SithLord

Why do evangelicals feel like they are the end all be all?

Have any of you ever experienced a situation where you were living life having a great time and suddenly found yourself "outed" as a non-believer?

The transformation of your so called kind hearted christians is amazing to watch. I've seen people become outcasts and one guy flat out lost his job once the stonewalling began because he couldn't get promoted and a lot of his colleagues became less cooperative. Now granted the guy did become vocal about his beliefs once they were known and got into plenty of water cooler debates that left a few feathers ruffled. But what happened to him amounts to no less than religious bigotry any way you slice it.

So I ask you. Why do Christians oppress non-believers? Yes I used the word oppress. Believers do everything they can to make non-believers not fit in to their society. Ask any atheist to tell their christian friends he/she is an atheist. They will be looked at like something is wrong with them. Become an outcast and I guarantee at least one will try to save their soul (read: force their beliefs on them).

vlad

my friend has told me on numerous occasions that throughout high school he often experienced situations like this. he has told me that he would either be friends with someone or even just barely know them and because of the way he looked or the things he was or perhaps wasn't involved in they would try to convert him. he would always respond with, "how do you even have any idea what my beliefs are?" this angered him, and i can definitely understand why, but having spent my share of time on the other side, i don't feel anger or hatred towards christians...more accurately, i feel pity. I can remember in high school trying to convert others to christianity, people that i didn't know, that i had never even spoken to at times and the only thing that inspired me to take these actions was fear. I spent my entire childhood through high school attending a baptist church and every other little function that had to do with God. Everytime I sat through a function the preacher or whoever was leading the assembly would "encourage" us to lead others to Jesus...but in actuality it was more like they were scaring us into it. I don't think anyone actually said that if you weren't leading others to Christ on a regular basis then you are going to hell, but they did say that if you weren't then you aren't doing God's will, and if you aren't doing God's will then you aren't living the life God has called you to which then in turn meant that you must not have faith in God and that yes indeed meant that you would be going to hell. It always frustrated me...I mean come on, what does a 15 year old know about anything. but i was so afraid that if i didn't attempt it then i was doomed for eternal damnation.

a lot of christians make atheists feel like outsiders because it makes them feel better about themselves. it's like when you are in high school (some people carry this on itno the workfoce) and you talk bad about your peers because it makes you look better or feel better. I think Christians do the same thing. it's like, well if that person doesn't even believe in God then I have an even better chance of going to heaven. this idea is extremely ridiculous because isn't the christian religion supposed to be based on faith not on works. but like i said before, i feel sorry for them, because they are motivated out of fear. they are afraid to ask deeper questions and admit that they may be wrong. and coming from that side, i completely understand where they are coming from. so if i were you i wouldn't hate them or feel anger towards them, but i would just feel better that instead of taking the word of some ancient men who wrote about a prophet long long ago just because it has been taught for so many years, you instead have decided to use your brain to attempt to find the truth or at least accept the fact that we may never know.

}SoC{Sumguy

any christian who would distance themselves from you or oppress you for not being christian is not acting in the true spirit of christ. a good christian should, if you are not christian, try to get to know you and be your freind even more than if you were a christian. being a good example and reaching out to those who havent come to christ yet is the true christian way.

i hope that that this never happens to you again. God bless.

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."

mtatum4496

It is important to remember that this sort of thing occurs whenever there is one particular faith stance that is at least marginally held by the majority of persons in a given location.

Over the years, I have seen Jews marginalize Catholics, Muslims marginalize Greek Orthodox, Baptists marginalize Pentecostals - the list goes on and on. I've also visited in UU churches where atheism was the strongest philisophical influence in that congregation, and the condescention shown toward anyone who held to theism or deism in any form was very direct and palatable.

Any way you cut it, bigotry is bigotry. It is not becoming on anyone. Unfortunately, bigotry also seems to be one of the most equal-opportunity phenomenons we humans experience. Nothing - be is race, gender, sexual orientation, religious or philisophical understandings - automatically prevents any of us from becoming bigots.

Good people are found everywhere - even among the fundies and evangelicals. In like manner, people who choose to act like the north end of a south bound horse also can be found in every walk of life.

SithLord

Fair statements.

And again my point of this thread was to point out that Christians do it too. A lot of them don't believe they do or simply don't look at it that way.

Even as sumguy tried to explain that he thought it was wrong he still said They can't help it. It's actually a part of their religion to try to convert people and to not do so would be to not follow the law of God. Pretty powerful way to control people eh?

}SoC{Sumguy

but we are not supposed to be pushy, but encourage only. if the people we try to convert tell us to stop, we should. God does not want us to force people to be christian, they should only come willingly.

and you should remember that we try to convert people as a way of helping them, not because we are told to. It is from the belief that you should love your neighbor and live a virtuous life that this practice stems. The bible says nothing about converting people.

i hope that cleared some things up.

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."

LilOne1989

Well if I remember right when Christianity started they were on the receiving end of discrimination, hate and murdered for their beliefs right?

But when they got the upper hand and outnumbered the people who opposed them they turned the tables and did the same thing back and it has followed all the way through to present day. Now they have money to back their ways and that in my opinion makes they very dangerous. Not all Christians are dangerous but when you get the radical elements (Bush) working for a certain cause there is almost nothing to stop them.

I grew up going to a Baptist church and my "best friend" was a total wreck by time she was a teenager. She was so sure that she was going to die and go to hell, that she was not good enough for God, that she had a total breakdown and had to be hospitalized. You know what her parents answer was -- pray to God -- uuummmm hello, isn't this what got her here to start with? That for me was the total ending of any Christian beliefs that I might have harbored somewhere in the back of my mind (my parents made me go every week I was home from 5 - 13 years old)and I started to see beyond the brainwashing (my words) techniques they used every Sunday and Wednesday, and in certain cases like my friend everyday of the week plus some more for good measure. I see this religion as one that controls through fear (Hell, eternal damnation, being turned away from God...unless of course you do what he commands you to do then you get Heaven and eternal salvation) and that is just not for me.

GloryB

But we don't believe we need your help. To feel you need to help us, implies that you are right and we are wrong. Imagine a boy scout trying to help a little old lady cross the road, but he tries to make her go in a different direction because that's the way he was going, so that direction must be right. Just because I choose to walk a different path than you, doesn't mean that you need to come drag me off my path and have me follow yours. I'm a grown up, I've done my research and know what path I need to follow.

GloryB

}SoC{Sumguy

wich is why i said that we shouldnt be pushy, because you might not want help.

__________________
"And now you've seen his face,
and you know that there's a place
in the sun, for all that you've done.
For you and your children.
You always wanted to beleive.
Just ask and you'll receive,
beyond your wildest dreams.
And you already know how this will end...."

George

Not all christians are pushy. I know quite a few and even went to a few christian rock concerts. And well... they rocked

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