Going to church always bored me to death as a child.
The sermons are normally boring and hymns suck. Couldn't they play some more exciting music?

Also the image of the God that the Bible portrays is that of a bloodthirsty and vain maniac not a loving god.
I can't imagine why you's really want that God to be true.

I can understand why someone would want to believe in a religion like Norse Paganism where the gods are kind of cool characters and Valhalla is a cool place where you just drink and party with hot chicks all the time.

The Christian heaven would suck anyway though as the religion is completely ascetic in things pleasurable.
I just don't see what anyone finds appealing about Christianity.

Smug feeling of self-righteous superiority. That's all I've been able to figure.

Not going to hell.

At least that's what they believe.

(February 24, 2012 at 2:09 pm)Xavier Wrote: I just don't see what anyone finds appealing about Christianity.

False but much craved assurance that they would be allowed to remain infantile forever, and would be permanently excused from having ever to rise even to the adolescent levels of Norse Valhalla.

For christians, hell is but the threat of being forced to grow up.

Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.... A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere ass: he is actually ill.

-- H L Mencken

(February 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Smug feeling of self-righteous superiority. That's all I've been able to figure.

Sounds like my town.. 10+ churches and bunch of assholes..

(February 24, 2012 at 2:09 pm)Xavier Wrote: Going to church always bored me to death as a child.
The sermons are normally boring and hymns suck. Couldn't they play some more exciting music?

Also the image of the God that the Bible portrays is that of a bloodthirsty and vain maniac not a loving god.
I can't imagine why you's really want that God to be true.

I can understand why someone would want to believe in a religion like Norse Paganism where the gods are kind of cool characters and Valhalla is a cool place where you just drink and party with hot chicks all the time.

The Christian heaven would suck anyway though as the religion is completely ascetic in things pleasurable.
I just don't see what anyone finds appealing about Christianity.

God is perfectly loving but also perfectly just. If he wasn't just, we'd all turn out brats and run around causing whatever chaos we please. The old testament judgments are just that--judgments. We break the law we are all aware of and we face the punishment. A judge doesn't hate the criminal he sentences, he's just doing what he's obligated to do. "But God shows his love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Christians are Christians because they see their sin and recognize their need for a savior. Jesus is that savior. "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8) "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13). God had mercy on us. He knew the debt needed to be paid and he did it for us. All we have to do is say we're sorry for the wrongs we've committed and accept his gift. The pleasures of this world (like sex and alcohol) are empty and temporary. When we believe in Jesus we are given a full, lasting peace.

Sermons and music are always more interesting when they mean something to us personally. Have you tried another church? I know three just in my area that play rock music. Many churches have multiple services to cater to different age groups. When it comes down to it, worship is in the mind and spirit, not in entertainment.

(February 24, 2012 at 2:27 pm)Insanity x Wrote:

(February 24, 2012 at 2:11 pm)thesummerqueen Wrote: Smug feeling of self-righteous superiority. That's all I've been able to figure.

Sounds like my town.. 10+ churches and bunch of assholes..

I'm not sure she was referring to Christians there...

I never did like going to church either, as a kid when I had to go with my parents, or even as a young adult when I felt obligated to go because I still had the belief that if I didn't I'd end up in hell. So I'd spend one miserable hour of my valuable weekend time sitting there in the pews. I remember attending an Easter Vigil mass in another town, and the damn thing lasted two freaking hours. By the time I got out it was damn near a blizzard and I had to drive 20 miles home in deep snow in a rear-wheel drive pickup with no weight in the back. How foolish & crazy I was.

I think it's a combination of things, some of which have already been mentioned. Fear of non-existence after death, appeal to a sense of superiority, appeal to a desire for group conformity and belonging, a desire to be in possession of secret 'knowledge' that others outside the group do not, appeal to a sense of duty and/or tradition, and so on. Moving up the scale to preacher level and above, a desire to have power and influence might be a driving factor, as might a thirst for the trappings and wealth of such an office. These factors don't describe all believers of course, they're far too general. However I'm sure most believers are motivated by such things to a varying degree (can I possibly vague it up any more, I wonder? )