Happy Atheist Forum

subject says it all

  I don't get it.  You, a Christian, are asking for Christianity's thoughts on an atheist website?  Did you forget the word 'on' between thoughts and CHRISTIANITY?  Or is Christianity now a sentient entity which can somehow send you its collective thoughts?  So confused...

I sent mine telepathically.

Quote from: "elliebean"I sent mine telepathically.

Beaten

Shit, I guess snail mail ain't what it used to be.

Only after you have commented on all the work that got put into your last thread, we are not here for your entertainment you know  

Jesus' nails. Thor's hammer. Nuff said.

my thoughts
lolrfllmao

As stated before,

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fdeusexeverriculum.files.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F06%2Fthor.jpg&hash=8598f935a452193535943ab254f44e80d1c864eb)

Actually, I will bite and give an answer.  I am aware of the "do not feed troll" rule... but what the hell

What I have learned and have been taught is that the word Christian means "Christ-like."  Some loose extrapolation the word "Christianity" can be termed "living Christ-like."  Or simply put, living like Christ.

What strikes me odd is that today's Christians are anything but Christ-like.  Yes, I am painting a broad stereotype and I apologize because I do know Christians who are truly Christ-like, and they have my admiration because they are living among the poor and the sick.  Yet, of the many churches I have joined and of the many congregations I have been a part of, all I have ever seen and experienced is cleverly disguised anger, bigotry, racism, cronyism,sexism, and political intrusion.

So taking the Church as a whole, the mega-churches, and the ones I live near, I see something more of a Paul-ianity.  What was that?  Pauline Christianity, when I read the epistles, I saw an angry person full of loath and hate.  Paul wrote to a doctrine of exclusion "If you are not one of us, then you are going to hell."

I do not see evidence of Christ, things like

Do not judge less you be judge
Love your neighbor as yourself
When I was sick you cared for me, when I was alone you gave me company
Forgive your neighbor seventy times seven

What I see is "...For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." - Romans Chapter 1

"Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, Unmerciful. Who knowing the righteous judgment of God, that they who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in those that practice them." More from Romans Chapter 1 (in context he is referring to homosexuality, but still...)

Oh and it gets better when you read onto Romans Chapter 2

"Therefore thou art inexcusable [WHOA!], O man, whosoever thou art that judgest [WHOA AGAIN]; for in that thou judgest [OUCH] the other, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest practisest [OUCH] the same things. For we know that the judgment of God is according to truth, against them who practice such things. And thinkest thou this, man, who judgest [AND OUCH] them that practice such things, and dost the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God [OUCH AND DOUBLE OUCH]?"

So much for, "Judge not lest ye be judged."

Like I said, everywhere I look I see Pauliantiy full of hate and anger, but I don't see the essence of Christ.

My thoughts on Christianity?

Christianity is a... religion... that some people feel quite strongly about... and some people act on those strong feelings... and other people take advantage of them, which is easy because it holds both blind faith and obeying authority to be virtues...
Yeah, that's about it.

Quote from: "deekayfry"Actually, I will bite and give an answer.  I am aware of the "do not feed troll" rule... but what the hell ;)

Be nice  

Quote from: "Heretical Rants"

Quote from: "deekayfry"Actually, I will bite and give an answer.  I am aware of the "do not feed troll" rule... but what the hell ;)

Be nice  :|   I thought he was responding to a different thread/poster and well..... mentioned not feeding trolls..... would help if I could see over the stack of books and dishes between our computers

My thoughts on christianity?

I despise it.

Next question?

Quote from: "KDbeads"

Quote from: "Heretical Rants"

Quote from: "deekayfry"Actually, I will bite and give an answer.  I am aware of the "do not feed troll" rule... but what the hell ;)

Be nice  :|   I thought he was responding to a different thread/poster and well..... mentioned not feeding trolls..... would help if I could see over the stack of books and dishes between our computers :)  Ah the bliss of ignorance  :blush:

Now he's trying to embarrass me ;)

Do a search on my name in the Religion forum and you'll get all the thoughts you'll need from me...*wink*

I see christianity as a religion of hipocresy.  Christians don´t practice what they preach, and viceversa.

Quote from: "Argie"I see christianity as a religion of hipocresy.  Christians don´t practice what they preach, and viceversa.

And a bloody good thing to! They don't kill homosexuals nor keep slaves.  

Torture a Bible long enough and you can use it to justify worse things than that.

you see Tank?  they (most of them hopefully) certainly don´t kill homosexuals, but many would certainly  like to... some christians oppose homosexuals, rally against them... but in practice some of them are gay or pedophile.  How many catholic priests and pastors are child abusers and/or where themselves victims of abuse; or at least actively enjoy the company of sex partners of the same gender?  But then they keep that in silence and still have the tupè of opposing gay rights.  In my book I call that hipocresy.

Are there good people who call themselves Christians?

Quote from: "Tank"Are there good people who call themselves Christians?

I have a very close friend, he's in his mid 50s, gay and also Christian.  He organizes food drives for the local food bank and generally is a very loving, helpful guy.  I think he's a good person.  So there's at least one, if my opinion of what a good person is matters.  =D

I think Christians are just like any other group - there are good people and bad people involved.  The ratio is different in each group, but if all it takes to be a Christian is the belief in Jesus Christ as lord and savior, then of course there are good people who call themselves Christians.

I like to think there are good people out there in spite of religion.  Like many of you, I too, know many good Christians, but deep down, they hold some internal beliefs that would scare a lot of us, if we get them to open up.  A lot of Christians will say things against Homosexuals and when I ask them why they think the way they do, it's almost always because it's what was taught to them from the bible and some preacher/s.  I often ask them the question if they didn't have to believe a certain way would they change their attitudes against, say, homosexuals; and nearly all of them say that they would.  How's that for brain washing?

As for my thoughts on Christianity, sorry, I'd get booted off the site if I attempted to give you all my thoughts.  It would take days and many pages to get them all out.  Hopefully, my book, Blood is NOT Thicker Than Religion will be out next year and maybe I can send all of you a signed copy.

Christianity is no different from any other religion. Its adherents haven't come to the realization that God is made up, nor are they encouraged to give it any thought at all. You get enough people like that together and there's big money to be made.

Quote from: "Tank"Are there good people who call themselves Christians?

You see?...and quite seriously...I have a real problem with this...sort of.

It's difficult for me to get over it. But are there really good Christians? After all, I've heard some say they would be immoral without their god or Jesus. Christianity dangles a reward and failure system in front of its believers. They MUST be good to get into heaven. Pretty much like the carrot and stick, you think?
So the question is, Can ex-Christians/non-Christians be good without the Christian Gods or threat and reward system?

Quote from: "Gawen"

Quote from: "Tank"Are there good people who call themselves Christians?

You see?...and quite seriously...I have a real problem with this...sort of.

It's difficult for me to get over it. But are there really good Christians?

Why wouldn't there be? You may as well ask if there are any good people in this world. Anyway, most Christians only go to church on Sunday and that's it. Most people really don't think about things very much at all. And everybody is a human being.

That's why we have forums like this, to spew it all out. But I don't think it's a good thing to be predisposed against anyone, not to the point where you're convinced that there are no good people in one group or another. Yes, as far as I know there are good people who consider themselves to be Christians. And I know at least one or two real ignorant sons-of-bitches who are atheist.

You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven. Take away that reward and ask, can there be good Christians? Go further and take away the god, can there be good Christians? IOW's, can Christians be good because it's the right thing to do....

...or because there's a God given carrot and a stick?

Quote from: "Gawen"You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven. Take away that reward and ask, can there be good Christians? Go further and take away the god, can there be good Christians? IOW's, can Christians be good because it's the right thing to do....

...or because there's a God given carrot and a stick?

While the anticipated reward of entry into heaven (and/or the escape from punishment in hell) may often be the stated justification for the good behavior of many christians, I suspect it's seldom their actual motivation. When I was a christian, I usually did the right thing because it was the right thing. In fact, when I did the wrong thing it was often out of fear of the aforementioned punishment. So I was generally a good person, but now I'm a better one.

Some of my best friends, and many fine people (as well, he said with a smirk), are Christians.

The fact that a person has flawed thinking doesn't make them a bad person; it depends on where the flaw lies, and how deep it runs.

Quote from: "Gawen"You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven.

I very much doubt that most people who consider themselves to be Christian think that way, if they think all.

Oops. I just did it myself!

Quote from: "Gawen"You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven. Take away that reward and ask, can there be good Christians? Go further and take away the god, can there be good Christians? IOW's, can Christians be good because it's the right thing to do....

...or because there's a God given carrot and a stick?

Is this not a bit presumptuous?

Quote from: "Gawen"You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven. Take away that reward and ask, can there be good Christians? Go further and take away the god, can there be good Christians? IOW's, can Christians be good because it's the right thing to do....

...or because there's a God given carrot and a stick?

I think some Christians might only be good because they want to get to heaven, but to say that because being a good Christian ensures entry into heaven, every Christian is good only because they want to ensure entry into heaven is a pretty huge assumption regarding a very large group of vastly different people.

Another argument to be made is - does anyone do good things only because it's the right thing to do or do we all do good things at least in part because of some personal carrot on a stick?  I do good things because I like helping people and it makes me feel good.  If someone else does good things because they like helping people and they want to get into heaven, I don't see how that's much different.  

Not to mention the complication of deciding which actions are considered "good" in the first place...

Quote from: "Thumpalumpacus"

Quote from: "Gawen"You missed my point, i am i. Christians are good so they can gain entrance into heaven. Take away that reward and ask, can there be good Christians? Go further and take away the god, can there be good Christians? IOW's, can Christians be good because it's the right thing to do....

...or because there's a God given carrot and a stick?

Is this not a bit presumptuous?

I don't think it steps over any bounds of propriety or courtesy. Less rude than a Christian telling me I'm going to hell for not believing in his god.

Christians are stuck between a rock and a hard god. It's God's rules and God's morals. If one obeys such rules and morals, they get everlasting life. But...
I've heard it too many times...a Christian says without God he'd feel free to pillage, plunder and rape.

A Christian is good because his God tells him to be good and there's a reward for being good.  If there is no reward or even no God...what then?

Quote from: "Gawen"A Christian is good because his God tells him to be good and there's a reward for being good.  If there is no reward or even no God...what then?

They grow up a little bit and start figuring it out for themselves, unless they find some other authority figure push the responsibility off on.

Quote from: "Gawen"Christians are stuck between a rock and a hard god. It's God's rules and God's morals. If one obeys such rules and morals, they get everlasting life.

Not the way I (an evangelical Christian) view things.  This is also not the biblical view imo, and I don't believe it is the most common view within Christian circles.  I think there is a relationship between obeying God's rules/doing good things and salvation, it just isn't a casual relationship.

Quote from: "Gawen"I've heard it too many times...a Christian says without God he'd feel free to pillage, plunder and rape.

If they're saying that they would feel free to do immoral acts if they didn't think God was real, I honestly think they're kidding themselves.  In my opinion, all humans share an innate sense of moral responsibility regardless of their religious beliefs, which these people would still have to deal with.

Quote from: "Gawen"I don't think it steps over any bounds of propriety or courtesy. Less rude than a Christian telling me I'm going to hell for not believing in his god.

Christians are stuck between a rock and a hard god. It's God's rules and God's morals. If one obeys such rules and morals, they get everlasting life. But...
I've heard it too many times...a Christian says without God he'd feel free to pillage, plunder and rape.

A Christian is good because his God tells him to be good and there's a reward for being good.  If there is no reward or even no God...what then?

I didn't say you were being rude.  I said you were being presumptuous, i.e. presuming something.  The reason why I say that your above post is presumptuous is because you have no way of knowing the hearst of any but a few believers.  To generalize from such a small sample is not only unreasonable, but unfair.

Christians may ascribe their morality to god, but, to be honest, I don't think there is a god, and so, no matter their attribution, I think that Christian morals come from Christians themselves, for better and for worse.

I'm not so sure they'd rampage if somehow we positively disproved god.  Even if I did think so, I'd have to pony up some evidence in order to construct a convincing argument.