Magus55

Wrong, the Bible tells us to love. Nice stereotype though.

hezekiah jones

Originally posted by Magus55
... the Bible tells us to love.

Jesus tells us to hate:

"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple."

Bree

You're absolutely right - the Bible does tell you to love. However, it also tells you to hate - something that most Christians (and you, apparently) tend to forget.

Need some examples? Here's what the SAB has to say:

Quote:

"Whosoever shall commit any of these abominations ... shall be cut off from among their people." [Leviticus 18:29, 19:8]

Quote:

If you misbehave, god will send you "cursing, vexing, the pestilence, consumption, fever, inflammation, extreme burning, the sword, blasting, and mildew." [Deuteronomy 28:20-22]

Quote:

Homosexuals (those "without natural affection") and their supporters (those "that have pleasure in them") are "worthy of death" and should be killed. [Romans 1:31-32]

There are more, of course, if you'd care to look. I find (in my Bible, at least) several instances where important figures tell us to love our neighbors, but many more instances where God Himself has showed a less than loving approach towards several unfortunate individuals and groups. Actions speak louder than words, no?

Badfish

As a fundamentalist Christian, I believe no such thing, I am not threatened in any way by atheism or anyone claiming to be atheist.

I think the trouble lies in the OP's judgement against a certain person or people in her life and does not reflect the majority of Christianity.

You just can't stereotype and put people in a box, that is not free thinking, that is emotions driven by a closed minded idea.

Bree

It's a two-way street, you know.

Starboy

I don't think it has always been this way in the US. There was a time when being an atheist was no more threatening to a Christian than any other non-Christian. Mark Twain was openly an atheist and yet he was lionized by society. He gave talks and presentations all over the US. Yet at this time a great American like Twain is considered in many Christian circles as being suspect. Now I don't think it was the atheists that caused America to turn on it self, I must condemn the Christians for it. They are a divisive and troublesome lot. Just another reason to think that Christians suck.

Starboy

beth

Badfish, I am speaking of the majority here. I understand that not all are like this, but as an ex-fundamentalist, this is how most of the Christians around me thought and continue to think. I think that I am quite a fair and moderate person, so i am not readily biased.

Stephen T-B

Hello Blondegoddess,
First off, DMB is absolutely right about the difference between the US and the UK in terms of how atheists are regarded.
Here we have arrived at a state in which to be an atheists is perfectly respectable - even for a bishop of the church...
Being a Christian or Muslim or Hindu (or anything) is perfectly respectable too, as long as its done in moderation. What Society here is suspicious of is the fanatic.
I should say, however, that acceptance of atheists is fairly recent. Up until the 1950s, a person hoping for respectability was pretty much obliged to go to church on occasion and keep disbelief in the closet.

As to this point you made: “It seems that my atheism is considered as an attack or a rebellion against the mainstream,” your atheism is just that. You will correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that conformity is pretty important in many US communities. Much more so, I think, than in England.
And what are you doing by parading your unbelief?
Christians are beset by their own doubts and must constantly repair the walls of their certainties which all sorts of things in their daily lives tend to erode. What they don’t need is someone like you coming by and peering through the holes and saying it doesn’t matter if the walls crumble to nothing because there’s nothing beyond them they need to be afraid of. They’re pretty sure you’re wrong about that, but it’s unsettling all the same.
Then it might be the case that for some of the people you know, your denial is subversive; it’s the rotting apple in the bottom of the barrel; you’re a Free Thinker, and that is very dangerous because who knows where it might lead?.

Rhea

Stereotype?

Of the bible? How does one stereotype a book? But let me quote it to you, since you appear unfamiliar.

Luke 12:45-46
45But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.


Romans 15:31
Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there,

2 Corinthians 6:14
Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:15
What harmony is there between Christ and Belial[ 6:15 Greek Beliar, a variant of Belial] ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?

2 Corinthians 6:17
17"Therefore come out from them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you."[4]

1 Timothy 5:8
If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Matthew 24
8All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,

John 15:20
Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.'[ 15:20 John 13:16] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

1 Corinthians 4
11To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
2 Timothy 3
12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.





So. YOUR Bible tells you to think of us as:
Wicked
Darkness
Unclean
Uncaring
Something to be rescued from
Those who will persecute you
Those who will be beaten and cut like a disobedient servant.

So. YOUR Bible tells you to hate and fear us. And for those who see atheism as a direct attack, they are doing just as their bible commands.


You may call that a stereotype. I am only speaking about those christians who SELF SELECT into the group who sees atheism as a direct attack.

The AntiChris

Well, almost.

In all the mainstream media, the default assumption is still that some form of theistic belief is the 'norm'. Last time I heard a discussion on radio about religious matters in which a non-theist participated, he was introduced as a "self-confessed" atheist!

Having said that, the the US experience sounds dire.

Chris