Why are there Atheists who think that EVERY Christian?

The stories are so stupid and unbelievable, being brainwashed is the best explanation for believing them.

I have never asserted that Christians are "brainwashed". Brainwashing and indoctrination are two different things. Evangelical Christians absolutely ARE indoctrinated. Have you been taught that there is a particular set of doctrines one must believe in order to be an orthodox Christian? THAT is INDOCTRINATION.

1. Lots of Christians question their beliefs. And evangelicals are taught that if they ultimately abandon those beliefs they will burn in hell forever, or their souls will be annihilated.

2. Indoctrination can occur after childhood. My mother became indoctrinated with Christianity as an adult. However, statistically speaking, the great majority of people who embrace evangelical Christianity DO SO AS CHILDREN. Once a person becomes a teenager, the older a person gets, the less likely they are to become Christian.

3. See point 2.

4. See point 2.

5. No one "indoctrinated" me into atheism. I simply concluded that Bible-God was a logical absurdity. I did this through my own reading. I had problems with Christianity for about 15 years, but told myself for a decade that everything didn't have to make sense...that God would explain it all in the end. But eventually I discarded my childhood indoctrination that told me I'd go to hell for rejecting Christianity, and I said, "You know what? These deicidal blood sacrifice stories and virgin births and all this other stuff is just SILLY."

6. Sure. I'm aware of that Thessalonians passage. I translated it and wrote a commentary on it and did an oral presentation on it for Second-Year Greek at Cedarville College (now University). I got an A. And I DID test everything, and came to understand that MY BELIEF IN ANCIENT MYTHS WAS THE RESULT OF INDOCTRINATION.

thanks for asking this question.

3.

>1. People who are brainwashed don’t question their beliefs or what they’ve been told

False. Brainwashed people will "question" their beliefs and still arrive at the wrong conclusion.

>2. How do such people explain the fact that there are people who are born in other religious homes who at a later point in their life become a Christian?

I suppose they attribute it to switching one form of crazy for another. I don't think that all theists were indoctrinated, but the vast majority of them are. Think about it, did you study various religions, do your own research and then arrive at the conclusion that religion X must be the truth? Or are you simply the same religion as your parents?

>3. What about people who are born into Atheist homes who later in their life become a Christian?

Usually when this kind of thing happens it's because they were weak atheists. That is, atheists not because they did any research and broke their own religious indoctrination but atheists simply because their parents were atheists or they were never exposed to religion. Additionally, it is often the case that something tragic happens in their lives and they find comfort in religion/friends who are religious.

>4. What about those people who become Christians when they’re teens or adults?

See above.

>5. What about people who are born into Christian families but become Atheists later in life?

They broke their indoctrination. I'm one of these people.

>6. Further the Bible teaches us to question.

False. The only unforgivable sin is to question God.

1 - That doesn't mean that your questions were intelligent or the answers you created from that imagination is intelligent.

2 - SO? Stupidity cannot be cured. That you choose a different form is still stupidity.

3 - Stupidity is non-denominational.

4 - SO?

5 - Intelligence happens.

6 - But it does not show you how to think, which you obviously do not do.

Proverbs 18:15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge, And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

- Then why do you not use it. If you were to actually think rather than regurgitate, you would discover that genesis was plagiarized from the Sumerian tablets, exodus is entirely made up and the NT is ALL made up. That is the knowledge/intelligence stuff.

- And you think that apologetics is actually intelligent.

I've never met a single atheist who thinks that every single Christian was brainwashed from the cradle. Most are, but some come to Christianity later in life due to a traumatic incident, hard times, etc. And others come to Christianity later in life...well...just because they can I suppose. There isn't really any rational reason to believe in Christianity, or any other religion for that matter.

As for all your questions about people who are born in atheist homes and become Christians, what about people born in Christian homes who become atheist? What about people born in Christian homes who become Muslim? Your conversion thing works both ways. People convert to and from Christianity, so you can't make an argument that Christianity is true because people convert to it. People convert from it as well.

Those verses you quoted also contradict other verses. I'm too lazy to look them up (you can do that yourself if you don't believe me), but there are verses that say don't test God and verses that say knowledge and wisdom are foolish.

I was raised as a christian. So I know that every child born into a christian household is indoctrinated. "Brainwashed" is a bit of a strong term and is just used by some as an exaggeration. Well, some of the christian cults would qualify as brainwashers..... However, I don't know of anyone who thinks that EVERY christian as you say is indoctrinated or brainwashed. That's ridiculous. There are plenty of christians who came into it later in life, or even started out a different religion. Obviously they weren't indoctrinated.

Hello. I am a human. As a human, I tend to judge things based on my personal real life/real world experience. Perhaps other forms of life may handle this differently & have a different way of coming up with a world outlook, but this is how we humans do it.

Now, if a person's life experience has not shown them any forced conversions to Christianity & only childhood indoctrinations, then they maybe shocked to learn that some people are forced to sit through gospel services to get their cup of soup at a soup kitchen, or that some aboriginal folks were physically or violently forced to convert, some even held down & baptized against their will.

Now, as for those who choose Christianity, say while in a 12 step program....well, let's just say that members of the gen pop who don't do 12 step dances may be unaware of that kind of convert as well.

But yes, this atheist is very well aware of OTHER methods of conversion to Christianity.......

Oh, I don't think that. I've been to Glide Memorial Church and Grace Cathedral and the people there are all warm and loving and open-hearted. But here on R&S, most of the Christians are arrogant and insulting and are the worst examples of their faith. According to them, Jesus wasn't all about love and kindness - Jesus is some kind of hostile warrior threatening people with torment eternally just because they don't bow down to him.

This is why I'm so very glad to be Jewish. I have no problem with atheists (even if they have a problem with my Judaism). I believe in everyone following their own path and it's none of my business what religion or lack of religion a person holds.

A lot are not what I'd call 'deep thinkers'. I wonder if there isn't a kind of 'atheist personality'

or rather anti-Christian personality since they so often are against Christians and

against all of the bible.

I don't find them just 'anti-theist' but quite specific to Christianity.

A lot are dismissive, not wanting to know, but just hurling an accusation

to try to explain away why someone is Christian.

I think they want there to be a 'reason', but not 'THAT' reason, not

conversion.

Each person that becomes a Christian weakens their own 'group' or stance.

They don't have all that much artillery, I see nothing going for them, no reason

to consider anything they say. That's a weak position.

To level the playing field, so to speak, labeling is used.

people who are born atheists NEVER become christian. At most, they become gnostic atheists, but i've yet to see an example of any total atheist staying a christian for very long.

Your bible passages prove our brainwashing point. test everything, but keep the good. The good meaning what you were indoctrinated by.

Please keep your deity out of science, it's a compilation of things that are real and observable, your god fits neither of those categories.

Why are there Christians that think every atheist is a scientist?

Why are there Christians that can't comprehend that atheist is not a proper noun?

I can do it to.

Here's some fun knowledge for you.

MOST theists have been indoctrinated into their faith.

MOST atheist homes don't indoctrinate atheism. I don't teach my daughter not to believe. I let her make her own choices on the matter.

Most and theist. Those seem like important descriptors. They certainly are all and Christian.