel not attracted to most christians out there and being around them would only drag me down. I'm happier on my own but those christians I know over the internet all tired to make me join a church and said that I gotta do this to "grow". Imo this is nonsense. I was part of a weekly charismatic house group for years and it didnt make me grow. Saying you need to be in a church to grow is like saying you need to walk into a gym and you will automatically get big. If you dont have the right machines and weights you also cannot get big. Or if the gym sucks and the people there cannot give you advice on how to train properly you also wont get big. It's nothing which automatically happens. You can be a member of a church for decades and still not grow.

You can be a member of a church for decades and still not grow.

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That's true, that's why you need to go to the right one! Also, you will never get rid of this bitterness in you if you don't go. This bitterness you have could be something that is stumping your own growth in the Lord, you need to let it go. God is faithful.

I know it says God is slow to anger but do you remember the scene between God and Moses? In this scene God became angry pretty fast in my opinion.

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He is slow to anger, Jesus hasn't returned for 2000 years, He is long-suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish. God rather be merciful than show His wrath against sin, although both have been displayed throughout history and He will again in the future.

But the point I would like to make is that when God acts swiftly against sin and shows His wrath it is repulsive to us humans, we always feel like we deserve more mercy or more grace. But that's the thing that gets us, because grace in itself is nothing we deserve, it is unmerited favor that the Lord shows sinful, deserving of wrath and death humanity.

So the point is when we are born, we are born in death and sin and deserving of the Lord's righteous punishment, we are as the bible says "children of wrath" so if something happens to one of us and it seems that God acted swiftly, we are in essence completely deserving of it.

Look at Ananias and Sapphira, as we look at their story in Acts we are appalled that God would judge their sin so fast, but was it fast? These thoughts against the Holy Spirit may have been brewing for a long time, they may have been hiding something even more heinous that we don't even know about and when God acted as He did and struck them dead it seems sudden but really in the economy of God He had been merciful for years. One thing we need to remember: God is always right in His judgements and whether He shows mercy or wrath, slow or fast, He is right.

Again, when God shows His wrath we are repulsed because we always think that God owes us something, we really deep down do not think that our sin really deserves punishment and especially not eternity in hell. To understand the swift justice of the Lord and also the long-suffering mercy of God you must truly understand the nature and sinfulness and hatefulness of sin (something I myself am still working on too).

The most important thing that you can know about God and something the bible says over and over again: GOD IS HOLY.

I do not understand how Jesus not coming back for 2000 years is long suffering. I mean if Jesus had come back in 100 AD then all those people who lived and went to hell from 100 AD until now would never have been born and never went to hell.
What does this have to do with long suffering? If all those who lived from the cross until now all went to heaven automatically then I would understand your point.

That's one of the reasons why I'm not keen on belonging to a church and I probably

never will because I am not interested in being spiritually abused, threatened or manipulated or being ruled over by a supposedly super anointed pastor who claims to hear God and know everything.

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Then you should stay away from women too, (you know there are some out there who will just use you for you $$, car, or whatever you can give em )

I'm rather a lonely christian than be a member of a church where I feel miserable and where I have to deal with weird christians who drag me down.

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It's not an either or situation-just like the women I mentioned above, you got to shop around until you locate a "good one". When you find a good one ( of either)
you'lll be glad you shopped.

My Grandma used to say: Honey, there's nothing worse than a bad man and nothing better than a good one. (She was right , don't ask me how I know)

When I read the gospels and see how Jesus was so loving and long suffering,and how he cared about everyone,I get a picture of who God is.God in the flesh.How much character he has and how determined he was to see salvation available to all who believe in him.He could have become angry and proud at those people who mocked and abused him,but rather he stayed lowly in heart and used his power to heal and forgive sin and rise from the dead and be our Saviour for eternity.We need only believe.God laid his life down freely and took it up again,he shed his blood for us for the remission of our sins and calls to us to come to him and simply believe in him.Taste and see that he is good.God is working on His bride the church.The weak and the strong ones,and the cold and the warm ones, and the weird and the strange and the normal ones.He has the whole world in his hands.Finding a church family to feel home at can be a challenge,and many have been deeply hurt.God can always be trusted though.Sometimes people may let us down.

Being a Christian can be dangerous...

The rewards are eternal!