Why i hate hating religion

[Byzantine Mercenary]

Belief systems should be tested. Those that fail, often squeal about the fact that they have been tested. They don't consider that they may have learned something in the process of testing, nor do they consider that the break may point to a better understanding.

of course, i agree!
thats why i suggested i method of testing, ''have a go at believing it first'' that is the best way to test anything.

I challenge some of the athisits who wish to test christianity, to attend an alpha course for a few weeks at your local church and talk with the people there about religion. I used to have many doubts, although i had never ceased being a christian i tested my faith and all of the arugments i could find against god fell to pieces! try it!

[Slyspy]

Or not! It is, after all, an individual choice.

[Mongoose]

"I used to have many doubts, although i had never ceased being a christian i tested my faith and all of the arugments i could find against god fell to pieces! try it!"

??? Can you explain why you think it fell to pieces? Otherwise, I think that it sounds like you went off to a 2 week brainwashing session

[Byzantine Mercenary]

"I used to have many doubts, although i had never ceased being a christian i tested my faith and all of the arugments i could find against god fell to pieces! try it!"

??? Can you explain why you think it fell to pieces? Otherwise, I think that it sounds like you went off to a 2 week brainwashing session

well, i hadn't quite understood what god meant up to then, there was a lot i didn't know or understand about religion. I can assure you i wasn't brainwashed! i still hold different beliefs then the others at the alpha group have and still argue with some of what they said. However the experience was very benificial, even though i did not join their church (they didn't mind if i did or not) due to time constraints.

[Weebeast]

I think if believers can keep their faith to themselves all this bashing/hating wouldn't have happened. I got this "leave me alone, I leave you alone" policy. Believers always break it. The dissapointment in non-believers has thickened so now they attack in any given moment.

I was a believer once (I still am. I just threw out most things except the god part). I knew I didn't have to make other people do what I do to secure my position in heaven. It seems hard for most believers to realize that.

[Byzantine Mercenary]

I think if believers can keep their faith to themselves all this bashing/hating wouldn't have happened. I got this "leave me alone, I leave you alone" policy. Believers always break it. The dissapointment in non-believers has thickened so now they attack in any given moment.

I was a believer once (I still am. I just threw out most things except the god part). I knew I didn't have to make other people do what I do to secure my position in heaven. It seems hard for most believers to realize that.

Yeah, but all believers get grouped together with the few who think that you can forcebly convert someone.

The fact is the athists i have met who have tryed to argue against me start talking about god first, its not me that starts it!

Also many who do convert others (not forcebly though only if someone is interested in converting) are not doing it to increase their standing with god but because they want to share the happyness that god has brought them.

Isn't that the whole idea after all that we are all forgiven, all we need to do is accept that forgivness

[Weebeast]

I'm not talking about how religious people invite me to their special place in god's arm. I was actually talking about how religious people always tell me what to do and keep me away from the stuff that's viewed as wrong in their eye. You may not be one of them, but it's clear that the tolerance that you magnify isn't what I get from religious people in general. I appreciate that they wanna share happiness with me. There's fine line between sharing hapiness and being a ridiculously intolerant bigot. Considering all these religions are just 'faiths,' it angers people even more.

This is how the 'hate' originated.

[Adrian II]

The fact is the athists i have met who have tryed to argue against me start talking about god first, its not me that starts it!

Christian friends of mine have similar experiences. Over at Sp!ked, Frank Furedi has another smart little essay in which he blames this obsessive religion-bashing on the lack of inner conviction of the critics themselves.

He also addresses some of the subtler points I touched on in my post, such as the increasing institutional and cultural irrelevance of Christianity. On the subject of the Chronicles of Narnia movie, he writes:

It is a sign of the times that even some of the people associated with the making of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe self-consciously deny that the film has a Christian agenda. 'We believe we have not made a religious movie', said Dennis Rice, Disney's senior vice president of publicity.

The attempts to dissociate the film from any explicit Christian project are not only motivated by commercial thinking. Despite the claims of the anti-religious crusaders - especially in the US - that the Christian right is on the rise, in fact in cultural terms it is increasingly marginalised. Films with a Christian message find it difficult to convey a powerful sense of faith and meaning. Instead, religious values and beliefs tend to be transmitted through non-human anthropomorphic forms.

The attempt to endow even the behaviour of penguins with transcendental meaning - in the widely acclaimed March of the Penguins - is symptomatic of this theological illiteracy. The enthusiasm with which Christian organisations embraced March of the Penguins showed up their disorientation, if not desperation, rather than their aggressive confidence. After the penguin it is the turn of another animal - Aslan, the lion in the Narnia film - to serve as a symbol of innocence, sacrifice and resurrection. What beast will Christian filmmakers pick next?

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