A question for athiests

[Saelethiel]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

 

[lordbt]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

Not in my case it isnt. Such people might be annoying, but they are not the cause of my atheism.

 

[Saelethiel]

I see. I certainly do agree that they are annoying though... Thank you very much lol

 

[Washington]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

No. Most people aren't Christian because they were brought up in some other religion or found another religion that better suits their needs. A few bad apples in Christianity may put off a few people, but if anything, I believe they better reinforce a preconceived notion of Christianity rather than serve as the prime motivator. And the number who are actually turned off to Christianity by such actions has to be extremely small.

 

[Redac]

Relatively few people become atheists because of Christians themselves, from what I've seen.

 

[exotic walrus]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

Nope.

 

[ragarth]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

'fraid that's just a myth. Most people are of some other religion than christianity for the same reason that most christians are christian: They were raised in that religion.

Specifically about atheists, most atheists arrived at their decision based upon some form of rational or empirical reasoning. A select minority (teenage goths. ) may be atheist because they're rebelling against something- whether it be their parents or authority, however I've never actually met one of these people and I question their existence.

 

[jayem]

In my case, atheism just seemed to come naturally. My family was not strongly religious, but we did go to services sometimes. I had some Sunday school religious instruction as a youngster. But even as a kid, I never really internalized it. It never made much impact on me. I think I went along with it just to get along. As a young teenager, when I started to think more philosophically, I realized I just didn't really believe what religion was saying. When I got to college, and studied some religion and philososphy, my non-belief was reinforced. And it's been that way ever since.

 

[CoderHead]

I grew up in the church and was a Christian until I was 19. Then I finally began to think on my own. It had nothing to do with Christians and everything to do with Christianity.

 

[Eudaimonist]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. [...] Is it true? I'm curious.

No, it's not true, at least in my case.

While I certainly did have my complaints about the antics of televangelists such as Pat Robertson while I was deconverting, it really wasn't the Christians who were the issue. If it was, I would probably have either 1) become a very liberal Christian, 2) adopted some other religion, or 3) adopted New Age beliefs. But I became an atheist and a naturalist.

No, the number one reason for leaving Christianity had to do with the implausibility and unevidenced nature of Christian dogma.

I think that Christians tell each other that Christians themselves are to blame because 1) they can't accept that anyone could conclude that Christians beliefs are mistaken, and 2) it gives them an opportunity to prod Christians into becoming better Christians.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[quatona]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

As for me, it isn´t true.
I simply find the theological claims and concepts in Christianity somewhere on the scale between naive and absurd (depending on the branch of Christianity).
I´m living in Europe, there are comparably few of those "really religious ones", and most people around me are Christians whom I get along with well.
Preachers and zealots (for whatever worldview) can be a nuisance indeed, but that is of no significance for my opinion on the subject itself.

 

[Penumbra]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

I don't think so.

I'm a non-Christian based on my understanding of the religion itself; not simply because of the actions of the adherents.

-Lyn

 

[InkBlott]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

For me there are two questions here as I don't see atheism and Christianity as mutually exclusive. I am an atheist because I find the definition of the term 'God' too vague to be addressed. I also find Christianity's claims as to its supernatural elements unconvincing, but that would not be enough to stop me from embracing the mythos if I saw true value in it. I did for a long time find value in it. I walked away from Christianity because there seems to be a maddening contradiction in the gospel that pays lip service to reaching out to the marginalized in society while encouraging and rewarding the mapping out of new out-groups as a means of protecting and propagating it. This contradiction was brought to my attention by means of the behavior of no small number of Christians. So, indirectly, the answer to that aspect of your question, in my case, is yes.

 

[70x7]

No. Most people aren't Christian because they were brought up in some other religion or found another religion that better suits their needs. A few bad apples in Christianity may put off a few people, but if anything, I believe they better reinforce a preconceived notion of Christianity rather than serve as the prime motivator. And the number who are actually turned off to Christianity by such actions has to be extremely small.

Therin lies the problem...trying to find a religion that fits THIER needs. Shouldn't people be trying to please God instead of looking for a god that pleases them? Of course doing so, takes a sort of accountablility out of the equation so maybe thats why they do it.

 

[nolongerhome]

Therin lies the problem...trying to find a religion that fits THIER needs. Shouldn't people be trying to please God instead of looking for a god that pleases them? Of course doing so, takes a sort of accountablility out of the equation so maybe thats why they do it.

Well, the greater problem is working out which God is the God you should be pleasing, isn't it?

 

[The Nihilist]

Therin lies the problem...trying to find a religion that fits THIER needs. Shouldn't people be trying to please God instead of looking for a god that pleases them? Of course doing so, takes a sort of accountablility out of the equation so maybe thats why they do it.

If I remember correctly, all good works are as dust and ash to your god, so why bother?

On a somewhat unrelated note, do y'all happen to worship my exgirlfriend?

 

[InkBlott]

Therin lies the problem...trying to find a religion that fits THIER needs. Shouldn't people be trying to please God instead of looking for a god that pleases them? Of course doing so, takes a sort of accountablility out of the equation so maybe thats why they do it.

Why are humans obligated to make an account to God?

 

[Danhalen]

I think, for me, it's the whole disbelief in the existence of deities thing that makes me an atheist.

 

[EnemyPartyII]

People around here say that the number one reason people aren't christians is because of christians themselves. As in...the really religious ones who go around trying to force it on people and preaching over people like there's no tomorrow...Is it true? I'm curious.

I can honestly say that the biggest possible threat to my faith is over zealous, condemnatory, holier-than-thou Biblical literalist Christians.

 

[InkBlott]

I can honestly say that the biggest possible threat to my faith is over zealous, condemnatory, holier-than-thou Biblical literalist Christians.

I'm curious why that is for you. Is it simply that you would walk away in order to visibly and literally disassociate yourself from them, or does their behavior cause you to actually question Christianity (its truth claims, its potential to transform, its aesthetic beauty or some such)?