Question God Believers/theists

What are some questions that atheists have for Christians?

Hi, I've asked and it doesn't go too well, with the exception of a few polite and decent people I've met on this forum, in particular. I've not been asked respectfully by anyone except a kind young man about 17 yrs. old, then another young man, around 22 yrs., and with both they were very pleasant conversation's. With these two people, I've learned surprisingly, that it's not all black and white for them.•There are three other people I've gotten to know, a couple have explained and discussed their view's. They are more around my age and a little younger. In their respect for me, I have respect for them and for their choices, that I also have a better understanding of now. I'm still a Christian and that's my belief, it doesn't mean we can't play together ;)•I'm curious by nature and I only wanted better understanding, but no, so it was on. It ended in a few mildly tame battle's with others here and it caused unnecessaryproblem's, [who needs extras] so I've stayed pretty clear of this topic. This one [question] came to me, and of course, I looked ;-) In reading some of these answers it only confirms what I've said and why I stay away. We are all entitled to our beliefs and opinions, I'm not anyone's judge nor are they mine, but it's difficult to be respectful when you're being heavily disrespected, ganged up on and mercilessly taunted. Now that's certainly “not nice”, it's definitely “not respectful” and completely unfair.•I'll respectfully decline to answer this question as I normally would, or feel that I could and be treated civilly. I only want to wish you well with this subject and would hope all will have open minds, as we should. As people, fellow human beings that share this world, like it or not, we should try not to have such disregard and complete lack of respect for one another or what we believe in.I do hope there's some respectful, genuine and fair Q & A, as well as comments, so we gain “that understanding” of one another, and why not?Thanks Trevor! ;-)

Is it true that most atheists were once strong believers (Christians)? If so, how is it that they ended up in such a way?

Is it true that most atheists were once strong believers (Christians);Not necessarily. Of almost 20 odd people I know in this group, just 2 were religious before taking up an atheistic/scientific outlook as the way.Here I refer theism to mean a belief in a religion and not necessarily super natural force.and if true, how is it that they ended up in such a way ?I am trying to put forward the two cases out of twenty here, as others have taken a different route anyway to reach the same pointThey witnessed the hypocrisy in religious institutions they were attached to. Pastors/Priests followed different from what they preached.They comprehended the business nature of the establishments having the profit-loss book rather than the moral values for social/mental well beingThey understood that clergy is like brokerage and such middlemen are not required to communicate with the GodThey started reading the alternative approach and books on morality, psychology, social order and science in general. Everything that made sense earlier started to fall apart based on the inquisitive questioning of logic and limited mindHowever, they are still trying to find answers for many questions unanswered by science, the most predominant among them being the “Afterlife”. Having no answer made sense to them than having different denominations of “Heaven” and “Hell” with a multitude of variations among religions. They still seem to believe in the super-natural force, which is God but have lost belief in the religious institutions.

Do Christians believe atheists actually believe in god as well, but that they don't want to?

Q: Do Christians believe atheists actually believe in god as well, but that they don't want to?It’s not an uncommon assertion, particularly amongst the less educated and unsocialised. Generally it involves drawing the definition of God so widely as to render it meaningless on the basis the target audience won’t notice.That said, if it was bleeding obvious that a God existed, one imagines we’d deal like we deal with any other fact of existence.And I’m inclined to quote Quellcrist Falconer:“Face the facts. Then act on them. It's the only mantra I know, the only doctrine I have to offer you, and it's harder than you'd think, because I swear humans seem hardwired to do anything but. Face the facts. Don't pray, don't wish, don't buy into centuries-old dogma and dead rhetoric. Don't give in to your conditioning or your visions or your fucked-up sense of... whatever. FACE THE FACTS. THEN act.”  ― Quellcrist FalconerOK, so She’s an literary invention, but no more so than God.

What are some questions theists often have for atheists?

As a Christian, my questions would be:Do you withhold from anything remotely religious?For example do you pray, in difficult situations, etc, etc.What made you conclude that there is no God?I am curious to know what made atheists believe there is no God. For example: bad experiences with religion, science, etc, etc.Do you believe in any sort of life after death?I have always assumed all atheists do not believe in any sort of life after death. However, I am sure there must be at least a few who believe in some sort of after-life, just without the involvement of a God.Do you actually believe the world would be better without religion?I have heard so many atheist Quorans say the world would be better without religion, without thinking about the upsides religions provide to humanity. I do not mind if a person feels this way and gives a solid reason, looking at both sides of the argument.Do you have any faith in the unknown?Provide an example of anything you believe in that is not backed up by clear evidence or that is not entirely logically.Have you ever successfully converted anyone to atheism?Like after having a deep conversation with a theist have you managed you actually make any one change their faith, either accidentally or on purpose.If you had choose any religion: which one would you choose and why?This can be any religion at all.How do you propose the world was created?I assume most atheists will provide me will an answer, backed by science. But, I am sure there must be a few who believe the world wasn’t created purely by scientific means.And finally:What do you believe the meaning of life is?In other words, what purpose to you believe the human race serves in its short time.I would love you hear any input from atheists and even theists regarding these questions.

Why do theists ask atheists hostile questions about God(s) but not people who belong to different religions and also don't believe in their God(s)?

First of all, when I see a generalization like this about theists, I always find it unfair. As an atheist, I’ve only really been bothered about my lack of belief by Christians and Muslims (and, every now and then, Jews, but not very often). My atheism may make believers in other religions uncomfortable, but they don’t ask me hostile questions and I don’t see them doing so as a rule. Most religions don’t have a stated goal of eradicating and replacing all other forms of belief. That’s exclusive to Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent Scientology.So why are Christians and Muslims more hostile to nonbelievers than to believers in other religions? Simply because their hostility toward those other religions have been going on for centuries already. It still happens, but mostly when there’s confrontation these days, it’s less of an argument and more of an “angry mob” type of thing.Atheists, on the other hand, are something completely alien to a lot of believers, who cannot imagine not believing and don’t even want to. As well, when we attempt to run a society in such a way that one religion does not dominate everyone’s lives, then it’s a secular society. Since atheists are also secular, this secular way of legislating and acting becomes associated with us. And since these two religions have a thing about trying to enforce their rules on everyone, regardless of their willingness to participate, when they come to resent secular rule, atheists become a natural target for the frustration, fear and anger they feel.And before anyone points out, rightfully, that not all followers of those two religions want to enforce their will on everyone else or have an issue with secular society - that’s not the point. Whether some number of believers choose to follow this particular tenet, intolerance of other religions and secular thought are built in to both religions and that will never change, so there will always be an explicit encouragement for believers to be hostile to alternative ideas.To put it simply: Many Christians and Muslims absolutely do have a problem with people of other religions, but as soon as there’s an atheist around, we get priority.

Why do some religious people ask such silly questions about atheists? I just had 5 requests that were both trivial and stupid!

This lack of understanding about atheism is a result of poor teaching about atheism and a lack of exposure to it.There is a lot of disconnect between Christians and atheists, mostly Christians misunderstanding what atheists really think about God and religion. A lot of this comes from limited contact with atheists. They don’t understand what atheists think because they’ve probably never had a real discussion with one. Their ideas about atheists come from their pastor and maybe online atheists.This is obviously not true for every Christian, but it is a trend I’ve noticed among Christians who ask “silly” questions about atheists.Pastors sometimes preach about atheists’ challenges to Scripture and Christian teaching in such a way that they can easily refute these challenges and make atheists look like they’re childishly ignorant about God and the Bible. A lot of what my pastors have taught about atheists centered on atheists not knowing what they really believed, and not knowing what Christianity really is.After growing up in fundamentalist churches, my image of an atheist was a caricature, a ridiculous stereotype based on what I’d heard. I thought that atheists had just never really gotten the Bible. They hadn’t studied it like I did. They didn’t know how awesome it was to be Christian.But I could show them. They were stuck in the darkness, but I could bring them to the light.(Spoiler alert: That didn’t work.)I disagree that “trivial and stupid” questions are intended to patronize atheists. Questions like But isn’t atheism actually a kind of religion? and How do you not feel hopeless and sad about the future? come from a lack of understanding about what atheism is and what atheists believe. Many people, including me at one point, ask these questions in earnest. They couldn’t imagine living without God or living without a belief in something, so how could someone else?Unfortunately, as long as Christians don’t interact with atheists, and pastors continue to preach stereotypes of atheists, this gulf of misunderstanding will widen, resulting in silly questions like the ones you’ve received.I don’t want to rail on “evil” pastors who are deceiving their congregations. That isn’t my intention. Pastors aren’t inherently evil or ignorant. In many cases, it’s just easier to rely on a stereotype than to put the work into truly understanding, a problem that is definitely not limited to pastors.

As a theist/believer, what stops you from killing someone right now and say God told you to do it?

This is actually an interesting quesion, it is always lurking there deep down burried between my subconcious and unconcious state as a “believer”.But reffering to the question, whether you are a theist nor atheist…if “God” (written as the question above) really want someone to be killed by my hand….then the only thing stoping me is “my lack of faith” (that is one probability, lucky atheist…they never have faith :D)What else can i do, if someone else in my position, whether he/she a theist or an atheist…would resist a deity or something more powerful and even forceful than you ?No God, i don wanna kill that person !!!OH NO YOU MUST !! And your hand start moving by itself, perhaps you are immagining things or two, but you think you can hear those “twillight zone” kinda like music inside your brain.Friends…i don’t think those kind of thing is the same like Jedi mind tricks “this is not the droid you are looking for”…this is more powerful then simply an urge for goin to toilet on winter time after a bottle of beer.So my answer according to the question isMy lack of faith, and refusing to do soGod it self canceling me from doing itIs that make me a dangerous person ? Probably :DIs that make me not a sane person ? Oh cmon…in this century ? Which any of us is “sane” ? :DCheerio friends