120 Reasons to Reject Christianity

[Learner]

Our knowledge of the physical world is empirical. Our knowledge of God is intuitive. The only arguments for a supernatural being God are intuitive. There are no empirical arguments for God.

Those who confuse the two are, obviously, themselves confused.

I see the point your making but .. we also see the physical world as empirical for the universe existence. The cause for the physical world in the first place ; is the part that is debateable with creationists . Knowledge of the physical world is not an empirical example for no God , if it were seen this way. (confuse the two)

I'd argue that belief in a supernatural realm of angels, miracles etc. does nothing to advance a person's spirituality. Especially if one held that, without a historical, man-god Jesus, there can be no Christianity. Understanding them metaphorically, however can lead to insight. This is why believers gain benefit even while they insist on the supernatural. But they'd be better off with a clearer understanding.

That argument, that without historical human man-god Jesus there is no church, has nothing to do with reason, insight, meditation, contemplation or any other spiritual act that people generally consider beneficial.

Amongst a wide varying group of believers of all sorts I'm sure some may fit the above. There are people that become Christians by wanting to change their lives completely around and feel happier that theyre closer to God. It is equally as beneficial to them.

 

[Smoker]

I'm still kind of worried that I might be caste into the eternal lake of fire. Even though most of the awesome people will be there suffering with me if the Bible is literally true, the whole eternal suffering thing kind of makes me worry.

Matthew 25:46

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”


2 Thessalonians 1:9

9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might


Matthew 13:50

50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.


Mark 9:43

43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.


Jude 1:7

7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.


Matthew 13:42

42 They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

[DBT]

The new testament version of Yahweh the tribal god of war is hardly an improvement in terms of ethics, compassion or justice. Just a slight makeover. A thin veneer of decency - love thy neighbor - painted over the Cruel, Vindictive Tyrant depicted in the Torah.

 

[James Brown]

It is curious how the God of the New Testament is portrayed as a God of Peace and Love when compared to the OT Jehovah. Believers twist themselves in knots to explain that they are the same unchanged individual, but skeptics aren't fooled. Still, skeptics give some props to apologists. "Your religion is still silly, but at least your deity is improving. Keep it up and you might actually come up with a humane religion."[1]

And yet, the OT Jehovah gave little concern for the human soul. He might want you dead for various arbitrary reasons, but at least once you were dead your suffering was over. But in the NT, the situation is reversed. We're told that God does not want anyone to die, but if we don't believe we're sent to eternal torment. All things being equal, I'd prefer Jehovah's version of justice.


[1] In fact, many Christians are indeed working on bug fixes and improvements. I've been told by many an apologist that there is no such thing as Hell, and that all those NT verses about it are metaphorical, and seriously mis-interpreted by Christians and non-Christians alike.

Keep it up, Christians! You'll get there! The NT God is remote and distant compared to the up-close-and-personal Jehovah. With time, you'll eventually remove God out of the cosmos entirely, and we'll live our lives in peace and freedom, no gods necessary.

 

[Horatio Parker]

I see the point your making but .. we also see the physical world as empirical for the universe existence. The cause for the physical world in the first place ; is the part that is debateable with creationists . Knowledge of the physical world is not an empirical example for no God , if it were seen this way. (confuse the two)

If it were seen this way? Meaning intuition is equivalent to empiricism. But it's not...

The significance or meaning of a cause is inside of us, it's one side of a relationship between ourselves and reality. To project a desire onto the physical world, and then insist that the firmer the belief in ancient revelation is equivalent to physics somehow means a person is spiritual is not rational.

Much better IMO is to leave issues of physical causes to physics, and appreciate that meaning comes from within. That's the basis for spirituality based in reality. Otherwise, a person is vulnerable to authority of revelation, which can be misused even at the community church level.

Amongst a wide varying group of believers of all sorts I'm sure some may fit the above. There are people that become Christians by wanting to change their lives completely around and feel happier that theyre closer to God. It is equally as beneficial to them.

Fine, but they're still confused.

I don't know a lot about Gnosticism, but from what I know, they were on the right track, recognizing that a relationship with God is a product of the mind. Stories that some Christians insist must be historical are instead viewed, correctly, as tools to enable an altered state of mind.

 

[Lion IRC]

It is curious how the God of the New Testament is portrayed as a God of Peace and Love when compared to the OT Jehovah...

The New Testament pointedly reminds us that Jehovah flooded the entire planet.
The New Testament includes the Apocalypse.
The New Testament doubles down on God's strict view of sexual immorality and greed.

Where is this new 'limp biscuit', wet teabag, post-modern, hearts & flowers, touchy feely God?

 

[Lion IRC]

Oh - wait. I found Him. Guess where!

"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. "
(Exodus 34:6-7)

 

[Lion IRC]

The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
(Psalms 145:17)

Amen.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Oh - wait. I found Him. Guess where!

"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. "
(Exodus 34:6-7)

It's weird how often "forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" looks like flooding planets, causing plagues, slaughtering children and the like.

 

[Lion IRC]

Oh - wait. I found Him. Guess where!

"The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. "
(Exodus 34:6-7)

It's weird how often "forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" looks like flooding planets, causing plagues, slaughtering children and the like.

It's weird that you confuse punishment and forgiveness.
I think the bible is quite clear about the difference.

 

[abaddon]

It is curious how the God of the New Testament is portrayed as a God of Peace and Love when compared to the OT Jehovah...

The New Testament pointedly reminds us that Jehovah flooded the entire planet.
The New Testament includes the Apocalypse.
The New Testament doubles down on God's strict view of sexual immorality and greed.

Where is this new 'limp biscuit', wet teabag, post-modern, hearts & flowers, touchy feely God?

Yeah, peace and love suck anyway. So embrace the evil, that’ll show them atheists a thing or two.

 

[James Brown]

The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
(Psalms 145:17)

Amen.

We could stand to do with less of this righteous love.

According to "Samuel," David took a census of the people. This excited the wrath of Jehovah, and as a punishment he allowed David to choose seven years of famine, a flight of three months from pursuing enemies, or three days of pestilence. David, having confidence in God, chose the three days of pestilence; and thereupon, God, the compassionate, on account of the sin of David, killed seventy thousand innocent men. Under the same circumstances, what would a devil have done? -- Robert Green Ingersoll, "About the Holy Bible" (1894)

Seventy thousand innocent people killed for the grave sin of having their noses counted. Does that fall under the category of punishment? Or forgiveness?

 

[none]

I guess that is reason 121

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's weird how often "forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin" looks like flooding planets, causing plagues, slaughtering children and the like.

It's weird that you confuse punishment and forgiveness.
I think the bible is quite clear about the difference.

Well, awful decent of the man to forgive all of those babies he murdered because of an argument he had with their pharoah. Fucking weirdos who have a problem with guys who slaughter children.

 

[Horatio Parker]

Or the forty two thousand killed because they mispronounced "shibboleth".

5The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me cross over," the men of Gilead would say to him, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," 6then they would say to him, "Say now, 'Shibboleth.'" But he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42000 of Ephraim.

 

[Lion IRC]

...Fucking weirdos who have a problem with guys who slaughter children.

WOW - glad you're so concerned about children

 

[none]

Meh, I'm kinda partial to humans not having the right to be tethered to another human being
And doesn't the bible say that breath is life somewhere?
If it never breathed it never lived is what I remember having been discussed. ....

 

[DBT]

The LORD is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
(Psalms 145:17)

Amen.

What about this, brought to us from the God of Love?

He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. Joshua 24:19

God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; Nahum 1:2

Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers. Isaiah 14:21

Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. Ezekiel 8:18

The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, ... their land shall be soaked with blood, ... For it is the day of the LORD's vengeance. Isaiah 34:7-8

 

[Atheos]

This could go on forever. All it illustrates is that the bible is contradictory, something those of us who aren't gushing to defend it already know. For every ecstatic utterance about god's goodness there's some story about him being all passive-aggressive by killing or inflicting suffering just because he'd rather do that than just say what's on his mind.

II Sam 21:1

Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David enquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites.

Short story Yahweh wouldn't let people quit starving until David gathered up seven of Saul's grandchildren and had them hung.

And after that God was intreated for the land.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

...Fucking weirdos who have a problem with guys who slaughter children.

WOW - glad you're so concerned about children

I take it by your response that you are saying that or judgments of God and his actions should be comparable to how we judge other humans. I would agree with you on that point. If you heard about a guy who, due to a political disagreement with another ruler, sent an assassin into that ruler's country and had him murder the first born children of all the people who work for that ruler and you were then told that this guy followed up that action by putting together a set of moral guidelines for people to live by, would you judge this guy to be the sort of person who was worthy to set moral guidelines? I personally would not and am curious if you would disagree with me on this point.