Do religious discussions here make you want to be Christian?

For me it's the other way around. The discussions I have here are a consequence of me wanting to live Christianity. That involves gaining a deeper understanding through theological discussion.

I'm not a non-Christian, but if I was a non-Christian and CF was my primary or only introduction to it, I'd likely run as far away from the religion as possible. Too many posts/threads here give the false impression that following Christ is about holding harsh, narrow, anti-intellectual views.

I wouldn't want to be a Christian from a great deal of what I read here, nor a politician, and probably not an opinion writer either.

I have to say I was on the road to Atheism when I found this site many years ago. While I have met nice Christian here, on the whole it has steered me away from Christianity.

Being a member of CF is one of the causes that has pushed me away from evangelical conservative Christianity, but my experiences on this site haven't pushed me away from Christianity in general.

I have learned some good stuff from folks on here, but I think in general all this stuff must look pretty crazy to non-Christians. Lots of uninformed bickering about nonsense.

As someone who is a former non-Christian, Christian Forums kind of steered me away from Christianity at first too. At first it was because I was non-informed and saw a bunch of threads that conflicted with my own beliefs (to me, it was all nonsense). Then it came from seeing people getting a bit hostile with each other for having different beliefs, or claiming that they were right while everyone else was wrong (and, let's face it, the truth will always be the truth, but there's no need to be so rude or snarky about it).

It got to a point where I took long hiatuses from this website a few times. What brought me back, each time, was talking with other Christians offline who were kind, non-judgmental, and not trying to forcefully push their beliefs on me. Through communicating with them and developing a sort of fellowship with them, I was able to open my mind and heart up so I could learn more about what Christianity really is. Then, God did the rest, and now I'm on my way to being baptized as a Catholic Christian!

But, getting back to the question, as an outsider, this website put me off from being Christian. It was only when I started to really learn about Christianity from offline sources that this website started to become helpful to me. When I learned more about it, I came here with questions and got some good answers. So, in one way, it made me want to be more of a Christian, but in other ways it didn't. But it mostly depended on where I was in my journey.

So, my final answer is: Undecided.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

For the non-Christians: When you're browsing this site, and you see discussions on salvation or Church history or any theological topic, do these discussions make Christianity seem appealing, or do these arguments turn you away?

I've discussed this topic with Christians on this site, but I want to turn it over to the non-Christians: Are we doing a good job of discussing the Christian faith?

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What purpose does this serve? Is it helpful to bash people who want to discuss what any unbeliever can clearly see--that many people who call themselves Christians don't agree on what it means to be a Christian let alone every doctrinal thought the floats out of someone claiming to be a Christian.

But, does this website really contribute to that OR do the 10 or more different churches in one small town demonstrate that to people? Here people of different beliefs are present to discuss, debate, and even argue about the issues that they feel strongly about and yet differ on. But, in a church of one variety, it often happens that churches of other varieties are bashed without any representation.

Don't you think it is better for people to see and compare and decide for themselves about the different doctrinal beliefs that are out there, than to just be indoctrinated into one--when it may not be the right one? A site like this gives people the opportunity to compare and decide which camp they feel more in alignment with.

I know for me as a believer who walks with God, I have appreciated getting a better understanding of where others are coming from with their beliefs--whether I agree or disagree with them on the "dividing issues".

If Jesus, Peter, or Paul took a survey of unbelievers to decide how they were doing in representing what they were talking about, all would have been considered failures. So, I would go so far as to say that if unbelievers felt we were doing a good job, then we would be no threat to our adversary and doing a bad job in God's sight.

When I was veering towards atheism this would have pushed me over the line. I cannot reconcile some of the things I see and I'm not sure I want to either. However, there are unexpected surprises like conversations with Jews and a kindhearted atheist that make it a pleasant experience. I ignore the rest.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

Do religious discussions here make you want to be Christian?

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No. Christianity has been unappealing to me since day one of Ms. Heflin's Sunday school class, and this website has not changed that.

But that's ok. I'm not here to look for reasons to become a Christian. I'm here because,

1. I don't want to live in an echo chamber. Almost everyone I know and interact with regularly is either atheist, irreligious, or very liberal in their religion. The internet is the most convenient resource for exposure to opposing viewpoints. I consume conservative religious radio, podcasts and youtube videos, and talk to street preachers, for the same reason.

2. It's interesting.

3. I consider the public scrutiny of ideas and the reasoning behind them to be a civic duty.

4. On rare occasions, I like to peruse the 'Christians Only' sections and see what believers say about atheists when they know we can't respond.

In that order.

Speaking as an atheist, no, they don't. Generally speaking, Christians just just aren't good enough at arguing their case. Most of them hardly understand any of the tenents of their own religion. The folks on Christian Forums are sometimes better, or sometimes more unbalanced, but even so, as a general matter, atheists know the Christian religion better, and can argue it better.
The problem is that Christianity just doesn't make sense. This isn't necessarily a disadvantage in a religion; there are parts of the Christian religion that Christians are proud of not understanding. God works in mysterious ways, and all that. the problem is with apologists who convince themselves and others that they actually can win all of their arguments and show atheists the error of their ways, and of course they can't.

If I may offer some advice, Christians showing humility, kindness and helpfulness would be way more convincing, and likely to recruit converts, than fans of Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

For the non-Christians: When you're browsing this site, and you see discussions on salvation or Church history or any theological topic, do these discussions make Christianity seem appealing, or do these arguments turn you away?

I've discussed this topic with Christians on this site, but I want to turn it over to the non-Christians: Are we doing a good job of discussing the Christian faith?

Click to expand...

I don't think people do a good job of discussing the Christian faith.

I think that might well be because there doesn't seem to be -a- Christian faith. There are many Christian faiths. And each one is convinced they are the one which has the correct faith.

It would be very difficult for anyone to find Christianity appealing when it is so difficult to get a clear picture of what Christianity even is.

InterestedAtheist said:

Speaking as an atheist, no, they don't. Generally speaking, Christians just just aren't good enough at arguing their case. Most of them hardly understand any of the tenents of their own religion. The folks on Christian Forums are sometimes better, or sometimes more unbalanced, but even so, as a general matter, atheists know the Christian religion better, and can argue it better.

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I have noticed the same and have spoken to many atheists over the years. The same is true with Jews too. They're very conversant in Christianity. Far more than most admit.

For me, atheists are people. I relate to them that way. We've never argued about faith because I haven't tried to change them. I don't think that's how it works. Arguments didn't help me at all. If anything, it turned me off.

The problem is that Christianity just doesn't make sense. This isn't necessarily a disadvantage in a religion; there are parts of the Christian religion that Christians are proud of not understanding. God works in mysterious ways, and all that. the problem is with apologists who convince themselves and others that they actually can win all of their arguments and show atheists the error of their ways, and of course they can't.

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There are three words I rarely hear in Christian circles and it always bothered me. No one says, I don't know or I'm not sure. Its as if not knowing is shameful.

If I may offer some advice, Christians showing humility, kindness and helpfulness would be way more convincing, and likely to recruit converts, that fans of Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel.

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True. Love won me over.

Some of the Christians I have encountered on CF I found to be rather self-righteous, judgemental and lacking empathy. Not all by any means, but some. It is not just here on CF, it is an attitude I have experienced throughout my life. However, that is not what makes Christianity unappealing to me. I can't put it any other way than to say I think it is all nonsense, superstitious nonsense. I know that will probably offend some, but I can only say what I honestly feel.
I do find it interesting reading what Christians say when they are defending their faith although I do end up shaking my head when they are defending some of the many more barbaric acts attributed to their god, justifying them by saying, god is sovereign, he can do whatever he wishes. That alone is enough to make me want to have nothing to do with the Christian belief system.

As a Christian, I would say that CF is a serious challenge to my faith. The discussions are unconvincing, and people who come here looking for help are as often given terrible answers as help.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

For the non-Christians: When you're browsing this site, and you see discussions on salvation or Church history or any theological topic, do these discussions make Christianity seem appealing, or do these arguments turn you away?

I've discussed this topic with Christians on this site, but I want to turn it over to the non-Christians: Are we doing a good job of discussing the Christian faith?

Click to expand...

Experience here makes Christianity look like an anti science branch of the US Republican party. Maybe this is what True Christianity demands. But its not an attractive look. There are exceptions to this experience, of course. And this is mainly from social-topic debate subforums.

Regarding theology, it seems like most of that goes on in Christians-only subforums. Totally understandable. You dont want a bunch of atheists rolling their eyes at every post.

I should take a closer look at the "outreach" section.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

For the non-Christians: When you're browsing this site, and you see discussions on salvation or Church history or any theological topic, do these discussions make Christianity seem appealing, or do these arguments turn you away?

I've discussed this topic with Christians on this site, but I want to turn it over to the non-Christians: Are we doing a good job of discussing the Christian faith?

Click to expand...

I'm not an atheist, but many religious people here make me want to disassociate from christianity. The views and massive superstition they have on things such as Yoga, etc is just weird.

Some people here are so into their fundementalism that they can't be argued with any sense at all, such as in the topic of divorce in where a woman is getting battered and beaten by her husband nearly everyday will be committing a sin if she leaves him. Then the whole thing about people with mental disabilities going to hell because even being mentally incapable of understanding is not an excuse for not accepting Jesus. I can go on and on. These are not a few in number either, the majority of christians here really shun any form of logical and rational discussion, we always need to provide a verse so that they can provide a verse and we will just go in endless spirals of interpretation wars.

Unofficial Reverand Alex said:

For the non-Christians: When you're browsing this site, and you see discussions on salvation or Church history or any theological topic, do these discussions make Christianity seem appealing, or do these arguments turn you away?

I've discussed this topic with Christians on this site, but I want to turn it over to the non-Christians: Are we doing a good job of discussing the Christian faith?

Click to expand...

You come across some nice christians on this site, however it is the fundamentalist 'the bible is the truth & the answer to everything' & 'my interpretation of the bible is the correct one, & nobody elses interpretation matters' christians who really turn people off.

Even if I could be convinced that the god of the christian bible is true, I still couldnt be convinced that he is a god worth worshipping if he is really as narrow minded & petty as some on this forum. I feel that I would have to compromise my own moral values if I became a christian, which I consider for the most part to be more moral than the morality in the bible.

Debating the christian apologists is also a bit pointless, because they are so convinced they are right, no argument will ever sway their opinion, & they are convinced they are winning every debate even when they are losing the debate.

I thought this was a Christian posting area.. ???

Wouldn't you have better luck posting in a non-Christian area of the forum?