Why are some non-Christians so interested in Christianity?

[ChristineM]

But why bother with bull poop? I would thing the entire exchange would just stink.

Have you ever been seriously hurt either mentally or physically by christianity or christian? I have and will not accept it again. If they want to talk thats fine, if they are determined to abuse then they can expect response in kind

 

[SalixIncendium]

Have you ever been seriously hurt either mentally or physically by christianity or christian?

Does indoctrination count?

I have and will not accept it again. If they want to talk thats fine, if they are determined to abuse then they can expect response in kind

If that’s your prerogative, I’ll accept that.

Personally, if I were to find myself being abused, I would remove myself from the situation, and, if warranted, notify the proper authorities. But I understand that often takes looking at the situation from a different perspective, and in my experience, those who are abused are not always ready to do that.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Personally, if I were to find myself being abused, I would remove myself from the situation, and, if warranted, notify the proper authorities. But I understand that often takes looking at the situation from a different perspective, and in my experience, those who are abused are not always ready to do that.

One of the things about societies with a dominant religion is that anyone who you might be able to report religiously motivated abuse to is likely to to be sympathetic to the abuser.

In some cases, the religious abuse may be protected by law.

 

[ChristineM]

Does indoctrination count?



If that’s your prerogative, I’ll accept that.

Personally, if I were to find myself being abused, I would remove myself from the situation, and, if warranted, notify the proper authorities. But I understand that often takes looking at the situation from a different perspective, and in my experience, those who are abused are not always ready to do that.

I often take personal attacks personally (as you and other mods have discovered). I would however prefer to talk, discuss but when the option is closed i know it can escalate. But take heart, i am learning to control it on RF.

Edit, yes indication counts

 

[SalixIncendium]

I often take personal attacks personally (as you and other mods have discovered). I would however prefer to talk, discuss but when the option is closed i know it can escalate. But take heart, i am learning to control it on RF.

Edit, yes indication counts

Then yes.

 

[Vinayaka]

What made you lose interest in Christianity very quickly?

My Christian neighbours weren't very neighbourly, and the first 2 pages of the Gideon bible forced upon me in Grade 5 was unreadable. Besides, Dad was an atheist, and I'm sure he had some influence. In my late teens I looked a bit closer, but saw a ton of hypocrisy.

 

[Vinayaka]

I'm not all that interested in the Christianity we see today, other than when it intersects with politics.

However, I'm fascinated by European folklore, particularly that of the British Isles. Reading about that subject will inevitably require at least some understanding of historical Christianity as many of our surviving stories were recorded by monks. Sometimes it's clear when a Christian perspective is applied to those stories, other times it's subtle and easily missed. It's also interesting to see the evolution of the various gods, fairies, ghosts and nature spirits as they were filtered through Christianity. There was a period in which ghost, fairy and demon were pretty much interchangeable.

For example, the Cŵn Annwn of Welsh folklore began as the hunting hounds of the Otherworld. They were certainly frightening death omens but they weren't evil and the Otherworld itself was a heavenly place full of beauty and joy. It did have its darker side though as those who entered might find that centuries had passed in the mortal world despite having only spent a few days in the Otherworld.

In short, the original folklore presents the fey beings as morally ambiguous; simultaneously beautiful and dangerous. When those stories were interpreted through the viewpoint of Christians though, the Otherworld became Hell and the Cŵn Annwn became Satan's hell-hounds.

My wife and I are waiting for Covid to be over, and we'll be going to Ireland for 3 weeks. I love that mystic past as well.

 

[stvdv]

That's an excellent point. Maybe the people who 'pick things apart' enjoy having enemies.

I think it is very simple.

When living our lives, we accumulate all kinds of emotions, also anger and hate. When these emotions are suppressed and hidden deep inside, then these emotions might pop up any moment, and naturally, when not controlled, the emotion anger will manifest in such a way, e.g. "pick things apart". Or when a person was young and parents "picked on him" (or brothers), and again when not transformed, such emotions will trigger similar attitudes, but this time they will be the aggressor instead of the victim. Goes from generation to generation.

 

[Heyo]

Christianity shaped the renaissance,

Well, the renaissance happened in Christian dominated countries but that what was reborn, was Greek and Roman paganism.

Renaissance art: Botticelli, birth of Venus

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

My wife and I are waiting for Covid to be over, and we'll be going to Ireland for 3 weeks. I love that mystic past as well.

we're waiting to do the same...

 

[Augustus]

Well, the renaissance happened in Christian dominated countries but that what was reborn, was Greek and Roman paganism.

The "Renaissance" as some world changing epoch is largely a self-congratulatory myth created by people who wanted to paint themselves as superior to their ancestors based on incorrect 'Dark Age' type pseudo-history. The name is terribly misleading.

Nothing was really 'reborn' as there had been 'Renaissances' going on since the 8th C Carolingian one, as such the "Renaissance" was arguably a period less dynamic than the late middle ages, and the birth of modern science was largely the rejection of ancient thinkers like Aristotle by Christian natural philosophers like Bacon.

Well, the renaissance happened in Christian dominated countries but that what was reborn, was Greek and Roman paganism.

Renaissance art: Botticelli, birth of Venus

They get credit for the art though

 

[Clara Tea]

Atheists, Muslims, Bahai, etc. What gives? Why are you so interested in this religion? What is the value in studying it, or picking it apart?

Sorry, I don't get it. Help me out.

Personally I have enough time figuring out and becoming skilled at my own religion, let alone another one that doesn't suit me.

Christians don't follow Christ. Wars, torture camps, taking over the presidency (time and time again....Reagan, Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Trump), presidents appoint judges (bible precedence over law), environmental damage, ignoring the poor, against universal health care, for fracking and offshore drilling for oil.

Jim Jones mass suicides, Rev. Applewhite (Heaven's Gate) mass suicides, EST (Scientology) programmed and destitute.

Reasons for believing? Found a rock on a rock pile (sign of God). Hears voices in head (kill who?). Writhes on floor speaking in tongues "ljlkjdlfksldf."

Denies truth (Global Warming, evolution, DNA, science (in general)). Gags forums, alters science education.

Form groups with ridiculous ideas (voting out Gavin Newsome right now), when I asked why, they said Newsome created COVID and arranged to spread it around the world to make Trump look bad. But Newsome is only the governor of California, with no connection to China and no exceptional international trade power. Loony political ideas are rife in the Christian religion, which alters politics.

Christians falsely claim that atheists are trying to take away their religion (keeping them from ordering every student (and non-Christians) in school to pray to the Christian God several times per day), and insisting that science be taught in science class.

Christians are returning the world to the dark ages, banning books (Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter (witches are evil)). Science is under attack.

Rallying by the millions, armed with lies and guns, some see Christians as a threat.

 

[loverofhumanity]

Atheists, Muslims, Bahai, etc. What gives? Why are you so interested in this religion? What is the value in studying it, or picking it apart?

Sorry, I don't get it. Help me out.

Personally I have enough time figuring out and becoming skilled at my own religion, let alone another one that doesn't suit me.

1. I was born and raised to believe in Jesus and I came to know and love Him and His teachings.

2. He was the Object of my adoration and I would recognise Him anywhere

3. When I first read Baha’u’llah’s Words I immediately recognised the self same Spirit of Jesus

So to me the Bahá’í Faith is the fulfilment of my earlier Christian beliefs that Christ would one day return. So you can say I’m a Bahá’í because of my Christian beliefs. Accepting Christ’s return doesn’t make me a non Christian but a Christian who has accepted Jesus both times He appeared.

 

[firedragon]

Well, the renaissance happened in Christian dominated countries but that what was reborn, was Greek and Roman paganism.

Renaissance art: Botticelli, birth of Venus

That maybe Heyo. The thing is, I am no expert in this and I dont really have so much research done to know exactly how much the renaissance uplifted the world. But, even if they brought back paganism, Judaism, Hinduism or some kind of alien background, it was still due to the influence of Christianity.

 

[Vinayaka]

1. I was born and raised to believe in Jesus and I came to know and love Him and His teachings.

2. He was the Object of my adoration and I would recognise Him anywhere

3. When I first read Baha’u’llah’s Words I immediately recognised the self same Spirit of Jesus

So to me the Bahá’í Faith is the fulfilment of my earlier Christian beliefs that Christ would one day return. So you can say I’m a Bahá’í because of my Christian beliefs. Accepting Christ’s return doesn’t make me a non Christian but a Christian who has accepted Jesus both times He appeared.

Which do you read more of, Baha'i scripture, or Christian scripture?

 

[Vinayaka]

I think it is very simple.

When living our lives, we accumulate all kinds of emotions, also anger and hate. When these emotions are suppressed and hidden deep inside, then these emotions might pop up any moment, and naturally, when not controlled, the emotion anger will manifest in such a way, e.g. "pick things apart". Or when a person was young and parents "picked on him" (or brothers), and again when not transformed, such emotions will trigger similar attitudes, but this time they will be the aggressor instead of the victim. Goes from generation to generation.

That's true for some folks, but for others with inner training, it shouldn't happen. Self-control isn't repressing, but it is taking the emotion out of it. Someone has to say , 'the buck stops here' with regard to action/reaction. I certainly have no need to pick apart other world views.

It's similar with divorces. Mature people can walk away, and even remain friends, just a mature recognition of why it wasn't working, each taking some responsibility. In other cases, it's a debilitating grudge for life.

 

[Inquire of God]

Christians don't follow Christ. Wars, torture camps, taking over the presidency (time and time again....Reagan, Bush Sr., Bush Jr., Trump), presidents appoint judges (bible precedence over law), environmental damage, ignoring the poor, against universal health care, for fracking and offshore drilling for oil.

Jim Jones mass suicides, Rev. Applewhite (Heaven's Gate) mass suicides, EST (Scientology) programmed and destitute.

Reasons for believing? Found a rock on a rock pile (sign of God). Hears voices in head (kill who?). Writhes on floor speaking in tongues "ljlkjdlfksldf."

Denies truth (Global Warming, evolution, DNA, science (in general)). Gags forums, alters science education.

Form groups with ridiculous ideas (voting out Gavin Newsome right now), when I asked why, they said Newsome created COVID and arranged to spread it around the world to make Trump look bad. But Newsome is only the governor of California, with no connection to China and no exceptional international trade power. Loony political ideas are rife in the Christian religion, which alters politics.

Christians falsely claim that atheists are trying to take away their religion (keeping them from ordering every student (and non-Christians) in school to pray to the Christian God several times per day), and insisting that science be taught in science class.

Christians are returning the world to the dark ages, banning books (Catcher in the Rye, Harry Potter (witches are evil)). Science is under attack.

Rallying by the millions, armed with lies and guns, some see Christians as a threat.
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It is true that there are many so-called Christians who do not follow the Lord's teachings, but there are zero actual Christians who do not follow His teachings, lumping them together is like trying to make people go to bed with someone they would never marry.
Also, virtually all institutions of higher learning and certainly the eldest of them and more renown (that are currently extant descendants) all started from either a Christian or other religion background. Foolishly they allowed their faculty to be infected with the teachings of secularists, anti-Christians and faux Christians, because they wanted to be nice, open-minded or hire a relative or friend. Had this not happened they would not be as rich as they are today, but they would be teaching useful things instead of the nonsense they currently, mainly, teach.
Real Christians are not afraid of science, truth and actual progress, in fact they are at the forefront of it in every field. My youngest daughter has degrees in physics and has worked with Harvard-Smithsonian astronomical researchers.
She firmly believes in the Lord and teaches just about everything currently known in the physics field.
Many of your above blanket statements about Christians are just blatantly wrong and vicious. But, Christians are just about the only ones who can take this kind of abuse so it makes sense people pick on them (knowing they will not be harmed for it) and group them with people who are like ISIS is to the religion that has nothing to do with them.

 

[Rival]

They get credit for the art though

I'm one of those odd folks who prefers Mediaeval art

 

[soulsurvivor]

Atheists, Muslims, Bahai, etc. What gives? Why are you so interested in this religion? What is the value in studying it, or picking it apart?

Sorry, I don't get it. Help me out.

Personally I have enough time figuring out and becoming skilled at my own religion, let alone another one that doesn't suit me.

All major religions have something unique to teach humanity. Jesus message of love for others including your enemies is pretty unique. Nobody else has said 'love your enemies. For that message alone we should be interested in Christianity.

Approximately every 2000 years, 'God' sends a major Avatar to the world. Jesus was the latest of these Avatars (the Avatar for the age of Pisces). Everyone would do well to study his teachings.

 

[Vinayaka]

All major religions have something unique to teach humanity. Jesus message of love for others including your enemies is pretty unique. Nobody else has said 'love your enemies. For that message alone we should be interested in Christianity.

What? Many religions speak of loving your enemies. Mine speaks of loving everyone, for example. I have no problem with folks studying any religion they wish to study. Perhaps more importantly, I have no problem with anyone choosing not to study any of the world's great faiths.