Why do people who do not follow the teachings of christ care what those who do believe?

Well i think it all starts with one christian being a little overzealous to ruin the view and opnions for a whole lot. Take this guy i work with for example, Now I'm not christian ,but i don't look at pornography.......anymore. I try not to lie, and i don't do things that Diminish my being or that of others around me.
I work in a garage and some of the guys will be drooling over some swimsuit model. This guy will come by and tell them what they are doing is wrong, That god will judge them, Etc ,etc etc. Then he comes back to his post and complains to me how he feels so persucuted being a christian, people are committing sins etc etc etc.
Now personally most of the guys we work with are Catholics, They believe in the same god as him and the same savior. They just go about it differently. thats where he makes his mistake. He judges them its not his place. He believes his faith is different than theirs ,it isn't . I know these guys some pray so they can work through arthritits, so their kids can go to college, They just don't exactly practice it the way he does.
Asking me on a weekly basis "why don't you care that you are going to hell, i know your a good person ,but if you don't accept jesus it wont do you any good" I know it's either cause he cares about my afterlife or because he doubts what he believes(not totally but to a point).
This isn't the first person like this i've run across, I've run across alot. There not bad people just misguided. Like a said out of 100 people at work he's the only one. but trust me when you run into a person like this again and again. It tends to leave a bad taste in your mouth, Cause They totally don't have respect for other peoples beliefs. and thats part of the reason why people are so often critizing christians. Its because they have been criticized first. and they do it so often that it makes you sick, to the point where your not only on the defensive ,but the offensive as well.
this isn't the only reason of course but in my view it's a big one. 1 out of a 100 is a small number but it's enough to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Christians aren't the only ones, it's just there are so many here ,it seem like the only side doing it.

that guy don't have no right to judge you or anybody, because he is not sinless, tell him that. judging in scripture is wrong, and will be rewarded with even harder judgement.


I think the thing is, is that when Jesus said go and preach to all nations, that people who (have never heard) of Jesus before they would teach them about in a calm manner, and if they
rejected it than they would leave their presence while yet praying for them.


This man who condmend you should hopefully be praying for your souls. thats how it should be done, because these guys drooling over pictures are grown men who have
probably already heard of Jesus and are not in the wilderness needing to hear, so he should just be quiet and pray for those souls behind closed doors, because prayers are much louder than words which
is something I need to remmebr also.


peace.

Dont worry, I make fun of people who believe in Santa Claus, too.

Originally posted by mwm1331
. . . to demonise christians for our belefs.
My question is what do you care?
As a hypothetical lets say I am a 1ian and you are not.
if 1ians beleve anyone who steps on a sidewalk crack go to hell, and you are not a 1ian and do not suscribe to that belief then why would you care whther we think you are going to hell or not?
Reaaly I want to understand this, if you are not a christian then why do you care whether our religon approves of you or your lfestyle? I mean we are all just deluded fools who allow a 2000 year old work of fiction to tell us what to do right?

This is an excellent thread - thank you for starting it.
I want you to know that I believe in freedom of religion and I will defend anyone’s right to believe in what ever they choose. I do not hate Christians, I don’t even dislike them. I do not want to demonize you nor do I believe you are deluded. With this in mind, please consider my response.

You really can answer your own question if you will just take a moment to put yourself in my shoes. Please take just a few minutes and do this:

Imagine that you are a devout Christian, but Christianity is not the main stream religion. Imagine that 1ianity is the mainstream religion and the 1ian sacred text, the Libro, says in chapter 3 verse 9:
"There is only one Zod. Either you worship Zod or you worship his enemy. You are either with Zod or you are against Him."

Now since you are a Christian, you do not worship Zod. You are lumped into a huge group of people who do not worship Zod. Satanist, Pagans, Christians, Atheists, Jews, Demonists - you are all just alike. You refuse to accept the word of Zod. Sometimes you are not even referred to as Christian. All of you who will not believe in the Libro and worship Zod are all alike and you are labeled non-1ian. So imagine what things would be like for you. Not only are you not a part of the main stream religion, you are its enemy. The 1ians constantly confuse your methods of worship with those of Satanists and Pagans. Then again what difference does it make, you are all the same. You are non-1ian - you are the problem with society today.

Any movie with a spiritual theme shows the 1ian good guys sending you demon worshipping non-1ians back to hell where you belong. The crowd cheers.

At the gas station the counter racks are full of red, white, and blue Zod symbols and signs that say WWZD.

There are entire tv channels devoted to 1ianity. There isn’t a single show for you non-1ians.

You send your child to school. They teach him the pledge and so every morning he must say the words, “one nation, under ZOD.” A group of good 1ian boys catch your kid wearing a cross necklace and they beat him. You complain to the school but are told that your kid should know better than to wear a cross in the first place. Don’t you pay attention to what your child wears? Didn’t you check before he left the house this morning? Oh never mind, you’re one of those. A non-1ian. Well don’t let him wear that cross to school and he won’t have so many problems.

A 1ian knocks on your door once a month and offers you a copy of the Libro. He says it isn’t too late if you’ll convert now. Let the love of Zod work in your life. You could tell him that you already have the love of your creator in your life, but he would argue that. The Libro says you don’t and that’s proof.

All you would have to do is convert. Then things would be better. All you would have to do is give up your way of life, leave your family, forsake your relationship with God, stop praying, forget your hopes and your dreams. That’s all. Do that and be a good 1ian - then you’ll be accepted. It’s for your own good. If you don’t do it then when you die your soul will be taken to Zork and will be eaten by zombies for all eternity. Since you already have certain ideas about the after life, you simply can’t accept the Zork story. You simply can’t give up God. You can’t convert.

Your child wants to join the boy scouts but if he does, he will be forced to pray to Zod and there are several merit badges for which he will never qualify - he’s a non-1ian. You are forbidden to ever be a den parent.

The church you attend is vandalized. It doesn’t even make the news. The perpetrators are barely slapped on the wrist, they are good 1ians and so is the sheriff. Your church got what it deserved.

You try to at least have conversations with other non-1ians about spirituality, but you are constantly interrupted by someone who quotes to you from the Libro. For most people, this is absolute proof that you are wrong - the 1ian is right. You don’t believe in the Libro, but that doesn’t matter. It is all the proof anyone needs.

The 1ians complain that they are no longer able to openly worship Zod in public schools, but your child must still say the pledge, and the text books are still edited to reflect the 1ian way of life. You are asked to leave the PTA, they really just want 1ians in the PTA.

The President of our nation is a good Zod fearing man. He is elected partially because of his faith and his promise to uphold it. As he is sworn into office he takes an oath and swears to Zod. He passes laws of which all good 1ians will approve. These laws squash you and take away your freedoms. The general consensus is that it doesn’t matter. You really don’t deserve these rights since you are a non-1ian.

The following week your church gets a letter from the IRS. Your church no longer qualifies for tax exempt status. Non-1ian churches are no longer real churches under law, therefore your church will have to come up with quite a bit of cash quickly or it will be shut down.

1ianity permeates every part of your country, your town, your culture. Some of your family members do convert, they won’t speak to you any more.

If anyone even mentions the word religion, people automatically assume you mean 1ianity and they don’t ever consider that there are other beliefs. Those other beliefs aren’t really religions are they? Do they count if they aren’t 1ian? The Libro says no, and that’s good enough for me.

So 1ians beliefs are called theology, your beliefs are called mythology.

On some holidays people hide their children from you, there is no telling what a non-1ian would do to them.

All the money in your pocket bears the emblems of the 1ian church and have the motto, “In Zod we trust” printed on them. Each time you buy something you have to deal with it.

Then someone asks you the question, why do you care what 1ians believe? After all, it really has no effect on your life, does it?

Think about this, really think about what it is like to be on the other side. Again, I am not intolerant of Christianity, I just want one of you to think about what it is like to be in my shoes. I have not exaggerated in my post one bit. Every one of the things I mentioned has actually happened to me. It is my reality. No one person is responsible for all the things I mentioned and I hold no animosity towards any one person. I do have to care about what you believe because it does and will affect my life. I live in the Christian’s world and am governed by Christians who pass Christian laws.

To all people of all faiths -
I wish you peace,
wellwhatnow

And yet, despite the fact that the S is a predominatly christian nation none of what you posted is happeneing. The church of Satan is a reconised tax exempt church and army chaplains are taught how to minister to them. A mosque in the mdwest despite large community protest is allowed to broadcast the call to prayer over loadspeakers. So I am afraid your persecuted non chrstians argument doesn't hold water. try again.

Originally posted by Truth

It happens all the time. Two people could post about God, and someone would but in and ruin the conversation for
no reason.

This has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read her on ATS! You have got to be kidding me! I could completely understand this statement if this were a religious site...but this is not a religious site it is a conspiracy site, you can not expect that only Christians that believe the way you do, is going to get involved in any thread......Sheeeeeeesh!

Originally posted by mwm1331
And yet, despite the fact that the S is a predominatly christian nation none of what you posted is happeneing. The church of Satan is a reconised tax exempt church and army chaplains are taught how to minister to them. A mosque in the mdwest despite large community protest is allowed to broadcast the call to prayer over loadspeakers. So I am afraid your persecuted non chrstians argument doesn't hold water. try again.

I live in the US and it has happened to me. Maybe the Satanist are tax exempt, but the Universalist Unitarians are having to fight tooth and nail against the new tax regulations. Churches that require the belief in one supreme being (be it Satan, God, who ever) are still exempt, polytheistic churches are not. We had to file as an educational organization and are no longer recognized as a church. The building was vandalized and the people responsible said that they were doing God's work. They were warned to find some other way to serve God, and then were released.

There is no mosque with loud speakers in my area, so this one I don't know about. I do believe that a show on cable tv would get better coverage than loudspeakers could give though.

I did not exaggerate to you at all. This really is my reality. It is a true representation of my life. I am not saying that you need to change, I am not saying that you personally are persecuting me. I am just telling you why I care about what Christians believe. It really does have an effect on my life.

My child was beaten for wearing a pentacle. I was asked to leave the PTA. Our money does say "In God We Trust." To convert to Christianity I would have to leave my wife. Some of my birth family members have converted to Christianity and they really won't talk to me. I really do have a relationship with my creator - one that I would have to turn my back on to be a Christian. I have had many Christians tell me that I do not have this relationship because the Bible says I don't.

I am not trying to change Christianity, I believe that we all have a right to believe what we wish. I really am an honest person though, and I have not lied or exagerated in explaining what things are like for me and my family.