Comments on: How we sound to those who don’t believe

By: bobbie

bobbie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

i am too hearing things in different ways than i have before, and it makes me ashamed and sometimes even angry. if i’m insulted what is keeping the others here. do we really think that god wants such weak minded followers? jesus asked more questions than he answered. why are we so afraid of the questions?

By: stephanie

stephanie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Explain what the difference is to the before and after – what is it that you see/hear now and didn’t before?

By: iMonk

iMonk — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Making a conscious effort to not be so inside the park. Not to make the assumptions, not to buy the presuppositions. Trying to hear what is said, not what I automatically hear in my head.

Like going to a baseball game as a total outsider and just saying “WHat is in front of me?” WHat is this all about as is, no notes or cheats or help?

That’s very hard. Like a fish out of water.

By: Prester Scott

Prester Scott — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Great observation.

I wrote this commentary on your commentary, but I’m afraid I don’t know how to use TrackBack:

http://www.livejournal.com/users/prester_scott/445265.html

By: John

John — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

The best question I’ve ever gotten from a non-Christian was this: “What do you mean when you say ‘Accept Jesus’?” This was a person with a JW background, and we’d been talking about religious things for a bit. I was completely stumped.

By: tommythecat

tommythecat — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

great article on the church and ‘non-believers.’ i grew up in the evangelical church, went to missions trips, etc. and haven’t been back since for many of the reasons listed above. glad to see someone in the church has the ability to be critical of the church.

By: Dave Palmer

Dave Palmer — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Article had some resonance for me. I’ve been studying the first chapter of First John in my Sunday School. The Apostle starts how with a recital of how he was a witness to the Incarnate God. Obviously, he was impressed to the point that he want to tell the world, but why him and not us?
Why aren’t we impressed today, or at least impressed enough to want to listen to a 20 minute sermon?
Does it have to do with short attention spans from the TV culture of this age?
Does it come because the Church no longer speaks of the universal condition of sin which is killing all of us (some faster than others)?
Does it come because Satan is more effective than ever in denying that we are sinners, and no-one believes in sin any longer. I’m really wondering because I’m a sometime attender at a Bible study for pre-believers. The teacher is wondering through the Gospel of Mark, trying to paint a picture of Jesus. On this particular occasion, he had picked the miracle of the paralytic let down through the roof. You’ll remember the exchange: “Your sins are forgiven…But so that you may know that the Son of Man has the power to forgive sins, take up your bed and walk….” At any rate, one of the persons there said the problem with the vignette was that you had to assume that people believe in sin, and that is not a given–the implication was that she wasn’t there yet.
If that is a common viewpoint, why is it that people no longer believe in sin. If they don’t, why would they need a savior?
Dave Palmer

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I am a nonChristian and your article is right no the money. One of the reasons I left the church and the Christian faith is because of the practice of noncommunication. It’s nice to see a Christian who’s finally getting it.

By: Marijn

Marijn — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

It’s good to see people wake up and ask themselves why they believe what they believe. If you want to get some arguments from others go here:
http://www.infidelguy.com

By: James

James — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Michael Spencer from downtown! *Swish* It’s good!!!

I could’ve have said it better myself, Mike. I have a sister who is so deep into the “My Minister is the final authority” stuff, everyone else must be wrong. That is very frustrating from my POV since I’m the type of person that rattles off random trivia from time to time.

This is especially difficult because of the diversity in belief within my family. I am a strong-leaning weak atheist. My step father is an atheistic agnostic. My mother is the average non-practicing Christian (She doesn’t go to church or read the Bible). My sister is a fundy. One set of grandparents is the classic rich golfing conservative type who could care less whether or not the Bible is true so long as Bush lets them keep more of their fat paycheck. Another set of grandparents are also conservatives, but talk about militaristic! My grandfather uses his ex-military interrogation training against me about my lack of faith. He’s even requested that I draw him a picture of praying hands. With all these different belief systems in my family, I tend to get a pretty balanced perspective on Christianity. The bad side of it is that all the fundies/conservatives look down on me. There is no one in my (blood) family that I can talk to about what in my opinion are the negative aspects of religion. Only my stepfather can hold a conversation on it without resorting to an attempt to convert me.

On top of all that, my grandparents (former set) have asked my stepdad to “fix” me, as if I were broken. Upon telling my fundy sister about this, she agreed that it was wrong of them, but only because it only reinforces “my problem.”

And they wonder why atheists sometimes appear to be so depressed.

Well, thanks for reading my rant