Faith, philosophy, religion and truth - Why are YOU not a Christian? Why are people who are not Christians right now, not interested in Christianity?
The aim of this page? Simple. I asked a lot of friends of varying faiths, postures and schools of thought & life experience to answer the question 'In your experience and opinion, what single thing or issue prevents non-Christians from wanting to become Christians, or being interested in Christianity?'. I will print ALL answers out to me that are sane, not swearing and basically decent, so wait for those (I will take time; I am just George, you know!) These are the answers thus far, with my additional thoughts:
Dave B's answer: The single most important thing I think that puts people off Christianity is convenience. When someone becomes a Christian, they have to start giving things up. [Ed: It's interesting that a lot of people do cite 'having to give stuff they like up' as a bad thing about Christianity, since most of them would readily admit that the things they know Christianity would want them to give up are bad for them in the long run, or wrong outright. It is also a bizarre way to look at it since if it is true, you would gain so much that surely this outweighs losses of things which are bed for you, anyway?] You cant just go down to the local night clubs to pick up a girl or two for a night of fire only to make sure your gone before they wake up. Though drinking isn't too much of a problem, you suddenly have to limit yourself, you cant just walk down the road and get stupidly plastered every night. Maybe someone who works in a corner store or something used to make a quid or two because occasionally someone would give them the wrong money and they would just slip the extra into their pocket - they wouldn't be able to do that anymore, the Spirit just wouldn't allow it (they would be overcome with guilt).
Today the world isn't all that great of a place, but by the same token all the things that make its not so great people find 'fun' - even if it is just a short term fun with long term consequences.
People now get to live a new version of the 'good life' - it used to mean a nice pad somewhere, a comfortable amount of money and the knowledge your sorted and can just relax. Now all it means is fast cars, hoards of cash, just as many girls, lots of parties and not going a week without a bedroom activity of some kind. Also, the amount of drug abuse that happens daily effects the whole thing as well. People start to fret when anyone makes a move that might cause the end to their good life, which in my humble opinion is generally why Christians are thought of badly by some people. It's not that we do a lot wrong, but they do; and they want it to stay that way because they enjoy it.
[Editor's note: Basically, what Dave is saying is that they 'love their sin' more than they love any answer to life which challenges those sins]
When someone is offered something that requires the giving up of all these things (some things more than others) it's not hard to see why they get discouraged. The world has a firm grip of a lot of people, and a lot of people find the warms hand a cosy place to be. They seem to ignore the fact that one day the grip will get to tight for them to be comfortable anymore, and then they have to get out or be crushed.
Will M's answer: A lot of people seem to be put off by the extra rules that being a Christian involves.
Will J's answer: I don't think there's a single problem. For those who are not within it, Christianity is often packed full of glaring holes - like the problem of evil, the contradictions of any omnipotent (and all-loving) being, the divinity of Jesus, the fact that there are so many competing religions - it all adds up, but no one point is more important than another.
Ryan L's answer: Whatever I say will be off the cuff, so I guess that's the way it has to be. Firstly, if god created everything, why would he favour one ideology? That's not to say there isn't such a thing as truth, but just that if god had wanted rules to be followed or else the soul would be banished to hell (eternal suffering), why did he let the rules be broken in the first place? He is all powerful after all. To me this suggests god is playing a game with us, and that just doesn't sit right with me. Secondly, why does God decide to put his 'rules of life' into one book - why not all the religions - I mean, he is god after all. I know... the devil warps people, but be careful about that because to be so arrogant in your own beliefs leads to the devil. Why doesn't he just manifest and tell us what we're doing wrong? Freedom of will - that's why, so why are there rules? It just doesn't add up. Also, the attitude of biblical Christians in my experience is to denounce other religions and even to some extent other philosophies and this isn't the way a creator's children should act towards each other.
Matt O's answers: In respect the world, probably lack of contemporary evidence and/or relevance to the world today.
Mark B's answer: I think people are just fed up with others using religion as an excuse for war or power mongering or just about anything, and so just cant be arsed with it anymore.