Spirituality, Religion, Faith & Beliefs

[LilRainbow]

Before I write more, one, excuse my spelling im pretty sure I miss spelled that. I do not hate Athiests or anything, I strongly believe that everyone has the right to believe what they want, as long as theyre not "religionist" to other religions. I am a Christian. Sure I might not be the BEST Christian but I strongly believe in God. I've noticed that Athiests seem to be getting really popular in the religion area. Sure! Great! Everyone can behoove what they want! But I am honestly getting offended by a few. I've been told by some that I am wasting my time worshiping someone who is not there, I have been told that there is no God... On facebook I CONSTANTLY see people make fun of anyone who believes in God! And they write that on random pictures! I think one picture was a picture of a cat!? Idk if that's who ally of people really are or if their just trolls or what... But it really hurts me... They make me feel stupid and small... Idk why people with different religions can't get along? I'm not saying ALL people do that btw, I have Atheiest friends and they accept me for who I am. I had an Agnostic bf who accepted me for loving God and Jesus, he told me he would only have a problem with it if I "shoved it down his throat." that I understand... But why be mean to someone because they beloved and have faith in their God? That's really not ok and it has been bothering me lately. It doesn't matter what religion either, even if your Christian you shouldn't make fun of people with other religions. Thank you for reading this and I hope no one is too offended

[Sharpie-Sensei]

I see where you're coming from, but it's life. I used to find myself getting "offended" but then I eventually just let it roll down my back. Some people are just...I dunno. Some can can go about mocking religion in a hurtful way, some do it to troll or for cheap laughs.

In the end, however, to each their own. Never be ashamed of what you believe in.

[scuzz]

If you are going to believe in something you just have to be strong in your faith. Your spiritual beliefs shouldn't be effected by anyone else's. Everyone has the right to say or post what they want. I'm a proud atheist myself and most of the time I try to be respectful but I know sometimes I can get snippy in my remarks about religion and spiritual beliefs. Honestly I held on the the label agnostic longer than I should have because I didn't want to call myself atheist because I know there are many nasty atheist's out there that I consider just as bad as many religious people.

I think most of the time when you see it on the internet it is more of trolling or sometimes it is even just joking because we don't take "God" and such seriously most of the time. My little sister and my boyfriend are also atheist's and they tend to not be as respectful about these things as me (at the same time they aren't the worst of the worst but still). 

My little sister is actually like obsessed with anything that resembles Satanism. Upside down crosses, downward pointing pentagrams, saying "hail Satan", just because she thinks it is funny. Mostly as it would offended religious people. Sometimes she will say something about God and then be like JK God doesn't exist.

I mean religious people say derogatory things to atheists all the time as well. I've been told I'm going to hell because I'm vegetarian and God wanted me to eat meat! At the same time things like that don't offended me because I don't believe in hell or God. Though the derogatory things can also be comments on how we we're raised, or how we don't have morals, and how we must be horrible people etc. Now I have a really thick skin and aren't really offended by anything but those are the comments I have to reply to because I think they are complete BS.

[MatildaLove]

Agreed. There are certainly people things people say that could allow us to take offense. I get slightly irritated rather than angry, and I tend toward the ignoring them rather than responding, because I would rather not get into a theological argument that has no end. It is my hope that regardless of any religious beliefs, we can all love and respect one another. 

Lilrainbow, I don't know what advice I can give you other than to try and be patient and loving. People will often say things you won't agree with, I don't think all of them intend to be hurtful though their words may sting a bit and I personally make the choice not to be offended by their words because I know being offended won't make me happy and invite the holy spirit in my life. If specific people are posting things that bother you, you can unfriend them from facebook. I've had to do this a couple of times, where what the people were posting and talking about was something I did not feel was appropriate, and something I was not interested in reading about. I felt silly about it at first, but later felt so much better because I didn't have to read about those things on my newsfeed anymore.

Be strong, and no matter what know that you are in charge of your emotions. Don't let others keep you from your happiness and basking in the joy of the knowledge of Jesus Christ's love for you. I really liked this quote and I thought it was quite eloquent in describing taking offense.

"When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else." -David A. Bednar

[and_all_that_j…]

As an atheist myself, I can completely understand where you are coming from.  

However, that goes both ways.  I've been heavily criticized by Christians for not believing.  I've been told that I'm going to go to hell, that I'm an idiot and that I have no morals.

Hateful people come in all shapes and sizes including religous and non-religious.  Unfortunately, you just have to learn to deal with them and be strong enough in your own beliefs to not let them stop you. 

[stayclassy]

It happens the other way quite a bit. You might be genuine and believe that I'm going to hell for not believing the same thing as you but that is offensive to me. I disagree with many things about religion and forever will 100% because they believe they are "saved" and the truth and the rest of us are horrible people and sinners and going to hell. Does that sound nice to be told to you?

You may not put it in such terms but that's the truth of the matter. I can't be close with anyone that believes my choices in life are wrong.

So Atheists aren't only unhappy with christianity as a religion but it's the fact that they are not accepted because of the christian beliefs. Now that isn't fair.

[eej92]

If they are going out of their way to offend you, then they are just looking for a fight. Don't bother to argue with them and give them the satisfaction that they're looking for, and definitely don't let them make you feel stupid or small. Just believe what you believe and know that a secure, intelligent person wouldn't feel the need to ram their atheist beliefs down your throat. I'm an atheist myself, and I can assure you that we don't all believe that Christians are stupid. Hang in there :-)

[Amandajay5]

Different people have different beliefs and they all have their reasons. Some people say they believe soley in science (facts and evidence only) and that it's the only logical explanation and other people don't like being judged and having fingers pointed at them so that's why someone may post something or say something about your beliefs. Other people may think you are blind and should lose your religion. There's a lot of reasons why people will say or do those types of things but your friends shouldn't try to make you feel stupid or small and I don't see why they would want to since you aren't shoving your beliefd down their throats. Some people don't realize that not all christians or believers are judgmental and think or will tell people they are going to go to hell. Some believers happen to be very openminded. Some athiests categorize all christians into one box. Probably due to bad experices, especially with people who are extremists.

Talk to your friends. Tell them you are respectful of their beliefs and you would appreciate it if they respected your beliefs. Being respectful of someone's beliefs doesn't mean you have to accept them. It just means accepting that that is what they believe. I hope that made since. Don't take what everyone else says so personally. People can post what they want. Think about it from their perspective too. I am sure they get annoyed when people post stuff about God.

[lunamoonas]

I'm not a religious person, in fact my family makes fun of religion a lot, but I still see how people are too harsh on each other sometimes. I see how it can be really offensive to have someone mock your beliefs, but I've been harassed for not being Christian before, being told I'm going to hell and being told I have a "dark soul" because I haven't accepted god into my life, and I find that offensive. But I deal with it, and that's something we all have to do. Nobody's ever going to get along when it comes to any subject, and you shouldn't care what they say because what really matters is your faith. Who cares what others say as long as you stay true to yourself and your beliefs?

[samaria_3]

I have seen a trend of athiests being outwardly condescending towards religious people (specifically christians). It's hypocritical to bash someone's religion and act in a condescending manner as if all people who believe in a god lack intelligence and live in a fairytale land. In my opinion, it takes just as much "faith" to believe that life arose from non-life via unintelligent process than it takes to believe in religion.