Why is Christianity so hated?

reply to post by Donnie Darko

being a racist in America is the worst thing you can be besides a child molester.

The practice of which are both condoned by the bible god Yahwehjesus

reply to post by kettlebellysmith

True Christianity is not seen very often. It involves accepting the Son of God as savior, and following his teachings. (

Perhaps because it endorses slavery that it keeps its' ugly head in the closet ?


NRSV) First Timothy 6:1-6 Let all who are under the yoke of slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be blasphemed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus

Christianity is so hated because...

A.) Like ALL religions, it has no RELIABLE fact-based origin to its beliefs.
B.) It is one of THE most biased religious belief systems currently in practice, based upon actions and reactions of its followers.
C.) It has historically been one of THE MOST VIOLENT religions as far as conversion and elimination of opposition.

Any more questions?

Originally posted by ldyserenity
i]reply to post by born-indigo

 

Ok those two girls are really sounding ignorant and pretty unintelligent as they don't even know simple geography. This is scary.

Here's the better copy.

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[edit on 17-8-2009 by ldyserenity]

Totally agree dude, if this is a fair representation of how ignorant patronizing xtians are raised then there isn't much hope for the USA.

Dear freaking god those girls must stay up very late practicing being thick.

I honestly found it hard to believe the level of stupidity here.

reply to post by ldyserenity


Oh my days, those girls are cretins! 'Do you consider yourself African or Asian?' Urgh. But their complex towards the Indian girl really shows in the title 'one Indian, one normal'. 'Normal?!' So indian is abnormal? Sorry, this is becoming a rant, but it sort of enrages me...


On topic however, I figure Christianity is so 'hated', mostly because of people who have an interest in world history, they look back at christian persecution, and atrocities carried out 'in the name of God', and point out the inherent hypocrisy in the mindset of those who ordered these events, in many cases, this would have been the pope. Then of course, you have the case of George W. citing God as having told him to wage war in Iraq.. Really gives the religion a bad name. Of course this can easily be applied to other Judeo-Islamic religions, they share the same root, and have all been used in similar ways.

But I will concede that these religions are originally based upon peace and love, but misinterpretations of scriptures and ancient advice throughout such a long period of time and in such a large population can only breed misunderstanding and conflict, completely counter to the original message.

Then mixing religion and politics is never a good route to take, no matter what the religion, as dogma distorts the message and twists everything to suit the devotees.

I may as well mention that I am Buddhist, and strive only for peace, logic and understanding, in a simple and insightful way, hopefully just spreading a good feeling around, in order that people can make informed decisions for themselves, without anything being forced upon them.
I guess this is why as a previous poster said, Buddhists and Pagans aren't as reviled. Have you ever heard of 'Holy War' (oxymoron) being incited by buddhists?
We're always being clamped down upon, especially in China and Burma, mostly because we try to find nonviolent means to resist lies and hatred, and won't fight in conventinal terms.

Religion is all a big stinky mess in my opinion!

I wish I were born a Mayan, but no i'm a white "christian" but I have a better understanding of what the bible is about realizing that it is for moral building in order to not repeat history/learn from our mistakes and is mostly symbolic.

reply to post by moocowman

You obviously did not read the post. I said I avoided the writings of Paul. I stick to the four gospels, and the words of Jesus. You quote is from Paul's letter to Timothy.

reply to post by purehughness
Let us not forget the atrocities of the followers of Mohammed when they invaded Europe. Or have you forgotten that Spain once was under the rule of Islam?

reply to post by calstorm


The hatred mostly comes from many Atheists who were probably brought up by strict Christian parents and are rebelling. But you are right that buddhism doesn't have the kind of hate Christianity because they have never imposed their beliefs on others like Christianity has violently or by bible thumping. You are wrong that pagans haven't gotten any hate. Christians often preach to their follows to avoid pagans because they are evil or of satan. Christians in the past killed many pagans, or anyone believed to be pagan because of this. They associated paganism with witchcraft and false idol worship. Which of course they got it all wrong and still do to this day. Which is why there is many times eyebrow raising reactions from even non christians about pagans because of how evil they have depicted them.

History will tell you that Christianity has caused most of the problems we have today. Just read about the Crusades and the Inquisition. Not to mention other atrocities committed in the name of God and Jesus, just research it and you will see. Just look at the tv preachers through the years, so much exploitation, and money making scams have added fuel to the fire. Plus, anyone who actually thinks about what they read in the bible, they see that it is far from the word of god. Most christians don't do this, because they were most likely taught by their preacher what the bible says as his interpretation and will just take their word for it. Also, the rules christian churches impose on its followers are what drives people away from the church.

Another thing people hate is when christians are trying to convert everyone to their beliefs. It's one thing to share your beliefs and maybe encourage someone to join, but they do it with fear mongering. "You must be saved or you will burn in hell because you were born a sinner!". There are so many examples of why christianity is no longer respected and they are everywhere on the internet and on ATS. Personally, I don't care what peoples beliefs are, if kissing a cardinals ring or sleeping with your bible makes you feel at peace, then by all means keep doing it if it works, but just don't impose your beliefs on others.

reply to post by kettlebellysmith


Not at all, I mentioned other Judeo-Islamic religions, but kept the examples within a Christianity context.

I remember learning about the Spanish Moors at school, very interesting!

But thank you for bringing that up, it is a pertinent point!

[edit on 17/8/2009 by purehughness]

reply to post by Darth Lumina


Good post Darth, I thought I'd left out some bits!

Looks like quite a case is being built here!

Originally posted by kettlebellysmith
reply to post by moocowman

 

You obviously did not read the post. I said I avoided the writings of Paul. I stick to the four gospels, and the words of Jesus. You quote is from Paul's letter to Timothy.

Fair comment my bad.

I'm curious, why is it you accept some parts of the bibles and not others ?

I'm assuming that you believe the parts you accept as true, how exactly did you validate what you accept and how did you debunk what you rejected ?

reply to post by Darth Lumina

There are so many examples of why christianity is no longer respected and they are everywhere on the internet and on ATS

I have yet to see evidence of xtianity ever being respected by anyone other than by its' followers.

Any respect was forced by the fear of the blasphemy laws, (which some idiots would have returned) as we know respect has to be earned and xtianity can in no way make any claim to this neither can its' jesusyahweh god.




Nice post gave you a star,

reply to post by calstorm


So many reasons I cannot even begin to list them all.

The fact that it was taken over by the Romans and twisted into a control mechanism.

They have destroyed some of the best information on spirituality everywhere they tread. Information that can never be replaced.

2,000 years of ignorance.

The inquisitions. The crusades. The burning times. Terrorizing and killing of anyone that did not agree with them. If it were not for modern laws they would still be doing this in the name of Jesus.

The kindergarten like stories.

Using fear instead of spirituality to get people to see they're way.

The list goes on forever.

reply to post by moocowman
Fair question. I was brought up to believe in the "God's gonna getcha for that" style of faith, which meant I lived my life in fear.
Then, I quit listening to others, and started reading and researching for myself about the Bible, the authors, and the philosophy.
In my studies, I came to believe that the Old Testament does accurately predict the birth of The Christ.
When I read the New Testament, I found that I felt comforted when I read the Gospels, but when I started reading the letters of Paul, I once again felt condemned.
What we know of Paul is that he was a fanatical Jew, and when he converted he was a fanatical Christian. That is why I take his writings with a grain of salt. The book of ACTS, giving an account of the days following the Resurection is also a book I consider comforting.
The words of The Christ are the teachings we should follow. This is what I try to do, and when I fail, as I inevitibly must, being a mere human and not The Son of God, I forgive myself, and try to get on with my life. I don't have to worry about his forgiveness, for I already have it.
In case your wondering, I have studied other belief systems, and have found a great many similarities between the the Teachings of Jesus, and Buddhism, Hinduism, and many of the Native American beliefs. It makes you wonder about the lost years.
I don't preach to people, because I have no right to. I just try to live by example, and do the best I can.
You asked how I validate? If it works, it's real. If it don't, then something's wrong. I find that the verses I quoted in my original post sum up what Christianity is supposed to be.
My debunking was studying, comparing, and learning about the authors and what their motives might have been. I believe Paul wanted to make Christianity into a form of Judism, that was different from what Christ taught.




[edit on 17-8-2009 by kettlebellysmith]

I don't *hate* it,maybe the evils it has done in the past and still today...I just find it to be completely dark age and backwards along with many other religions.I find it sad to watch grown adults actually buy into such nonsense,hold it up as a beacon of truth in the universe,recite scripture like mindless idiots stuck on repeat.This all from a book that should be next to chronicles of narnia in a library and taken as seriously as it.

[edit on 17-8-2009 by Solomons]

my boyfriend and i actually got into an argument amount this subject today. I said "why does christianity still exist? its not like people who are super religious and go to church and say their prayers are any better than you or me. Most of them are actually closet nutjobs and all they do is judge anyone different from them and what they believe in. They believe if you do one thing wrong you are forever going to burn in hell, and yet most of them sin more than I do!" and he was like "well religion can be used for good too. its people who are at fault, not religion. if someone judges another person, its because that person is judgemental, not because of the religion they are in"

it really showed me that religion IS one of the things that seperates people more than anything else. I mean we got into a huge argument about it, and that only further proves how much conflict religion causes.

it needs to be done any with. you dont need people telling you how to live your life or what to believe in, in order to be a good person and believe in a higher power. every person is given the right to believe in whatever the hell they choose to believe in.

reply to post by calstorm


Your logic makes sense, possibly only in the spiritual sense, so those with zero spirituality will not be able to comprehend the fact that demons exist for example, of course demons have infested the true religions, even breakoffs of the true religions, in fact I would say demons have founded religions with the only purpose of destroying the true church, I won't say what the true church is and what churches were founded by demons because that would just start a big fight, but lets face is, the more spiritual, honorable, true, pure, honest, faithful, righteous, full of charity, love, you are the more you are going to be a target for the demons which stand for the exact opposite of those things, the more righteous a person is the easier it is for them to sin no more, but at the same time, the harder it is because they will constantly be tempted and have demonic influences contantly attempting to tear them down, spiritually, psychologically, physically, Jesus and his disciples I would say are good examples of all those positive things, they were all crucified, it's one thing to disagree with someone, it's another to be one of the Pharisees & Sadducees.

I believe the most contributing factor to the widespread animosity towards Christianity is the generalization most people implicitly make. Christianity, within itself, is VERY diverse. Protestantism alone has thousands of different denominations. I happen to be a Roman Catholic, the same sect with which the Vatican is affiliated. Because this inherent assumption that all denominations of Christianity are essentially the same, countless problems arise. It is reminiscent of the media's coverage of the 9/11 truth movement in which they associate all who disagree with the official story with those who believed planes never hit the towers, or that the aliens did it, etc. A key differentiating component among Christianity is the interpretation of Scripture (the Bible). Fundamentalist groups, like Anabaptists, adhere to a literal interpretation of the Bible as opposed to a spiritual interpretation (attempting to understand the writers intent). Thus certain glaring anomalies, such as lifespans of hundreds of years, the Book of Revelation (simply an inundation of symbols and clearly not intended to be taken literally), etc (also take into consideration it has been translated from its native language) become obvious when this approach is used. Then, of course, people denounce Christianity as a whole, rejecting it as lunacy.

Further censure is rooted in the early Church at the time of the Crusades and other Holy Wars where Popes would lead territories into combat. Today's Church is different from that of the past. This is reflected in the disestablishment of many ancient traditions that are no longer applicable to today, demonstrating a sense of liberal ideology. It is similar to the addition of Amendments in the Constitution. Essentially, the loathsome nature of many towards Christianity stems from, IMO, misconceptions and poor logic.

Hope this helps

Edit: grammatical error

[edit on 17-8-2009 by 1 4M 7H3 1]

reply to post by calstorm


I respect the way you approach this subject, simply because the majority of such opening posts on religion are usually self-righteous and arrogant.

Which brings me to the reasons why I think Christianity (or rather those involved in the progression of the religion) is so hated.

Firstly, it is arrogant.
It is arrogant in that it demands that all who do not follow are wrong, immoral, ignorant or even evil.

The faith itself could be used for good, and it is true that such faith offers a great deal of comfort to many. But that is where it should end. It is a personal view, a personal choice.
My primary argument is against those who choose to believe then feel this desperate need to force everyone else around them to live by their rules.

It's little better than Islamic extremists blowing themselves up and killing hundreds to force their opinions on others. It's the same principle, religious extremists doing whatever they can to FORCE THEIR OPINIONS AND BELIEFS onto the rest of society.
The Christian faith affects so many aspects of every Human on Earth, through Education, Law, Science, Media...

They demand that gay couples shouldn't be together, even though it has zero bearing on Christian followers.
They demand that religious teachings be forced on children, even though they are not their children.
They demand that Scientific progress in certain research be halted, because they personally do not agree.
They restrict the lives of others through media censorship, because they don't agree with nudity or violence on TV.
They criticise art when it challenges any aspect of Christianity, even to the point of attempting to pass draconian laws preventing any such expression.

And then they have the arrogance to state that all of this is justified because they are right and everyone else is wrong.

If Christianity (or any other religious belief system) just left the rest of society to live as they wish I would have no issue.
But if a person attempts to tell me how I can live my life in any respect, when it has NOTHING to do with them, then I will fight back with every ounce of my being.

Personally, I have little animosity toward the structure of the faith, I don't understand it, but it's none of my business. Neither do I have any gripe or argument with those who wish to believe in such.
But when it starts to challenge my experience on Earth and my freedom to live as I choose, or when I am told by such arrogant people that I am living my life incorrectly, then there is a serious argument to be had.