1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 This is how i felt what stopped me from trying christianity and attributed to my lack of belief. Some of you have read a portion of my Story or Testimony awhile back this is from a different angle and then the second part is what happened Afterwards Before my Conversion I had christians approach me all the time in stores libraries mall, you name it, They said i was ANGRY..well yea Darn right i ws ANGRY because i keep getting treating like a bug under someones boot, I deserve respect, we should never get used to or be comfortable being disrespected. My mom was a christian and she approached people with love, if they said drop it, she dropped it, yea i didnt understand WHY she believe so strongly but I just cant believe something because i strongly want to. She even told me herself to LEAD my heart not follow it. Christians approached me on buses on sidewalks it started to pick up speed like everywhere i went, so YEA i was freaking angry, its like...I couldnt freaking sleep or rest in my own head i hear the crazy things they said playing in my head like a record. What I mostly wanted at the time was for Christians to leave me alone. Not befriend me so that they can give me a message that my beliefs are not OK AFTER we’ve known one another for a while, but to leave me alone to live my life. Do not become more sophisticated in their evangelism, leave me alone. Bad thing is I’ve never felt that any of the people who made these attempts had my interests at heart, or would offer me the basic respect of considering the possibility, however faint, that I’d actually put genuine thought into my position; that I might be sincere in my lack of belief. I have internet duh its call research not just believe the lies that drip from a preachers mouth. Too much what i read in the bible made no logical sense, after reading the bible it only made my lack of beleif stronger. I dont want to be told what to think, If this God existed i would presume he gave me a brain so that i know HOW to think, not believe based on emotional fantasies and heartfelt words. The street preachers and jehovah witnesses that have the AUDACITY to dictate my life, i live my own life and wont be acountable to ANYONE especially not morally. Having christians friends was difficult holy Crap it was difficult sucks i lost many I find the experience quite scary, as I see a collection of people who are denying truths that they could verify for themselves and someone attempts to witnesss to me, I tend to see it as an attempt to devalue my hold on reality, in effect an attempt to drive me incredibly insane. xxxx Have friends show up to my place one night after a period of not talking for MONTHS! and then proceed to jump right to the church invite. No “Hey, how’ve you been? Haven’t seen you in a while!” Nope – just “Do you want to come to church with me this weekend?” Since I was on to his trick, I decided to play. I said, “Sure, I’ll go to church with you, because I’m interested in seeing what you’re interested in. That’s what friends do, after all. And I’m sure you’ll want to come with me to a Satanic meeting to see what I’m interested in, right?”(I didnt really have a satanic meeting, yea i lied but i knew where this was going)“Oh no!” they didnt want to hear that lol “I just love God so much Come on man come join me!”After i said no. I never saw him again.That’s how far Christian friendship extended to me – I’ve seen it over and over and over. Christians looked at me else as if i got targets painted on my forehead. Nobody likes being hunted down or treated like someone else’s project. I felt like I don’t need to drop all my beliefs just to accept theirs, and we don’t need to become more like them just to be acceptable people, worthy of being regarded as people instead of targets. Love does not seek to create clones of itself. Selfishness does. Oh course im going to disagree and with what christian said to me but they think that anyone that disagrees with them must be out to get them, or persecuting them, just like a spoiled child that doesn’t get their way. I felt like if they would actually TRY to put themself in the shoes of their prey, I suspect that they would become better people for making the effort. After my Converstion Mind you my changes wasnt instant it was a gradual process, what i am describing here is the totality of how i felt and what i experienced, strange enough considering the way i use to think what i use to believe did change but in a real way some things i believed or the way i thought stayed the same i think Christianity is only tolerable at all because it isn’t being practiced. People are professing one religion and practicing another, the one they want. As days following as i started to gain more understanding of christianity I tried my first attempt at a forum, i was scared and nervous, but developed zeal but zeal without knowledge is useless, but it was interesting to converse with Atheists when I seen that people were just like me and how i felt beforehand. Its like i felt an attachment to them a commonality. Perhaps that is why it is easier for me to stay on a site like this and not RUN away like most christians are accused of doing. I love it here and this site. Well back to story so back in some old forums other than this one, i didnt know this existed at the time. I would have Atheist use stock questions against me not knowing my history and at times it would get to me, if only they KNEW what i dealt with when i lost my mom how people then tried to so call Preach Science to me, evidence, facts and selective statistics,If i was talking to my Atheist self he would tell me we dont PREACH Anything, we relay facts logic and reason. funny how I felt before how i assumed christians dont think i put thought in my position, i felt the backlash and felt Atheists did think i put thought in my position now as it is and I used to call them selfish. Ha! it was like seeing myself on ther other end of the stick I had put thought into my position as I did before my conversion so did i get dumber? lol Uhh....No. As a new christian way back when I would sometimes get offened easily and scared and cower back but not anymore, i eat insults for breakfeast lunch and dinner, couple more insults wont do diiddly squat! i could SLEEP through mockery even if insults had enough firepower as an ATOMIC BOMB.If on rare occasion I do get sad or emotion which is RARE or not use sarcasm when someone is talking to me and something they said set off a spark, would irritate me but, not because they get to the heart of anything true, but because they ring of the type of atheistic condescension the internet is ripe with; also I see wayy many sweeping generalizations I remember how I felt when people try to evangelize ME well, now being on the other side I have a better understanding, We don’t talk to strangers because we like the thought of telling strangers they’re going to Hell; we do it because we’re completely terrified that they will go there.I agree some people need better methods, if you cannot say the truth in LOVE then do not say the truth at all, but leaving people alone is not loving. Atheists don’t come to your door because they don’t believe anything is wrong.Thats why i didnt do anything when I was one, why would I? MOST Christians are very uncomfortable witnessing, it’s selfless, not selfish, to talk with someone because you believe they are going to hell. “How rude, this person keeps yelling at me about trains. Leave me alone, I’m trying to sleep here on these tracks…”Love breaks all barriers and love changes hearts. Love changes lives. We can’t just tell people we care about them we have to act out our love. People dont really care how much you KNOW they only want to know how much you CARE. We need to meet people and understand them first. In real life, I don’t even let people know I am a Christian until we share some deep conversations about each others lives (unless they specifically ask me). I’ve realized how clueless I was (and maybe still am) about relating to people who aren’t like me. It’s easy for those of us raised in Christian homes/environments to misunderstand how the rest of the world sees us and life in general. If i make friends I make it very clear from the outset that this relationship is not didctated on the other person accepting Jesus, and maintain the relationship even if the change of heart never happens we shouldnt reject people because of their religious status sometiems i think in fact why classify people as Christians and Non-Christians. Why not just classify people as individuals? Im not perfect i still make mistakes, im sorry if i offend people with anything that i say or do or if you feel i insult you or disrespect you, that is never or, ever will BE my intention. I vow to make amends without hesistation if someone brings it to my attention, I just get tired of fighting, I know people got beef with me but Why cant take that beef and make some steak and add some some A1 Steaksauce on it? be chill relax all get to know each other ya know? 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Orbit Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 oh dear. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 Oh crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 We don’t talk to strangers because we like the thought of telling strangers they’re going to Hell; we do it because we’re completely terrified that they will go there..... snip... I know people got beef with me but Why cant take that beef and make some steak and add some some A1 Steaksauce on it? be chill relax all get to know each other ya know? Ya know, most of us have people like this in our real lives. A big reason many of us come here to Ex-C is for a breath of sanity in a crazy-christian controlled world. You seem to forget -- We used to be christians. We KNOW your motivations and your methods. But hey, you're in the Lion's Den, so carry on. I imagine sooner or later we'll see a post for you similar to the one LongWayAround wrote thanking Ironhorse. http://www.ex-christian.net/topic/64182-thank-you-ironhorse/?hl=%2Bthank+%2Byou+%2Bironhorse#.U_Xd0_ldWSo Have a good day. BP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratt Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 waste of time reading that crap,,,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overcame Faith Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 ...it’s selfless, not selfish, to talk with someone because you believe they are going to hell. “ No, it's selfish and arrogant and, in addition, it is cruel if the person with whom you are speaking is susceptible to your fear tactics. It is selfish because convincing others serves to help to convince yourself that what you believe may be true. It also gives you "evangelical" and "I love The Lord" bragging rights. It is arrogant because you are asserting that you have the truth about what happens after we die when the truth is that no one, including you, knows for a fact what happens after we die. It is also arrogant because you are asserting that your understanding of the Bible is correct while other Christians' views on the subject are incorrect. You are aware, aren't you, that some Christians believe in annihilation rather than an actual place of torture? It is cruel beyond what I can describe to push your view of hell on people. Read some of the testimonials on ExC of how so many people were harmed by people like you telling them about hell. You want to show love and compassion for people? Keep your cruel message of hell to yourself and don't try to inflict it on others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thackerie Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 waste of time reading that crap,,,,, What? You actually read it? When I saw those huge blocks of ungrammatical text, I just skipped the OP entirely in order avoid eyestrain and headache. Sorry, A1, nothing personal. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 It breaks my heart that you will never taste the sweet rewards of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. How about I send you a tract and knock on your door at dinner time? Oh, is that just my silly belief that has no evidence? You don't believe that unfounded crap? Should I make you listen to me anyway since I'm right and you're obviously wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator TrueFreedom Posted August 21, 2014 Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 A1, repent of your blasphemy, and convert to Islam, or suffer hellfire! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
directionless Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 1AcceptingAThiest1, thanks that is interesting to me. There is a before and after, but no mention of your reason for believing. Maybe you can post a link to an earlier thread that discusses other details of your switch from atheist to Christian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disillusioned Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 It's becoming more and more apparent that your conversion had nothing to do with reason. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to have been an emotionally charged decision rather than a carefully considered one. In which case, I'm glad you found something that comforts you, but please don't try to pass off Christianity as a message of love, hope and peace here. As Overcame Faith said, Christianity is inherently selfish and arrogant. Considered objectively, it is a truly hideous belief system. In no sense may it be called "good news". It is not loving to tell other people that they are going to hell unless they think the way that you do. It is an attempt at coercion, and not a subtle one. It is emotionally abusive. And there is no evidence at all that it is actually true. It seems that you believe Christianity mainly because you want to. Good for you. But you should be aware of the dangers of thinking in this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Thackerie thats okay you didnt read it, if you did you would have read the part when i said i Converted the creator of this site and why he created it to help non christians. Thanks everyone else for reading. so no comments on my before conversion eh. heh figures. I find that highly typical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 We dont want anyone to go to hell so let me ask you this.. would you not tell a friend to not jump off a cliff or would you encourage him to just do what he wants? regardless of the method its the INTENT that matters Directionless in a nutshell as to WHY my conversion its because i realized as an Atheist i had no real support from my peers and with christianity i did I felt God was there for me when i would call friends and family and not a single person was there for me. Overtime christians were there for me than my atheists ones during times of pain. But bad situations wast enough to change me, it was realzing how the bible was relevant and applicable to my life and people around me that i began to consider it and it picked up speed from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 My Before conversion mindset is very similar to all of you as i said i believed it was selfish jsut liek you did i relate, your answeres were just like mine before my conversion. nothing new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I just have one question... Wtf? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pratt Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 the answer.... a consescending pompous prick 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 jsut like my before conversion response. typical again. next Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ ficino ♦ Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 When someone decides to become a Christian, or makes a personal renewal as a Christian, it usually seems as though one enters a new, wondrous world. Glad that sense is working for you so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator buffettphan Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 Thackerie thats okay you didnt read it, if you did you would have read the part when i said i Converted the creator of this site and why he created it to help non christians. Thanks everyone else for reading. so no comments on my before conversion eh. heh figures. I find that highly typical Let's eat, grandma. Let's eat grandma. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 I find that highly typical You know what's typical? Bah, never mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disillusioned Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 so no comments on my before conversion eh. heh figures. I find that highly typical You still don't seem to understand that atheists do not all think the same way. From reading your posts (this one and others) it seems to me that you were a naive atheist who became a naive Christian. But feel free to correct me. We dont want anyone to go to hell so let me ask you this.. would you not tell a friend to not jump off a cliff or would you encourage him to just do what he wants? regardless of the method its the INTENT that matters This is facile. If there is reason to think that there actually is a cliff, then it is helpful to tell others to avoid it. If there is no reason to think there is a cliff, you are merely instilling needless fear. Do you have reason to think that hell actually exists? If so, do tell, but otherwise you are deluding yourself if you think you are helping others by telling them how they can avoid it. Also, the method is at least as important as the intent. Any sane adult will tell you this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Moderator florduh Posted August 21, 2014 Super Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2014 If you will provide some evidence that your belief in Hell is valid, we can talk. Until then, I won't waste any more time entertaining unsupported fantastic scenarios that must be accepted on faith alone. You have decided to believe the doctrine of Hell. That doesn't make it reality, it just makes it your personal belief and you are no different than those who believe in Krishna, Thor, Allah, Xenu or healing crystals. So drop the smug act. You don't have any more facts than the rest of us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Well Take this conversation between me and you disillusioned would you not agree that a typical christian would skew your words and say you are mocking them bashing them hating them...Well I dont see that I see you do care for me, but someone else couldnt see it the way i do Two different views but neither of them changed your INTENT of your message to me correct? Its the same thing with me, if not why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1AcceptingAThiest1 Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 its not about whats real its about intent, A friend in danger may not see that a aprticular danger is real drunk driving, dancing with a tiger, laying under a elephants foot as its about to crush them. Someone can NOT SEE or KNOW or think a danger EXIST, but it doest erase the fact that the DANGER coudl still be there would you not warn a friend in danger? yes or no if they were UNWARE OF the dangers existence? You think people are ALWAYS AWARE of the Danger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fweethawt Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 It's bad enough he thinks we're evil, buffetphan. But you're only going to make his view of us worse by making him think we eat our grandmas! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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