Why I'm Atheist, Reason #42

[keilexandra]

Or, more specifically, why I am generally against Christianity (and Islam, for the same following reason) and less so against other religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Christianity doesn't tell impressionable young children, "God most likely exists and created this world and loves you, and here's why." It tells them, "God exists and created this world and loves you, therefore you should glorify Him, and anyone who says otherwise is terribly misguided, therefore must be led to the true path. By the way, if you sin and don't pray for forgiveness, you'll burn in Hell. But if you love God and praise Him, you'll be happy forever in Heaven!" ETA: Because multiple people have missed my point, through no fault of theirs, I am striking this through to mark it as an optional addition, although I still stand by it. But the unstruck section is a valid critique of all Christianity and its hereditary nature.

Monotheistic religions usually leave no room for doubt. And I've always believed that skepticism is healthy, regardless of your religious views--but hey, I'm a pessimist who looks forward to the idea of oblivion when I die. I'm obviously a not-to-be-trusted weirdo.

P.S. Go read Greta Christina's Top Ten Reasons I Don't Believe in God, especially the end of Part Two.

[statement of faith] As always, I am open to polite, reasoned, non-troll/spammer debate.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

That depends very much on which branch of Christianity you're dealing with. There are, for example, Christian Universalists, who don't believe in Hell.

[haucuzha.livejournal.com]

About your sister: if your mother can influence her beliefs so can you.

About your frustrations: Don't generalize! Quakers are remarkably open-minded and believe in tolerance and are a "peace church." Episcopalians and some branches of Protestantism often take similar views.
As to what "Christianity" teaches children it often depends on the personal beliefs of the one teaching. My mother attended church with relative regularity during some points of her life and was the most the most devout religiously of my two parents but always preached tolerance and so did my school as far as I can remember.
"By the way, if you sin and don't pray for forgiveness, you'll burn in Hell. But if you love God and praise Him, you'll be happy forever in Heaven!"
Its only ever really that simple with radical Christians. A good deal (so far as I can tell) believe that if one does good deeds then God will love them and support them regardless of one's faith in God.
There are also so called "liberal Christians" which is a blanket term encompassing Christians who use Enlightenment-style thought in their approach to worshiping God.
Note that as an agnostic theist with no deal of interest in any organized religion this is all based on things I have learned and remembered from early on in life.