Why aren't you a Christian?

[Reasonable_Jeff]

To the OP:

Watch this short clip and use the following guide:

fighter = human
legbreaker = christian
loanshark = priest, pastor, reverend, deacon, pope, etc.

Turn up the volume and allow the last line to resonate deep in your soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3I3A4_36yQ

In this analogy, wouldn't Mick be God?

[Reforged]

To the OP:

Watch this short clip and use the following guide:

fighter = human
legbreaker = christian
loanshark = priest, pastor, reverend, deacon, pope, etc.

Turn up the volume and allow the last line to resonate deep in your soul.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3I3A4_36yQ

In this analogy, wouldn't Mick be God?

Convincing humans not to be Christians by sheer strength of argument? Yeah, sure. That works. :-)

[Cyberman]

In this analogy, wouldn't Mick be God?

Convincing humans not to be Christians by sheer strength of argument? Yeah, sure. That works. :-)

I dunno, he'll always be the Penguin to me.

Jeff, I've looked through your blog. I like the design, the layout and all that. My initial impression was that of a graveyard with all those crucifixes; bit daunting at first blush. Clearly this is not a blog for vampires. Is that a preset layout style or did you or someone else put in the work for you? Either way the actual content seems like it would be a useful resource for someone seeking to devise their own sermons. I am not that person and neither am I looking to be saved so it would be unfair of me to review it in this context. Top marks for user friendliness though.

In the interests of reciprocity, you might care to stop by my little corner of the web - button below. I can't promise it's as eyecatching as yours but it does the job of saying what I want and I try to make it as entertaining as anything I post here. For personal reasons I haven't been maintaining it for over a year, though I'm planning to change that. Watch this space.

[Rev. Rye]

The first reason Is because I realised quite early on that John 3:16 (The Gospel in a nutshell verse) could be whittled down to the following: "God sacrificed himself to himself to change a rule he made himself."

We'll basically give a rundown of the basic Christian story of the fall and redemption of man and interspersed will be my own little objections.

God created Adam and Eve and the World apparently because he wanted some creatures who would praise him. He put them into the Garden of Eden along with a tree that Adam and Eve weren't allowed to eat at the risk of dying (which they wouldn't have had any more concept of than the newborn Peter Pan). Needless to say, being curious humans, they ate it, and God decided to punish them for eating the fruit and their offspring for being descended from those who ate the forbidden fruit. LAter, forr a total of at least 4000 years, God decided to favor one particular branch of the descendants of Adam and Eve and call them his chosen people, only to habitually deprive them of their land, rights, and their freedoms whenever they stepped out of line, which was often. Eventually, after 4000 years, he decided to do something about it, and by "do something about it", I mean he decided to do bukakke (the Bible does say the "Angel of the Lord came upon Mary") on a 13-year old virgin, which got her pregnant with a boy named Jesus who would later become a prophet indistinguishable from the many prophets in the land, who would later be crucified for making an ass of himself at the Jewish Temple, only to be revived in a twist worthy of Greek Mythology and then go back to heaven. After this, a Roman Pharisee (read: member of the group that Jesus clashed so often with) named Saul changed his name to Paul and claimed to speak for Jesus, barely talking about his life, and adding a place called Hell into the mix, where people are supposed to be sent to everlasting torture for failing to accept Jesus as their lord and saviour.

What part of this is supposed to be attractive?

[Annik]

I am not a Christian because I slowly came to realization that there was no real reason to believe in such a thing (as a deity). This position will be maintained until there is legitimate evidence to the contrary.

[AtheistAmes]

Jeff,
There are many reasons that I am an atheist, and I would be happy to share. I truly believe that life is so much more beautiful without religion. I do not need to have an explanation for every thing in life, including why I am here, how I got here, or what will happen when I die.

I am uncomfortable believing (and basing so much of my life around) something for which I have no irrefutable evidence.

I feel that I value my life more without belief because I only have one, and I am not spending it following rules that ensure that I get into a "much better" place after I die (I don't understand how anyone can value their life if they are hoping to go to heaven).

Growing up in a Christian home, I always had questions about what I was being taught. Many could not be answered, but when they were I usually ended up even more confused. Examples I can think of are the idea of the trinity and the many differing religions in the world.

I think that it is important to simply live our lives. Be good to others. Help in making this a good place for future generations. Be happy. And I personally do not need a belief in god for this.

I would be happy to elaborate even more, but I feel this is long enough for now. I hope this helps.

[LastPoet]

It takes a special way of detachement from reality to believe in magic things & all that shit. I don't worry much about why people aren't christian, I am baffled why people ARE christian, taking into account all the bullshit that it implies.

[Cyberman]

It takes a special way of detachement from reality to believe in magic things & all that shit.

I think I'd go a bit further, myself. Believing in magical things does involve some level of detachment, yes, but are often the product of insufficient or faulty education. To prefer the belief over reality, to the point at which the belief takes precedence if they conflict with reality, that's some Grade-A detachment.

[Tea Earl Grey Hot]

I'm to the point now that the fact that you can ask "why aren't you a Christian?" is good enough proof to me that Christianity is false.

[Angrboda]

God left when I was small and he left no forwarding address. I never bothered to look for him.