I think I can guess as to why people wouldn't want an atheist as president, I'm not very eloquent so I shall quote from the play Hamilton : "when all is said and done Jefferson has beliefs, Burr has none"
Does that come across? If someone doesn't believe in God then they are less likely to be living according to some moral code (not all people who believe in God follow a moral code, it's just more likely) there is always society's moral codes... The ever changing whirlwind that flips over it's head according to the whims of the indecisive multitude. Society has no permanent code. And so people are scared, scared of a tornado that will sweep the place away. Someone believing in God won't guarantee a good president, it only raises the chances, however slight or high that may be.

Hey Benry,

I was quite interested to read your thought progression. I'm glad to see that you've moderated your opinions.

I'll tell you, I'm Catholic. Questioning, but Catholic. I see where you're coming from, believe me! I don't doubt that you've run across some opposition to your beliefs, it even happens between denominations that agree about all but the most theological details. I'm happy to see that you now realize that while some may behave that way, you can't tar the whole group with the same brush. Christianity, and any denomination, is full of all different kinds of people, just like atheism. And there's always someone out there who will step on toes or make the rest of us look bad.

As for evolution, I completely agree. I do science, it's a really important part of how I see the world. There's a lot of variation, and discussion/argument, on this topic in many Christian circles. You've got creationists, 50-year-Earth types, people who are in for evolution, and people who don't know or don't care. Lucky for me, Catholic doctrine doesn't give direction on this one. The Church doesn't outlaw evolution. I take the interpretation of Genesis that yes, God made the world, calling light from darkness, forming the world and all the things on it. But I believe that he used the mechanism of the big bang, cosmological evolution, geological processes and evolution.

As for your 'chat', I imagine that no one was feeling very receptive to listening, and as soon as someone gets defensive it all goes downhill from there! :) You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. I generally think this saying sums up these sorts of discussions pretty well.

Did you put a target on your back? I don't know your environment, but I don't think so. I wouldn't take the actions of some teenagers as your measure of the wider world. They probably changed just like you have, teens tend to be more one end or the other and have a more confrontational view (in my experience). I also don't think it was your imagination, kids can be that way and you just have to hope they grow out of it!

Do some Christians see atheism as a threat? Yes. Do most? Probably not. Honestly, even though they might not communicate it well, a lot of them are probably worried for your soul. They mean well. But I think you need to consider that the religious world view is increasingly under attack from a variety of angles, so I can see where there could be some defensiveness on this side too.

On the note of the poll, well, I'm not an American so I can't really speak to that, but I will say this. People tend to want to vote for people that they think are most like them. Barring any other information, they'll go by religion because they think it's a good measure of morals/ideas. Are they right? Well, who knows.

Some people go looking for offense, and they'll find it. Best you can do is to not give them the pleasure of getting under your skin.

I'll be interested to read your thoughts four years down the line too.

BSU

Now you seem to have a problem with the attitudes of Christians and I agree, Christians can be quite annoying sometimes and I myself am a Christian. But let us ask, what is a Christian? The Christian in the classic sense of orthodox Christianity, is not perfect, but a person who is dejected and rejected seeking help from whom? Jesus Christ in his church. Christians are not meant to be perfect, though we are called to be as much, only through the grace of God is it possible to become perfect, but one must remember there is always that human element of pride and sin within any person whatsoever. The church is not a place for the perfect, but is a place for the downtrodded and sinful. This is why Jesus hung out with the cast outs of society and not the priests.

I cannot help but think you have had bad experiences with people who call themselves Christians, I cannot judge them as either Christians or not but I think you need to not generalise all Christians into this type of category. There are many Christian groups and i imagine you have been hurt by evangelicals or something close to that, but thats just a guess.

But not all Christians think like this. Some could care less, though they should certaintly care. Try to understand if they are angry at you or acting in an unchristian manner it is probably because they fear for you, Christians ultimately want others to come to the joy they themselves have attained, and likewise some atheists do as well.

Behind this essay is not a well thought out argument against Christianity (there are better critiques out there) but an angry rant. Read the literature of the Saints of the church, the fathers and the bible to learn of Christianity. Go to divine liturgy to see Christianity in action. I do hoppe you come to learn more of Christianity in the future. God bless.

Though I think you would benefit from a beta to help you with spelling and grammar, I enjoyed this plaintive, honest attempt to expose the anti-atheist sentiment in our society. If you live in somewhere like America, it's probably even worse (the UK is becoming much more secular, thank goodness) but, anyway, well done, I agree.

First off, don't say that all Christains Are like this because not all of them are... secondly, some people call themselves christians because they go to church... well going to church doesn't make someone a christian just like sitting in a garage doesn't make you a car. Christianity is a life style not a religion...

Powar to ya man! Stick it to 'em. No matter what always stay firm.

Just as much as you say that Christians stereotype others, you are stereotyping them. You may have had a bad experience with them, but do not condemn people that you do not know. Not everyone is like the people at your school.

And if evolution is true, then why did everything all of a sudden stop evolving? And if we evolved from something such as Lucy, then why are there still chimpanzees around? I am trying to contradict you, I am only trying to make you think. The purpose of debates is to learn not to win. That's kind of what I believe.

Oh, and not believing in dinosaurs has nothing to do with evolution. I believe in adaptations, but not full out evolution. And even without believing that evolution is true, I believe there were dinosaurs.

The Bible says that "all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory." No one has lived their life and never stolen, lied, or killed someone. I know that even you have sinned as have I. Maybe you didn't kill someone but *no one* is perfectly honest despite what they appear to be.

Always win? Just like the Jews, Christians have been persecuted for awhile. If you want to talk about your faith, that's fine. But allow me the right to talk about mine. Will I complain if you are a Buddhist and say your beliefs during school? No as long as you respect mine.

And if Christians always win, tell me why it is that everyone when they are pissed goes around saying, "oh my god" and "jesus christ". Do you not find that insulting in the least?

I realize that this was written out of anger but I think you need to be more open minded and accepting. Not all Christians are bad.

Just remember, I am not here to bash you, just to open your eyes to another side of the story. Have a great day.

You seriously need to edit before posting.

Bear in mind the diversity that exists within Christianity. Your "you Christians" covers all denominations, Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic and protestants, who all believe slightly different things. It might help if you learned a little more about Christianity yourself- maybe did some more reading.

"Another thing I don’t get about you Christians is the thing with the fact that there can be someone who commits sins by killing people, stealing things that isn’t not their own, and lying to get way with things, but then, just as they are about to die, they confess to a priest and all their sins are washed away, and then goes and lives a happy life in heaven. Then you have someone who lives a good honest life, not killing, not stealing, and not lying, honouring their parents, yet don’t believe in god burn in hell."

Well in the first case it would have to be genuine repentence, not just saying you're sorry, but meaning it.

In the latter case- not even all Christians hold that non believers go to Hell. It's a problem for the faith though, that's been much debated over the past two thousand years.

"A few days ago at school, someone found out that i was a freethinker. "

Being a 'free thinker' doesn't have anything to do with religion.

"Then they started to say the Christian is the only religion and everything else was a cult. They started to say that I am going to burn in hell. Then they started to talk about how great it is to be a Christian, trying to make me convert. They talked about their favourite Christian rock bands and stuff."

They have the right to talk about their beliefs. It can get a little annoying if people go on at you about their religion (and it can be a bit counter productive on the part of the Christians since nagging isn't the way to convince people of things), but they can if they want.

"They said that I should keep my religion out side of school. I do not really get this."

Yep, that's wrong and they shouldn't do it, but don't assume all Christians are like that.

"They are Atheist, Freethinkers, Buddhist, Hinduism and Muslims going there."

'Freethinker' is not a religion. Neither is atheist, but I doubt you were implying that it was.

I'm not flaming you because I've experience similar problems, but most of my Christian friends have been completely cool with my religion. Your essay, though engaging and feeling, depends too much on what happened to 'you' and the Christians 'you' knew, rendering it a strong story but a weak essay, and numerous grammar errors deplete it of credibility. You, for some reason, associate free thinking with atheism and portray as being completely against Christianity; I don't quite understand that. The only reason Christians "always" win is because they believe firmly in the correctness of their faith to defend it to death; the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Try to be more forceful in your arguments and proofread to make your essays more persuasive.

Second of al, u need too edit your storys wit mor efishencie.

Ther werr fiev thousand erors in ther.

Not all Christians are like that.

Evolution is not even close to being proved. It is a theory with no more evidence than intelligent design, bub. How did we spring up from nothing gradually?

There are many devices (living things) today that evolution cannot explain. The bacterial flagellum has a motor that moves its tail in a rotary motion. This propells it and allows it to reproduce. Without all of these parts, this motor cannot operate. A giraffe has a sponge-like-thing that absorbs blood when it bends its head down to drink water so that its brains don't become smitherenes. Cells are too complex to be randomized.

Blind fool you are, Mr. Yoda.

The thing I don't get about you atheists is that you're all the same. I've known like five atheists and when they found I'm a non-freethinker, they all kept talking shit about God and how after I die, I'm going nowhere. They kept saying grammatically confusing things like "completely this is" and "they did allow to me talked." And for some reason they believed "that God for some random reason putting bones into the ground." Huh?You don't realize that so many Christians out there but is scared to admit it because of people like you. Clearly the tiny percentage of atheists I met represent all atheists.

Oh and you're going to hell, God bless you.

(I think you're too stupid to realize this, so I'll point it out for you: I was being sarcastic. You should know that Christians are NOT all like this, in fact many of us are tolerant and couldn't care less if you believed in Jesus, Krishna, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or nothing at all. Stop stereotyping because no matter how many Christians you've met, you have never met even a significant FRACTION of the millions of Christians out there and therefore are in no position to judge.)

It wasn't written very well, and you're pretty ignorant of a lot of things.

However, I agree with you. A lot of Christians, not all, but a lot do exactly what they tell others not to do.

They are the most judgmental people on Earth. They have condemned half of the world to burn in hell for eternity without even knowing them. Occultists, homosexuals, atheists, and many more people are hated by the critical Christians.

I know all of this very well, because my mother is a very committed Christian and I have been going to church my whole fourteen years of life, something I hate so much.

So, even though you didn't write this very well, it's something that Christians should take to heart. They shouldn't be so terrible, many Christians shouldn't be able to claim the title, it's wrong, and just plain annoying.

First I am going to start off with saying I am a Christian. Second, I am going to say some of the things you say are totally right.

Many Christians, I not being one of them (at least I hope I am not), do look down on Atheists and other religions and thing they are below them. I, however, know alot of my friends and I are friends with Atheists, Buddist, Muslims etc. as well as christian friends. I don't condemn anyone because of what they believe, and other Christians shouldn't either thats not what the bible teaches, but I do talk about religion, and I do think mine is the right one (Hence the reason I am a Christian).

Your next point was that someone could lead a life of sin (i guess you could call it that) and confess their sins right as soon as they are going to die and then go to heaven. In my opinion, I think that the actual chance that they mean it, are sincere and actually go up to heaver is very slim. You have ot really believe that Jesus died for you, yada yada yada.

About the people from your school, they are just ignorant, which sadly are alot of Christians, because they don't want to even listen to other religons around them to learn from them. Next time don't get up and leave, talk to them (don't yell) and see if they will learn something. I am not saying convert them (because I wouldn't if I was in that situation) but talk to them and see what they say. They may just be plain stupid and every religion as stupid people.

Lastly, I don't believe in evolution, but I do think it is possible God may have made it that way. Truthfully, I just don't pay attention to that stuff because I don't want to be stressed over what happened long long long before I came about.

Every belief organization has blind fools, ignorant people et cetera, you just have to take them along with the people who are well-rounded and still believe in what they believe in.

First of all. I am a person of faith. However I am Pagan. Secondly I have friends from all walks of life. Be it atheist, agnostic, Muslim, Christian, and so forth. It sounds like to me that you've just met a few people who are Christian and you don't agree with them. So you think that all Christians are bad and there not. Some of the most loving people I know are Christians.

"A few days ago at school, someone found out that i was a freethinker."

This line I think is completely bogus.

So you think that you can't be a free thinker because you're a Christian? I think you really need to take the time to learn about other people and try to peal off the cocoon you live in. You do not need to be a person of faith but a little more opened minded.

But you should really try to learn and gain some value on someone's beliefs before talking about things you don't understand. Try to learn some values in things that you know and own before jumping to conclusion. I love my faith, Gods, and values. But that doesn't mean that people of faith are not free thinkers or stupid.

All so as another note.

You should really edit you're work better. It's a bit choppy. Or get a blog because this reads more like a journal entry.