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Christians by design are going to be the hostile hateful ones in a comparison between Christians and atheists and for good reason: their most cherished valuable asset that gives their lives meaning is constantly under attack, and not by atheists either--by reality.
Yes, we are just the messengers of that reality. Nothing more. However, that's not how most of the Fundamental Christians view atheists though. They really do consider us evil and doing their devil's work
The hard reality is that their Christian god is nowhere to be found on this earth. He doesn't answer prayer; he doesn't offer any support other than what Christians fool themselves into perceiving in their minds; he doesn't intervene in any externally discernible way in their lives--in reality he is non-existent.
No, sadly that is true. I wanted to believe so badly, but it's impossible to ignore reality once the veil has been lifted. What I mean by that is......this is really hard to put into words......it is the most freeing experience and a huge burden was lifted off of me. The mental ping-pong was over. The fear was gone.
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So anyone or anything that threatens their fragile grip on this fantasy they've constructed in their minds about their god looking out for them and protecting them is immediately going to be the most dangerous thing in their lives--more dangerous than a thief breaking into their home and threatening their life. Why? Because their belief is that if the thief takes their life they have a better life in heaven. But what is this belief based on? Nothing but blind faith supported by smoke and mirrors. But threaten their belief in Jesus and they will go ballistic, and we've seen it in the R&S forum. Any OP that challenges the existence of Jesus and Yahweh is immediately attacked by the Christians with insults, derision, jeers and any other demeaning thing. It's a survival response completely instinctive, not based on any external evidence that proves their beliefs are real.
I know, some of the responses in the "Ask An Atheist" thread were horrific. And very un-Pantheist, un-Christian, un-Hasidic Jew, un-Hindu and just plain "un" everything when they type their ugly responses to common sense. If you read through this thread you'll see some of the awful, hateful responses too.
One conversation was deleted because I was attacked in every way possible, even suggesting I was mentally unstable for crying, I guess. This person is THE most ignorant and misogynistic jerk I've ever come across. And that's saying something because there are several here like that.
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Once you understand this, north then Christians can't hurt you when they attack you. You have remind yourself that YOU are on the winning side, not the Christians. They are on the losing side. They are throwing their lives away on an illusion.
I do understand, Thrill, and that's one of the reasons why I'm here, to toughen up. I'm empathetic and soft, I guess those qualities are rare and maybe some people are simply jealous of us because we're not unhappy like they are.
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I think of a member that used to post a lot in R&S. I don't see her anymore maybe that's because I'm not around that much anymore. But when I was she was God's premiere whitewasher--always ready to defend her Christian god regardless of the fact that to read her she was living nearly hand-to-mouth on something like 2K/mo. In today's economy nobody can survive on 2K/mo, so I assume something happened in her life that unsettled her. Maybe a crisis of faith, maybe an illness for which the Christian god failed to help her through--who knows.
I'm an example of how it's possible to live quite comfortably on less than 2K a month. It's simple, used car and government housing based on income. I don't have to do that because I was smart before I retired and paid everything off so I have a nice place to live. I keep things for years, so being poor and homeless can be a choice.
That witch we're talking about in this thread was homeless, I don't know if you read that part. She was here to sell me one of her photos, sleep on my couch and eat my food. Those were her intentions, and I know this because she was muttering it as she was leaving. She was here for 8/12 hours! No normal person does that. She thought if she stayed long enough that I was going to let her stay overnight.
I have learned my lesson with people like that. I do not feel sorry for her, she is a combative person and gets along with no one so that's why she is homeless. She can't stay out of people's faces long enough to be able to live in government housing. So, there's that. I wish that poster would come back, whoever it is, so I could give her some pointers. But, if she's that fanatical she certainly doesn't want advice from an atheist. But I'll give it to her anyway.
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So take heart. As you know, having seen Christianity from the outside looking in, you know that nothing fails like the Christian god.
Yep, nothing fails as far as any belief in a god. It's all hokum. It's reality, and not many people live in it.
This happens a lot in the sect I grew up in. To make it worse there is estrangement because of shunning their kids when the kids leave. They dedicated their entire lives in pursuit of this promised "prize" of surviving Armageddon. No education or savings because the world was ending anyway.
To the bolded, this is EXACTLY how the cult I was in felt about it. That's why I am very keen on learning now, I never had the opportunity and we were always poor because it just didn't matter. Our riches were waiting for us in heaven. What a stupid mindset. You can't function in the world without SOME knowledge and money, that's why everything was so difficult and nobody was happy. But that was the point of not worrying about "worldly" things, they did not matter. How sad to not live to one's potential because of some insane religious belief.
I can't remember, tell me again what your brand of cultish-ness was?
There one thing you need to know. When a person becomes a true Christian, that person is permanently changed because Jesus Christ has entered that person and become part of that person. There is no way that person will ever change back because that person has eternal life.
Um, yes they do. Way. There is no changing back to 'sin and degradation', it's just coming back to reality. I and several other atheists/agnostics have left the "fold", fortunately to our advantage and for our well being. It's not healthy to be completely obsessed with religion. It's just wrong to be that way. No one wants to hear it, even other religious people.
Every once in a while you'll hear that a religious person went back to belief, but that just means they never really left. The only person I know who did that on this board, sort of, is Mystic. He is not religious though, he's spiritual because of a personal experience. Reality is better than fantasy. It's more realistic.
I never knew that Orthodox Christians could be so radical, too. I was shocked to hear some of the words from Orthodox priests and patriarchs around the world. They just don't have the power in the USA or in North America to make any real noise like Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics.
I've seen Orthodox Christians say that they are the "one and true church of Jesus Christ", similar to what Evangelical Protestants would say (Catholicis say this, too). I'm just making the point that all these branches of Christianity can be so, so radical.
Orthodox Christians really don't like societal change. I think Evangelical Christians embrace materialism and the world much more, except for abortion, homosexuality and a few other things. Orthodox Christians are against those same things, too, but they want to embrace old-world culture and customs to an extreme (dislike technology very much).
Northsouth — just got around to reading your thread and am so sorry you were treated like that!
But you will hopefully come out with more clarity and strength after navigating such behavior.
I loved your long thread of spiritual struggle back when you were posting as Ilene Wright — you were so deeply honest and sincere and thankfully are happy now having found your way out of an unhealthy evangelical hamster wheel
Northsouth — just got around to reading your thread and am so sorry you were treated like that!
But you will hopefully come out with more clarity and strength after navigating such behavior.
I loved your long thread of spiritual struggle back when you were posting as Ilene Wright — you were so deeply honest and sincere and thankfully are happy now having found your way out of an unhealthy evangelical hamster wheel
Thank you MR! "hamster wheel" is a good way to describe the way that the your mind works when you are fully vested in something so insane that is bad for you, mentally, emotionally....even physically at times. You doubt, you resent, you can't think for yourself because you are constantly told what to do and what not to do. And you are instilled with fear, fear of thinking, feeling, doubting, questioning......that is the whole point of a cult. Control the mind, and everything else follows.
So it is like a hamster wheel. You listen, you do, you become the very thing that they want.....subservient. It's constant mental anguish, like the frustration of being on a never-ending cycle of spinning your "wheels" and wearing yourself out because you can't get off the wheel. The crazier the bible-thumpers got with speaking in tongues and those kind of antics, the crazier I was becoming.
I had to jump. Put it out of my head so that I could think. I never knew how powerful it was to be a free-thinker. Thank you to all the Universalists who helped me along the way and the atheists, of course. Universalists are great people. I would imagine that you guys are the best examples of how a Christian should behave and how to be accepting and loving towards everyone. I like that.
I didn't mean to write a book lol, I appreciate you and thank you for your understanding and kindness.
Some people are just turds, from all walks of life. Religion just provides cover and validation for their lack of character. There are good people from all walks as well. I think the one advantage of non belief is that you must take responsibility for your own actions.
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What a stupid mindset. You can't function in the world without SOME knowledge and money, that's why everything was so difficult and nobody was happy. But that was the point of not worrying about "worldly" things, they did not matter. How sad to not live to one's potential because of some insane religious belief.
