Why is Christianity your least favorite religion?
 

I'd like to hear from people why Christianity is at the bottom of their Favorite Religions list. And I'd like actual reasons, not mindless flaming. I believe this is a topic we can discuss as adults. The reason I'm starting this thread is because I don't seem to hear a lot of negative comments from the general public about Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, Judaism, or New Age. But I do hear a lot of opposition to Christianity. So, why don't you prefer Christianity?

Note: Let's keep this thread on topic. It's not supposed to be an evangelistic thread.

Your answer lies within your post. My biggest problem with Christianity is the tendency for evangelism. It is one of the *VERY* few religions on the planet that calls for the conversion of others. I think its just wrong to have that kind of arrogence where you think that everyone else is wrong, but whats more that its your personal responsibility to show them the light. Also it is the second biggest religion on Earth so because of its size, power, and intentions its a lot harder to ignore than Taoism or Judaism. Finally Christianity is highly misogynist. It specifically describes the roles of women as less than men, it depicts races as unequal, and it justifies slavery of other people and nature.

I don't know if you've read any of my other posts, but I am not anti-Christian. I am a believer with some doubts is all. I suppose for me the biggest problem I have Christianity is not in principle but in its practice. I think people have a superficial relationship with their faith and this leads them to be dogmatic and ignorant. I think Christianity is a great religion of values, principles, and relationship with God but I don't think people often execute it in that sense.

The reason I dislike Christianity is because I need to have proof that something exists. I was raised a Christian and I went to a Christian night school type thing. I know more about the bible then many of the Christians that I know. So I understand the bible and such. I just never got the same thrill that other people get from it.
Also, it isn't my least favorite, but it is no where near the top. I think the one that I would follow if it weren't for Catholics/Christians changing it so much would be a form of Druidry type belief because they believe in getting as much knowledge as possible along with a couple other things. At least that's what I've been lead to believe. But since there really isn't any written history that survived really, I doubt I would.

Muad I think your criticism is off-base and targets more the Judeo-Influence that was central to the time and place of the Church's beginning. No decent human would argue for slavery or say women are inferior, and the Church has reformed accordingly to the norms of society outside of a few fundamental principles. And sure Chrisitian evangelism is annoying, it pisses me off and I am Catholic, but the christian faith (more importantly the catholic church) has learned many hard lessons about this. I think its unfair that you are forsaking an entire system of beliefs on the actions of an extreme minority.

Re: Why is Christianity your least favorite religion?
 

I think you hear a lot of opposition to Christianity because it keeps being brought up. If we lived in a predominantly Jewish or Muslim or Hindu society, and people of those religions used their religion as the basis for their beliefs and opinions on the boards, you'd find a lot of disagreement from us with Hinduism and Islam. We oppose Christianity because it's there to oppose, not because it is inherently any better or worse than any other religion but because it's simply the one to which we have the most exposure here.

Edit:
I should clarify. It's not objectionable that Christianity informs your beliefs and opinions; it's objectionable that it tends also to inform beliefs and opinions about public policy that affects non-Christians living in a secular democracy.

And personally, Christianity is not at the bottom of my list. I won't say which religion is at the bottom of my list for risk of offending.

Mojo,

I totally agree that many of those attitudes don't reflect modern Christianity. The problem is an inherently logical fallicy within Christian belief. That being that the word of the Bible is the infallible word of God. The Bible specifically details a woman's place as below that of men even though they are to be treated with respect. The New Testament and Old Testament alike tell slaves to honor their masters and designate a specific slave class. Now if the Bible is indeed ultimately true how can we get around the facts that it tells women to unquestionably obey their husbands and that the decendents of Ham were to be slaves to his brothers decendents? Both ideas are repugnant now, but they are the word of God. Sure times have changed but if the Bible's message changes with those times (which it has) how can we say that it is an infallible book upon which to base our faith. That would be to imply that the word and intent of God changes as society changes. So is God based on society? If so this can't be a true God. Beyond the biblical contradictions you also have to admit that even though the church doesn't specifically dictate women to be barefooted in the kitchen that the message women recieve every Sunday at church doesn't exactly make them prone to burst of feminism.

i would challenge the idea that a Christian must beleive in infalibility. The only verses that suggest so are vague as to what sections are indeed with perfect authority, and are late additions themselves, and are incorrectly attributed to Paul. Holding up Second Timothy to prove infailibility is not reflective of how Paul felt, or reflective of the minds that first proclaimed the Good News. It is far more relevant, IMO, that though out the history of the faith, that God has inspired and brought forth prophets and servants to help the Church listen to the Spirit, and to inform our faith.

Before I begin, I would like to make clear that I do not a member of any religious faith (to the best of my knowledge).

MuadDib,

The Bible is a historical text as well as a religious one. It will therefore reflect the societal norm at the time of its writing. Rather than treating the Bible as a direct transcription of God's word and will, knowledgeable interpretation of the Bible as a whole is required.

If you consider the Bible in small pieces - single lines, passages and phrases - it can be misleading, and in fact self-contradictory. There is support in the Bible for many kinds of behaviors, not all of them consistent with each other. I have read numerous essays on topics ranging from environmentalism to medical ethics where authors from opposing viewpoints were able to draw passages from the Bible in support of their arguments.

The self-inconsistency is troubling - but of course the Christians I have spoken to chalk it up to 'personal interpretation' or the 'interpretation of the Church.' Which, at least to me, seems to defeat the point of a holy text - if one is to glean from it one's own personal interpretation, how can the text hold any authority?

But to the main point - Christianity draws a lot of fire because it presents itself as a convenient target. As several others have stated, it is one of the most prominent religious systems in the west, and it makes no effort to isolate or even contain itself. It is a very public, (I hesitate to say, intrusive) organization that appears in many aspects of daily life. Christianity is also inherently a severely judgemental system. There are strict guidelines that determine whether a person is 'good' in the eyes of God - many of which are directly related to one's reverence and worship of a diety that many people simply don't believe exists. The zealots that go door to door telling people they're going to hell because they don't worship God certainly don't help the Christian cause.

Far eastern religions in their current forms are fairly passive and individualistic. Rather than commanding that all seek enlightenment, they simply lay the path open to you. Take it if you wish, turn from it if you do not - nobody but you suffers the consequences, thus nobody but you is concerned with what you believe. The faithful follow their own paths - they do not concern themselves with what paths other people follow.

Why would you go out of your way to molest them if they are simply doing their own thing?

It certainly isn't as entertaining or satisfying as planting a swift kick in the backside of an evangelist.

I have a problem with how the Gospels have been selected, among other things. Constantinople's Nicene Council voted for Christ's divinity, before which he had been married according to the public record to Mary Magdalene, who was with child when he was crucified. But the Church needed him as a divine vessel, erased his mortal roots, and painted Magdalene as a whore, when in fact Jesus had wanted her to begin his new church.

Constantinople's council is the originator of the Bible as we now know it. The Dead Sea Scrolls and another set of scrolls I can't remember offhand paint a much different picture of what was going on during the time of Christ, and revealed the layers of drama and conflict among the disciples, especially between Paul and Magdalene.

Then there's the Malleus Malificarum (Witch's Hammer), which led to the burning at the stake of 25 million women over a 300-year period.

So, to make a long story short, I don't dislike Christianity, necessarily. I dislike how it's deeply scarred our opinions on women and homosexuals. The faith has helped many people in time of troubles, and I don't think anyone can honestly say that Mithraism wouldn't have dealt a heavy hand, had it stayed in power. Every religion has blood on its hands, so I see no reason to single out Christianity on that basis.

The Qumran (Dead Sea Scrolls) documents contain NO Christian specific scripture...the Essenes were Jewish.

Johnny, the view you present is the Gnostic take, which has many supporters, but there is not a public record of a marriage to Mary. She isn't even really a character in the first three Gospels to be written...the traditions that focus on her are late comers to the scriptural scene. It's hard, academically, to assert that that tradition is more reflective of the real events of Jesus' life.

Perhaps I should offer some supporting documentation:

http://www.bibletexts.com/glossary/marymagdalene.htm
http://www.pharo.com/mind_and_spirit...troversies.asp
http://www.grailchurch.org/marriedjesus.htm
http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/bd.htm
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~wbova/fn/history/grail.htm

Here's the Malleus Maleficarum I mentioned earlier:
http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/mm/

Edit: I forgot to add the Nicene Council:
http://www.wcg.org/lit/church/history/nicene.htm
http://www.bible.ca/history/eubanks/...eubanks-16.htm

I've read the malleus, but i hardly see how it's relevant. It's niether a recent occurance, nor did it occur during the founding of the church. it is far from the original idenity of the church, and just as distant as to what the church is today.

The readings on Mary confirm what i previously stated. In the original traditions, Mary is a fairly minor character. John mentions her more than other, but makes erroneous statements about her according to the established Gospels. The later Gnostic traditions aren't just discounted academically because they are the work of heritics....its becuase they are late inventions, and do not reflect the original Jesus movement. Marcion and his ilk did not place any reverance on creation, something that is important to the work of the Christ protrayed in the Synoptics. I have a hard time regarding them as authentic depictions of Jesus for these reasons. If they are innacurate on that account, i place similar doubts on any picture of Mary M.

Its possible that Jesus was married. But to Mary? I see no credible evidence for this. He easily could have been widowed by the start of his public ministry...or simply left his wife behind as the disciples did.

Frankly i don't think the problem lies so much with Christianity per se as Christians themselves. I have no problem with the religion, nor most of the people that follow it - it's when bible thumpers in positions of power use their influence to change things to a more 'christian' way. That (personally) shits me up the wall. Christianity also tends to side with harder concervatives (or be further right concervatives), so it's easy to bundle the two together.

Living your life by a questionably accurate book whether it be the torrah, the bible or the koran always seemed silly to me though.....

As a Christian, Christianity is at the bottom of my list because it has been drastically altered from its original point. If you look at the scriptures refering to Jesus, he was constantly described as honoring the lowly of society. Johnny and Muad's criticisms about Christianity's treatment of women actually stem from the teachings of Paul, not Christ.

Christ daily risked his life and social status for those who were ignored by society. He turned down aristocratic priests so that he could eat with Zacheus, the hated tax collector. He treated Mary and Martha with the same respect that he treated all of his other disciples and cited Mary Magdalene's washing his feet as the ultimate act of service. Indeed, Jesus himself washed the feet of his disciples, modeling the actions of a prostitute woman.

I personally don't like Christianity because it has almost nothing to do with these core values of love and sacrifice. Christianity has become a self-justifying excuse for greed and power and that is blasphemous.

Christianity isn't at the bottom of my list yet but I do know that one big thing that seems to turn people off of it is the fact that the Christian believers tend to be more pushy about their beliefs. The Eastern Religions don't seem to be quite to pushy to make you change your mind. It doesn't seem that they are even as strict in their "laws" that will get you to a higher state of being or such. I could be also that Christians are brainwashed to believe that it's their fault if they don't convert everyone they meet and those people they meet end up going to "hell". Just a thought.

My dislike of Christain fundamentalists mainly comes from the fact that they're impacting me the most; they're the ones that get in my face, they're the ones that try to fuck up the U.S. government, etc.

I haven't had enough dealings with the other religions develop a dislike for them.

Other then it's historical screw ups, the only reason I use Christianity because Christians are who I personally deal with the most on a day to day basis, and they are the ones that most influence my day to day life.

I dislike all religions, but christianity absolutely tops my list.
It has everything to do with personal experiences and the hypocrisy of the people that I've had to deal with. The idiots that just can't leave me be and the pussies who fucked with me my entire childhood. Then I look at how most christians live their lives and it makes me sick. I'm a fucking atheist and I live more of a christian life than 90% of the christians that I've ever know.... And I'm no saint. So what's that tell you?

It saddens me that the people who share my title 'Christian' rarely ever practices it.

I call myself a 'True Christian'. I view everthing as open as I can. I've always tried hard to understand everyone's perception and to not violate their beliefs. I am condemned by my "brothers and sisters" to the point where I simply hate to talk to most 'Christians".

Any man who willingly preaches strongly anything of hate (love the sinner, hate the sin is usuasly a way for 'Christians' to say fuck off), false doctrine, false pretext, self rightiousness, hell fire if you fuck up.. ect are just wrong.

Christ died for people. He didn't die for me and tell one guy to go to hell. He didn't say "please exploit my ideals", he never speaks of violence, he loves people for people and not their livelyhood.

The OT and NT are always thrown together and it makes me angry. Jesus changes many laws in the NT and many people exploit the conversion to fit their need.

as JR said, the Council of N (heh) fucked with the bible majorly. King James edited it before releasing it so it is impossible for me to accept the Bible as foolproof.

To me it is this simple. I live what I believe to be a moral life. I think I'm a pretty good dude. I fuck up all the time. I think you may be in for a shock if you say 'i'll ask for forgiveness after i murder someone' when you die, but I try to now worry so much of sin as how to make it stop.

The only law Christ said to not do is blasphemy and love thy neighbor.

It's all good my biotches.

Christ is peace. . . fuck the hate. stand up and put them in their place. i do. I feel solid, too.

- i dont like the whole missionary thing

- that priests can sin and its ok, they shouldn't be confined, they should be able to live as normal people and there wouldn't be many of the current problems

-prays should be from one to God, not from one to another because the other is the only one linked to God.

-confession is not an eraser for your slate of sins. every religion has some form of repentance but simply telling the guy you did wrong and he says you are ok doesn't seem like enough.

* there's a lot of contradiction and too much politics. it's a religion not a political party of a lobbyist group.

At times and by some people, Christianity is presented as the religion of non-violent, long-suffering victims who accept their cross of being shit on by those of religions that tell their members that they are in fact the true servants of God.

For me, it's a matter of exposure.
I don't hate Christianity, but since I've been exposed to the hypocrisy of it more than with other religions, I've reacted to it.

Mind you, after 6 months in Taiwan, I'm getting more and more pissed off at Taoism.

It's also a matter of the people practising it. While Islam is more connected to terrorism than Christianity, I've never had any trouble with muslims, and where I grew up there were plenty.
When you're invited to dinner, and you notice that the muslim host bought a six-pack of beer just for your sake, well, then I'd say his religion isn't making a negative impact on my life.

I can't say I dislike Christianity more than other religions, but since it's so close nearby, it easily becomes the most debated one.

Wait for another year, by then I'll probably rant about some Eastern religion.

Mojo, have you been paying attention to the history of the past thousand years or so??? The Pope brokered the treaty between the Spanish and the Portuguese which divided the New World into lands for these two to colonize, plunder and - sadly - use the native population in any manner that these countries saw fit. The Roman Catholic Church actively recruited for all of the Crusades....and made sure to get as much land placed in their holdings from the Nobility who signed up. It was Catholic missionaries which encouraged the slaughter of those native persons who refused to convert to Christianity, and it was the Church which again encouraged and profited from the Inquisitions.

So please, enlighten me. Just how is MuadDib mistaken? Let's take a look at the modern Church, shall we? What rights do women have under Church doctrine - or Canon Law, as it is sometimes referred to.... oops! None. They don't get to choose a damned thing in their lives or their bodies, and have to fight like hell if they're out for an annullment.

Sorry. I just don't see how you can make the case for a "reformed" Church. Hey, you're not Cardinal Law, are you???

And now, to address the topic of this thread.....

I dislike Christianity because (in 1,000,000 words or less):

I can read. I read a wide variety of works, including those "heretical" books of the Bible which were never included when the powers that be began compiling what they consider to be the Word of God. Portions of larger works were incorporated into the current Bible, and I find that to be unacceptable. If the Church is to claim to have The Word, then they need to put forth the whole Word. Fat chance of that happening!

Okay, that's a start.

Next, I'd say that the general lack of respect for the laity is a huge factor in my disparagement of Christianity. If a lay person were to commit sodomy on a minor, the Church would be all for punishment in the Legal system; if a Priest commits the act, however, then there's a settlement, a reassignment, and a complete mind-wipe among the upper eschelons. A double-standard doesn't promote the concept that we are all equal under the eyes of God. Unless something from the George Orwell book Animal Farm is more fact than I would like, "We are all equal; it's just that some of us are more equal than others."

Speaking of equality, where are the female priests? I for one think it's high-time that this sexist (and frankly, mysoginist - boy, I hope I spelled that one right) institution be reformed. Lets throw a little Affirmative Action at 'em and see what happens!

I'm not sorry about my opinions. I personally feel that there are far too many hyprocrites running things, and that a belief is a great thing - but a religion can really fuck it up for everybody.

Actually wry, you'd be surprised at the number of times the sins of laymen are forgiven and forgotten.

Because I went to a Catholic High School.

That and its inability to adapt to the changing world.

How do you all know the east doesn't push their religions. Do you live there? of course Christians push their beliefs, we live in a christian society (mostly) and if you lump in middle east with the east then you have opened up a whole new can of worms. I dislike islamic religions, and I dislike religious people that view themselves better than others.

I have lived there. They don't push their religions. That includes Islam and what we view as them pushing their religion is what they view as defending it from our invasive society/religion.

same fucking thing. Sorry I don't see christians going over there and carbombing public places.

No, they only do that in Northern Ireland.

/smirk

WhoaitsZ has it completely correct. The Bible, while God inspired, is written in the Hand of Man, and as we all know, Man makes mistakes. Sure, it's good to study it, learn the message that is essential to what the Bible is trying to convey. There is a Messiah, he died for all man, so that all may know the fruits of heaven.

Christianity is popular in Western society. anything popular gets persecuted by those who enjoy such activitiies. Some examples include Microsoft-bashing, Britney Spears hate, Death To Boyband X websites, etc.

because a Buddhist has never rung my doorbell at 8am on a sunday

Most of my reasons for disliking Christianity have already been posted, but I'll say 'em anyway.
For starters, I think that Christian denominations are far too elitest in their views. If you listened to just one them you'd 'know' that only 3% of the world's population was going to heaven the rest of us poor saps are doomed to an eternity in hell.
I also think that there are far too many branches on the Chrisitianity tree. If all these religions are based on the same source, how can they all be so different?
And the bible. If the book is the direct word of God, then why would He trust it to Man to write it for him? Man makes mistakes. Man rewrites things to fit his own needs. Why is the King James Version is most popular? The "KING JAMES VERSION"?? The version rewritten to please a king. Does anyone see anything odd about that? It's gotten to the point that I think of it as a relly good collection of fables.

You can still learn about the religion and it's progessively changing beliefs by looking at it's history through the roman empire, byzantium, and into medieval Europe thanks to the Benedictine Monks. It's true many of the books were burnt, but there are still hundereds of books if you only look to find them. Most are in Libraries in Europe, and predominantly Italy. The Celtic Monks also managed to save several scriptures. Also Catholics get a bad wrap from a lot of people. One of Catholocicms main beliefs is that they have a more complete truth, arrogant as it may be, it does not damn others for thier beliefs. Oh, and as far as knowing the bible, considering it was compiled roughly 400 years after the fact, I find it hard to take seriously. Course, I'm not a Christian either, so that's probably a big part of it.

Speaking from a United States perspective.

When was the last time there was some Evil, of Foe that the church could overcome.

....

a long time ago.

How has science progressed....

greatly

So the church has had all its mystique taken away by science, and nobody needs the answers that the church has anymore, because in this world of wallstreet, and microsoft. Ancient scriptures that heaven forbid our children would have to ***READ*** instead of play a video game of them have much less meaning. People ask for proof of gods existence. They say science can give me proof, however science with every discovery raises more questions than it answers. People find it so hard to believe that the laws of physics are so perfect so symetrical, yet a higher power played no role in this. The church which is really intrested in the exploration of ones spirt ( or ones morals+personality+general outlook on life ) is discounted, because they don't have proof that a god exists.

I'm not religious, but i do believe relgion is discounted because people are blinded by the world of silicon chips/Tv/video games/American pop cultre/and sex sells advertizing.

Church/Chirstianity is a superb way for people to come together learn morals, and regulate their lifes, and become successful human beings. However some of the rituals that some pompus asshole came up with to make it seem more auethentic are now silly, and belittling to ones intelligence so people no longer feel the need to worship. Relgion has an inverse relationship with the general intelligence of the population. Western Europe/US have significanltly decreased church attendences, as the rest of the poor third world county population of the earth is still in need of something better something bigger than oneself or else their life feels meaningless.

Church is a way to give the masses meaning in their life. A purpose to exist, and this is a supurb life motivator and brings a general sense of happiness to oneself.

I don't personally have a purpose in life :( I'm not the happiest of people. I'm here posting on a fourm in which i try to share some of my enlightenment with others when i'm a huge hippocrite.

I don't pretend to have any answers I just try to understand all sides.

Here's a fun story of my personal life.

I was 12 when my mom died. a preteen who needed a mother more than anythign in the world... and she was gone from cancer.... so im looking for SOME EXPLANATION AS TO WHY HER out of all the scum of the world and what was my answer from the various Christian people i know??? "god wanted her more" , "it was her time, god says so", "you wouldnt understand" and that was basically saying "fuck you, you dont deserve your mommy". a bit of a slap in the face. and to this day i am cornered becuase i study buddhism and taoism and i dont want to hear about your stupid contradictions that are everywhere!

I like having my eyes open to ALL of the world, you cant filter life.

and did i mention that christians tend to be JUDGEMENTAL? Judge not lest ye be judged? ha, thats funny.

I don't put Christianity at the bottom of my least favorite religion list, I don't have a 'least favorite'. I don't like any of them. But if I must answer there here goes. Christainity believes that one lives to please God so they can go to Heaven when the die right? I ask why people live in servitude to a "God" that they say exists, yet they have never seen it? And I answer, because that is all most Christians have, is this "God". Most Christians are also very, very judgemental. If you dare say you don't believe what they do or if you say there isn't a God they immediately say "You're going to Hell" or something along those lines. Christian's believe that they should love everyone good or bad right? Yet they judge everyone? Hipocracy at it's best. There area few reason why I don't like it. Agree with me or not oh well, that's my opinion ans I'm probably not changing it.

Wow... hard not to touch this one. I was raised a Christian and I resent that part of my life. I no longer believe in any god and I consider belief in god to be a neurological disorder. Of course, I'm never one to stand in front of a church yelling at people for not thinking like me, but I find that Christianity is the hardest to swallow of all religions.

The first of my many problems with the Christian faith is it's ignored history. Early Semitic tribes were a nomadic people that worshipped a thunder god. These tribes later evolved into modern Judaism and their god evolved with them. The belief in the all father of Jewish and Christian faith is the belief in the leftovers of a Tribal Thunder God.

Next, I don't like the giant contradiction in terms known as the Bible. I can rattle off example after example, but I'll just give one for right now. In Ecclesiastes 1:9 we're told that there's no new thing under the sun. My first thought in reading that was that there might have been belief in the Cyclic Time Theory in early Christianity... I was wrong. I read around it to find that basically, no matter what you think up or create... it's been done before. So this religion is maintaining a submissive mass of followers by telling them that they can't think of anything new cause their God already did all the thinking for them. Your job as a Christian is to be a passive observer, procreate, tithe and avoid sin.

Now we get to sin... I won't stay on this one long. Much like the marijuana laws in this country... sin is just a legislated morality. Someone doesn't like the thought of masturbation so they determine it to be wrong (see: sinful). The word "morality" must be Old High Latin for "Overblown Opinion."

Oh, by the way... I'm new here... hi everyone.

So, back to the original topic...

As with other people here, I dislike all religions I have come accross, but some morte than others.

Christianity really gets on my tits. There are some very powerfull and personally touching reasons given above, many of which I would endorse. The two cents I wanted to add was to comment on the apologist position that says that whilst christanity has had a strong negative impact at times in the past (crusades anyone?) that it should not be too strongly attacked as it provides a cohesive force in todays culture. Does it fuck. It provides a reactionary and positively dangerous influence. Ask any open minded American: I'm sure they'd say the same. Marx famously said that religion is the opiate of the masses: just as true today as when he originally said it. The intolerance that christianity engenders is so much more dangerous than a society of people forming their own ethical framework.