Before I start, I don't want to offend anyone.
I try not to hold religious prejudices, so if any appear in this rant, then feel free to grill me.

Right.
My beef here isn't with Christianity as a whole. Lets get that straight.
In fact, it hasn't got too much to do with the religion.... it's the people.

I'm a pretty open minded girl. I'll listen to most people, question them fairly but not unkindly about their ideas, have a good time and come out feeling like a slightly better person. It's good.

But something I cannot stand is reading, hearing or generally having peoples beliefs thrust in my face. For a start, it's rude and intrusive (personal bubble, anyone?) and I find it makes me regard my assailant as ignorant and stupid. Maybe that's a little harsh, but it's how I feel- and unless they're prepared to sit down with me and talk through it, it pisses me off. I mean, there was this one boy I went to school with. He was awesome. Incredibly intelligent, moral, a genuinely good guy. And he was constantly throwing quotes from the bible into my face. But it didn't bother me, because he'd actually explain to me where his faith came from, why he did it (the bible bashing), and the actual quotes themselves. And that was great. I really miss our talks now...

What does bug me, is when people define themselves by their religion, over the internet. For example, the title of this topic.

Jesus is my Lord and Saviour and I'm not afraid to say it.

Why would you be afraid to say it? Why should I care? WHY ARE YOU EVEN TELLING ME, I DIDN'T ASK!?




...And I'll add to this later- Middle Class Christians

I know who you're on about... I miss the talks I had with him to. Sewing in the library??

My opinion on religion is thus.

I believe that something is out there, some unknown force. But I wouldn't say it's God. I believe that the Big Bang and evolution got us here, not God and 7 days. The afterlife freaks me out big time.. you know.. what happens when we die? I try not to dwell on it too much. Re-incarnation would be interesting - I bagsy the tiger.

Having religions thrust in my face isn't something I enjoy. I tend to hear them out, then tell them I don't believe in most of it and walk off.

After having read this, I feel the need to convert you to my current religion.

I am positive you will see the light after having read about the Holy Church of my deity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM for short).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster

We are very accepting of new members, and while we don't follow the Ten Commandments, I'd highly suggest you read The Gospel, for it contains our Lord's Eight "I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts."

All the best to you, and may you be touched by His Noodly Appendage.

...I feel so free...

How long has this been your religion then?

It been my off-again, on-again religion for perhaps... two years now, maybe? I tend to forget about it's social practices until religion becomes the topic of choice, and then I absolutely have to remember that I'm a Pastafarian so I don't feel left out.

I'm positive that His Noodly Appendage doesn't mind this lifestyle choice at all. ;-)

He doesn't seem like the type...

I'm going to drill this into my brain, and remember it for the rest of my days.

And I know it'll come in handy- the next time I get a religious nut in my face, I'll educate them.

Haha, I've been waiting for something like this topic...
(No offense to ANY who is of the religions I'm about to go off on)

I live in Los Angeles County, California, and a majority of the population is Hispanic. The common religion for Hispanics is Catholicism. My grandmother is a catholic and believes firmly in her faith, we have statues of Saints outside, crosses on the walls, pictures of Jesus... the whole shabang!

Well, here there are also a lot of "Re-born" Christians, who normally I have NO problem with. But can someone please explain to me why they feel the NEED to push their chosen religion on other people!?

I don't mean to be rude when they come knocking on my door, I try to be polite, but they irk the crap of me when they insist that I'm WRONG for believing in what I believe in. I may not be a devout Catholic but I hold my faith close to my heart.

Isn't a cornerstone of any relationship, even that with God and Jesus, that one should not pass judgement?

Who in the world are they to say I'm wrong?

Jehovah's Whitnesses and Mormons are the same - here.

Sorry to both of those religions but where's your proof?
You like to claim that Catholics favor false idols... well I'm sorry but Joseph Smith? Really?


Okay, I'm done. Sorry about that. I just needed to get it out of my system.

Haha, I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago about Christians "evangelising".

We're both Christians, but my friend especially is really unhappy about stuff that Christians are doing -- such as evangelising (am I even spelling that right) the wrong way. She's arguing that people are too eager to follow the Great Commission and win converts they're not really concerned about actually sitting down and getting to know a person, instead opting for shoving their religion in a convert-to-be's face.

And the throwing around Bible verses? That irks me to no end too, because more often than not they sound more smart-alecky than faithful.

I totally agree with you guys! My view on religion is kinda like Emma's. I remember how I would be minding my own business on the train and some woman would come up and start preaching on and on to me. It really kinda irritated me.

I'm actually going to church with my friends quite often now, mostly out of interest... they tell me quite alot about their religion too, but that doesn't annoy me because I know its not preachy and they genuinely care about me.

PrincessJaded wrote:

Haha, I've been waiting for something like this topic... I don't mean to be rude when they come knocking on my door, I try to be polite, but they irk the crap of me when they insist that I'm WRONG for believing in what I believe in. I may not be a devout Catholic but I hold my faith close to my heart.

(BTW, I've always wondered what Jehovah's Witnesses is about. It's banned here.)

Yeah! There used to be this preacher who would come knocking every sunday... even though they could obviously see my parents' altar and know that they're not Christians. Yeah, she meant well, I guess... but it was annoying!

_________________

I'm not lazy, I'm just energetically-challenged!

Lol. Well, I'm technically an Orthodox Christian, but when people start preaching to me, regardless of what their religion is, and even if it's the same as mine, I tell them that I'm an atheist and that they'd better leave me alone. It's really hard for me to be polite to people who shove their beliefs down my throat. I usually feel like ignoring them or slapping them, although I try to act civil.
My family goes to church once a year at most. I believe in God, but I don't know much of the rest about Christianity and I don't care to learn about it. As for afterlife, I don't care if there is one. I prefer to think we live only once, because I generally waste too much time doing nothing. If I believed there are other lives, I'd never do anything at all.
As for Darwin's theory, again I don't care if it's true or not. I don't give a darn about how we were created. I'm more concerned about what we'll become.
I think that the best way to deal with religion is live and let live. It's good to have your own opinion, but you need to respect the views of others. People are too dissimilar to each other to believe the same thing. Faith is not objective; that's why it's called faith. You believe something because you like it, not because there are facts that prove it. If someone says you should join their religion instead of the one you have joined, it's like they told you you should like beets instead of onions.

I don't pretend to know anything when it comes to any kind of religion, because well...

I DON'T.

I've never had to deal with people shoving their religion in my face. I don't go to church (I've been, but for the most part I had no idea what they were talking about).

I'd like to know more about different religions though... I hate being ignorant.

Somedays I think I should just list my religon as Jedi.

There are no evangelists for the Jedi religon.

Jedi sounds like a good idea. You can slice anyone who judges you in half with an uber cool light-saber.

And for anyone who might find it amusing; my mom is a VERY sarcastic person. She believes in God and everything, but she doesn't like going to church with my grandparents (who are baptists) and have every mistake she's ever made in her life thrown in her face. So it reeeeeeeally ticks her off when the Jehovah's witnesses come to our door and do the exact same thing. So one time they came to the door, she told them she was a Satanist and slammed the door in their faces.

At the time it was like, 0n0, my mom just did that? But now it's really funny to think about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2i764rMDfM&feature=related

For all the Jedi-churchgoers

Where in the heck do people get these ideas!? That was funny.