Reasons to Reject Christianity

[Daisy]

“I don’t know any mainstream scholar who doubts the historicity of Jesus,” said Eric Meyers, an archaeologist and emeritus professor in Judaic studies at Duke University. “The details have been debated for centuries, but no one who is serious doubts that he’s a historical figure.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/12/jesus-tomb-archaeology/

 

[calamity]

Not true...God did not make it so nor was it ever His purpose for mankind...His purpose was for mankind to live forever on a paradise earth with the stipulation of looking to Him for guidance...

"Further, God blessed them, and God said to them: “Be fruitful and become many, fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving on the earth.” Genesis 1:28

I guess making man was an oops. :roll:

 

[Daisy]

I guess making man was an oops. :roll:

Well, if that's the way you choose to look at it...God fixed that oops by sending His son...

 

[Skeptic Bob]

I was reminded this Thanksgiving during a conversation with my mom what I dislike most about Christianity. My mom genuinely fears that I am going to burn in Hell for all eternity because I am not a believer. It is a genuine stressor in her life, and there is no need for it. Only a religious belief could create that kind of unnecessary anguish. If it didn’t teach that nonbelievers deserve to be punished then I would consider it relatively harmless.

 

[Daisy]

I was reminded this Thanksgiving during a conversation with my mom what I dislike most about Christianity. My mom genuinely fears that I am going to burn in Hell for all eternity because I am not a believer. It is a genuine stressor in her life, and there is no need for it. Only a religious belief could create that kind of unnecessary anguish. If it didn’t teach that nonbelievers deserve to be punished then I would consider it relatively harmless.

The fact that lies from pagan origins have crept into Christianity is not God's fault, so don't blame Him...Jesus warned his apostles that it would happen so that is why we should examine and re-examine what we believe, why we believe, and where that belief originated...it's vital if we want to worship God in spirit and in truth, as He requires...

 

[Quaestio]

“I don’t know any mainstream scholar who doubts the historicity of Jesus,” said Eric Meyers, an archaeologist and emeritus professor in Judaic studies at Duke University. “The details have been debated for centuries, but no one who is serious doubts that he’s a historical figure.”

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/12/jesus-tomb-archaeology/

Bertrand Russell's Teapot:

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes.

But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense.

If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."​

 

[Logicman]

Bertrand Russell's Teapot:

"If I were to suggest that between the Earth and Mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be revealed even by our most powerful telescopes.

But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is an intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense.

If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity and entitle the doubter to the attentions of the psychiatrist in an enlightened age or of the Inquisitor in an earlier time."​

If I recall, Russell wasn't a big fan of Jesus.

Was Russell ever able to "debunk" any of the Gospel accounts of Jesus in the New Testament? I don't recall where he was ever successful in that regard.

 

[Quaestio]

If I recall, Russell wasn't a big fan of Jesus.

Was Russell ever able to "debunk" any of the Gospel accounts of Jesus in the New Testament? I don't recall where he was ever successful in that regard.

You missed the point of Russell's teapot analogy. Most Christians accept the stories because they are raised in a culture that accepts the stories. The stories are: "taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school", so it's not surprising that most don't even question the stories.

 

[Logicman]

You missed the point of Russell's teapot analogy. Most Christians accept the stories because they are raised in a culture that accepts the stories. The stories are: "taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school", so it's not surprising that most don't even question the stories.

Yeah, I got that. But many do question it when they get older. The smart ones do their research later on to find out what's legitimate and what may not be.

It's the same thing for atheist kids where godless secularism is drilled into their heads at home and school and they don't know any different until somebody does their research.

There's far too many Christians and atheists who haven't done their due-diligence on the historical Jesus.

 

[GDViking]

Some of the basic tenets I find insanely silly.

1) we are all born with sin - aka original sin
2) eternal damnation for the micro-second we're alive as humans
3) no baptism - no entry to heaven
4) thou shall not kill - yet "god" killed untold numbers

But the thing that truly grinds my gears is just the man-made organization of it all.
It's a business. A marketing game. It's all about numbers.

When religion stops being an individual belief, and turns into a manufactured conglomeration/corporation, I'm out.

That's why the Taoist line of thinking makes much more sense to me.

Yip, when the Catholic Church peals all the gold out of the Vatican and uses it to feed the poor, they may have an argument for christian beliefs...

 

[GDViking]

Common sense...

When I was old enough to learn I had.been lied to about Santa, I was old enough to realize that is not all I was lied to about...

George Carlin called it reaching the age of reason...

 

[Quaestio]

Yeah, I got that. But many do question it when they get older. The smart ones do their research later on to find out what's legitimate and what may not be.

It's the same thing for atheist kids where godless secularism is drilled into their heads at home and school and they don't know any different until somebody does their research.

There's far too many Christians and atheists who haven't done their due-diligence on the historical Jesus.

Well no, it's not the 'same' for 'atheist kids'. In Western "Christian" countries, they still grow up in a culture that accepts the Christian stories. If someone has a strong motivation to 'believe' or 'not believe', their 'research' is likely to be just confirmation bias. For someone who just wants to know the facts, that is much less so.

 

[Logicman]

Well no, it's not the 'same' for 'atheist kids'. In Western "Christian" countries, they still grow up in a culture that accepts the Christian stories.

If that were the case there wouldn't be as many Christ-deniers as there are running amok.

 

[Quaestio]

If that were the case there wouldn't be as many Christ-deniers as there are running amok.

The fact that you use terms like "Christ deniers" and "running amok" tells me you have strong motivation to 'believe' so your 'research' has probably been strongly influenced by your confirmation bias.

 

[Xelor]

Reasons to Reject Christianity

This ought to do.....

​

...and yet it isn't..

 

[Daisy]

Common sense...

When I was old enough to learn I had.been lied to about Santa, I was old enough to realize that is not all I was lied to about...

George Carlin called it reaching the age of reason...

That's the conclusion a lot of people have come to...which is why it's a good idea to never lie to your children...even about Santa...:2razz:

 

[ashurbanipal]

This ought to do.....

​

...and yet it isn't..

That's funny stuff (and I don't mean that sarcastically--gave me a chuckle). I suppose it's possible to come up with an uncharitable interpretation of any religion, and practically all of them would be deserved in some sense. There are plenty of people running around professing to be Christians who really are not--as the OP says, someone who claims to be Christian but who habitually lies, cheats, steals, and indirectly murders is not really a Christian at all. If you want to know what Christianity really is, I suggest reading the Christian mystics--especially Dionysius, but also perhaps Marguerite Porette, Hadjewich of Brabant, Johann of Rusbroeck, Miguel de Molinos, John of the Cross, and--from more recent times and hence probably more accessible, Thomas Merton.

These present a rather different perspective than all these people running around preaching that God hates fags and the like.

 

[<alt>doxygen]

This ought to do.....

​

...and yet it isn't..

Well, when you put it that way...:2razz:

 

[Daisy]

This ought to do.....

​

...and yet it isn't..

And to think it's lies like this about the trinity that actually turn people away...shame on those who spread them...

 

[Dragonfly]

And to think it's lies like this about the trinity that actually turn people away...shame on those who spread them...

As opposed to all those "truths" the Jehovah's Witneses spread....the hypocrisy here is astounding.

 

[Logicman]

This ought to do.....

​

.

Jesus was his own father? Do you knee-jerk skeptics ever read the Bible?

 

[Logicman]

Common sense...

When I was old enough to learn I had.been lied to about Santa, I was old enough to realize that is not all I was lied to about...

George Carlin called it reaching the age of reason...

Unless George Carlin had Christ as his Savior when he died, he's probably in Hell.

Show me the big lie in the Gospels, and back your claim up with evidence?

 

[Daisy]

Jesus was his own father? Do you knee-jerk skeptics ever read the Bible?

View attachment 67246121

That is not in the Bible...lol...

 

[Logicman]

That is not in the Bible...lol...

It's not in your revised, corrupted, and twisted Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation, but it is in the Bible.

 

[Daisy]

It's not in your revised, corrupted, and twisted Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation, but it is in the Bible.

It is not in any Bible...SMH...