why it's frustrating being a christian

Just a little tired of religion (mostly christianity, because christianity is riduculed more on secular forums than other religions, or so i've found) getting flack for everything, so i'm venting my frustrations simply by naming a couple of things that frustrate me. lol, duh............... If religion is not to be trusted because of past atrocities, then white people can't be trusted because of slavery, or rather, the most recent example of slavery. ......If a man says homosexuality is a sin, he's a christian. If he condemns the homosexual, he's a hypocrite, cause he's sinning. People who aren't christians can't wrap their heads around that one, or don't want to......another defence for homosexuality is that it's natural. So they don't choose to be gay? K fine that's alright. But the poor guy down the street who was born a pervert can't help but be a pedophile by that logic (and i'm not saying a pedophile is the same a s a homosexual, i was just illustrating the point of "i'm born with it" doesn't make it better when regarding different "types" of sin) Be gay, fine! just don't hate me if i don't like it. Hate the sin, not the sinner......people saying that the end of the world has been foretold, only to turn out false, so many times in history, when the prerequisits for it haven't been filled. This discredits christianity in many ways. There must be a world government and the earth must be going through "birth pangs" (NWO, globabl warming, respectively), and there must be a man whose mark is 666, and forces it on us all. Any claims to the end of the world without these three things (there are more, but i'm no pastor) the revelation in the bible cannot happen.....I'd also like to hear about these "contradictions" that apparently run so rampant in the bible. I always hear references to them, but i haven't found any that stand up under scrutiny.....sick and tired of the bible being called a crutch. In this day and age, being a christian and sticking to your beliefs is equivalent to kicking your own crutch out from beneath you in this society.......Also, the imperialistic thing. this one's easy. EVERYONE (all religions, and or countries) WAS IMPERIALISTIC, BUT CHRISTIANS WON. Hating christians for imperialism is just hating the winner. People are just mad cause it didn't happen perfectly.....peace all...it really feels good to get all this off my chest in a public forum.

reply to post by heyo


Heh, you start by talking about christians taking flack on secular sites-true. Then it seems to do some sort about face and become some sort of gay-baiting post.

Simple fact: The majority in the US/West is Christian. Thus most complaints on such sites as this will be against Christians. This isn't helped by most Christians chery picking the Bible at every turn (Homosexuality is an abomination, but according to the same book, so is sleeping next to a woman who is menstruating, or tilling a field with a bull and ox. Every married man in the west has committed at least one 'abomination'.

But, I do agree with the relgious taking flack, however, most the threads I see that involve anything religious are pro religious to the point of being psychotic.

OP, you are MORE than welcome to believe whatever you'd like to. But why are you complaining about how others' beliefs infringe upon yours? What do you care? Of course, you believe in a God that somehow needs your praise and worship, and, according to the Bible, will get angry [!!!] if you don't give 'Him' what 'He' needs.

Okay.

I don't trust religion, because it is obviously a creation of man. Jesus was not a Christian. And he wasn't much of a Jew, was he? He was beyond all of that. Good man.

Why SHOULDN'T religion be judged based on past atrocities? Is there some other way to appraise the pros and cons? Yes, of course religion has brought many, many 'good' things to people's lives. Of course, 'good' and 'bad' are relative. That's why SO MANY Christians can claim the right to furiously condemn abortion, yet gladly support capital punishment and war [which necessarily consist of MURDER].

Some of your statements are nonsensial. To wit: "...and there must be a man whose mark is 666". Huh? Says who? Some guy who wrote a book that the early Catholics [ooh, the Evangelicals hate it when I remind them that the Roman Church compiled the Bible] said was kosher enough, if you will, to fit in with their politics?

And, "EVERYONE...WAS IMPERIALISTIC"? Speak for yourself, bub. Maybe "people are just mad" because the "God is Love" [the TRUE Good News] message has been bullied away by war-mongering Imperialists [see the Vatican and the White House, and many many other places as well].

And then, after whining about how tough it is for you to be a 'Christian', and gloating "...BUT CHRISTIANS WON", you have the audacious hypocritical nerve to type "peace all". I don't want your peace. You don't really understand it, it seems to me.

Fortunately, in spite of belief systems such as your religion, we are all free [for now, at least] to believe whatever we want. And so are you. Good luck.

It's people like you that make it hard for people like me to walk into a room and be Christian. Sorry, I know I'm attacking the OP and not his point, and maybe growing up in a small country town makes me a bit more behind than the rest of y'all, but I think we shouuld be judged by past attrocities.
Good saying: "Those that forget their past are doomed to repeat it."
Christianity is taking flack 'cause the people who follow it forget where the religion came from, and the man who taught it.
Man. Or God, or both, the things the same. First and foremost you're suppossed to "Love thy neighbor as thyself."
Er... well, actually knowing some people...
And meaning that in a more...
Tell you what, golden rule: Treat others as you want yourself to be treated."
How many Christians, today, do that only to the people they like?
The Saints that we are supposed to revere (important distinction I should make as a Catholic, we don't worship them, they were supposed to inspire, and serve as role models.)

reply to post by heyo


just take it all with a grain of salt

be comfortable with your own decision as to your faith, if people want to sin so be it, im sure we both have enough to account for when we meet our maker to worry about what others do ... lol

dont bother judging people they will be judged all in good time and by the one entity that matters.

when you see the christian baiting threads just smile and ignore them, detractors like to state that we cherry pick the bible all the while they do exactly the same they are unimaginative and just about every argument they present has already been refuted they are just trying to stir trouble they are nothing more than a waste of electrons ...

Peace

Judge not others lest ye be judged ...

[edit on 5-8-2008 by Demandred]

Anyway, the saints that were are supposed to revere, they did that. It's why they were so good at converting. They didn't say "You are a brown man, and therefore unenlightend. Let me teach you my ways and then you can be eternally greatful to me."
(Well not all of 'em anyway.)
Mostly they lived with the people, worked with the people, and helped the people. Led by example. no offense, mate, but most of the Christians I see and hear today don't deserve to be part of the same religion as these folks.
As for picking and choosing the parts we follow in the Bible. Well, yeah. We have to. Bible wasn't the end all, be all. People kept moving after Christ, kept growing and changing. personally, I think religion helpped a bit. The Church, Monks, and several Saints helped bring about learning. The Church also did a lot of things we can't be proud of. Probably the reason "Forgiveness" get's stressed so much. But it's still good for a bunch of decent folks.
At least, that's this small town idiots opinion.

It's most difficult to be a Christian because you believe something that isn't true.
It's as simple as that.

You have chosen to believe in a fictitious omnipotent being that doesn't exist. You can't prove God is a real entity and you can't prove that this entity created the universe.

Belief in a God is a weakness of the human mind so that you can try to resolve questions you don't understand, and I think you could even consider it a form of insanity.

Give it up for Lent and you'll feel much better.

Originally posted by heyo
Hating christians for imperialism is just hating the winner.

Yea cause all winners cause the countless deaths of countless cultures.
6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust I'm tying this partially to you guys.
Over 80,000,000 Native American Indians You managed to cover that one up quite well actually.

This isn't a game, its life. As far as I'm concerned your God is the greatest evil to ever be created. now I would normally never tie a religions values to its followers, since followers can easily stray for self gain. I've read The Holy Bible and the Koran, and you know what? EVIL.
He doesn't mess around man, floods the whole Earth? Personally I wonder what he would had said to Noah if it was true. " Sorry for destroying your home and most everyone you ever knew, here is a colorful rainbow to distract you from how angry you are at me."
Don't get me wrong some Christians are great people even though they believe everyone who isn't a cookie cutter person of holiness will burn in a fiery lake for all of eternity.

Originally posted by anxietydisorder
It's most difficult to be a Christian because you believe something that isn't true.
It's as simple as that.

You have chosen to believe in a fictitious omnipotent being that doesn't exist. You can't prove God is a real entity and you can't prove that this entity created the universe.

Belief in a God is a weakness of the human mind so that you can try to resolve questions you don't understand, and I think you could even consider it a form of insanity.

Give it up for Lent and you'll feel much better.

Hahaha that too.

[edit on 5-8-2008 by HarlequinChevalier]

Originally posted by HarlequinChevalier

Originally posted by heyo
Hating christians for imperialism is just hating the winner.

Yea cause all winners cause the countless deaths of countless cultures.
6,000,000 Jews in the Holocaust I'm tying this partially to you guys.
Over 80,000,000 Native American Indians You managed to cover that one up quite well actually.

This isn't a game, its life. As far as I'm concerned your God is the greatest evil to ever be created. now I would normally never tie a religions values to its followers, since followers can easily stray for self gain. I've read The Holy Bible and the Koran, and you know what? EVIL.
He doesn't mess around man, floods the whole Earth? Personally I wonder what he would had said to Noah if it was true. " Sorry for destroying your home and most everyone you ever knew, here is a colorful rainbow to distract you from how angry you are at me."
Don't get me wrong some Christians are great people even though they believe everyone who isn't a cookie cutter person of holiness will burn in a fiery lake for all of eternity.

your response proves you know nothing

lalalala (not a 1 liner honest ... )

[edit on 5-8-2008 by Demandred]

Funny, saying I'm wrong but can't come up with a counter argument cause you know I'm right?
Think what you like, the world is finally waking up, and your childish religions are finally dying bit by bit. If there is a god, I give him my sincerest thanks.
I refuse to argue with a fool like you, its a waste of my time.


[edit on 5-8-2008 by HarlequinChevalier]

reply to post by HarlequinChevalier


why argue against ignorance and stupidity, if it was even remotely intelligent i would

reply to post by HarlequinChevalier


Dude would you just... stop talking about Christianity like you define it? Frank Burns already played that role.
If nothing else, you're making the rest of us look bad.
Stop. Calm down. Reread the "Do unto others as they would do unto you." bit. Then look outside at the sheer number of "God hates, so and so will burn in hell, and so forth."
Face it, Chrisitanity, or it's leaders at large have made many mistakes. Best we can do is try to excersise more of the "humble giving, accepting, serving." bit, and less of the 'YOU AI'NT LIKE ME! DIE!" bit.

Edit: Ac, not exc. D'oh.

[edit on 5-8-2008 by RuneSpider]

~Don't get me wrong some Christians are great people even though >some< believe everyone who isn't a cookie cutter person of holiness will burn in a fiery lake for all of eternity.~
Oopsies typing to fast and messed up my wording...sorry makes a bit of a difference.
I didn't mean for it to come across as "Every Christian ever is bad" cause its not true for one. Those that can reconcile their faith with sanity. It could be the work of a all knowing all loving God, but a lot stuff ruins the whole loving concept. I don't have anything againt any god really, just the people that say "God wants this! God wants that!" God is AFK. I can't remember who said it but "A religion that does not empower the believer is not a religion worth having
"humble giving, accepting, serving." bit, and less of the 'YOU AI'NT LIKE ME! DIE!" bit. Good idea and all, but it seems not all people share this I was tanlking about people like the OP wrapped in self righteousness.
But maybe you should re-write the books again leaveing out the "slavery is great and women suck" things like that, I'm sure you could find them, but to blindly follow this book written by men is foolish, always question authority..always. Just because it is the inspired book of god doesn't mean somebody with a pen could change things around.

To be fair, as a white guy, i don't trust white people for LOTS of things.

I hold no religion, I'm not a fan of it really. I believe in love for all things. I do love people who are devout, I think we need people who are devout. Furthermore I believe we need religion. It helps a LOT of people and I think that's important. Now, it also causes a lot of harm, and it's important to note both sides. You're right, Christianity does get a lot of guff from people. Occasionally it's necessary, but I think the majority of Christians have good intentions that follow through more often than not.

Most Christians don't deserve the guff, but if you fall into the devout category you probably know that it's understood that you chose the path of persecution and whether you like it or not it's going to happen. They're called "tests of faith." You won't get any "tests of faith" from me though. I'm allllll love.

But I don't think you can be blamed for a little venting here and there ;-)

I abandoned Christianity when I was 17. The world made a whole lot more sense after that.

My one piece of advice : look for Asatru (Germanic heathenry), Vedanta Hinduism, Taoism or Buddhism if you're tired of being a Christian. They make a lot more sense.....

What bothers me is all the preachers who make a very, very, very, very, comfortable living pushing the bible at people. Christ himself did not make a living preaching his theology. He never said go out and build elaborate churches in my name and amass worldly goods and accept money for fine clothes and fancy automobiles and mansions. Every preacher who makes a living preaching the bible is a hypocrite and cannot be trusted. If they were doing God's work, they would be doing it for free.

I think the original topic post makes some very valid points. I'm just gonna recap a bit some of the wrongs I've seen posted so far...I will try to site references.

Christ himself did not make a living preaching his theology.

- Wrong. He did. Matthew 8:18 - When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
There are many other references in the New Testament about Jesus and His followers being people who traveled around being accepted in and fed by those who believed and listened to Him. His job as a carpenter was before He started His ministry that's why you see Him referred to as "the son of Joseph the carpenter."

If they were doing God's work, they would be doing it for free.

- Ever tried to preach to a crowd of 5000 without a sound system? They don't grow on trees to say the least. The pastor of a church has devoted his life to spreading the message of Christianity...most churches, the pastor's income is very known and even voted on. He has a family, kids and bills too ya know.

It's most difficult to be a Christian because you believe something that isn't true.

-I don't think the poster meant it as its tough being a Christian...but more of why is it constantly attacked. My response is that there isn't ONE facet of my life that isn't hated by at least somebody. I'm white, Christian, pro-gun, former cop, current Marine, like cats over dogs, not anti-gay or abortion (but I personally don't agree those two are for me), etc etc. I think it's just a fact of life to have people who aren't gonna like you in this world. I wouldn't have it any other way.

There's a whole lot more biting statements made in this post so far that sting. I'm not really gonna go through them all but I will leave with this one simple point.

The root, and I mean the ABSOLUTE root, not of evil, but of general discontent and malice, hate crimes, genocide, big problem this and that is NOT religion...it's selfishness. Simple selfishness. And it's not gonna ever go away until this world does. The Bible teaches how to care for yourself spiritually and it also shows how to treat others. You can't just read the Old Testament Jewish law books and decide that you don't wanna follow a religion that won't let you hook up an oxen to a goat or whatever that one post said. (I'd like to read that verse in the whole context btw) And as for the sleeping next to a woman whos menstruating, if you can't understand that that means not to have sex with a woman during that time of the month...lol i'm sorry then because that's what it means. Personally, I think thats great, because if not, to me, thats pretty gross. So next time you hook up your oxen to your sheep, realize that the Old Jewish law isn't meant to be taken literally today. That was for the Israelites then. This is Christianity now. The other side of the full circle that makes up the Christian God. And that is well written and very relevant today in our society coming from the NEW Testament.

If you give up the rational of thinking how this is all gonna benefit ME, what am I going to get out of this, and I'm not giving up any of my hard earned money for other people attitude, then you got all the basics steps down for Christianity. That's it. No sacrificing of clean cattle, taking X number of steps on the Sabbath hoping not to "work", or even attending church regularly, then you've got the gist of Christianity thing down.

Originally posted by heyo
Just a little tired of religion (mostly christianity, because christianity is riduculed more on secular forums than other religions, or so i've found) getting flack for everything,

Actually, Christianity being attacked is a good thing for me because it challenges you. It forces you to study more the bible and dig deeper so that you can search for the truth, and once the truth is found, it gives you a sense of victory and accomplishment.

Set aside those people who loves to argue based on taunting in order to provoke you, thus making you ineffective in the delivery of your arguments. This is very common to those who pretend to know, but actually knows nothing at all. They use taunting to get that leverage because they have really nothing to say, so they attack you. They will belittle you. These people are only interested in getting a score, but not in the truth. Here, your patience and endurance will be tested and trained. What you do here is, leave them or just ignore them. Arguments will never be fruitful if it continues.

Always hear what the other side has to say no matter who they are and always see it in their own perspective so that you can get the feel what its like to be them. You will understand them better this way and you might have compassion on them. "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do".

Of course, being human, sometimes it gets on your nerve. I've stumbled and have said some nasty things that I've regretted. But, it happened so that I will be careful not to make the same mistakes next time. It trains your self control.

However, take this as a blessing and improvement of self of becoming a better Christian. To show the real fruits of the Spirit.

Don't be frustrated or be afraid to be exposed to such hostility. You'll find weak spots in you and you will recognize it and you'll seek to improve yourself by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Thank goodness, however, that we live in modern times where people can't just pick up a stone to kill you just because you don't agree with them. The prophets and the apostles suffered not only ridicule and humiliation, they suffered death.

......If a man says homosexuality is a sin, he's a christian. If he condemns the homosexual, he's a hypocrite, cause he's sinning. People who aren't christians can't wrap their heads around that one, or don't want to......another defence for homosexuality is that it's natural. So they don't choose to be gay? K fine that's alright.

I don't think it is ever right to condemn someone who is gay. Having a gay lifestyle is sin, yes. However, everyone of us are sinners. There are no contrast at all when it comes to sin. Sin will always be sin that needs to be repented of irregardless of what they are. Anyone who says he/she does not sin may throw the first stone to the gay person. Anyone who sins and does not repent will all perish.

reply to post by amitheone


Well said. Discourse and disagreement, even persecution, are good things for the Christian. Remember Paul's words - Romans 5 - we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

When you make someone aware of what has happened in order to pay for their sins, they will often reject the message and you personally. But remember if they hate you, they hated Jesus first.

Persecution hah! Not being a Christian is far worse where I live.
I.e., most every business establishment and even local government has bible studies in the morning or at lunch. If you aren't "one of them" and participate, you are ostracized, don't get promotions, yada yada. There is far worse persecution in our American society for not being a Christian than for being one. I get rather tired of hearing this whining "victim" stance from Xthians! Try being an agnostic, atheist, or other religion and you will really see persecution.

Also, when was the last time a non Christian threatened or persecuted you with eternal damnation for not seeing it there way? Happens all the time to non Christians.

[edit on 5-8-2008 by whatsup]

[edit on 5-8-2008 by whatsup]