my new theory about christians

[genkaus]

and im saying this as an ex christian who really wanted a better life in heaven. but anyone else ever notice how Christians spend their whole lives telling others about how much better life is in heaven, but when they or a loved one are sick with a terminal illness they pray their asses off? you know why Christians pray like crazy when they are dying? because they are scared. no matter how many years they spend bsing others, when they look at death in the face they know that this life is all there is.

Both positions are contradictory resolutions to the same thing - fear of death. Christians, like everyone else, fear death and want to live longer - so they pray they wouldn't die. And because of the same fear, they want to believe in a better life after death.

---

Christians are supposed to want to live as long as possible. Otherwise, we'd all be committing suicide to get to heaven faster. Then you'd call us a death cult, so we can't win either way in the eyes of stupid atheists.

Apart from the doctrine saying suicide gets you to hell, not heaven, I see no reason why Christians would want to live longer.

[robvalue]

Very good point.

If I hold a gun to a christian's head, I think it is very likely they would do anything to avoid me killing them. I could get them to commit any sin in the bible, including swearing on their eternal soul that god isn't real.

That's a good question then. Are there christians who would take the bullet rather than swear that god isn't real? I'm sure there are some, but I doubt there are many.

[fr0d0]

What I say and what I believe could be two different things. I'm not that shallow that I think my words matter. No one can force you to believe something that you don't. Making you say it is irrelevant to me.

[robvalue]

So you would do that, rather than refuse and let me shoot you? Instant ticket to eternal paradise?

[Little lunch]

I'm an atheist and I'm not scared of death.
After all, I smoke like a chimney. :-)

But when I was a x-tian, I was shit scared of hell and I felt like heaven was a place where normal people go, so it was just a matter of time before I was going to be tortured forever.
I dunno, maybe all 8 yr olds feel that way. :-)

[robvalue]

It's utterly repulsive that adults bully young children into adopting their superstitions through threat of torture. No 8 year old should be forced to worry about such horrid nonsense.

[Mudhammam]

It's utterly repulsive that adults bully young children into adopting their superstitions through threat of torture. No 8 year old should be forced to worry about such horrid nonsense.

I was led, of my "free will" of course, into the Lord's prayer at age five. And baptized. No seriously. "Re-committed" myself (got saved "for real") at age thirteen. And baptized again. Pathetic, I know.

"Red is the color of his blood shed, black is the color of sin and death, white is his purity, green is growth in following his word, gold is reward in heaven," or some bullshit like that was how the picture book went if I can recall (I say "picture book" loosely... it was literally just a book full of colored pages).

[Aoi Magi]

Worse than the scare tactic, most religious parents force a belief on the children that the respective religion is part of their identity. Thus it becomes much harder to break away from it, compared to getting over the fear of fictional hell.

[fr0d0]

So you would do that, rather than refuse and let me shoot you? Instant ticket to eternal paradise?

Yes.

Suppose God is looking on. He knows what I really think right. You force me to say that I don't believe. What is God seeing? Does he see me being unconvinced of my belief?

My ticket to eternal paradise isn't what I say. It's what I am.

[Lek]

Very good point.

If I hold a gun to a christian's head, I think it is very likely they would do anything to avoid me killing them. I could get them to commit any sin in the bible, including swearing on their eternal soul that god isn't real.

That's a good question then. Are there christians who would take the bullet rather than swear that god isn't real? I'm sure there are some, but I doubt there are many.

I would.

---

So you would do that, rather than refuse and let me shoot you? Instant ticket to eternal paradise?

Yes.

Suppose God is looking on. He knows what I really think right. You force me to say that I don't believe. What is God seeing? Does he see me being unconvinced of my belief?

My ticket to eternal paradise isn't what I say. It's what I am.

I disagree. Matthew 10:33English Standard Version (ESV)

33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

We who believe in him don't deny our belief to others. If you really believed in him, then you would trust in him. If what you say is true, all the past and present martyrs for the faith could just lie and avoid all persecution.