I'm most definitely curious to hear how atheists, in general, don't understand the Bible or religion, when study after study has shown that we tend to understand it better than the religious people know their own material. As has already been pointed out, what is usually happening when we get this complaint, "You don't understand Christianity at all!", is that the particular Christian making the complaint subscribes to a different version of Christian theology than the one we're describing... there are so many, after all. Rather than say, "No, that's what the Calvinists believe" (or whatever), they claim the reason we're wrong about their version of theology is because we just don't understand Christianity at all.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...-religious
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/201...s-that-bad
The statement that atheists are typically bad at understanding Christianity reads to me as sheer prejudice and contempt.
Do people make bad arguments against religion here? Of course! There are people making bad arguments FOR religion on religious forums, all the time, and an honest Christian would acknowledge that there are at least as many bitter arguments among the faithful on basic points of doctrine as there are atheists who happen to guess wrong when discussing with a member of a particular denomination, here.
Also, as has been pointed out but bears repeating, many of us are ex-Christians who were quite devout for a number of years, and who have read the Bible while believers and after leaving the faith. To claim that we don't understand the faith we participated in for years is disingenuous, and is just a method of dismissing from your own minds the possibility that we read the same book you did, understood it clearly, and came to a different conclusion about it. Often, objections to our phrasing is based on how we talk about it, post-departure, when we see the ideas we used to cherish in a new light that is not as flattering... you expect us to speak about things in the same accepting and reverent way to which you have become accustomed in your own social/theological circles, and we don't do that, so you write it off as poor understanding. After all, goes the reasoning, if we understood it, we'd be more respectful! It's nonsense, and you should know better.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2...-religious
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/201...s-that-bad
The statement that atheists are typically bad at understanding Christianity reads to me as sheer prejudice and contempt.
Do people make bad arguments against religion here? Of course! There are people making bad arguments FOR religion on religious forums, all the time, and an honest Christian would acknowledge that there are at least as many bitter arguments among the faithful on basic points of doctrine as there are atheists who happen to guess wrong when discussing with a member of a particular denomination, here.
Also, as has been pointed out but bears repeating, many of us are ex-Christians who were quite devout for a number of years, and who have read the Bible while believers and after leaving the faith. To claim that we don't understand the faith we participated in for years is disingenuous, and is just a method of dismissing from your own minds the possibility that we read the same book you did, understood it clearly, and came to a different conclusion about it. Often, objections to our phrasing is based on how we talk about it, post-departure, when we see the ideas we used to cherish in a new light that is not as flattering... you expect us to speak about things in the same accepting and reverent way to which you have become accustomed in your own social/theological circles, and we don't do that, so you write it off as poor understanding. After all, goes the reasoning, if we understood it, we'd be more respectful! It's nonsense, and you should know better.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
