Why are christians so desperate to deny those who became Atheists were ever christians? [Spirituality & Religion]

@MarkPaul [quote]I continue to suspect you didn't take the time to try to understand it and any time you MIGHT have spent with it was in a haste to disprove it. With that attitude, you can convince yourself the earth is flat.[/quote]

Amen to that! That's what I've been telling her!

@MarkPaul @GodSpeed63 You're both wrong and very arrogant. I was a christian who did take the time to read and study the bible as I believe all christians should. Far from being in a haste to disprove it, I found myself struggling to believe it. I had to deny rationality to accept it as true, telling myself that it was possible because god can do anything.

Thee more I read and studied, the less sense it made. In the end, it became obvious it was no more than a jumble of myths and superstitions taken from older belief systems. As you both seem unaware of that, I suspect neither of you have read it for yourselves, you've just blindly accepted what you've been told.

The fact that I was a christian and am now an Atheist terrifies you. That's why you're so desperate to deny I was ever a christian. If I was able to see through it all and break away, it raise doubts in your mind as to whether you are victims of a deception too. You take comfort by trying to convince youselves that I could not have been a real christian.

@suzie1960 I don't really understand why some Christians get so upset about this. If Christianity doesn't work for you, but does for them, so be it. They should learn to let go.

@Bushranger I think the fact a christian became an Atheist causes them to question their own beliefs - and they secretly know what the answers could be.

If it works for them that's fine, just so long as they don't try to force it on me again. I've been there already.

@suzie1960 I get you think you are smarter than any believer because of your super-human capabilities to see through the deceptions you have painstakingly uncovered with precision that are beyond dispute. What I don't get, is why you think your beyond reproach conclusions necessarily apply to everyone else. What kind of dictator do you aspire to be?

@MarkPaul I reached the conclusion that the bible is just a jumble of myths and superstitions [b]after studying it[/b]. I didn't need superhuman abilities, just a methodological approach. Anyone can find out for themselves if they just ditch preconceived ideas and keep an open mind.

Telling others what I found doesn't make me a dictator. The dictators are those evangelical christians who think they have the right to tell others what to believe or, even worse, dictating what they do or did believe.

@suzie1960 Which is what you seem to be doing. If you choose to be a non-believer that is your free will right. But for goodness sake, stop putting everyone else done for not having your self-proclaimed level of intelligence and insight because they DO believe. Practice what you preach, honey.

@MarkPaul Amen, brother, amen.

@MarkPaul [quote]But for goodness sake, stop putting everyone else done for now having your self-proclaimed level of intelligence and insight because they DO believe. [/quote]
I'm not putting anyone down, just asking why some christians are so desperate to deny I was ever a christian.

You criticism would be better directed at those christians who continually claim Atheists are: illogical; clueless; brainless; idiotic; etc. etc.

@suzie1960 If they do that, it might be because of your arrogance and pride. Even if you choose to be an atheist, you don't have to act like a holier than thou asshole.

You have fooled yourself into thinking you have uncovered some magical answer. Good for you. Just stop trying to shove your animosity down everyone else's throat. You can still show human decency even though you have turned your back on God.

@suzie1960 Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you started this discussion out of frustration caused by evangelical Christians who continued to aggressively accuse you of lying and continually trying to force their beliefs on to you. I can accept your frustration.

@suzie1960 [quote]I'm not putting anyone down, just asking why some Christians are so desperate to deny I was ever a christian.[/quote]

We're not being desperate, we just recognize that you were never really a true believer, is all.

@GodSpeed63 You don't get it, do you. How can you know what someone else truly believes. If @suzie1960 says she was a Christian in the past, I'm sure she would have known. You just don't like the idea of someone not having your religious beliefs.

@GodSpeed63 I very seldom comment on threads like this but I find your claims to be breathtakingly crass. [quote]we just recognize that you were never really a true believer, is all.[/quote]

I realised I was an atheist at the age of about 6 - however, I've just spent most of Easter with my closest friends who happen to be evangelical Christians; I class their former and present pastors as friends also. [i][b]They[/b][/i] would never be as insulting to anyone who didn't share their faith.

@Bushranger [quote]You don't get it, do you.[/quote]

It's you that doesn't get it, my friend. Religious people can call themselves 'Christian' all they want to, but, unless they're truly born again, they'll never be true believers who don't fall away.

@GodSpeed63 You really are the most unchristian person I have ever encountered.

@ArtieKat [quote]They would never be as insulting to anyone who didn't share their faith.[/quote]

My friend, I never meant to be insulting, just separating the wheat from the chaff is all.

@ArtieKat [quote]You really are the most unchristian person I have ever encountered.[/quote]

Why do you say that?

@GodSpeed63 No, you are a most unpleasant person. And I'm not your friend.

@GodSpeed63 By your definition, the number of Christians in the world is considerably less than is generally accepted. Your statement is also offensive to every other Christian who doesn't happen to have your particular religious beliefs.

@ArtieKat He does have a certain arrogance to him.

@GodSpeed63 [quote]We're not being desperate, we just recognize that you were never really a true believer, is all.[/quote]
You're wrong. You just don't want to accept the fact that I was a christian but I managed to break free. It doesn't matter how often you deny the facts, you can't change them. That must really grate.

@MarkPaul [quote]You have fooled yourself into thinking you have uncovered some magical answer.[/quote]
Not at all, I reached my conclusion as a result of careful study. It is you who has been fooled, just as I was before I broke free.

@Bushranger [quote]Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you started this discussion out of frustration caused by evangelical Christians who continued to aggressively accuse you of lying and continually trying to force their beliefs on to you.[/quote]
That's essentially correct - frustration and some annoyance. In some ways it's quite amusing seeing them repeatedly vindicate my position. :)

@suzie1960 If you truly broke free, a reasonable person would be happy and relieved. Instead, you troll around here proclaiming how terrific you are for reaching your conclusion as though you need to constantly remind yourself with validating affirmations. It seems like you are not being entirely honest about your intentions or your findings.