One final attempt to try and get through to you guys

[Jackalope]

When I mention other Gods, he says "what other Gods?". I've mentioned Islam before and he tells me they just worship Mohammed, a dead man.

Chalk up another thing he got wrong. Demonstrably so.

[JesusLover1]

I'm curious. What's wrong with your mental state? Why would reading your holy book be bad?

They say I'll misunderstand it.

[Alex K]

@JesusLover1,

That's extremely silly. Allah is basically the same God as in Judaism and Christianity (hence the name "Abrahamic religion" for all three), with some add-ons. Mohammed is just the prophet who wrote the book, you know that, right? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam

[TaraJo]

When I mention other Gods, he says "what other Gods?". I've mentioned Islam before and he tells me they just worship Mohammed, a dead man.

No, Mohammed is their prophet, much like Jesus is yours. Allah is the god. And here is list of deities, if you want to have a look for yourself.

Truth be told, the primary reason they get pissed with Christians is that Chritians aren't monotheists in their eyes. Christians worship Jesus as well, but Muslims don't. Their exact line, I believe is "There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet."

[Tonus]

I'm curious. What's wrong with your mental state? Why would reading your holy book be bad?

They say I'll misunderstand it.

Can't disagree with them on that one. It's almost impossible not to misunderstand it, based on the tens of thousands of different interpretations.

[Esquilax]

My parents have told me people choose to reject God and go to hell, atheists really DO believe but are just denying it.

I really do need to jump in here, because this is a claim that just drives me insane whenever I hear it. Engage your critical thinking and let me take you down the primrose path of what your parents' claim here actually entails.

Let's accept, for a moment, that this is correct, and atheists really do believe there's a god: why deny it? Don't say "so they can go on sinning," because that doesn't make any sense; if we really do believe there's a god then we understand that sinning will send us to hell, and so there's no actual use in denying it, since that's not going to save us or change anything. And don't say "so we don't have to feel guilty," either, because we've already established that we do believe in a god, and so the source of that guilt is still there, and if we're in denial about something we obviously feel guilty enough about it to deny at all.

So what's the point? What do we actually gain from denying god, if we do secretly believe? We can't change our fate, we can't escape the guilt, so... what's the point in denying it? Where's the motivation, there?

Especially since salvation is through faith and not works, according to your religion; we could keep sinning all we want and still be saved so long as we accept Jesus, so all we'd really be doing by denying him is sealing our fate in hell unnecessarily. And since I've just enumerated all these reasons for you right now, you surely understand that I'm aware of them all, so you can't claim my denial is based on ignorance or some pragmatic reason either, since I've listed an infinite reward for doing the opposite of what you claim I'm doing.

How is this "you really do believe!" schtick not coming across as nonsense to you?

More importantly, it's just plain rude, your parents sitting there and robbing us of our voices by pretending to know what we think better than we do. We're people, with thoughts and emotions all our own, not one-note strawmen for your folks to demean for credibility. I hope this shows you should take what they say- what anyone says, really- with a grain of salt.

[ThePinsir]

Guys, I'm actually starting to feel kind of bad for picking on this little kid. His ass hat of a father needs to make an account lol.

JesusLover1 - you've got some real balls coming here and talking to us. I gotta give you that. But you should do some actual research. Read a book on evolution (if your dad will let you). Google a list of logical fallacies and learn to avoid them. Actually read your own Bible if you haven't. Then we can talk like big boys and big girls

[TaraJo]

I'm curious. What's wrong with your mental state? Why would reading your holy book be bad?

They say I'll misunderstand it.

I've never understood that line of thinking. Question everything, I say. If it's right, you'll just reinforce your faith. If it's wrong, well, I want to know that it's wrong so I don't fall for some kind of garbage religion.

I think the easiest way to misunderstand the Bible is to not read it and just take the word of others that it's correct.

[Alex K]

I'm curious. What's wrong with your mental state? Why would reading your holy book be bad?

They say I'll misunderstand it.

I think you would understand it, that's the problem. Your parents have rationalized away the tons of terrible and nonsensical things written in it to the point that they can live with them. You will just read them without prejudice and probably recognize how problematic it is.

[Kayenneh]

They say I'll misunderstand it.

Seriously, doesn't any alarm bells go off in your head? You are not even allowed access to the text of your faith, you have to rely on your parents to interpret for you? Here's a lesson for you; source criticism. The closer you can get to the original source, the better. So in order to know the bible, you have to read it. Hearing it from your father is a secondary source, which isn't as accurate or reliable. And I'm sure that if your parents feel like you've "misunderstood" anything you've read, that they'll gladly and readily plant more of their own thoughts in your head.. I honestly think they're using your mental state as an excuse to keep you from finding out yourself.