hi, i'm not christian and i have some questions

i am an agnostic, basically meaning i don't believe we can know whether there is a god or not, but for the most part i live my life like an atheist. below i will list a few questions i would like answered to better understand where you all are coming from, and feel free to ask me anything too, just keep in mind i don't know everything and just because i can't answer, doesn't mean no one can.

1) how did you convert to christianity or were you christian since childhood?

2) what is your opinion on the LGBT community?

3) what is your opinion on atheists?

4) have you ever questioned your faith?

5) do you believe media like harry potter or pokemon to be problematic? why or why not?

Welcome!

The proper definition of an agnostic is: a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena. Agnostics really deny the existence of God, which is not much different than what an atheist does, with the added part about how nobody can know God.

Some non-believers believe Jesus was a good man and a good teacher and said some lovely things... and off they go searching for truth elsewhere, even though Jesus said HE was the Truth. They may find people and practices that temporarily help in their struggles and challenges; if you were to closely question many of these people about their beliefs regarding God, religion, and Christianity, you would probably find that a great many of them really are hostile in their minds towards such things, believing religion to be a tool to control people, blaming Christianity for many if not all the ills of the world (instead of human nature), and believing the Biblical God to be a heartless monster. Some consider themselves to be spiritual while others reject anything that smacks of spirituality. Many will simply say God does not exist, and that those who believe in Him do so because we were told to, being unable to think for ourselves, that Christians are brainwashed and believe in fairy tales, have an imaginary friend, etc etc. Then they will attempt to try to tell us what we should believe instead.

Some non-believers claim they would rather go to hell than serve God as they understand Him. The non-believer largely rejects the Bible as being historically accurate. Perhaps not all, but even if they accept some or even most of the historical claims, many reject the supernatural elements, miracles, prophecies fulfilled, and the Divinity of Jesus.

Some claim the Bible God is based on the primitive superstitions of iron age knuckle dragging cave dwelling goat herders, while they consider themselves to be too smart and too sophisticated and more logical and more rational and too intelligent for such (the roots of which is pride), clinging to modern science for answers, the claims of which they accept on faith while pooh poohing faith at the same time. Some will even say that it is impossible to know whether God exists or not, whereas God promises to reveal Himself to those who diligently and sincerely seek Him. Each must make their own choice, and as far as I am concerned, it is the most important decision one can make in their life.

Welcome to CC Hydraxolotl and wow what a great Intro and I'm thankful you landed here! There are other Forums for these kind of questions, which hopefully you will become aware of and join in on. You'll get more views on 'The Bible Discussion Forum' also. than here. I'll give my short replies to your questions, but encourage you to also post them on the BDF.
1. My mom was Catholic and my dad Jewish so I decided to go to a Vacation Bible School I saw across the street at a Four Square Church. As I walked back home I looked up at the vast sky and it came to me that all this beauty and order (at that time) had to have a reason/purpose. I just knew there was a loving God that created all this and esp families for us to be familiar with.
2. RE LGBTQI+ like anything else that goes against God's will is in error. But we don't hate them just pray and tell them if they ask.
3. Believe it or not most atheists aren't sure and are secretly afraid of going to hell. Again don't hate but communicate.
4. I have never doubted my faith in God, even at some low points, (brought on by myself). W/o God there is nothing.
5. Media should bring honest news and information on events & etc but unfortunately it can also be bought and thusly used as a propaganda tool.
God bless you and I'm sure you'll be getting more feedback sent with God's love🙏

1) I was born this way
2) sinners under a self imposed curse of the universe so that they will not procreate and create more.
3) it depends....are they on a vendetta against Christians?
4) not really...but as I began to mature and had a regular relationship with God its difficult to ignore His personality...and I wonder most why He has anything at all to do with me. I'm really not worth the bother IMHO.
5) Entertainment is fun...they are marketed as FICTION...and it depends upon the person as to whether it's good or bad. Currently the news media which claims to tell an unbiased truth are almost as bad of liars as politicians.

Nice. Welcome aboard. Hopefully you’ll stay around. I do a lot of talks with atheists and agnostics. I like agnostics because they’re sort of in the middle.

1. I was an atheist until 15 years old and then I got baptized in an Orthodox Church. I reasoned back then, that this reality makes no sense without a Creator. This belief was advanced later further in life.

2. LGBT community is God’s Creation too so they personally don’t bother me one bit, in fact a good friend of mine at work who‘s gay and an atheist, asked me and another Christian friend at work to pray for his sick dad once.

3. Atheists are God’s Creation too. Atheists know a lot about God and Scriptures but they reject Him. Atheist are a bit in contradiction with their position which we can explore further into detail if you’re interested.
But a true atheist who fits the dictionary description, is a person raised in an Amazon tribe without contact from outside world. That‘s an atheist !

4. Yes many times. The question of suffering is the most difficult one. I’ve come up with “Jesus was here and suffered with us and gave us Hope of good things to come” So that makes suffering bearable.

5. Media is beyond entertaining for me now. Now it’s more like an annoyance like the smell from the sewers.

Hopefully you’ll stick around and I don’t have any questions about you because I know a lot about Agnostics and they’re my favorite people.

Welcome, so glad you came. Good news to be found here.

We were all on the outside once upon a time. We all have slightly different backgrounds and stories, but we seem to have been led to the same place.

There is something really big out there, and it's waiting for you. Seek it with all your heart and you will find it. He wants to be found. When you are ready, He will even knock on your door.

posting this to the BDF might be a good idea, thanks for letting me know. but before that i'd like to follow up on some things you said.

3. are you sure of this, what are your sources? to be honest i'd rather go to hell than ceasing to exist which my current beliefs imply
5. i was talking more about fiction, like the two examples i gave, that said i agree that news should be accurate and not used for propaganda.

yeah, sorry to hear your experiences with other athiests wasn't very pleasant, but rest assured we're not all that pretentious.

1.) I was born lost in sin and darkness. I just asked Him into my heart. I been growin ever since.
2.) When them come to Jesus, He will make them clean and new, just like He did for me.
3.) He made a believer out of me. He wants to do the same for you. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
4.) Not since I been born again. I've got mine eyes set on the prize. Will you join me today, my friend?
5.) Not for me personally. Don't much about much, really (not when it comes to this modern stuff.)

.

Welcome to the forum. This is a very interesting question. Can you elaborate more on exactly what you are asking? Also, give more titles to make this easier to think of. harry potter or pokemon, really confused?

RE: #3 Yes I'm sure of this, how can anyone scrub that consequence of hell even from the back of their mind. In after death experiences, many of the people who thought they were atheists, were actually saved by some thought that had been planted in their head about God's love and mercy. Thank God He is that merciful, He is for us and not against.
No longer religious. Still afraid of hell (atheistrepublic.com)
I'm an atheist but I'm afraid of hell : atheism (reddit.com)

Also, I'll never forget during an interview with I think Richard Dawkins yrs ago, there was a spot afterward with two atheists. They were kinda joking about the idea what if there is a hell, we'd be going there. They were nervously laughing.
About #5, I've never been a fiction person, with a couple exceptions like X-Men, lol. They remind me of the 'gifts' we as Christians should by displaying.

Here's a question for you...
How did you come up with that name?
Did your parents name you that?
😉

I might get to your questions sometime later. For now, though, welcome here and please make yourself at home.

I became a Christian about two months before my 27th birthday. Prior to that, I was a rather unsavory individual. Some of my vices were lying, compulsive gambling, stealing (to support my gambling addiction), drinking, and drug use (I almost died of a drug overdose a few days before becoming a Christian).

Here's the interesting thing, though...

The last thing that I did every night before going to bed was to kneel down beside my bed and pray to God (as best as I knew how to back then).

I knew there was a God.

Partly because of my God-given conscience (the word "conscience" means "with knowledge"), and partly because God was striving with me daily via the Holy Spirit who was continually convicting me of my sinful lifestyle.

Ultimately, somebody shared the gospel message with me, and I immediately embraced it and became what the Bible calls "born again". In other words, I had a spiritual rebirth. Things have never been the same since, and I've never once turned back or even considered looking back.

Generally speaking, they're sinners just like the rest of us, and they therefore need to be saved from their sins via Jesus Christ.

As to why people fall into those types of lifestyles, there is more than one reason, but I'd suggest to you that a major reason why is because they're simply, as the old song goes, "Looking for love in all the wrong places". In other words, I believe that everyone is born into this world with an inner desire to be loved and accepted. If such a desire isn't fulfilled in the traditional ways, then people seek to have it fulfilled elsewhere or in untraditional ways.

Anyhow, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or transsexual, we're all sinners in need of redemption, and that can only be found in Jesus Christ's sacrificial atonement on our behalves.

I have more than one opinion in regard to the same.

In some cases, somebody might wrongfully conclude that "there is no God" because of some horrible tragedy that they feel a "God" would have prevented if he truly existed.

In other cases, some people are just wicked rebels against the God who has revealed himself to them, and they can get to the point where God gives them over to a reprobate mind because they don't want to retain God in their knowledge.

There are probably also other cases as well, but it seems to me that these are the two extreme types of cases.

Never.

I'm not really familiar with what "Pokemon" is all about, but I'm definitely opposed to Harry Potter or any series that promotes a "good witchcraft/sorcery vs. a bad witchcraft/sorcery" type of scenario. All witchcraft/sorcery is bad. This same principle can be found in "The Wizard of Oz" which I personally deem to be one of the most antichristian movies ever made.

For example, Dorothy gets hit in the head, and she wakes up in a place with a "yellow brick road". Heaven is depicted in scripture as having streets paved with gold. Dorothy wants to return home or to basically be resurrected (Christians need to be resurrected) or reincarnated, and she's told about a "wizard" who can help her. Along her journeys, she encounters a Scarecrow who needs a brain (Christians need new minds), a Tin Man who needs a heart (Christians need new hearts), and a Cowardly Lion who lacks courage (Christians need courage). They're all similarly encouraged to see the "wizard" who uses scare tactics (the fear of God) to terrify his subjects. Of course, when they ultimately meet this "wizard", he's just a man hiding behind a curtain. In other words, Jesus is just a man or a charlatan. What they all needed, they all had the power to obtain on their own. In other words, we really don't need God. Of course, there's the whole "good witch/bad witch" thing working throughout the movie as well, and it is actually the slippers that Dorothy got from a dead witch that enables her to go home or be resurrected.

So, yeah, I'm really not a fan of those types of movies or the types of messages that they seek to impress upon the minds of others.

I forgot to add an important comment re your statement 'I'd rather go to hell than ceasing to exist which my current beliefs imply'. Since you are alluding to hell, you are saying you'd rather be sentenced to a place of torment, where grotesque beasts are assigned to rip you apart, throw you around and all the time you have not the strength to move fast. The heat is unbearable but you can't die and can hardly breath because the air is so polluted with the odors of death and decay. You at once realize there will NOT be any cavalry coming to rescue you so any loved ones will become a distant memory. If you think this is an exaggeration watch the short video by Bill Weise '23 Minutes in Hell' and btw he is a conservative successful married realtor who gave up his business to share his experience.

You’ll find the same thing here dear friend. Just like any other group, Christian groups have their own mix. You’ll find unpleasant extremists here, you’ll find reasonable people and a few others who are a joy to be around with.
This is how life is, but none of that matters when you have faith in God because He is objective Truth.

I found 23 minutes in hell about half a year ago. Interesting to hear of the supposed levels in which hell is comprised of. I believe the were 7 levels? The lowest where Lucifer himself is said to reside has a fall of hell fire (an ice, lava mixture of heavens creation). The bottom which was said to be extremely ice cold, not hot.

Welcome...

My dad was a preacher/evangelist, but I wondered astray for many years and studied many other beliefs, and was especially drawn to the eastern philosophies. It is amazing that He loved me enough to show me back to Himself.

Man has a way of stumbling onto God's creation and trying to define things beyond our comprehension, in our feeble attempts to understand.

He literally woo'd me into the desert and saved my life, oh how He saved my life.

Gosh Lgbt and athiests, hmmm? I thank my Lord those are not my crosses to bear. I pray for them to find His way, to find Him. Mine is to love them and to pray for them. He loves them more than I will ever be able to. He has ways of revealing Himself, in ways I can not even fathom.

Absolutely questioned my faith. I think we'd be silly not to admit this. He is able, bit by bit, faith by faith, to once again reveal Himself. He is bigger than my ginormous tendency to question and doubt. I am so grateful!!!

Do I think magic, as society presents it as problematic..ummm definitely not helpful, but again He is able to cast down imaginations. He, Himself, is supernatural, so I pray to His power alone. He has everything figured out.

All goods questions, IMO. Also, please bear in mind that we do not have all the answers either. That does not invalidate our beliefs. It does, however, validate our limitations as humans.

On to your questions...

1) I accepted Christ as my Savior when I was 13, July of 1977. I felt like I'd been fighting God, pushing Him away. I believe He was making me aware of this, and I was tired of doing it. I told him one summer night that I wanted His forgiveness for everything I'd ever done wrong, and that I wanted Him to live in my heart.

2) This is a rather broad question, and while good for stimulating a lively conversation, its vagueness can lead to unnecessary misunderstandings. What aspect are you referring to here? Same-sex marriage? Political activism? The individual homosexual minding his or her own business, and just wanting to live their lives? Can you be more specific?

3) I believe atheists are dead wrong. Agnosticism is a more reasonable position. I can, however, get along with both atheists and agnostics quite well.

I oppose an atheistic political agenda that seeks to undermine religious freedom or public religious expression. Conversely, I'd oppose the US govt's marriage to any Christian denomination, as the founders intended for there not to be. Uncle Sam is already trying to micromanage our lives. We don't need them telling us how to worship -- or telling others that they must, or are no longer permitted to.

4) Yes, I've questioned my faith innumerable times. Have you ever questioned your beliefs?

5) I don't watch either to really be much of a judge. I will say that I'd like to see more productions from a Judeo-Christian point of view, but I can enjoy a story that shows honor and nobility triumphing over evil. E.g., Star Wars.