The Best Responses If A Christian Claims 'You're Going To Hell' For Not Conforming With Their Beliefs
In spite of the separation of church and state and the fact that anyone should be able to freely practice any religion they choose, an ever-increasing number of far-right conservatives have used their Christian beliefs to espouse hatred and bigotry.
An all too common attack they utilize is telling someone who disagrees with them that they're "going to Hell."
Unfortunately, this prediction rarely leads people to quake in their boots as was intended.
And instead, they're the ones who often find themselves at a loss for words when the people they verbally attack have a comeback line all prepared.
"What's the best response to a Christian saying 'you're going to hell'?"
How Else Would They Know?
"'See you later!'"
"A skater boi dropped this one on holy rollers in college, the rest of us thought it was absolutely brilliant."- Ishidan01
"See you there then."- CuddleDemon04
He's Always Listening...
"It makes Jesus sad when you say that"- OperationBackground2
Can I You Show Me On A Map?
“'Where?'”
"Act like you’ve never heard of it—concede none of the authority or credibility they are used to having."
"'What do you mean, after I die—how can I go somewhere after I die, I’ll be dead?'"
"'My what?'"
"'Do you see these souls often, friend, is one in the room right now?'"- RidesThe7
Some People Have Heard Worse...
"Shrug, say 'Ok' , and walk away."
"You not caring riles them up even more."- ExRetribution
I See It Differently
"Yeah, well, that's just like, your opinion man."- EnvironmentalPack451
Animation Disagree GIF by Moving Picture ShowGiphyWhen Was The Last Time You Actually Read A Bible?
"Judge not, that you be not judged."
"For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you."
"Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?"
"Matthew 7, 1-3."- Aas-im-Aermel
“'Live a good life'."
"'If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by'."
"'If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them'."
"'If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones'.― Marcus Aurelius."- Trygolds
"I thought God is the only judge of our soul?"
"Who are you to take his place?"
"It's better to attack them using their own teachings and beliefs that contradict their statement."- ZaiJianDada
Bible GIF by GlorifyAppGiphyTell Me Something I Don't Know...
"Aren't we all already here?"- YaMa-Ma
When The High Road Doesn't Seem To work...
"The Australian thing to say is "Get f*cked c*nt!"- IllTruck3645·
Give Them A Taste Of Their Own Medicine
"According to your God, so are you for doing his job and judging."- Reddit
Episode 5 Burn In Hell GIF by The SimpsonsGiphySay. Nothing...
"Stare at them blankly and don't hide your confusion."
"Don't say anything."
"Let them talk."
"They will keep talking, and the more they talk, the more uncomfortable they will make themselves."
"If they ask you any direct questions, don't answer them, just keep looking more and more puzzled."
"At the very most, shrug in total confusion."
"Do your best quizzical dog impression."
"They will give up and walk away, and regardless of how they try to seem outwardly, they will feel defeated, and question whether being an enormous a**hole is worth it."
"It may not last once they get back into their bubble of people who think that's a great way to act, but realistically, it's the only way to fight back."
"The minute you engage with them at all, you lose."
"Any comeback feeds into the victim complex inherently baked into Christianity."
"The only winning move is not to play."- PowermanFriendship
Will Ferrell Blank Stare GIFGiphyIt can be very easy to judge others.
But one can't help but stifle their laughter at those who judge others for not being as devoutly Christian as they are.
As they are all but literally going against the beliefs they are supposedly practicing.
Famous quotes have frequently been credited to the wrong famous person, like William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein, or even Morgan Freeman.
But another popular reference point is the Bible, to which a surprising number of ideas have been falsely credited.
Trying to set the record straight, Redditor Chinchubrry asked:
"What's something that's not in the Bible but people think it is?"
Dante's Inferno
"The popular depiction of H**l with devils tormenting sinners with ironic punishments. That depiction is more out of Dante's 'Inferno' than anything in the Bible."
- tgruff77
Paradise Lost
"Nine circles of H**l, that's in the 'Divine Comedy,' the most famous fanfic, and Milton's 'Paradise Lost' is also a fanfic which is an unofficial part of what people think is in the Bible."
- GodEmperorOfHell
A Woman's Scorn
"A Baptist preacher told me that 'H**l hath no fury like a woman scorn' was in the bible. Why people look at religious leaders like they're not ordinary people is beyond me."
- DeckOClubs
Spock Spoke
"One time, my wife (girlfriend at the time) and I went out, and one of her friends joined us. When we dropped the friend back off at her house after dinner, and she said, 'Live long and prosper,' and did the hand sign and everything."
"My immediate reply was, 'Oh dang! I didn't realize you were a Trekkie! Kirk or Picard?'"
"She got SUPER confused and asked, 'Isn't that from the Bible?'"
- NachoKehlar
Lost in Translation
"The New Testament uses three words that have been translated to 'H**l': Hades (the grave), Gehenna (a literal place where garbage was burned, but also the corpses of murderers; used figuratively), and Tartarus (a domain of exile for fallen angels; there’s no implication that people can reach Tartarus)."
"The notion of Hell as a domain of torture for the damned wouldn’t come until long after Jesus' time, based loosely on the fate of mortal sinners being disposed of in Gehenna. That it was managed by a fallen angel named Satan wouldn’t be invented until later still."
- FellowConspirator
What's in a Name
"'Satan' is really a much more recent contrivance."
"In the original text, Jesus met 'a satan' out in the desert. Not 'Satan.' A satan was an adversary or someone who got in your way."
"Basically, someone who was being an a** to you in modern vernacular, or you could just call him a d**k."
"Imagine you're retelling this story to your bros about how you were walking and this d**k got up in your face and wouldn't stop messing with you. And then 2,000 years later, people retell the story, thinking Dick is some uber-powerful netherworld deity."
- McRedditerFace
Misquotation
"When Jesus says, 'If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.'"
- tarrareshunger
When's the Sabbath?
"Saturday was the Sabbath; the early Christians broke with that and started a new tradition of treating Sunday as the holiest day because that was the day of Jesus’ resurrection."
"But people learned ‘Sunday is the holy day’ when they were kids, without the more detailed explanation’ and refuse to reconsider their childhood assumptions when they grow up."
- mattmelb69
Pulp Fiction
"I was pretty p**sed that the Ezekiel 25-17 quote from 'Pulp Fiction' wasn't in there. The actual version was bland as h**l."
- raisin_creampies
Priorities
"Money is the root of all evil... that's not what it says. It's the LOVE of money."
- canadaguy9
So Angelic
"I was actually at church today and the preacher put up a picture of a biblically accurate angel, and you could tell people were freaked out."
"I kinda had to stop myself from laughing like, 'Ya, y'all should actually read the book you say you believe in.'"
- reditdidit
The Three Wise Men
"The Three Wise Men's names (Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar) come from traditional Christmas folklore. Their actual names were never mentioned in the Bible."
"Also, despite all the songs that say they were kings, no verse in the Bible says they had any royal status."
- FloridaFlamingoGirl
Christmas in the Spring
Christ was born in the spring during the Roman census. Rome held its census in the spring to double dip: count the population and collect taxes from people who were primarily herders. The Judaean shepherds paid their taxes after selling off their spring lambs."
"Christmas morphed into a winter holiday as part of a larger strategy to convert pagan Europe in the 4th and 5th centuries."
"The sales pitch was likely along the lines of, 'You celebrate the return of the sun in Saturnalia. You're basically Christians and you don't realize it. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is the Light of the World and he was born in the, the, the, winter. Yeah, he was born in the winter, just 4 days after your new year. Here's a basket of Christian wheat.'"
"'Come to church on Sunday, and we'll give you some more.'"
"Or something like that."
- occamhanlon
Noah's Neighbors
"Did Noah's neighbors mock him for building the ark?"
"As a child, I heard this story time and time again. I even had an illustrated Bible with a picture of Noah looking determined with his hammer in hand, as his neighbors pointed at him and guffawed."
"It's quite the inspirational story since it reminds us that we Christians should prepare to be mocked for our faith in God, just as Noah was. In the end, of course, he got the last laugh. There's a lesson to be learned there."
"The only problem is that this inspirational story is absolutely nowhere to be found in the Bible. You can, however, find it in the Qur'an (11:38)!"
- mustashriq
Questions Are Okay
"That you can't or shouldn't question god. I don't think it exactly says anywhere that questioning god's motives or plans are prohibited."
- LowKeyAnA**hole
There are many common misconceptions about what is contained in the Bible and what is not.
But since many of these have been taught to people since their early childhood Sunday school classes, some of these misconceptions are sure to turn some heads.
I tell you what:
He would look at certain corners of the internet and immediately start crying.
Reddit user, Matadorhin, wanted to know how we think the son of God would react when they asked:
"Jesus returns and sees our world, whats the first thing he says?"
The modern era of the world can be highly influential, and who can say what Jesus might be into the moment he arrives.
I'm Sure There's A Lot He'd Enjoy, First Off
"As carpenter, he would probably really dig the whole IKEA thing."
CriticalThinker55
"As a fisherman you know he'd dig Bass Pro lol...."
TeslaCoil77
"He'd enjoy the abundance of foot spas though."
Cuesport77
On The Flip Side Of Those Feelings...
“Welp… time to tell dad to start from scratch again.”
N7_Izanagi
" Dad, get the meteor. We clearly need a new f-cking creature to roam. "
ProfessionalOwn7442
"I don’t think he would say anything, he would just uncontrollably sob for a full 45 minutes before returning to Heaven to tell God to remove the Sun."
ARedditUserThatExist
He'd Probably Be A Good Party Friend, Though?
“Anybody got water?”
captain-wonderful
"Best drinking buddy ever. Water is typically free at most restaurants, so I’d be getting free wine. Even at non-alcoholic places."
PRTY24-7
*rim shot sound effect
"I just flew in from heaven and boy are my arms tired."
CurlSagan
"I love the idea of a Jesus that just like Michael Scott. Like he means so well, but is just the most cringe worthy person to listen to or be around."
Ganglebot
"I’m picturing Buddy Jesus from Dogma with this personality"
battlelevel
His Tik-Tok Would Go Viral
"Don't forget to like and subscribe and leave a comment bellow!"
supergolum
"This Rapture brought to you by Raid Shadow Legends"
Accidental_Shadows
Religion shouldn't be that hard. You attend service, take the lessons on how to be a better person to heart, and then use those lessons to help guide you and only to a more fulfilled existence.
It's certainly gotten twisted along the way, hasn't it?
Misusing The Point, Completely
*looks at Televangelists flitting about on private jets paid for by parishioners*
“Are you motherf-ckers back? No more humane catch-and-release, where can I get a glue trap big enough for temple moneylenders?”
bonos_bovine_muse
It's Laid Out There For Us
"You guys couldn't follow ten simple rules?"
sayziell
"9 out of 10. It's my neighbor's butt I couldn't leave alone..."
444unsure
One Way Or The Other
"Depends..."
"How's he coming about? If he descends from heaven as some kind of spiritual mouthpiece of God, it's probably going to be something along the lines of, "Wrong."
"If he goes the birth canal route again, it'll probably be, "Mama."
CharmedConflict
Hopefully, and this is a big hope, this world hasn't gotten so twisted that it's not possible to come back from.
Certain Demographics Really Don't Know Their Geographical History
"I died for this?"
Wefwolf
"and WTF is this super white dude in all these pictures you're venerating?"
GimmeSomeSugar
"I like the ones where he's draped in an American flag and holding an assault rifle."
FSMFan_2pt0
Wonder What His Thoughts Are On All This?
"..... What's with all the crosses? Which part of my story made you think I liked crosses?"
Societal_Plague
"What's funny is that it was a stake rather than a cross and it was like a gallows - it was a common method of execution. They would put your hands above your head and drive a nail between your ulna and radius - you would slowly suffocate to death. That's why when they stabbed his side liquid flowed out, his lungs had filled with fluid."
"Like a lot of other religious customs it was adopted as part of bringing pagans who already worshipped a cross into the fold, they were allowed to keep their religious ceremonies and symbols just the meaning behind them was changed to be all about Jesus"
"What shouldn't be surprising is that the Cross and Christmas both rose to prominence around the same time."
yiotaturtle
Gone In A Flash
"One very audible sigh and just vanishes"
Omnizoom
The day might never come, at least while we're all here, but we can only hope this world turns into the kind of one where the son of the great creator might be comfortable hanging around for a while. We should all work to turn this world into something a little nicer.
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Critics of religion say that religion is outdated, harmful to individuals, and society at large. Others view religion as anti-science. Still others have expressed reservations about many religions' views toward women and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
There are many other reasons of course, but these are several examples of religious practices that have contributed to many peoples' decision to leave religion altogether.
People shared their stories with us after Redditor ItchyPage asked the online community:
"What ruined religion for you?"
"I confronted my youth group..."
"So many things but the final straw for me was my church asking a homeless man to leave and not come back. He would sit and listen to the sermons never bothered anyone and always sat in the very back. I confronted my youth group leader and she defended the preacher."
chasoz2030
I hear stuff like this all the time and it’s so infuriating.
"Learning that the Catholic Church..."
"Learning that the Catholic Church ran womens homes where they kidnapped babies, sold the ones that didn't die and used their mothers as forced labour."
Wind_Yer_Neck_In
Ireland has a very sordid history where the Catholic Church is concerned.
"And then I get there."
"A couple of friends of mine "invited" me to a summer camp when I was in middle school. The first warning sign I noticed was the packing list included a Bible, but I brushed it off because the camp brochure had horseback riding, water slides, and a bunch of stuff that seemed cool."
"And then I get there. And one of the first things we had to do was line up and "deposit" our money in a camp account. Why? So during our twice daily church services we could write "donation" slips that would take money out of our account and "give" to the camp."
"You get the idea. It was full on, 100%, a super conservatice religious Christian summer camp that just happened to have fun stuff in between the ridiculous religious nonsense."
Fun stuff like "bands" coming in to sing religious smash hits like "My Daddy Aint a Monkey". No. I'm not lying. That was the name of the song."
"Thank God I was there with another guy who my "friends" convinced to attend camp with us. I eventually confronted them about their lie and they admitted that had done it because they knew I wasn't a believer and did it to "save me.""
"I told them that I didn't care what their reasons were, if they were my friends they wouldn't have lied. And if they believed so strongly about it, would they really lie, etc."
"Left camp bewildered and more than a little betrayed. As the years went on and I continued to see the complete lack of integrity and regard for honesty amongst religious people, I was still disappointed, but not surprised."
ButtholeBanquets
Sadly, there are other, similar camps around the country.
"Even as a young teenager..."
"Being raised in a Mormon (LDS) church and forced to attend every boring meeting and gathering for 18 years."
"Even as a young teenager I somehow saw through the coercion tactics. Giving me assignments because “god wanted me to do it” when really it was the old white men that saw I didn’t want to be there and thought giving me an assignment would help."
"Or, at “testimony meetings” every month. You’re supposed to speak from your heart about your belief to the congregation. Toddlers would be forced to go up and their mothers would whisper in their ear what to say and they would repeat it. I thought this was insane because obviously they’re not speaking their own words."
"I could go on..."
Bezerka413
This is the same religion that believed in the Salamander Letter, sooo...
"How agonizingly long..."
"How agonizingly long and tedious Mass was as a Roman Catholic kid. Stand up - sing. Sit down. Then kneel. Then stand again. Sing again. Sit down. Stand up. Kneel and pray. Then 30 minutes of droning from the robed guy at the front. Then stand up and sing. Sit down. Stand up. WTF please make this end."
miurabucho
I know myself. I would have been so bored. Can't stand it.
"When I was 12..."
"When I was 12 my father pulled me aside and said "Son, you are old enough to decide about religion. I wanted to give you a chance to experience religion. If you want to keep going to Church, you can, but its also Ok if you don't want to go anymore."
"I said "OK I don't want to go anymore."
"My father said "Ok, me too."
"And that was that."
miurabucho
Your dad seemed like an amazing guy. Props to him.
"Really toxic people..."
"Really toxic people at my church growing up. Seeing people only go to church to make connections and gossip rather than actually worship and do good for others."
[deleted]
I knew so many people growing up who called themselves Christian but didn't actually read let alone follow the Bible.
"Seeing how people use religion..."
"Seeing how people use religion as an excuse to be crappy people around the world. So many people just bend their interpretation of a religion to fit what ever they want."
CaptchaSolvingRobot
If I have to boil my experience down to a simple concept it's this. There's much more nuance but overall you're using a book that will give you a passage to justify whatever you want to do.
Ask your friends about their experiences with religion. You might hear some stories that will surprise you.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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Christianity is a powerful religion. It has infiltrated many regions, cultures, and even politics.
However, as powerful as it is, people in the U.S. are leaving the religion in droves. Pew Research Center says the percentage of Americans who are Christian is down 12% from the last decade.
Interestingly, Pew Research Center reports:
"Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or 'nothing in particular,' now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009."
But, why are they leaving? Well, Ask Reddit wanted to know people's first hand accounts that gives us some insight into why they left the church.
Redditor hollgranty08 asked:
"Ex-Christians, what was the behavior/incident that finally pushed you to leave the church?"
Here are some real examples of some reasons people left Christianity.
Going against Jesus' teachings.
"One time a homeless man walked into our church hoping to be invited in for service, meet people and grab some food. Unfortunately for him, the deacons and pastor basically turned him away they basically said that there was no way they could help them and if he comes back then they're going to call the cops. I found this really repulsive as the bible is basically centered around helping others."
"It's interesting how so many Christians do the opposite of what Jesus would do. Did they skip over all the stories where Jesus took the time to help or talk to someone who was considered an inconvenience in society? Many of today's Christians praise the name of Jesus while acting just like the people he constantly criticized."
"Too many Christians are taught that being baptized guarantees a spot in heaven, and so there's no real point in doing good."
"I've long said that if Jesus appeared now, the Christians would just see a brown Jewish hippie promoting socialism and kill him again."
"This is also why I have such admiration for Jimmy Carter. He has built his life around helping others. He's one of the few Christians out there that lives Jesus's teachings. He didn't even let brain cancer stop him building housing for the homeless."
Preaching selfishness but surrounded by luxury.
"Seeing how rich the pastors home was compared to the church goers. Everyone seemed blind to the hypocrisy of preaching selflessness and begging for donations week after week when this guys garage had 5 doors."
"They also judged people on the pettiest things having no awareness how the world really is for different people specially younger people."
"I did attend a more hippie church I loved for awhile but those people are rare."
"Too many things don't add up and I've come to understand I don't believe God exist in the way organized religion explains God. I believed it's much more complicated and cosmic to our understanding."
"Yea I have some issues with that too. I had a fellowship leader teaching the lesson of rich people going to heaven is harder than putting camel thru eye of the needle. And we shouldn't like materialistic things to be spiritual. Then after the fellowship, he goes home in his Porsche 911 (expensive car). You will find the most people in church who have cognitive dissonance with what they teach and how they act."
"About the same here. Hypocrites are rampant, and the conservative 'I got mine' mentality really killed it."
"You take a bunch of people wanting to believe, ask them for money, then the pastors brag about their trips and new cars. It is ridiculous, not to mention a lot of them I knew immediately forget or ignore the Bible's messages and go join energy companies."
Blind faith.
"I grew up in a split household. Half Catholic and half Jewish. It wasn't long after my first communion - which looking back on kind of creeps me out as I remember someone saying that the little girls were all like little brides - that I really decided which way to sway. My Jewish family always encouraged me to speak up and ask questions.
"After communion one Sunday, I went to the priest and began asking questions. I figured as a mouthpiece for our religion, he could answer some of the questions for me. As my questions became harder to answer, he finally told me that children should be seen and not heard. When I related the story back to Jewish family, they all got flustered, 'How will you learn then?!' It hit me that the Catholics didn't want people to learn or reason or question. They wanted blind faith."
"This is absolutely true. I asked a priest after mass about a deep topic and he brushed me off. My Dad then scolded me for asking a question. I knew at that moment it was about a hidden answer and I knew the truth. Checked out at that moment."
- ao8520
"Because there is no answer, because the Bible is full of contradictions. They supposedly learn all the scholarly history etc in seminary. I don't think they can really believe what they are preaching. I've read a lot of priests and pastors get stuck going through the motions out of some sunk cost fallacy. They risk losing their entire social community with a nonsense qualification."
"I firmly believe that religion was created to control the masses and the more educated the masses are, the less control you have."
Christianity blossomed as a religion when its potential to control the peasantry was realized.
"Blessed are the meek; blessed are the poor in spirit; it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven"
[Bear your burden and don't raise too much of a stink of why your lord lives in luxury and you lavish - you will have your eternal reward in the end ;) ]
"Absolutely agree, this is largely about education. Educated people ask questions. Organized religion doesn't have answers that stand up to any level of scrutiny. Religion is a machine designed to remove money from the gullible."
God doesn't care where you pray.
"Hearing the pastor preach about how the church needs to raise $1mil so we can build a Prayer Center on campus, basically a big building where people can go to pray. I'm thinking 'God doesn't care where you pray, go out in the field and pray!' And then he said the churchgoers need to pay for this as a symbol of our faith."
- pink378
"Lol, I'm Jewish, and I knew that was BS the moment I read it."
"My family usually does our Shabbat services at home. We go to the synagogue for significant holidays, but that's pretty much it."
"If God is watching you, you don't need a designated place to pray."
"'Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.' Luke 5:15-16"
"This is exactly what happened to me and my wife. The Pastor and his young adult kids would pull up to church in their Mercedes. Meanwhile, he started a campaign for a huge new church with all the new modern amenities. This was to be built literally right next to the current humongous and modern church."
"The final straw was him insisting on us giving money while I was unemployed and we had a new born child. We only had running water and electricity in our house at the time, things were rough. MF'er didn't offer assistance or help, only that we live by "faith" and offering money to the church every weekend."
"Never again will I fall into that trap."
- xman1102
God loves everyone.
"The utter hypocrisy of being told to love everyone and then listening to the list of people NOT in the category 'everyone.' (Gay people, people of other faiths, people of other races etc)."
"I believe that any God that is as petty, judgmental and unforgiving as we can be is not a God worth worship. Every little church has its own interpretation of the gospel but if you don't prescribe to that specific one then you are not going to heaven."
"I believe in being a good person, doing your best to live a life that does not harm others. In short, I believe in walking the walk, not talking the talk."
"If that lands me in a fiery hole, I'm ok with that, I will be in the company of some awesome people who missed out on that list too."
Former Anti-Vaxxers Explain What Actually Made Them Change Their Mind | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
There's a lot of misinformation out there about Covid-19 and its vaccines. But anti-vaxxers have been around long before the pandemic. Believe it or not, qui..."I completely agree. My dad's a Christian, my mum was not. My dad is a very difficult person to be around, highly judgmental of those groups you mentioned (even when he says he's not), has a temper problem, speaks to people rudely, amongst many other things."
"My mum wasn't. She didn't go to church or believe in it, but she was the most selfless, compassionate, kind and non-judgmental woman you could wish to meet. I struggle to believe God could condemn such a beautiful person to hell and my dad to heaven. She developed early onset Alzheimer's in her 50s and died a few years ago. My dad started taking her to church when she had Alzheimer's which she NEVER did and also donated £5,000 of her money in her will to the church. It stills gets me he did that to this day. I'm not religious, but I'm sure he'd be real pleased if he got Alzheimer's and I started taking him to a mosque every week and gave some of his inheritance to said mosque when he dies. Hypocrite."
"I read a phrase once which [stuck] with me:"
"If 'God' is just, it will not care if you followed his advice, how you lived, etc. He will only care if you were a good Samaritan, and if you did good on others just out of the love on your heart."
"If he is unjust... why would you want to follow an unjust God?"
"'Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.'"
"'Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.'"
"'Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?'"
"'Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?'"
"Not sure who said it first; seems to be Epicurus but Britannica says David Hume which might be more reliable. Either way it's interesting."
They must believe in Jesus.
"When I heard a pastor say with glee that Muslims are going to hell because they don't believe in Jesus."
"How can that concept ever be something to be happy about. Especially when the devout Muslims I know still think that Christians go to heaven..... It doesn't seem very.... Christian.... for want of a better word."
- phangl
"The funniest part about this is that Muslims DO believe in Jesus. At least, as a prophet."
- Dubanx
"Yeah, exactly. Why would anyone be gleeful about the idea that people are going to hell on a relatively minor difference - which is primarily driven by where they are born."
- phangl
"Interestingly, when I stopped believing in god, I had to let go of the idea of someone punishing all the people I disliked and/or disagreed with in the afterlife."
"Yeah, this is true. To be honest, I was never that sold on the heaven and hell thing, in the first place. What actually put me off the church was how much people seemed to WANT there to be a hell. I just couldn't square it with my values."
"I mostly saw god as a checker of my behavior, but still saw morality as a personal responsibility to understand."
"I stopped believing in a tangible god after I stopped going to church just due to a lack of evidence, and the fact that it wasn't being reinforced every Sunday. I still like the idea that I have a responsibility towards something intangible that can't be fooled. I accept it is probably useful, rather than true."
"The problem that I have with pure atheism/antitheism, is that it's very easy to fool/bargain with yourself, and convince yourself you are being your best self. It's harder when it feels like someone knows - for me, at least."
- phangl
The long game.
"For my confirmation, I was given a beautiful white leather bound bible. I read it. Twice. Every word. It left me with more questions than answers, so I talked to my pastor (who was a pretty cool dude), who smiled at me and said 'I knew you would be the one who'd figure it out', gave me a hug and told me that he enjoyed having me in his class. Basically, he admitted that it's all a bunch of bs. Been an atheist ever since."
"Holy sh*t. He really played the long game."
"He tried, he really did, but he was also always open to questions and discussions. In the 2 years of bible study (required before confirmation), he never 'preached', he was never condescending, he admitted to not having all the answers. Like I said, he was a really cool dude. To him, it seemed to me, his role as a pastor was more about community and being a decent person than belief. I wish more people of the church would be more like him."
"Penn Jillette said that there's no faster way to becoming an atheist than reading the bible."
"That was a major factor for me too."
"He was right. I was only 14 then, so I read it twice to make sure. Didn't change my mind."
Indoctrination.
"Later in life, I've realized that a lot of the Biblical stories make sense to us because they are familiar."
"We all know that Jesus died on the cross to save us all. But it really only makes sense if you know that as a truth from very young age."
"If you stop to think that why would an almighty god need a human sacrifice to forgive the people he himself created to be flawed? There are really only two options: either he just wants a human sacrifice or there has to be an even higher power in the universe who dictates that you need such a sacrifice for forgiveness."
"Otherwise God could forgive us like we forgive each other, just out of humanity and understanding. We don't need blood rituals for that."
"Yet because we were taught from very early age that Jesus died for our sins, it makes sense."
"Yeah I'm a Hindu who didn't grow up with biblical ideas and none of it makes sense to me. Why did someone have to die for everyone's sins? Why is everyone born sinful? Why are people who don't believe in Jesus going to hell even if they do good deeds? These ideas are just taken for granted in western society and it's all so weird to me."
"I did try to read about this stuff but everything has confusing words like ecumenical and ecclesiastical and Deuteronomy and whatever the hell else and I gave up. I also did try talking to a priest who was seated next to me on a 19 hr. flight about wtf is all this, and he tried explaining things, but it just got more confusing."
"Religion was never pushed on me but my family is religious. Once I stopped fully believing and they'd ask why or whatever, I'd just say if god is really so benevolent and great he would understand my reluctance to believe in him."
"Thankfully I have a good family and they considered this a pretty good response and don't bug me about it."
Science and scripture.
"Sitting through an Episcopal sermon where the priest said that mental illness was being possessed by demons. At the handshake door (on the way out), I said, 'You have really f*cked this one up.' He responded with, 'A good Christian holds science in one hand and the scripture in the other.'"
"I knew it was just one priest but I was already on the fence about religion so I bolted."
- 3Suze
"Good call honestly. I grew up in a couple churches that also believed this (which is why I didn't get proper treatment until I was in my 20's. Cause praying MDD and an anxiety disorder away didn't work. That and literally one of the young people in the last church I went to had schizophrenia. When I heard how the pastor was preaching about demon possession and how the congregation behaved in reference to hearing things (that weren't attributed to God- that that was demons), I was appalled."
"I agree a good Christian holds science in one hand and the scripture in the other but sounds like he doesn't have science even in the same building."
The devil is in you.
"It didn't happen to me but my dad. The priest came near him, watched him, and said, 'You have the devil in you."
"Then left."
"My dad has never gone to a church since then Only when family members got married."
- RoberBot
"This reminds me of when my husband told me that when he was a kid and went to church, the priest randomly came up and told him he was the son of Satan because he had ADHD and couldn't sit still. Literally wtf why would anyone say that to a child."
It's interesting to hear that people are seeing that the blind faith and hypocrisy are not what they want to subscribe to any longer. Even though the faith still has a huge influence on our politics and culture, perhaps we will see that begin to shift.
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