Do chistians see Atheist as bad people?

So like....
Im not religious in any way, in fact I find religion quite lame on most parts. However, I dont see my self as a bad person. I obay (most of) the law, pay my tax and respect other people for whatever belife they might have. But for some reason, a lot of chistans wont respect MY non-chistian way of life. Why not? Do they see Atheistsim as evil? Do they think its wrong to belive what they told me in physics class and not in church? Why is it so importent to life your life from a what..? 3000 year old book, in order to get some respect from those people?

 

No Christian should see you or anyone else as being either more or less 'evil' than themselves. All people are in the same boat in that regard. What Christians do have is mercy which they do not deserve but are granted anyway.


*stands back and waits for the riot*

 

Your beliefs don't make you good or bad, it's how you act on them. Or don't act on them. It doesn't matter what religion you are, as long as you're a decent person.

Edit : I should mention that I'm not christian.

 

Palpazzar, you are absolutely correct! Not a single sorry one of us on this planet deserves eternal life. Our race has fallen into a sinful nature, and only Jesus can rescue us from it. We all deserve Hell, but those of us who find Christ will receive Heaven - praise God!

You can still be a good moral person, Paranorina, and I commend you for it. However, you are not perfect, and therefore deserve death. "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

What you learn in Physics class is perfectly acceptable! True science (deductive reasoning & proven fact) does not go against the Bible - it complements it. I guess what I'm saying is...I, as a Christian, don't view you any lower than myself. If you search with all your heart, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." John 8:32

Questions, comments, and further discussions welcomed for sure. I will check this thread off and on.

 

"You can still be a good moral person, Paranorina, and I commend you for it. However, you are not perfect, and therefore deserve death."

I can't belive I just read that.

 

You're right, that's kind of depressing. I though I just heard Izird say we should mercy-kill humanity.

 

Ahh Starfire I think you misunderstood Izird.

Anyway, I don't see Athiests as bad people.

 

Okay, okay--I thought I just heard Izird say that God should mercy-kill humanity. Better?

 

That's better.

 

I think the Christian mode of thinking breaks down to this:

Only Christians can go to Heaven.
A merciful God would not let good people go to Hell.
If non-Christians really were good people, they could not go to Hell.
Therefore, non-Christians are not good people.

In all seriousness, a driving force behind hard-line Christianity is the idea that only by worshipping the Christian god through Jesus Christ can a person get into paradise. What those people who do not believe in Jesus do during their lives is irrelevant. No matter what they do, they?re doomed to eternal torment for their lack of faith in God that offers no quantifiable evidence of his existence.

The hardliners believe that an atheist could find the cure for cancer, draft the treaties that restore peace to the Middle East, end world poverty, and go through his entire life without even considering committing a sin, and he?d still end up in Hell. He?s not Christian.

 

Atheist aren't bad people.

Thats because atheist are devil spawn and not actually human.

Sorry.

I've never been able to really sink into the fundamnetalist Christian mindset. I'm a little disappointed when i met an atheist, but since I'm generally disappointed it doesn't amount to much.

 

Pssst... Izird... preaching does not help anyone. What you said helps perpetuate dislike of Christians and Christianity in general, and understandably so.

Beliefs are separate from people, in my opinion. If you're an atheist, you are not a bad person. In reality, some of the most Christian people I've known have been atheist.

 

The hardliners believe that an atheist could find the cure for cancer, draft the treaties that restore peace to the Middle East, end world poverty, and go through his entire life without even considering committing a sin, and he?d still end up in Hell. He?s not Christian.

No one, athetist or Christain, can earn salvation. It's a gift. We've all sinned, and only Jesus can redeem that. Some Christains do believe you can earn salvation, but that is not true.


--faith in God that offers no quantifiable evidence of his existence.

One would think that the creation of the world out of nothingness would be qualifying evidence. One would think that a small "cult" that ended up overtaking and ruling one of the world's mightest Empires, an Empire at one time bent on destruction of this once small "cult", would be qualifiable evidence (referring to the eventual Christaination of the Roman Empire). And if God lived in a New York highrise, and drove his car to colleges to give lectures about wisedom and goodness, would you believe in him? Maybe, but maybe you'd* wonder "how do I know he's really God, and not a space alien with supernatural powers, a really nice, and powerful space alien, but one just the same?" Maybe you think he was trying to enslave humanity by forcing humanity to worship him by saying "I'm the only one who can get you into Heaven." And if that was so, then you'd probably rebel against him. Or perhaps you'd say "How do I know there aren't other gods, and this is just the one who lives here?" In the world we live in, there is always some reason to doubt. We see or hear a story of something incredible happening, something that sounds too good (or too strange) to be true, so we assume it's not true, even if no one can prove it's fake. I'm sure that God knows that no matter what he does, some people aren't going to believe in him, so why rehash the great miracles every decade from here to eternity just to have people start doubting him the next minute later? Even in the Bible, we see many instances of Him doing glorious and incredible things, and his people still doubted.



* If not using the word "you" to pinpoint any person here, just using it as a generalization, so please take no offense.

 

Personally, I don't care what you believe in. Just as long as your religion doesn't require you to kill me I'm fine with whatever you're doing.

 

to start out... i'm catholic. okay, now that we've gotten that out of the way...

"You can still be a good moral person, Paranorina, and I commend you for it. However, you are not perfect, and therefore deserve death."

i'm understanding this as saying that ALL people deserve death. not just non-christians or athiests. and i don't really believe that. because if that were true, then there would be nothing wrong with murder (abortion, the death penalty), et all, because we're just giving them what they deserve, right?


Only Christians can go to Heaven.
A merciful God would not let good people go to Hell.
If non-Christians really were good people, they could not go to Hell.
Therefore, non-Christians are not good people.

i don't agree with all of this. i don't believe that only christians can go to heaven, for the sole purpose that i believe that a merciful god would not let good people go to hell.


No one, athetist or Christain, can earn salvation. It's a gift. We've all sinned, and only Jesus can redeem that. Some Christains do believe you can earn salvation, but that is not true.

first, i don't think it's right to say that something isn't true, if you don't have proof. and unless you've died and come back, you don't have proof. so a better rephrasing would be "but i don't believe that is true."

second, i guess it depends on how you define "earn" do specify what i believe. but then again, it might be the same to say what you believe. i think that doing good deeds and living a good, honerable life can make you worth of the gift of salvation. if it's not a gift, and it can't be "earned" then what is the point of doing anything? many christians believe that accepting jesus as your savior allows you to be saved. but if that is what you believe, then doesn't that mean that if you believe that, you've earned salvation? like i said, it's all semantics.


no, i don't think that athiests are bad people. i don't think that everyone should believe what i believe. many paths to one destination... some chose the muslim path, some chose the christian path, some chose the agnostic path, some chose the athiest path. as long as you're okay with my being christian, i'm fine with your being athiest.



i've got more to say, but i'm having some trouble organizing my thoughts. so i'll be back

 

"i'm understanding this as saying that ALL people deserve death. not just non-christians or athiests. and i don't really believe that. because if that were true, then there would be nothing wrong with murder (abortion, the death penalty), et all, because we're just giving them what they deserve, right?"

Wrong. First, all people do deserve death AS IN eternal separation from God. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" - "For the wages of sin are death..." Second, the death you refer at the end, is a different kind of death. Humans do not have the right to do this because we aren't the ones who create life.

The rest of the post is theology that I simply won't go into in this thread. But feel free to IM me, Lumpe, if you wish to discuss it

 

"i'm understanding this as saying that ALL people deserve death. not just non-christians or athiests. and i don't really believe that. because if that were true, then there would be nothing wrong with murder (abortion, the death penalty), et all, because we're just giving them what they deserve, right?"


No. None of us are perfect, so none of us has the right to judge others. We can't say that others deserve death because they aren't perfect, and that's because we aren't perfect. But God can say that. He's perfect. He can say who deserves death and who deserves life. We can't.


"second, i guess it depends on how you define "earn" do specify what i believe. but then again, it might be the same to say what you believe. i think that doing good deeds and living a good, honerable life can make you worth of the gift of salvation. if it's not a gift, and it can't be "earned" then what is the point of doing anything? many christians believe that accepting jesus as your savior allows you to be saved. but if that is what you believe, then doesn't that mean that if you believe that, you've earned salvation? like i said, it's all semantics."


The first part of Romans deals with this. For those who have not heard the truth, they are a law unto themselves. If you accept Jesus when you here, more than likely you would have "accepted" Him without hearing. If you have faith in God and follow His commandments, you will be saved. The thing is, none of us is perfect. Also, there is something called the "age of accountability". When a new born baby dies, it's quite obvious that he was innocent, and he therefore would have gone to heaven. I think not hearing your whole life is similar to this. However, there are some things that you just know are wrong. When you go against your conscience, you die spiritually. That's it, you're imperfect and don't deserve eternal life. That's when you need Jesus.


No, I don't think every Athiest is "bad". I agree with Palpazzar. We're all in the same boat. I have met many who were less caring than many Christians, who mocked my beliefs and were generally rude. But, I've met many Christians who were hypcrites, and who made me feel like a terrible sinner just because I thought a little different than them. I've met some who thought I was evil for watching Star Wars. So, to answer the question of the thread, there are good and bad people in every group. I'll leave the judging up to God.

 

an interesting fact i learnt in an anthropology class: up to 25% of western christians believe in reincarnation to some degree, despite its apparent contradictions with their christian belief

 

Huh? What on earh does that have to do with this thread? ?


But yes, I realize that fact and it makes me wonder sometimes. It certainly isn't a Biblical principle.

 

I'm not going to get up on my soap box but I know some real great people that are atheist and when they die theyre not goin to heaven because it is clearly stated in the bible if you are not born again in the spiritual sense they will not go to heaven.



Johnny-reb

 

[weary] . . . and the Bible is perfect because it's God's Word, and we know it's God's Word because it says so in the Bible . . . [/weary]

 

"you are absolutely correct! Not a single sorry one of us on this planet deserves eternal life. Our race has fallen into a sinful nature, and only Jesus can rescue us from it. We all deserve Hell, but those of us who find Christ will receive Heaven - praise God!

However, you are not perfect, and therefore deserve death. "

Wow, you've got it all figured out. Sounds like God has really filled your life with peace and love. And to think, you can say this without even knowing the people you're talking about! Why, that's amazing! Praise God.

"What you learn in Physics class is perfectly acceptable! True science (deductive reasoning & proven fact) does not go against the Bible - it complements it."

A general question, can anyone pinpoint the date or person or whoever who first said that contradictions in the bible are in fact complements? I've heard this from a few people, i wonder where the idea originated.

 

Christians (unless you're like some extremist freak) don't look down upon any other relgion or those who aren't religious at all. You just don't believe the same as we do, we believe our God accepts you (but would probably like it better if you believed in him ) so we should, too.

I have plenty of friends who are atheists, Lutherans, I have an Islamic friend, and I don't see myself as any better.

 

Johnny-reb - where does it specifically say that?

cydonia - it's my understanding that this was testimony used in the scopes trial (or "monkey trial" that the play inherit the wind was based on), where a school teacher was accused of teaching evolution to his students instead of creation. i don't know if this is the first case of its being used, and it deals mainly with biology (evolution), as opposed to the sort of things you'd learn in your physics class (big bang, ect)

 

Only Christians can go to Heaven.
A merciful God would not let good people go to Hell.
If non-Christians really were good people, they could not go to Hell.
Therefore, non-Christians are not good people.


I am so sick of people saying "christian" when they mean fundamentalist. We all aren't like that. I, along with most members of the largest and oldest christian denomination in the world, believe that what matters is if you are a good person or not.