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What are Christians getting wrong when dealing with non-Christians?

Because it is impossible to have a society of inclusion and acceptance and still be under a government used as a social control tool. "Live and let live" does not exist under theocratic leaning ideologies.

Or secular ideologies...
 
So Atheists are willing to debate it, and your side sounds like complete nonsense to them. You on the other hand refuse to even discus the subject. Do you not understand why that makes you sound foolish. They are criticizing the argument of religious people whereas religious people like yourself are just ignoring potentially excellent points that Atheists are making.

You say they are criticizing the argument. I say what argument? Why do they care in the first place? Why is it so important to them that I understand them?
 
You say they are criticizing the argument. I say what argument? Why do they care in the first place? Why is it so important to them that I understand them?

So you just enjoy living in ignorance going about your day to day life with absolutely no clue whether you're completely wasting your time worshiping a god that doesn't even exist? People who believe in religious nonsense are highly susceptible to manipulation in the name of their religion. That can cause all sorts of problems for the rest of the world.
 
So you just enjoy living in ignorance going about your day to day life with absolutely no clue whether you're completely wasting your time worshiping a god that doesn't even exist? People who believe in religious nonsense are highly susceptible to manipulation in the name of their religion. That can cause all sorts of problems for the rest of the world.

See what you're doing here? You're who I was talking about. I don't care what you believe, you can go about your life thinking whatever you want to think, it's none of my business. Are we cool now?
 
You pose a work of fiction and expect Christians to comment on it. All I can say is that in all my 67 years I have NEVER had a Christian come to my door in that manner. There are sects that claim a relationship to Christ who still go door knocking, as do Mormons.

As a Christian I never hide my faith and I try never to have it interfere with anyone else's life.

Good for you, but you can't deny that there are plenty of others who do and whether you like it or not, their actions reflect badly upon others who share the same beliefs. Now that might be a little unfair, I have no problem with Christians or Muslims or Jews or Buddhists who can keep their religious lives separate from their secular lives, but there are a ton who just can't, who insist on stuffing their religion into everything that they do, everything that they say and everything that they think. Those people are a problem, even if you aren't.
 
Good for you, but you can't deny that there are plenty of others who do and whether you like it or not, their actions reflect badly upon others who share the same beliefs. Now that might be a little unfair, I have no problem with Christians or Muslims or Jews or Buddhists who can keep their religious lives separate from their secular lives, but there are a ton who just can't, who insist on stuffing their religion into everything that they do, everything that they say and everything that they think. Those people are a problem, even if you aren't.

Interesting.

I would think that the more difficult thing to do would be to separate out your religion from everything else you do. If your religion isn't at the heart of who you are and how you live; if it's something that you can somehow separate out from your every day life. Then how is it a genuine religion? Of What value is it?

I find the idea of "stuffing your religion into everything you do" kind of weird. I would think if you have genuine religion you wouldn't need to stuff it into anything, it would simply show itself in all you do naturally. The hard part would be keeping it from affecting some parts of your life.
 
Interesting.

I would think that the more difficult thing to do would be to separate out your religion from everything else you do. If your religion isn't at the heart of who you are and how you live; if it's something that you can somehow separate out from your every day life. Then how is it a genuine religion? Of What value is it?

I find the idea of "stuffing your religion into everything you do" kind of weird. I would think if you have genuine religion you wouldn't need to stuff it into anything, it would simply show itself in all you do naturally. The hard part would be keeping it from affecting some parts of your life.

There are those who are more fanatical than others. Those who can only vote based on their religious beliefs. Those who can only make decisions based on their religious beliefs. I guess they might color everything to a certain degree, but there are fanatics for whom religion is the central defining characteristic of their lives and those people are problems.
 
Strangely I rarely ever see Christians starting threads attacking Atheists yet it is fairly common to see Atheists to attack Christians and their beliefs.

No, you see atheists attacking Christianity, not Christians. There is a difference.
 
There are those who are more fanatical than others. Those who can only vote based on their religious beliefs. Those who can only make decisions based on their religious beliefs. I guess they might color everything to a certain degree, but there are fanatics for whom religion is the central defining characteristic of their lives and those people are problems.

Again, that doesn't really make much sense to me. Imagine if you were talking about a secular humanist instead of a Christian, then repeat everything you just said but apply it to that group instead.

"...those who can only vote based on their morals. Those who can only make decisions based on their morals. I guess they might color everything to a certain degree, but there are fanatics for whom secular humanism is the defining characteristic of their lives and those people are problems."

I'm not sure if you really mean what you are saying. The meaning of the words you are using is one of two things.

Either:

1. You are opposed to people whose morals, guiding principles, and world view are at the core of their life and guide everything they do.

or

2. You are opposed to the idea that religion should be the foundation of anyone's morals, guiding principles, or world view.

Do you really mean either of these things?

Or perhaps is it only particular expressions of specific religions you have a problem with?

If you really mean the first, then I'm not sure what you imagine the ideal person should be like. Maybe Data from Star Trek TNG?

If you really mean the second, then you do have a fundamental problem with religion. Genuine religion is what forms the foundation of an adherent's morals, guiding principles, and world view. If you really believe religion shouldn't be the foundation of those things then you aren't just against religious fanatics, you are against the very idea of religion.
 
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There are all kinds of things that sound nonsensical from one group to the next, without any religion being involved at all. That's why we have things like political division, wars, revolution, spousal abuse, Burger King, Wendy's, ect.

There's a difference between thinking something is nonsense as in believing it won't work or isn't feasible, and having something not make any sense to you. Preferring Burger King to Wendy's is one thing, but preferring the spaghetti at Wendy's to Olive Garden is nonsense. Difference of opinion is one thing...literally not understanding another's position is something else.
 
#1) please post the direct link to what's referenced in the OP

#2) what do you mean by "dealing with"?

I exist just fine with all kinds of religious people. We work together, party together, exercise together, live in harmony together. I look christian, but I don't consider myself to be one.

When you say "dealing with", what are you referring to?
 
Interesting.

I would think that the more difficult thing to do would be to separate out your religion from everything else you do. If your religion isn't at the heart of who you are and how you live; if it's something that you can somehow separate out from your every day life. Then how is it a genuine religion? Of What value is it?

I find the idea of "stuffing your religion into everything you do" kind of weird. I would think if you have genuine religion you wouldn't need to stuff it into anything, it would simply show itself in all you do naturally. The hard part would be keeping it from affecting some parts of your life.

There is a difference in living your life by your standards, and insisting that other people live their lives by your standards.. That is the point you don't get.
 
There is a difference in living your life by your standards, and insisting that other people live their lives by your standards.. That is the point you don't get.

If more people understood this we'd have a much nicer society.
 
Sure there is:roll:

There is. It's only when people, and this doesn't just go for Christians because it happens in lots of different discussions, get personally invested in their beliefs, to the point that their entire self-concept is so tightly wrapped in these beliefs that any attack on the beliefs become seen as an attack on the individuals themselves. That's where you cross the line from a healthy belief to a fanatical belief. Fanaticism is not healthy.
 
Who started this thread? Biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my life.
 
Who started this thread? Biggest load of crap I have ever seen in my life.

What exactly is "crap" about it? Fact: the example in the OP link is exactly how many see Christianity: Contradictory, unsupported, and altogether strange.
Fact: no Christian sees Christianity that way.
Therefore somebody is missing something...either Christians cannot explain it properly. If it makes so much sense to one side it should also make sense to the other, even if the other disagrees with the conclusions.
 
What exactly is "crap" about it? Fact: the example in the OP link is exactly how many see Christianity: Contradictory, unsupported, and altogether strange.
Fact: no Christian sees Christianity that way.
Therefore somebody is missing something...either Christians cannot explain it properly. If it makes so much sense to one side it should also make sense to the other, even if the other disagrees with the conclusions.
Christian, non Christian. WHO CARES.
 
It's mostly American Christians, and evangelicals in general. In my time with the Church I traveled the world, and not all Christians are cut from the same cloth, that's for sure.

American Christianity needs serious reform. It's too conflated with puritanism, fundamentalism, and capitalism. There's this creepy American Jesus who loves you dearly but secretly hates you for any number of things, and he's also a show business Jesus who will take your money for your redemption. Enter the mega churches.

There's also a fundamental assumption among American Christians that everyone automatically understands their world view, so conversations often start with that. There's nothing more annoying than someone who states their reality as a fact when you aren't familiar with it at all, or maybe don't want to be. I find that European Christians don't have this problem. They are familiar with the modern, every day lexicon and can interact across different perspectives. There's also no anti-intellectualism among European Christians. Among Catholics it's seen as beneficial to know God's universe as much as possible, which includes studying the natural sciences. A lot of priests and higher-ups in the European dioceses hold advanced degrees in sciences.
 
There is. It's only when people, and this doesn't just go for Christians because it happens in lots of different discussions, get personally invested in their beliefs, to the point that their entire self-concept is so tightly wrapped in these beliefs that any attack on the beliefs become seen as an attack on the individuals themselves. That's where you cross the line from a healthy belief to a fanatical belief. Fanaticism is not healthy.
I do not agree with fanatics of any ilk. That said my statement stands based on a long experience dealing with Atheists that seem to have an issue with Christianity and Christians themselves.
 
I do not agree with fanatics of any ilk. That said my statement stands based on a long experience dealing with Atheists that seem to have an issue with Christianity and Christians themselves.

You may have a completely different experience than mine then because I have seen nothing of the sort. Then again, I've seen tons of Christians telling atheists they're going to burn in hell, so go figure.
 
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