Why I am not a Christian anymore

[Servant68]

I know that not everyone shares the same belief, but it does seem that most people in these forums share the same essential theologically conservative fundamental doctrines as defined in the evangelical, non-denominational, Southern Baptist churches, etc.

Liberal Christianity is a large movement, whether you realize it or not.

I have had the opposite experience of you on these forums in that I have had my faith seriously challenged due to the prominence of liberal Christians.

I simply don't understand how someone can read the Bible and claim to believe in Jesus and God and yet support a political movement that seeks to suppress Christianity, supports homosexuality, and condones the murder of babies.

It's hypocrisy of the highest order. I have come close to simply not coming to this site any longer because I have found the moderation to lean heavily leftist and I don't want to support a site that is a shill for the enemy.

 

[Hieronymus]

O, America...
Why does everything have to be Donkey versus Elephant?
Didn't Paul explain to us that it's eventually God who puts people in positions of power?
Was he even referring to the puppets in the media, and not the same old powers that (shouldn't) be behind the curtains, who are pulling the strings?

 

[Strathos]

I have had the opposite experience of you on these forums in that I have had my faith seriously challenged due to the prominence of liberal Christians.

I simply don't understand how someone can read the Bible and claim to believe in Jesus and God and yet support a political movement that seeks to suppress Christianity, supports homosexuality, and condones the murder of babies.

It's hypocrisy of the highest order. I have come close to simply not coming to this site any longer because I have found the moderation to lean heavily leftist and I don't want to support a site that is a shill for the enemy.

I don't do anything to suppress Christianity.

I don't "support" homosexuality, but rather recognize that in a secular democracy, homosexuals have the same rights as other citizens.

I don't condone abortion, but I am pragmatic about it. Comprehensive sex education and available birth control have proven to be the most effective methods to reduce abortion. Attempting to outright ban it just leads to more unsafe abortions that have a high chance of killing the mother as well. In more liberal countries the statistics show that there are fewer abortions.

 

[Servant68]

I don't do anything to suppress Christianity.

I don't "support" homosexuality, but rather recognize that in a secular democracy, homosexuals have the same rights as other citizens.

I don't condone abortion, but I am pragmatic about it. Comprehensive sex education and available birth control have proven to be the most effective methods to reduce abortion. Attempting to outright ban it just leads to more unsafe abortions that have a high chance of killing the mother as well. In more liberal countries the statistics show that there are fewer abortions.

I'm happy for you in that you have been able to rationalize your beliefs. I don't share them.

 

[Strathos]

I'm happy for you in that you have been able to rationalize your beliefs. I don't share them.

And I don't begrudge you that.

 

[ImAllLikeOkWaitWat]

I read this whole thread and I'm still not exactly sure if this thread is about why hes not a christian anymore or about politics. I don't understand why politics or the behavior of other christians has anything to do with whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ and that he died and was raised for your sins. I do find a lot of the reasons people give for leaving the faith like saying well theres a lack of evidence or I don't like the christians around me or its too restrictive. As far as lack of evidence if you said you were a christian before then the evidence mustve been sufficient enough at some point and the evidence hasn't changed so why have you. And as far as not liking christians around you, that still has no basis on whether or not God is real, Jesus is real and died for your sins or not. If former christians will just say no I just don't want to believe anymore that is something that makes more sense given some of these reasons for leaving the faith.

 

[Cearbhall]

If you read it like some sort of a political manifest then Id suggest you go to catechesis somewhere.

How did you get that out of OP saying "social justice"? Jesus was all about social justice. That is the central point of his historical significance and his cultural impact in his society. And ideally, every single Christian would continue to live out his philosophy today. If you consider that to be political, then fine, it's political, but that label doesn't discredit it.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

How did you get that out of OP saying "social justice"? Jesus was all about social justice. That is the central point of his historical significance and his cultural impact in his society. And ideally, every single Christian would continue to live out his philosophy today. If you consider that to be political, then fine, it's political, but that label doesn't discredit it.

No, he's all about the salvation of mankind.
If you're the best human on earth, but without faith in Christ you'll not see heaven.

Christ is all about redeeming the world, but if we love him it should flow naturally for us to love our neighbors.

It's not about politics at all.

 

[( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)]

I don't what Bible you've been reading, but the one I know isn't about social justice. It's about God's love to mankind which culminated in His Son coming to earth to die for the sins of people who were hopelessly entangled in the bondage of sin. And because He didn't stay in the grave but rose from dead, proves that He is the only means to eternal life. He is eternal life.

I'm sorry to hear about your turning away from the faith. My prayer is that God will give you mercy to the acknowledging of the Truth. I don't know what your experience was like when you were involved in the church. All that really doesn't matter anyway unless you have a relationship with Jesus. But I'm sure He's not done with you yet. Whether you were truly saved or not. He's going to do everything possible to speak to you in order that you will be saved. It's going to be up to you to whether or not you will hear or fobear.

 

[elliott95]

I used to be a Christian until I read the Bible. I was heavily involved with singles and other church activities.

But the Bible really opened my eyes. It was not at all about "Christianity" as people on these forums would describe it. I know that not everyone shares the same belief, but it does seem that most people in these forums share the same essential theologically conservative fundamental doctrines as defined in the evangelical, non-denominational, Southern Baptist churches, etc.

The core message of the Bible is really social justice.

But it seems like most of the Christians I knew when I was in singles ministries were not into that at all. In fact, these people seemed to be the kind of people that the Bible was always condemning. And when I read the Bible in full I knew that it was condemning ME, because I used to be a Pharisee (in spirit).

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not God. I am not all knowing. Maybe conservatism is good. Maybe a balance between the left and right is good. But that is not the message of the Bible. In fact, I think that anything you find in the Bible which supports "conservative" values was done so in a mocking way.

In other words, you can have conservative values. And they may even be God's values. But they were not the values of the writers of the Bible.

So you are actually okay with the Bible, but it is the Christians here that you cannot stand?

 

[Soyeong]

I used to be a Christian until I read the Bible. I was heavily involved with singles and other church activities.

But the Bible really opened my eyes. It was not at all about "Christianity" as people on these forums would describe it. I know that not everyone shares the same belief, but it does seem that most people in these forums share the same essential theologically conservative fundamental doctrines as defined in the evangelical, non-denominational, Southern Baptist churches, etc.

The core message of the Bible is really social justice.

But it seems like most of the Christians I knew when I was in singles ministries were not into that at all. In fact, these people seemed to be the kind of people that the Bible was always condemning. And when I read the Bible in full I knew that it was condemning ME, because I used to be a Pharisee (in spirit).

Now, don't get me wrong. I am not God. I am not all knowing. Maybe conservatism is good. Maybe a balance between the left and right is good. But that is not the message of the Bible. In fact, I think that anything you find in the Bible which supports "conservative" values was done so in a mocking way.

In other words, you can have conservative values. And they may even be God's values. But they were not the values of the writers of the Bible.

Jesus taught nothing brand new that wasn't based on OT Scripture and taught against the hypocrisy and innovation of the Pharisees of setting aside the commands of God in order to follow their own traditions, who wanted to outwardly look good for helping people while inwardly their hearts were far from God (Matthew 15:1-9). Jesus said that the greatest two commands were to love God and our neighbor, so while it is true to say that Christianity is about loving our neighbor, it would be entirely missing the who point to focus on that to the exclusion of loving God. While conservatives might disagree with others about the best way to love our neighbor, and might have room to improve how much we love our neighbor, it is not like loving our neighbor isn't a conservative value. The fact that Christians fail to live up to what the Bible teaches does not that Jesus did not rise from the death.

 

[Sketcher]

Ah, yes. You're back.

Has it ever occurred to you that your interpretation of Scripture might be wrong, and that people who disagreed with you politically might not be going against Scripture after all?

 

[Saucy]

Ah, yes. You're back.

Has it ever occurred to you that your interpretation of Scripture might be wrong, and that people who disagreed with you politically might not be going against Scripture after all?

Yes, we can certainly disagree with each other without accusing the other of not being a good enough Christian or pushing away a brother or sister because of who they voted for. At the end of the day, none of this matters.

 

[Swan7]

as far as not liking christians around you, that still has no basis on whether or not God is real, Jesus is real and died for your sins or not.

Yep, this was me for a long time. However, I did not deny God's existence. In my heart I knew, but I did not put my faith/trust in Him then. He opened my eyes to see His language in the Bible when I fully gave my life to Jesus. There really is a fine line between surface reading and reading with the Holy Spirit.

 

[Barney]

In other words, you can have conservative values. And they may even be God's values. But they were not the values of the writers of the Bible.

The Bible is more "conservative" than just about any Christian you've ever met. It teaches uncompromising moral values and faithfulness.

I think you've been drinking the "don't judge" Kool-Aid, which is served by some "Christians", which causes you to judge Christians when they profess moral and conservative values.

 

[radhead]

Okay then you were never a Christian.

I certainly never fit completely in with the Non-Denom/fundamentalist churches. But your definition is not necessarily the correct one.

 

[radhead]

I have had the opposite experience of you on these forums in that I have had my faith seriously challenged due to the prominence of liberal Christians.

I simply don't understand how someone can read the Bible and claim to believe in Jesus and God and yet support a political movement that seeks to suppress Christianity, supports homosexuality, and condones the murder of babies.

It's hypocrisy of the highest order. I have come close to simply not coming to this site any longer because I have found the moderation to lean heavily leftist and I don't want to support a site that is a shill for the enemy.

You have chosen to worship an Atrocity which is the product of your own mind. Though I think that it probably tends to come from another unmentionable part of the body.

How the heck does someone put such petty concerns over love, peace, and justice. That kind of "faith" is simply a projection of your own mind onto God.

 

[radhead]

duplicate

 

[radhead]

I read this whole thread and I'm still not exactly sure if this thread is about why hes not a christian anymore or about politics. I don't understand why politics or the behavior of other christians has anything to do with whether or not you believe in Jesus Christ and that he died and was raised for your sins. I do find a lot of the reasons people give for leaving the faith like saying well theres a lack of evidence or I don't like the christians around me or its too restrictive. As far as lack of evidence if you said you were a christian before then the evidence mustve been sufficient enough at some point and the evidence hasn't changed so why have you. And as far as not liking christians around you, that still has no basis on whether or not God is real, Jesus is real and died for your sins or not. If former christians will just say no I just don't want to believe anymore that is something that makes more sense given some of these reasons for leaving the faith.

Actually, the Bible refers to "faith" in Jesus Christ. But that is not what Christians think that is means.

Before Jesus, the people were worshiping Caesar. He was known as: the way, the truth, the light of the world, the savior, son of God. When the early Christians came along they were literally committing blasphemy and treason by applying those same names to their "own guy".

Their "own guy" was a lowly servant who humbled himself and took a nonviolent stand against the worldly powers, those powers which today (in evangelical Christianity) still reject the message of love, peace, and social justice. They are the true antichrist because they have replaced the image of the lamb with the image of a beast who has fooled many people into thinking he conquered a mortal wound (Revelation 13) but the Beast really represents the worship of Caesar under the new name of Jesus Christ.

The antichrist is great in number, and uses his name. I don't know of any other group which fits that description.

 

[radhead]

...Read the gospels if you don't believe me. In John, Jesus doesn't look quite the same after he "magically" reappears. His apostles are, strangely, not that excited to see him. You really have to read between the lines when you read the Bible or the truth will remain hidden from plain view. Evangelical Christians cannot see their own hands in front of their faces.