News:

if there were no need for 'engineers from the quantum plenum' then we should not have any unanswered scientific questions.

Main Menu

Questions & Answers @ God

Started by 8imon, December 05, 2008, 03:00:28 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

BadPoison

Quote from: "McQ"
Quote from: "laetusatheos"
Quote from: "Sophus"Oh come now, I don't think they're bad people for it. They are sincere about their beliefs so I find it flattery that they would care enough to try and ensure that I'll live my life to the fullest or save me from hell when it is done in a respectful manner such as this.

I found it condescending...maybe i read too much into "I hope provide you atleast a little more knowledge."

Many christians, at least the evangelically minded, and fundies, seem to think that atheists are completely unschooled in the bible or religion. They think we've simply never heard "the good news of jesus christ". Or that we've had a bad life experience of some kind, got mad at god, and rejected him. They see us as their figurative "prodigal sons (and daughters)", or as their lost sheep. Most of them mean well, but they sure as hell can act very condescending about it. Been there, done that. I remember thinking, as a former evangelically minded christian myself, that these poor atheists just don't know about god, but if I only take the time to teach them, then all will be well.

Yeah, I admit it. It was the way I thought, to be very honest. I'm sure many people found me irritating and condescending (hmmm....maybe not much has changed over the years -  :D

I know exactly what you mean. I used to find myself thinking "if only these atheists would open themselves up to the love of Christ, all their doubts would be alleviated."

Ha!

How naive was I. And this was when I was a teenager. It seems so juvenile in retrospect (indoctrination is a biatch) - it's unfortunate that adults still have the same juvenile understanding of their own religion.

joeactor

Ok, so this was obviously a hit-n-run troll, but there is an interesting point in the follow-up posts...

Why do "they" want to convert "us"?

The cynic might think money, power, or conformity are good answers, but is that truly representative of the majority of religious poeple?

This is the perfect time for JoeActor's "Train Analogy"!

Imagine you are walking near some railroad tracks, and see a small child playing on them, and (of course) a train is coming down the tracks.  The child doesn't seem aware of the danger, so you react by rushing over and snatching them from the jaws of almost certain peril!

For some, this is how they view non-believers.  We are children - oblivious to the peril that our very souls are doomed to undergo.  It is imperitive that they at least attempt to save us (from damnation, ignorance, the train, etc).

Conversely, many non-believers view believers as children.  Ones who have not grown enough to see the obvious flaws in their fairy-tale beliefs, so are doomed to waste the only life they have.

Maybe we're all just blind men describing an elephant,
JoeActor

curiosityandthecat

Quote from: "joeactor"Ok, so this was obviously a hit-n-run troll, but there is an interesting point in the follow-up posts...

Why do "they" want to convert "us"?

The cynic might think money, power, or conformity are good answers, but is that truly representative of the majority of religious poeple?

This is the perfect time for JoeActor's "Train Analogy"!

Imagine you are walking near some railroad tracks, and see a small child playing on them, and (of course) a train is coming down the tracks.  The child doesn't seem aware of the danger, so you react by rushing over and snatching them from the jaws of almost certain peril!

For some, this is how they view non-believers.  We are children - oblivious to the peril that our very souls are doomed to undergo.  It is imperitive that they at least attempt to save us (from damnation, ignorance, the train, etc).

Conversely, many non-believers view believers as children.  Ones who have not grown enough to see the obvious flaws in their fairy-tale beliefs, so are doomed to waste the only life they have.

Maybe we're all just blind men describing an elephant,
JoeActor

Can't I have just a little bit of peril?

(That reminds me... time for a thought-experiment post.)
-Curio