"Because God asks too much."

[Ladeeda]

That's the second time you've used that misspelling, and I'm not sure what point, if any, you're trying to make. Explain?

None. Just makes me giggle.

[Boozy]

It's disrespectful and is not conducive to civil debate. Please use proper spelling from now on.

[Hyena Dandy]

Thank you for that, Boozy.

[HYHYBT]

Did I get the wrong H? Crap, I did too. Sorry, Hyena. ><

And no, rereading it, it still sounds odd.



What does "one" refer to then in the sentence?

a Christian.

[Hyena Dandy]

I believe I understand what HYHYBT was saying.

That he says he has a problem with the going to hell for anyone who's not a Christian. HYHYBT was saying that if you believe in hell, and everyone who's not Christian goes there, it doesn't make sense not to be.

I believe what the person was saying, though, was he has a problem that anyone not a Christian goes to hell, and that's why he doesn't follow Christian teachings. Because he sees that as incongruous, therefore, Christian teachings are untrue.

[Mytical]

Respect for others beliefs, regardless of if you follow them or not, has always been a bit lacking I believe. Why do you care if somebody believes in something or not? Is it really that important to you to be 'right'? (even if you can't prove you are 'right'). Live and let live.

My personal belief is there is 'something' out there, and I base it upon things I've personally witnessed.

Are there too pushy Christians out there, absolutely. Just as there are zealots that for some reason can't stand to see a 'believer'. Just as there are people who have never raised a child who think they know best how YOU should raise your child..etc.

It's not your job to change their minds, nor is it theirs to change yours.

Peace - Mytical

[Gravekeeper]

a Christian.

Thats what I thought, hence my statement stands. I don't misread it or take it out of context.

I believe what the person was saying, though, was he has a problem that anyone not a Christian goes to hell, and that's why he doesn't follow Christian teachings. Because he sees that as incongruous, therefore, Christian teachings are untrue.

That makes a tad more sense.

[BlaqueKatt]

Respect for others beliefs, regardless of if you follow them or not, has always been a bit lacking I believe. Why do you care if somebody believes in something or not? Is it really that important to you to be 'right'? (even if you can't prove you are 'right'). Live and let live.

and that is one of the infamous "because shut the hell up, that's why" arguments

Atheists care what believers believe, because people act on their beliefs. Beliefs have consequences in the real world. And that includes religious beliefs.

To ask atheists to ignore what believers believe, even though it has an enormous impact on our lives and everybody else's lives, is just an attempt to get us to shut up.

yeah no-entire article, No, Atheists Don't Have to Show "Respect" for Religion

It's not your job to change their minds, nor is it theirs to change yours.

um what? You are aware that one of the cornerstones of every major religion is to prolethysize or gain followers right? I give everyone exactly one free pass, they approach, I say "I'm an Atheist, good day to you sir/ma'am", if they persist, they have just shown a lack of respect for my lack of belief, and I will verbally let them have it.

[Hyena Dandy]

Thats what I thought, hence my statement stands. I don't misread it or take it out of context.





That makes a tad more sense.

Explanation yena to the rescue.

[Andara Bledin]

You are aware that one of the cornerstones of every major religion is to prolethysize or gain followers right?

Wow, and here I was thinking Buddhism was a major religion.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

Wow, and here I was thinking Buddhism was a major religion.

^-.-^

We've been downgraded <sniff>

You are aware that one of the cornerstones of every major religion is to prolethysize or gain followers right?

No offence, but to be bluntly honest I don't think you've ever looked at anything save Christianity and Islam if you seriously believe that. You are also fantastically wrong. That is not a corner stone of every major religion. Hell, purely by numbers, its barely even a cornerstone of the majority of major religions ( aka Abrahamic religion makes up something like 48-55% of the world's population ).

Buddhism considers it abusive, Hinduism too, Sikhism as well, etc etc. Once you get past the top two on the list, pretty much everything below it is a non-prolethysizing religion. Please learn before you speak.

That's not even touching how many in the Arbahamic religions just don't follow that particular tenant and are quite content to leave everyone else alone to their own beliefs. Factor that in and its not even a majority of the world population.

[Hyena Dandy]

You are aware that one of the cornerstones of every major religion is to prolethysize or gain followers right?

Neither part of that sentence is true.

1) Not all major religions encourage prosthelytizing

2) The ones that do would not count it as a cornerstone. More as a bonus. Unless you're an Evangelical in which case, yeah, evangelizing is the point. Otherwise, its generally something that's encouraged, but hardly the cornerstone.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

I often see common evangelical approaches as more or less "Christian salesmen". In other words, people trying to use the same tactics they would use to make a sale (exaggerated claims, sense of urgency, deceptive information) to try and convince someone to "Buy into" Christianity.

I disagree with this.

Consider this scripture from Matthew:

"Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature"

Note this mentions nothing about converting anyone, only telling people about Jesus and what he's about. I've often wondered if that's more what they had in mind with these scriptures i.e. tell people about Jesus and let them decide whether or not they want to follow him (become a Christian).

Christianity is viewed negatively enough by a large enough group that oftentimes there are stiff (and occasionally violent) responses to conversion attempts.

[linguist]

um what? You are aware that one of the cornerstones of every major religion is to prolethysize or gain followers right?

Have you ever looked into what it takes to convert to Judaism? Not only do they not proselytize, they actively try to discourage you from converting.

[AdminAssistant]

And some Orthodox Jewish groups don't even consider converted Jews to be "real" Jews. I met a woman who converted to Judaism, and she told me that when she lived in New York, she had a hard time finding a synagogue that would accept her.