Top Reasons Why....

[Azier the Swordsman]

Why are more people not Christians?

People like this and this.

I have a feeling if we would just spend nearly half as much time pouring money into sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people as opposed to spending mass amounts of money on telling people how Pokemon, D&D, and Harry Potter will send them to hell just because it makes some people feel spiritually superior, we just might be taken a bit more seriously for it.

But I think I'm asking too much.

[Puguni]

1. People are too skeptical nowadays.

2. Peer pressure. It's cool to be an atheist/agnostic now.

[Angel37]

Why are more people not Christians?

People like this and this.

I have a feeling if we would just spend nearly half as much time pouring money into sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people as opposed to spending mass amounts of money on telling people how Pokemon, D&D, and Harry Potter will send them to hell just because it makes some people feel spiritually superior, we just might be taken a bit more seriously for it.

But I think I'm asking too much.

YES! You are cool for citing those HORRID tracts! 10 points to you!
That's a GREAT example of how Christianity can go from Word of God to Opinion of Man.

[mitsuki lover]

If you ask most non-Christians you will end up with highly personalized reasons from the hypocrisy of some Christian leaders(think of the Ted Haggard controversy)to the entire Creation vs. Evolution debate,to Science has yet to prove that any Gods exist argument.

[Tenshi no Ai]

Those comics remind me of the ones they gave out at high school around Halloween a few years ago :/ My non-Christian friends thought they were funny and my Christian friends were all like "the heck? :/". Didn't actually read them myself, but I believe it went in the same fashion (probably even the same company) as those.

[Angel37]

Well here is my paper for you guys to review. I decided to quote from Doubleshadow, Tenshi no Ai, Warrior4christ and Mechana2015 simply because I liked their responses so much (but it was REALLY hard to choose!) Sorry I had to reword yours mech!
This paper will be used during an interview we will be having with a Christian apologetist Peter Bocchino (who wrote our textbook o.O) and he will hopefully be giving us pointers on how to approach people with this type of reasoning.
But here it is. If you guys have any problems with it, please let me know.

Oh, and THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

My paper:

Critical Thinking
11-14-06
Three Reasons People Refuse Christianity
In a survey conducted on the forum Christian Anime Alliance (http://www.christiananime.net) the following was asked in a subject thread by (user Angel37): “What are some of the reasons why you were (if you ever were in your memory of existence) against Christianity? Or (better yet) why are some people you know not Christians? If you were to ask them why they weren't Christians, what would they say?”. The following is a collaboration of answers from users regarding their own past life or the lives of people close to them:
1. “My parents sadly. They are good Christians, but [they] weren't living the all out, go for broke Christian lifestyle the preacher and Sunday School teachers talked about. I never saw them witnessing, I never saw them invite people to church, we rarely prayed as a family, did not talk God stuff. It just made me think they didn't actually take it seriously, and then I concluded it was a waste of time.” (Quoted from user Doubleshadow)
2. “ [It’s] just some dumb religion I [don’t] care about...” ... "I don't need religion; my life is okay without it. I'm a good person." (Quoted from users Tenshi no Ai and Warrior4christ)
3. “Christians are too overbearing and legalistic.”... “A gay friend of mine in high school felt he couldn't be a Christian for reason that are probably obvious, although he liked Jesus Himself.” (Quoted from users Mechana2015 and Doubleshadow)

[Peanut]

Interesting topic...here's what I think the top reasons (in no particular order) are:

-Clerical/Pastoral immorality
-doubt about biblical historical accuracy
-Unwillingness to sacrifice a certain thing or practice then they become a Christian
-Misconceptions as to what makes a Christian and how a Christian should act
-Science v. Religion

EDIT: Well...I guess I posted this a little too late...oh well...I think your paper hit the nail on the head. I don't disagree with any of the reasons you listed.

[soul alive]

A good quote I've heard is:

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
- Brennan Manning

Personally, before I was saved the reason I was not a Christian was sheer ignorance. I grew up going to church and sunday school, and could recite Bible stories backward and forward, but no one had ever taught me the application of those stories. I had no idea why Jesus lived, died, and rose again - just that He did. And as a grade schooler, I had had no urge to ask 'why.' So when I finally heard the message of salvation - the why - a big "Oooh!" resounded in my head. I finally knew the reason behind the facts.

And sadly, I think a lot of people are in the same position now as I used to be.

:edit: seconds too late.

[GrubbTheFragger]

Why are more people not Christians?

People like this and this.

I have a feeling if we would just spend nearly half as much time pouring money into sharing the love of Jesus Christ with people as opposed to spending mass amounts of money on telling people how Pokemon, D&D, and Harry Potter will send them to hell just because it makes some people feel spiritually superior, we just might be taken a bit more seriously for it.

But I think I'm asking too much.

Wow thats just plain annoying. I wanna send a e-mail to them and be all angry but that wouldn't accomplish anything.

[mitsuki lover]

In the end though both belief and unbelief are highly personalized.

[rocklobster]

It may also be in rebellion to parents who were too strict and/or abusive.

[mitsuki lover]

Some times it may not be a rejection of Christianity or Religion per se but a rejection of what the person may precieve to be something that is totally unbiblical
from their own personal readings of the Scriptures.

[Hakaii]

I got 3 words for why some people are against being Christian... Westboro Baptist Church! need I say more?

[fantasygeek]

I find that with most of my friends it's either that they've had bad (or odd) experiences with "religion" before. Usually cases were some of the things that they were told were by no means biblical.

[Kura Ookami]

Some of the reasons the protestant revolution came about. Hypocrisy has to be the biggest one. The churchmen at that time didn't live what they taught as is the case with many christians now. And it that time the churchmen were the sole gatekeepers of heaven giving them tremendous power. They were like gods and that power corrupted them. Religious leaders today have alot of power too and some of them are corrupted by it.

After all that the scientific revolution came about and we made the material world our only focus so we could prove what was true instead of believing anything someone told us and believing in superstition that may or may not have had any basis in reality. For centuries we focused only on the material, economic aspects of life and we wanted to believe that that was all there was. So the reasons can be seen in history. First the protestant revolution then the scientifix revolution both broke us away from the all powerful churchmen of the middle ages

[Hakaii]

I agree, science gives us the ability to prove our beliefs and weed out the Hypocritical lies of those in power.

[Ingemar]

Some other reasons, that may seem like reiterations of others:

1. "Birth" (Atheists LOVE this one). It is the view that all humans are born nontheistic. I give no credence to this at all.
2. Being in a society where proclaiming Christianity can bring material harm
3. Lifestyle coflicts.

[mishi0mishi]

Some of those Christains that are just too unbearably strickt, or the ones who think that they're gods or something.

One reason that my friend's dad wont do it is because he thinks it's too strickt. Or, something like that... He's an ex-chatholic. Enough said, lol!

Another reason being that all religons say ther are THE true one. So, how do u know that Christainity is THE one?

And for some, it's just becuase they just don't want to.

[mishi0mishi]

I didn't mean to insult anyone who is chatholic on here, he came from a really weird chathoic family. Who take the bible way too literately.

[mitsuki lover]

What's the Westboro Baptist Church anyway?

[ducheval]

For people I know, the big issue is the hypocrisy they see in the doctrine, largely on the homosexual issue. Religion of love, BUT NOT THAT KIND OMG NO.

A few more might attend if the churches dropped the issue and started actually being accepting and supportive. Fortunately this IS occuring, one denomination at a time. The protestants took a huge step forward this year, nearly as big as the episcopals. It's really just a matter of time, though religion tends to change on the timeframe of hundreds of years rather than decades

Still, within my lifetime I hope.

[ducheval]

What's the Westboro Baptist Church anyway?

A bit of googling should land you on Fred Phelps' page. Basically a fundamentalist baptist group. They take a rather hardline stance on gays. They don't do christianity any good, that's for sure.

[Peanut]

For people I know, the big issue is the hypocrisy they see in the doctrine, largely on the homosexual issue. Religion of love, BUT NOT THAT KIND OMG NO.

Eh...I haven't witnessed any of my friends using hypocrisy within the doctrine of Christianity as a real reason not to believe. They might claim that but when you get down to the real reason it seems more likely that they don't want to change a part of their life which they know doesn't conform with Christianity. I do agree with you about homosexuality being a reason for people not to believe in Christianity though I think this has more to do with people being offended by what some Christians have said.

A few more might attend if the churches dropped the issue and started actually being accepting and supportive. Fortunately this IS occuring, one denomination at a time. The protestants took a huge step forward this year, nearly as big as the episcopals. It's really just a matter of time, though religion tends to change on the timeframe of hundreds of years rather than decades

Still, within my lifetime I hope.

Though Angel37 has already completed this assignment so what I am about to say is sort of useless, this statement actually reminded me of another reason that people don't believe in Christianity. If religions keep changing, then doesn't that mean that all religions evolved from a more primal version and are therefore essentially the same? I have heard this argument...sort of...a friend of mine likes to point out "parallels" in the structure of the Greek polytheistic religion and Christianity.