Why Christians Are Cruel to Non-Believers.

[trotsky]

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/rolltodisbelieve/2015/07/14/why-christians-are-cruel-to-non-believers/

One might ask if Christians actually ever wonder why their religion is losing, by Christian leaders’ own estimates, some 3500 people a day (and that is not a typo), why some 70%-90% of young people desert the religion by adulthood depending on the survey in question, or why hundreds of churches close every single year for lack of funding and attendance.

...

(list of common excuses/rationalizations for the decline)

...

Do you notice any trends in these excuses?

Not only are they all designed to alleviate Christians’ responsibility for their own decline, but they allow Christians to drill down even harder on doing exactly the stuff causing outsiders and insiders alike to flee from them.

...

This story Neil tells, though, is the real answer. People are leaving Christianity because despite claiming to be a religion of love, its underpinnings are actually hate, shame, dominance, exclusion, and tribal authority, and no matter how sanitized someone tries to make the religion, those underpinnings are there and will inevitably emerge to wreak havoc.

Interesting observations from a blogger.

[Dawson Leery]

1. The middle eastern religions are terrible.

They are the worst in the world.

There is no "love". Jehovah/Allah do not love anything but themselves.

Even the so-called moderate pro gay rights Carrie Underwood (who belongs on Fox "News", not the music stage) said
her critics are no Christian and that is why they do not like her. I would not give her an cent under any conditions.

[Dawson Leery]

2. And Slanderous propaganda such as this

only strengthen the case for the end of Christianity.

http://time.com/3958621/why-planned-parenthood-provides-fetal-cells-to-scientists/

http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/15/health/planned-parenthood-undercover-video/

[Baitball Blogger]

3. It gets even more interesting when you look into the beliefs of

religions that teach that only a chosen group are going to make it into heaven. Calvinist believe that those who are chosen are already selected at birth. In other words, there is absolutely nothing too heinous that you can do during your lifetime that will change the fact that you are going to heaven.

Of course, then you have those who are convinced that they are the chosen ones. Can you imagine how much power they would weld among their subordinates?

And then there are religions that believe that only believers are going to heaven. Can you imagine the air of superiority they would have over infidels? Imagine the abusive situations they could create for a community should they hold the reigns of power.

Not all Christian beliefs are this destructive.

[ToxMarz]

4. Why are Christians cruel to non-believers?

I read a view of why they are losing followers, but nothing about why they are mean to others.

[Hayduke Bomgarte]

6. I believe

That the ones who are "mean" are not actual Christians. You just might see the genuine articles are not that way, if you compare one to the pretenders. However, I also believe that those of the real deal stripe are so rare, you may have much difficulty finding one with which to make the comparison.

[LynneSin]

5. If they are cruel to non-believers then they are not Christians

They may follow the Christian faith but they have distorted it in such a way that it hardly follows the teachings of Jesus. Jesus did not teach us to be cruel to non-believers. He taught us to not judge them and to treat them in the same manner we would want them to treat us.

[Fozzledick]

12. They're definitely not true Scotsmen!

[safeinOhio]

7. All those fundamentalist

are no fun and mental.

[Act_of_Reparation]

8. I really don't get it.

Whenever the topic of Christians behaving badly arises, it is always assumed that those pesky fundamenalists are to blame.

The article handily disarms this supposition:

“Bad Christians are chasing off believers and potential converts.”
Trans: Nobody sane would stay in this religion based on how they get treated, but it’s still not our fault because obviously we are not Bad Christians (or if we are, then blah blah sin nature blah blah still not our fault).

[Hydra]

9. There isn't anything to keep the non-bigots going to church

I took what I felt was good from the Catholic church and carried it with me out the door and never went back. The teachings of Jesus are things you should be doing in your daily life, and it specifically says you are supposed to practice in secret and to allow people to go their own way.

All of that is bad for the church as a business, so the fact that they are even still there is a sign that something went horribly wrong.

[Act_of_Reparation]

10. The teachings of Jesus, eh?

Like sticking it out in a miserable loveless marriage to an abusive lout because divorce makes God angry? That slaves should do what they're told? That you should be content with your wages, no matter how unfair they may be? That anyone who doesn't accept Jesus is damned to hell?

You know, this Jesus guy really isn't all he's cracked up to be.

[Hydra]

11. I like what someone said about him

He's a mirror- people see what they want to see in him because his wide range of behavior...and because it's not likely what was written about him was accurate. The 4 gospels were chosen deliberately when Constantine tapped certain church leaders to step up and become his state religion. It's been said the Roman Empire survived 2x its lifespan due to those things you mentioned about not rocking the boat.

I'm sure it's all entirely coincidental, and the bible is 100% accurate about al events and timelines

[Act_of_Reparation]

14. Nonsense.

Constantine had absolutely nothing to do with Biblical canon. The contents of the Bible were more or less decided by the early 2nd century, with only ten or so books remaining in dispute (most of them Epistles) until the Council of Carthage codified an official canon sixty years after Constantine's death. The four gospels were already considered the canonical gospels by the time Constantine "converted" at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE.

Sorry, but no. This shit wasn't "added in" to appeal to the Romans. It is in there because the Gospels are the works of first century Jews, and first century Jews permitted slavery and paid shitty wages. If Jesus was in fact a first century Jew, and not the living son of an omnipotent deity, it seems well within the realm of possibility he didn't condemn slavery because he, like everyone else around him, had no problem with it.

History aside, if all I need to do is "follow the teachings of Jesus", how am I supposed to know what the teachings of Jesus are if the only surviving accounts of his teachings aren't trustworthy?

[Leontius]

13. Which brings up another question

Why are so many atheist bloggers so fucking stupid?

[beam me up scottie]

15. ^^^exactly the stuff causing outsiders and insiders alike to flee from them^^^

Perfect example of the kind of christian behaviour the op was referring to, Leontius.

Well done.

[trotsky]

16. We can always count on Leontius to show us what a true Christian acts like.

What an ambassador for his faith he is.

[Leontius]

17. The question remains unanswered as I suspected it would.

Playing tone police is the best you can do.