Amos

In short? They are not allowed to be honest with themselves and are forced to be phony and unreal. They are forced to be counted among the righteouss which makes them hypocrates instead of just people who can explore their own mind in relation to the rest of the world.

Evil Milkman

Wow, Amos... Nice! That's the only thing I've ever read that you've written that I fully understood.

I agree with most of the replies. Honestly, on the outside, there isn't anything bad about being a Christian or religious in general, it's only when violence, close mindedness, ignorance of social injustices, etc become a prominent part of their belief.

Starboy

Yes and if smallpox, malaria, polio, tb and all the other diseases that contribute to the misery of life didn't cause such misery there would be nothing wrong with them. The if-your-aunt-had-balls argument appears to be very popular amoung the Christian crowd. Oh well, someday enough people will see Christianity for the scourge that it is.

Starboy

christ-on-a-stick

1. "Lost time". Heck, we've only got one life to live, and many (not all, I realize) Christians (esp. the born-again variety) spend huge amounts of time in activities that keep them from pursuing other activities ("worldly" stuff ) Just recently I heard my fundified cousin, who is 16 and an amazing artist, criticizing *herself* for spending "too much time drawing" when she should be "putting God first" and "spending more time in the Word".
Sad.

2. Loss of normal, healthy SELF-ESTEEM. Is is even *possible* to have if you truly believe that you are inherently bad??? I think not.

3. To echo many others, unnecessary guilt relating to matters of sexuality.

Jamie_L

What everyone else said. Plus:

1) Suppression of critical thinking: Not just Christianity, but most religions have an inherint aspect of telling their followers to not think critically, at least about the religion, and in some respects about other aspects of life as well. Critical thinking is good mental self-defense, as it protects one from scam-artists, the lure of advertising, and just generally believing in harmful things that ain't so. Dangerous cult leaders prey on the non-critical, trust-religious-authority attitude that mainstream religions instill in their believers from childhood.

2) Losing 52 mornings a year (effectively half of every Sunday). Over a 75-year life that's roughly 5 1/3 years of your life spent chanting, singing, and listenting to somebody else tell you how to live your life, when you could be out actually living your life instead.

(Okay, #2 is kind of silly. But only kind of.)

Jamie

christ-on-a-stick

Hi Jamie,

I don't think #2 is silly AT ALL!!! Seriously... think about how busy and hectic our lives can get - people work 40+ hours a week, then on the 2 days off a week have to juggle household responsibilities, family and social obligations, not to mention trying to get some "fun" time in - but they feel obligated to spend several hours on a Sunday morning, as you said

markstake

Since I started this, I think I'll throw in some comments. I am not a Christian, but I don't agree with most of these arguments.

1) Time. Many Christians enjoy spending time on their faith, or at least believe they'll be rewarded for it. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Otherwise, many of them would spend it in the mindless oblivion of television. This is probably a regret of those who converted away from religion, rather than a bad effect for those who are currently practicing.

2) Self-Esteem. This may depend on your flavor of Christianity. I understand that Catholics especially have guilt issues. However, Christianity really provides an easy escape. Since you are inherently bad, you aren't really responsible for being bad. You just have to repent your sins.

While this is part of Christianity, I have not seen it given much attention, and so usually does not get incorporated into a Christian's mindset.

3) Critical Thinking. This is probably over rated to begin with. Does this make you happier? Probably not. Perhaps Christianity is better for those who don't possess critical thinking skills to begin with.

4) Sexual repression. I think I'll have to go along with this one. Although I could refer you to #2, I'd also have to refer you to #2.

Amos writes:
If they are actually Christians, rather than fakers pretending to be Christians, then this does not apply.

beastmaster

Xnty isn't necessarily bad. Sure, the problems mentioned above can be true of some or even most Xns. But I've met plenty of tolerant, happy, and non-proselytizing Xns.

I kind of regard Xnty like homosexuality. There's nothing "wrong" with either. But I am not and never will be gay and I am not and never will be a Xn. I can't make myself gay and I can't make myself Xn. I have no desire to be gay and have no desire to be a Xn. Etc.

daria

I've agreed with everything I read, and even in markstake's previous post, I could see valid points for not agreeing with the answers thusfar provided.
I definitely think the self-esteem issue is a big one, though (probably because of my personal experiences in that field). Even with the bit about not having to take responsibility for your own inherent "badness"... I was still made to feel bad, because it was still my fault; free will and all. Even though it was Adam's fault really, you're still human and you're still not good enough to be with god unless you've got jesus and all that. I hope that made sense. I'm writing in a rush; class is about to start again....

Jamie_L

I think Critical Thinking is grossly underrated by most of society. In fact, I think it is largely discouraged by those in positions of authority, because implicit in critical thinking is questioning authority.

How many people spend their lives in paranoid frenzies fearing everything from alien invaders to New World Order conspiracies because they don't critically evaluate things they are told? How many people spend tons of money on worthless dietary supplements (sometimes hazardous supplements) because they don't critically evaluate the claims made by advertizers? Why does advertizing work so well to sway people to bogus things - from products to political candidates? Because nobody critically evaluates the claims made in these adds.

And don't mistake critical thinking for intelligence. You don't have to be a genius to ask questions like: "What evidence is there to support this claim?" People can be taught to think critically just as they can be taught to think uncritically and accept things on faith from figures of authority.

I'm ranting a bit now, and probably exaggerating, but I feel strongly that critical thinking is sorely lacking in human culture all over the world. Religion or no religion, a world with more critical thinking would be a better place. And a person who thinks critically is much less likely to be taken advantage of. How important is that? Ask anyone who's been swindled out of their life savings by a scam.

Jamie