What exactly do nonbelievers expect from Christians?

We ask only that you allow us to believe as we wish without trying to convert us, or condemning us to hell for doing so.

You sound sincere, but I'm not sure I understand. There are idiots of all stripes on this site. Any question is going to have a certain number of bozos answering. But, I've also seen many sincere answers to questions regarding Christianity, and other spiritual questions. I am an atheist. I have answered questions posed by Christians, and hopefully, have done it sincerely and with tolerance even though I don't like Christianity at all. I think Christianity is nothing more than organized abuse. To begin with a premise that just by being born, you are so evil that someone must die to erase you sin is such an awful concept. I was taught that as a child. I'm still bitter about it. And, bitter that people continue to feel this is something that children should be told. So, as far as Christianity goes, yes, I am an anti. But when you scrape away the usual sprinkling of idiots, what is it that you want? Do you want non-Christians to be convinced that your theology is correct? Sorry, I won't do that. And yes, there are lots of Christians who are smug about their religious choice. Not only smug, but feel they must convince everyone that they are right AND (here's the really irritating part) that everyone else is wrong. Most of us see so much hypocrasy and intolerance from those who practise Christianity that we become angry and defensive. So, I will re-pose your question for you, "When you ask a theological question, what do you want? If you only accept answers that agree with your theology, would you like the rest of us to go away and leave this forum for pro-Christian discussion only?" I do wish you a life of tolerance, searching, joy, and discovery. Not a life of accepting only those opinions that parrot the party-line.

EDIT ADDITION: As I add this, there are 42 answers, only 2 of which I would consider "bozo answers". I think that's a pretty good percentage of sincere answers. Way to go Community!

Maybe it is because there are many other religions represented on this forum besides Christians and atheist.

It is apparent by your remarks that you are another typical christian that cannot understand this. It is obvious by your categorization of every non christian as a NONBELIEVER.

Nonbeliever in what, God, or the one true and only real religion, Christianity, (oh does that include catholics too?).

And I assume that by your statement of "Would non believers rather Christians just go away and leave the forums to you for some other discussion?" , you mean that if Christians leave the forum we can no longer discuss the topic of religion and spirituality since obviously Christians are the only ones that do that.

Maybe you should take a long look inside your own heart and maybe you can figure it out by yourself. Do you think that maybe you are disrepecting other peoples beleifs just with words you choose?

Many of us "non-believers" which should be corrected to say, non-Christians would love to have the same rights as Christians in this country. As a witch (Wiccan) I tire of trying to get Christians to stop preaching hatred and death about us seeing we don't "DON'T" worship your Devil. We aren't evil and no amount of badgering will change that.

Right now Pagans and Wiccans are being forced to sue the Veterans Administration for the right to have our symbol of faith adopted by the VA so it can be put on our dead warrior's memorials. Our people have fought in this nations service to uphold the Constitution and we are denied our religious equality. So what then did these warriors fight for?

Unlike our Christian cousins we do not do missionary work. We have no desire to increase our numbers and your religion is loosing more and more members daily because they don't agree with the theocracy that you are trying to build throughout the world. This is why Americans are getting attacked by Muslim Terrorist. They believe we came into Iraq to force the Christian religion on them in the guise of Democracy!

If you have ever wondered what it is like to be hated for no seemingly good reason, try not being able to worship as you choose or say what you believe in without people threatening you and having your home burned in the middle of the night. These silent threats keep many of us from being part of our communities because we are afraid to speak out.

As an ordained minister I would love to be a guest speaker at a non-Wiccan church or synagogue and give a sermon and then open the floor for questions. This is what our Pagan Pride gatherings are about. We want people to understand what we really stand for and to quit using their religion to define our beliefs.

Sarcasm is the only emontion that people can use when they are forced to deal with anyone who refuses to listen when we ask for our few minutes of fame. I hope this is the answer that you wanted as opposed to the sarcastic ones normally given. We don't want to fight you or anyone else to get the equality guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!

Brightest blessings,

Rev. Ray

I don't expect anything except common courtesy. I know many of you feel you are somehow doing good in the world by trying to spread your religion. But many of you seem quite arrogant. Do you really think that I haven't heard your arguments? Well, I have. You are not the first person to introduce me to Christianity. Therefore, any more attempts by any of you to convert me are arrogant and insulting. Ever heard of "no means no"? I do not believe in god. Period. End of discussion. I want you to quit preaching to me. I want you to quit violating your own teachings. You do not speak for god, and if you believe you do, you had better hope that I am right. If you are right, God is not going to be pleased that you assumed you could speak for him. You will have a seat reserved in Hell right next to me. Read your Bible, believe what you want, but don't presume that you are better than me or that you know something I don't know. You cannot know that you are right; you can only believe it. And for the record, according to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary, religion may be defined as "a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith". Therefore, atheism is a religion, because we ardently believe that there is no god. So don't tell me that I should leave this forum. I have the same right as you: I can openly discuss my religion as I see fit. I don't criticize you for being imperfect; I criticize you because you act as though your's is the only valid belief out there. Feel free to discuss your faith, but don't preach. Do that in your church. And for the record, I don't think you are dumb for believing. It's your right.

I was cristened a roman catholic and now i still beleive in god but i'm not a bible reader or anything... i dont know.. really religious people used to get me mad but i think that it's great that they found something they can turn to while as hard as i try to belieive it all it doesnt work! I think that christians have done a lot of wonderful things for everyone but it is true that sometimes they meddle where they shouldnt, just as everyone does. Sometimes christians give off that, if you dont beleive your going to hell thing to nonchristians, and thats what offends me, like when i had a baby when i was 16 because some horrible boy, one church i turned to literally told me i was going to hell, and the next one (protestant) gave me a life. I cant thank them enough. And i definately believe in god and miracles because i survived cancer twice. In this new material world it is hard to beleive in something invisible, but if you stick by it good for you, dont listen to other people, but also dont preach

I think it has to do with the way a question is presented.I would certainly not call my self a non-believer,however I would not call myself a believer of the Christian faith.The thing that really bothers me is when a believer of a certain faith gets tunnel vision on their beliefs and puts down others who may believe things to be a different way entirely.My feeling or belief is that none of us really no for sure....we just simply have a belief system that we chose to follow.If we all had the same beliefs and the same thoughts and were somewhat like cattle following one another across the meadow,how interesting would life be without controversy?Please don't take offense to this but the one thing that does bother me about (what seems to be a large percentage)of Christians and or born again Christians is they tend to put down others who don't follow their path or share their belief system.I believe we are all human,and I believe we all have the right to chose our God and follow our own spiritual path,whatever that may be,or not be.I don't feel anyone should put down anyone for their beliefs or dis beliefs when it comes to religion,and or try to cram ones beliefs down anothers throat.Because in my world the reality of it is nobody really knows for sure,so why argue about it.Live your life well,Love yourself and love others,and be your personal best,and always try to tolerate indifference's in a nice respectful manner.

Wow. That's a pretty biased conclusion.

I expect Christians to read so they can realize not everyone is the same.

Do you agree with every Christian answer you see here? Do you think a Buddhist has the same concept of the afterlife as a Wiccan? They're both non-Christian.

Speaking of the type you're speaking of, they just expect a person who says this or that is a sin to keep to it and not be a hypocrite. But, since your list of 'sins' are against nature, which we are made of, it's to be expected that you'll fail and then you leave yourself open to the accusation of hypocrisy.

This is actually a good question. We, Christians accept the standard of God what comes to what is right and what is wrong. We still fall short from showing that we really do know the difference. That is why we appreciate what Jesus did for all of us on the cross.

Well, I personally think that this place is a proper place for non-believers. We all should do better what goes to be respectful of others.

I invite you to read more on how atheists debate Christians. Do not make your judgement so quickly. I agree sometimes even the atheists are making a little too much fun out of the Christians. But overall, atheists present more tolerance. Don't ask me to give you statistics, just observe yourself. And most of us will never think of having you to go away.

common sense would be a start, a lot of Christians, and catholics do not study theology they follow blindly believing what they are told is true, I am a catholic and after years of study my religious belief has changed greatly, you will never find two theologians that will agree on interpretation of the bible, because there are just to many contradicting contents in the bible which in turn makes it a vary unreliable source of truth, there is certainly no divine intervention in regards to the bible, it is simply mans interpretation of what may have happened, and there can never be any proof either way, there is a God the father and creator of all things, but he certainly has nothing to do with religion or the bible, man wrote that in order to control the flock and that is the truth.