Survey: Motivation for rejecting Christianity

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
What? As far as I can tell the Dark Ages began when Christianity began to mature and rational thought went into decline. Once science and rational though re-emerged in the Rennaissance, the Dark Ages disappeared. Now, in modern times, Christianity has had to change and adapt as rational thought showed many of it's tenets to be wrong. The Christianity we have now is much, much different than the Christianity that existed early on.

Some people would rather be fuled.

Ewe kan fule sum uv thuh peepole sum uv thuh tieme,
buht ewe kan'd fule awl uv the peepole awl uv thuh tieme.

Aren't you into predestination, Coletti? Clearly the answer would be "God made me do it". Right?

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Aren't you into predestination, Coletti? Clearly the answer would be "God made me do it". Right?

That's exactly right. It Coletti has a consistent epistemology, then that must be his answer for every person's actions.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
That's exactly right. It Coletti has a consistent epistemology, then that must be his answer for every person's actions.

Theory of knowledge?

False truth brings only fasle hope.

Thats my main reason in short I don't think you can put science and religion together you have to disagree with one at somepoint or another and I know what I have picked.

Originally posted by Will Everitt
False truth brings only fasle hope.

Thats my main reason in short I don't think you can put science and religion together you have to disagree with one at somepoint or another and I know what I have picked.

Of course, the reason for this dichotomy is never fully explained, but it does make a wonderful sound bite for you guys. 😉

Originally posted by Nemesio
Well, my motivation for rejecting what you call 'Christianity' is
your idolization of the Bible. You have taken what you call the
Word of God and turned it into a static entity. The way you
read it, it no longer breathes with the 'wind' of the Holy
Spirit. It's just a means for condemnation for you. This is the
very thing that Jesus spoke ou ...[text shortened]... the
Pharisees. You guys are washing the outside of the cup, not
the inside.

Nemesio

Um, where?

The Bible I read shows that the Pharisees were condemned by the Lord for being hypocrites (looking down upon sinners when they were sinners themselves) and adding their own tradition to the [static] word of God.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
How in the world did this crap get three recs? Coletti, what do you think are the real reasons people reject Christianity? Can you come up with three plausible candidates?

1) Lack of respect or hatred of God's sovereignty.
2) Desire to sin.
3) Laziness.

Originally posted by telerion
While 'i' rings true, alas it was not my reason for rejecting xianity.

Well what was it, then?

Originally posted by David C

Good for you, Coletti! Let those base emotions out...keeping them bottled up could lead to anti-social behaviour. However, allow me to take a look at your "points", shall we?

Bad boy, David! Bad! Being a condescending prick is BAD!

This seems to be the reason many accept xtianity. Fear...that this is all there is, and sometimes life ain't pretty. There's no magical everlasting existence, no loving creator, no happy fairy tale endings. You get one chance to experience it, and then it's gone. You're scared, you can't let go of your ego, and thus are ready to believe whatever will soothe your angst.

Do you have any supporting evidence for this? At all? Personally, I accepted Christianity's veracity because the evidence all pointed that way...

The rest was a drawn out begged question of materialism. Hot dang, don't you skeptics have anything else in your repetoire?

Xtians seem to be the ones suffering from this malaise, and you know it. Most of the non-theists (read: Non-christians) I know are not the ones looking for a surrogate "father".

Nietzsche's father died before his 5th birthday.
Bertrand Russell's when he was 4.
Hume when he was 2.
Sartre's father died when he was 15 months old.
Voltaire had such a bad relationship with his father that he changed his name from Arouet to Voltaire. (Voltaire was a deist, but a famous critic of Christianity with its claim to a "personal" God).

Hmm.

Is that how you wish to project your weakness in your faith on me? Calling me a "rogue"? Frankly, this speaks more about your self-image than it does about my character. Sorry.

You're not a rogue, but you ARE a bad boy! BAD!

My sense of values are not "false" any moreso than yours are "true".

You forget that in your worldview, there can be no "true or false" values. Only "his and mine". Tuck it in, your inconsistency is showing.

And you've chosen to believe the bible because...what, again? You saw it in a movie, I suppose.

Me? Because it's never been disproven in an archeological find (only verified time and again), and because it has a knack for telling history before it happens. There's also the matter of it having more insights, truth, and coherency than any other book every written, despite the fact that it had 40 authors spanning millenia.

So, you've never encountered an xtian who feels they're better than Unsaved Heathens Like Me. You might want to check the man in the mirror on that one, Skippy.

I think I'm more intelligent than you, and probably do live a more moral life, but that doesn't make me inherently more valuable or "better".

No. I know I won't, which makes my existence here on earth that much more valuable. Unlike, say, a "Christian" who has somehow been convinced this life is worth less than the one he'll have after he dies.

Let me get this straight. Existing for no reason and ending up in oblivion makes your life more valuable than if you were to exist for eternity and your choices in this life affected your eternal destination? Some odd reasoning.

I've rejected Christianity because there's nothing there. It's an exercise in ego-stroking, and I have no use for weak, empty minded drivel. If it makes you happy to continue to be spoon fed feel-good, security blanket doctrines designed to keep you ignorant, knock yourself out. Don't expect me to follow suit.

Speaking of ego-stroking, nice closing paragraph.

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Aren't you into predestination, Coletti? Clearly the answer would be "God made me do it". Right?

Ya ain't gonna be doin nuttin that God don't want ya to be doin. No sir!

But then, you're also doing just what you want to do too. 🙂

Originally posted by Darfius
Um, where?

The Bible I read shows that the Pharisees were condemned by the Lord for being hypocrites (looking down upon sinners when they were sinners themselves) and adding their own tradition to the [static] word of God.

You've demonstrated it in this thread repeatedly.

You even said the Word of God is static above. And yet, you've added all manner of
stuff to that, from Trinitarianism to Calvinism.

Jesus wouldn't recognize you, that's for sure.

Nemesio