True. Religion is very personal though. I would compare it to someone telling you how to raise your child. It's really insulting. Perhaps Christians, in general, don't understand how insulting it is.
It reminds me of the story of the man in the chariot. He went to one of the followers. He asked questions about Christ. The follower answered the questions, the man drove on in his chariot. It was a great example from the bible of how I believe the word should be spread. The follower answered questions, and didn't attempt to tell the man in the chariot anything. He answered questions and attempted to help the person understand. He didn't pursue the man, tell the man he was going to suffer or anything else. It was a great example.
If you believe the world is round while the rest of the world believes the world is flat, and you believe it to be important that others know this too, would you not share that and try to convince others of this fact? I agree that some pursue it in an obnoxious and frustrating way, but plenty of others are evangelical in a deeper and more honest way, where they truly believe this is what they were called by God to do and that it is in the best interests of everyone.
That is true. Ignorant and narrow-minded people exist in all forms. However, I thought we were just talking about people imposing beliefs on others. Christians, apparently, have a mandate from heaven to bug you.
No! There are many many things I believe and certain ways I live my life. What makes me differnt is that I don't expect everyone else to do the same...that's my whole argument.
That may be the case, but then you are unique. This "problem" is not a Christian-only thing. Do you have any position on the evolution-vs-intelligent design debate in schools? Some Christians support the idea that ID should be taught. Athiests argue the opposite. If they lived by your philosophy, they wouldn't care what's being taught. But the reality is, athiests believe *their* view (evolution) should be the method taught just like some Christians believe otherwise. Almost all people want what they believe to be the truth exposed and taught to people. You, for example, seem to think others shouldn't care about your beliefs, and you want others to live by that standard.
The ID vs. Evo. debate is long dead. ID is not science, thus should not be taught. Evo. is based on science, thus should be taught. It's not a philosophy thing.
I used to run the web site for our Catholic church. We had our church's mission statement on the front page of our web site. It started out something like..."We are a faith community..." An atheist wrote letters to the Lakeville City Council among others demanding that we remove that from our web site. This woman also contacted me directly because she thought it implied that the city of Lakeville was Christian. Never mind the fact that this was on OUR web site and it specifically said our church was a community of faith. Needless to say, nothing ever came of her ridiculous complaints.
The point has been made that religion is more personal. If there is a pot-hole on my bike route that I will easily run into, I definitely want to know. But as mentioned, being told how to raise your kids, or what faith to follow is essentially being told how to "live" your life. What's clear in America is that there are people of all beliefs who do this, though as mentioned Christians seem to be the most blatant. It may be a mandate in their bible, it may just be that America is so predominantly Christian. You do rarely, if ever, see a Jewish or Buddhist missionary, though.
That guy is an idiot. Needless to say, there are idiots everywhere. But Christians have core values that include bugging people. Atheists don't. Who is better, nicer, smarter? I'm not saying. I'm just saying Christians are told to bug people.
It isn't so much that we are trying to get a message across to you. It's more likely that God is trying to tell you something. If you have a problem with it, take it up with Him.
Atheist have CORE Values? I'm not saying they immoral. . but my understanding is Atheist are not necessarily an organized group their only link is. . . no God. . . beyond that their beleifs could be as varied and unalike as say two people on a soccer team . . beyond the team they may not have any particular connection Rocket River
Atheists DO "bug" people. Have you ever heard of Madeline Murray O'Hare? She led the fight to remove prayer from public schools among other things. Atheists have an agenda. For example, assume that I arrange a prayer before every football game at a high school. The prayers are rotated through Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews and Hindus such that each of the major religions are represented equally. I guarantee you an atheist would complain so that THEIR will gets imposed on everyone else. By the way, I don't know of any Christian that is told to "bug" people.
oh, i just love it when people argue this way... Religion is supernatural, faith-based. Science is empircal-based, and yes, it has asssumptions, but it's not the same thing. And I never said Atheist have core values. Maybe you should re-read post?
Lol. I never said atheists don't bug people. I said atheists, in general, don't have a set of values that include bugging people. Atheist don't bug people because their atheist beliefs tell them to. They do it on their own. Christians have verses in the Bible that tell them to spread the word. Thus, according to their Christian BELIEFS, they go out and bug people. Geez people, it's not that hard to understand.
I don't get the praying at football games at all. It's almost like football is so important in our culture that it played to appease to their god. It's quite strange.
You can spread the word without saying a word. You can spread the word by living by example, helping others etc. That is the correct way IMO.
You did say "Atheists don't impose their beliefs on others". This is patently not true. Atheists DO impose their (non)beliefs on others. I am still searching for that Bible Verse where it is written to go and "bug" people. Anytime a Christian (for the most part Mormons and Jehovah's witnesses) have knocked on my door (less than a handful of times over the past 25 years), they leave politely when I tell them I am not interested in what they have to say. There are Atheist groups that organize rallys, law suits, etc. It is not necessarily individuals who impose their individual beliefs. It is an organized group of athiests from around the country. As a matter of fact, a Wisconsin circuit court has ruled atheism a "religion". My point is that atheists, as an organized group, attempt to impose their atheistic beliefs across a broad spectrum of society, similar to Christians. Just because they don't have a Bible which tells them to spread THEIR message, doesn't mean they don't do it in an organized, methodical fashion.
