How did you view non-christians as a Christian?

[PurpleLilac]

If you were exposed to Adventures Odyssey growing up,the Christians were kind and well-mannered,honest people. The non-Christians were rude,dishonest and rationalized immature,selfish decisions with phrases like “if it feels good,do it.” That taught me to avoid anything that felt good (is it any wonder Pentecostals lost their mind during worship in an effort to Feeeeeeel Something?)

My parents always hired Christians to fix their house,babysit their kids and anything else they needed. I did the same thing up until a year ago because all that brainwashing convinced me Christians were safer. Catholics were a tossup but at least better than those lost non-religious people. 

I remember telling my parents in my early twenties that the family I nannied for were so kind and good to me but not Christians and “that’s really surprising to me!” My parents looked *worried*. And now their worried faces  make sense in a twisted,terrible way. Once a fundie gets a glimpse of good,kind people outside the cult,they are a step closer to getting free. 

 

[disillusioned]

I definitely agree with this. When I was young, my parents taught me to view non-Christians with kind of a mixture of distrust and pity. When I started working and studying in secular contexts, and got to know more of the heathens, I started to see that they really weren't that bad. In retrospect, that was one of my first steps toward the door.

[wellnamed]

I think I always preferred the heathens

[mwc]

     I remember working for my BiL.  He specifically put the little fish in his ads so that he could get xian business.  Now, he wasn't not a xian but he wasn't Mr. Superxian either (he kind of thinks he is today but that's another story and not one interesting enough to care about like most folks with this particular infliction).  And when it came to business it was anything to make a buck.  He specifically told me that the only reason the old fishy was there was to bring in that kind of business.  It wasn't any sort of expression of faith.  I learned that he wasn't the only one doing this.  Round about this time I just avoided the businesses with fishes and still tend to even now.

 

          mwc

 

[Lefty]

LOL, by the very definition of a business, they are there for the sole purpose of separating you from your money, regardless of what image they have on their storefront. There is a wide range of opinions as to how to accomplish that. The Jewish/Christian texts speak of and warn about business and usury at length for a reason.

 

I tended to not associate with non-Christians. I didn't trust them, but I knew it really wasn't their own fault that they could not be trusted, it was the unbelief in them that could not be trusted. I believed that it was God that would send me who he wanted me to talk to, that it wasn't me anyway that was doing the work, but the Holy Ghost inside that was managing my life. Jesus said to "Follow me..." right? Notice in his travels he wasn't knocking on doors trying to convert people.

 

The verse, "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm" I took to heart. Not trusting men is a life principle I still adhere to even as a follower of no religion. It's not because I believe men are wicked, I don't, it's just that mankind cannot guarantee the future or aspects of life outside their control. It's not personal, just realistic.

[☆ Tsathoggua9 ☆]

My mother was "Church of Christ", but not so much so that she wouldn't associate with other types of people. She was never prejudiced at all, and never minded that I had friends of various different religious and non-religious persuasions. I'm very grateful for that!

 

When I was in college at David Lipscomb (1979-1983), some people were pretty "churched-up", but I don't remember too many people saying that they wouldn't associate or be friends  with non-Christians. Most were more open-minded than that!

 

I enjoyed palling around with my church friends post-college, but I also had others who shared my interests in comic books, science fiction, Fortean phenomena, etc. For a while there, I went to a "First Sunday" group sponsored by the "First Church Unity" in the Nashville area, and affiliated loosely with the "Institute of Noetic Sciences". That was interesting!

 

 

https://www.unityofnashville.org/

 

 

https://noetic.org/

[Orbit]

On 3/11/2019 at 7:09 AM, PurpleLilac said:

If you were exposed to Adventures Odyssey growing up,the Christians were kind and well-mannered,honest people. The non-Christians were rude,dishonest and rationalized immature,selfish decisions with phrases like “if it feels good,do it.” That taught me to avoid anything that felt good (is it any wonder Pentecostals lost their mind during worship in an effort to Feeeeeeel Something?)

My parents always hired Christians to fix their house,babysit their kids and anything else they needed. I did the same thing up until a year ago because all that brainwashing convinced me Christians were safer. Catholics were a tossup but at least better than those lost non-religious people. 

I remember telling my parents in my early twenties that the family I nannied for were so kind and good to me but not Christians and “that’s really surprising to me!” My parents looked *worried*. And now their worried faces  make sense in a twisted,terrible way. Once a fundie gets a glimpse of good,kind people outside the cult,they are a step closer to getting free. 

 

 

I was actually a pretty mellow xtian. I wasn't evangelical, and didn't really care what other people did. But mine is the "liberal xtian" experience, so it's a little less "culty". I was a fervent believer, but had the attitude about other people that it was "between them and God".

[Samuel]

Honestly for me it was more about being self centered and not realizing it. 

 

Closing my mind to the outside world as if it didn’t exist. 

[Derek]

I'm so ashamed to say this, but...I looked at non-christians with a substantial amount of disdain. In the branch of the pentecostal cult that I attended, we were taught the importance of separating ourselves from all non-pentecostals. We, of course, were the only ones going to heaven while everyone else was doomed. We looked at non-pentecostals as something less, as somehow subhuman. Still we prayed for their "deliverance", and on the odd occasion of getting a new convert, we welcomed them as "one of us" and congratulated them on not being "one of them" any more. Shameful.

[sdelsolray]

Religious indoctrination is quite insidious, particularly in the more virulent Abrahamic sects.  Many of them actually meet most of the factors which identify cults.

[Moxie]

I viewed non-Christians as agents of Satan in a cosmic war between good and evil. But my experience proved otherwise. It was the Christians who treated me like a social leper, and the heathens who reached out in friendship.

[Casey]

Religious indoctrination is quite insidious, particularly in the more virulent Abrahamic sects.  Many of them actually meet most of the factors which identify cults.  (Sdelsolray)

 

[Casey]

I thought I'd use a version of the famous poster that's not partisan, at least not to the US.

Casey

 

[Jerry]

As a child, in the Lutheran church, I didn't know many nonbelievers. However, I was taught, mostly by my parents, that they too deserved love and respect, as all people do. As an adult, in the Baptist church, I was taught that they were basically second class citizens and needed to be converted to the Baptist form of Christianity. If they couldn't be converted, then they were inherently evil and I should stay away from them. Luckily, one of best friends at work has always been an atheist. So, I knew all along that nonbelievers were, in fact, not inherently evil at all. While we did partake in spirited debate about our different belief systems, we always remained curtious and respectful of each others view point. I think, regardless of my Baptist doctrine, that I always remained open minded. However, I am guilty of trying to convert many a nonbeliever while I was involved with the church. I often wonder now how many lives I ruined with my attempts to convert. Hopefully, it always fell upon deaf ears. 

[Lerk]

On 3/11/2019 at 2:00 PM, Tsathoggua9 said:

My mother was "Church of Christ", but not so much so that she wouldn't associate with other types of people. She was never prejudiced at all, and never minded that I had friends of various different religious and non-religious persuasions. I'm very grateful for that!

 

When I was in college at David Lipscomb (1979-1983), some people were pretty "churched-up", but I don't remember too many people saying that they wouldn't associate or be friends  with non-Christians. Most were more open-minded than that!

 

 

 

The fact that to we Church-of-Christers, all of our Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic friends were "non-Christians" made it pretty much mandatory that we associate with non-Christians!

[☆ Tsathoggua9 ☆]

17 minutes ago, Lerk said:

 

 

The fact that to we Church-of-Christers, all of our Baptist, Methodist, and Catholic friends were "non-Christians" made it pretty much mandatory that we associate with non-Christians!

 

You're so right!

[MOHO]

As as a Christian I actually experienced a modicum of envy of non-Christian/non-religious individuals. I'm referring here to those who seamed just kind of well adjusted and did not seem to need or want religion, or anything for that matter which could not be proven to be of value, in their lives. They seemed happier and more centered - just sort of on an even keel. I don't know if that is due to religion or if they just were of the mind set, from birth or upbringing, that they did not see the value of religion/Christianity. 

 

I guess, deep down inside, I aspired to be more like the Nonnies than the Chritties. 

[Margee]

On 3/11/2019 at 10:09 AM, PurpleLilac said:

 

 

 

On 3/11/2019 at 10:09 AM, PurpleLilac said:

Catholics were a tossup but at least better than those lost non-religious people. 

 

 

 

I tried so hard not to be judgemental. I always prayed silently for them to become saved.

 

It was really weird at our Pentecostal church because sometimes they preached about being non-judgemental and other times they made fun of the different peoples and other religions. I remember like it was yesterday when the pastor came out on the big platform and everyone was cheering and raising their hands as the emotions got higher and higher and he screamed at the top of his voice, ''Aren't you glad you're not a Catholic this morning?'' and the people just roared and jumped all around. I looked at my best friend (who got me involved in the first place) and told her that the statement, 'creeped me out'' and I wanted to leave. But of course, I didn't because I was already hooked on the emotional types of services they had. It was my drug. I knew all kinds of Catholic friends that went to church 6 days a week...not 3!!!!  God, that had to mean something eh? But Pentecostals believed that the Catholic church was the anti-christ. 

[☆ Tsathoggua9 ☆]

I remember chapel talks at David Lipscomb high school and college where the speaker basically eviscerated an entire religion within fifteen minutes. Not much respect for differing views, for sure!

[sarahinprogress]

I remember feeling quite sad for non-believers. I remember “non-believer” and “atheist” and “skeptic” being something quite derrogatory that you didnt want to be called.

 

Now, it’s so baffling how i could ever have thought that way. I’m 8 or 9 years out from the cognitive dissonance of deconverting, and what my parents always qualify their choice of service provider (regardless of service) with “and he/she is a christian” it just makes me so sad that they think christianity is the highest mark of trustworthiness.

 

Although, they both had surgery (at seperate times) by this ‘christian’ surgeon, and i was there to support them, and when my dad said “let’s pray” i kept my eyes open and head up as usual....and the ‘christian’ doctor met my eyes. Soooooo