How to introduce a religion to a non believer

I'm not a follower of any religion.
I wonder how you believers try to convince someone like me to become a believer like you ?
How would you go, what will be the process and what can you hold that can change someones else mind ?
Why would someone decide to follow your religion over the other ones ?

 

there is no such thing as a non-believer, all men believe something could be the aliens are going to take you away, or belief in your own judgement, or it's safe to eat at this restaurant, or travel by public airlines is worth the risk, so on and so forth. one has to believe to live the life they live. And live the life they live, even if its under duress and or oppression.

you don't seek fulfillment in the life that I might seek fulfillment in, so what. unless you have interest in fulfillment of the same, there's no reason for this conversation.

 

You could go the route that Christians took with the American Indians ... Kill them or put them in detention camps and force their children into religious schools Pretty much the same methods ISIS uses today.

 

I don't really worry about convincing anyone of anything but the basics. If they have questions about the rest, I'm more than happy to talk to them about it, but I don't push my religion on anyone. I can get pushy about promoting secular humanism, though.

 

just like your signature says, History is written by the victors, it would be the other way around if the Indians could have, correct? though most people would be hard pressed to believe that true Christians did such, though there where many who may have claimed to be Christian and did many things in the name of Christianity, which still goes on today. many people seek the justification of the society's beliefs to do things to a perceived enemy. funny thing though, since when does the winner of the contest, have to justify himself to the loser?

 

I think an innate search for spiritual truth resides in all of us. It's only theories, that are used to explain the origin of the universe, or the origin of life on earth. For example - the "what blew up?" question to the big-bang theory. Also, as much as scientists have tried, they have not been able to synthesize cellular life from inorganic matter. I find the concept of "a creator" to actually be the more logical choice. Even Einstein thought that there was evidence of a higher order.

As far as the question of which religion, that is a search for truth. I'm a liberal, but I still choose Christianity, primarily because it's basic tenant is that man is evil (sinful), and in need of salvation. Whereas, most other religions prescribe to the philosophy that man is good, and can elevate himself to higher states of goodness (or sink into evil). As much as I love children, I don't see any evidence that they are born good. They know what they want, and they cry if they don't get it. The concept of "sharing" is certainly not innate.

 

First, it is best for you to persuade yourself.

To accept GOD is not as tall an order as the non believers would have you think either.

Many of the current non believers really have no foundation of either ideas, no matter the religion. They live life daily and thus far never saw a reason to have a conversation with GOD to see if he persuades them.

My church mentions this.

https://www.lds.org/topics/temptation?lang=eng&old=true

This is over temptation but keep looking at the site.

A note about the church.

If you want to legally marry over 1 woman, move around. not the church for you.
If you want kindness, come on in.
If you want a church that believes in service to the public, we do that.
If you want a church that explains why and how to protect your family from lack of food, we do that.
We have vast quanitiies to help the unfortunate.

As to doctrine, use the site and investigate.

I see it similar to falling in love. If somebody needs to lecture you on the girl, it seems likely you won't marry her. You come to a point where you know she is right for you and you want your children to have her as their mother.

 

Where do you get that? I don't pretend to have done full research on the matter, I just googled a bit, but Islam suggests that "good" is a form of perfection, and children lack it on account of being incomplete, Buddhism rejects good and evil as fundamental, and do not expect children to have any kind of goodness, Hinduism maintains a karmic dependence on past lives and so on.

And even when it comes to those who believe humans are good, they don't see newborn children as unable to do evil things so much as not yet having done anything wrong and therefore blameless. Basically, humans have every possibility to pick up a bit of evil in childhood in order to be consistent with mean children.

I don't mean to derail the conversation, but this is one of the more interesting points of discussion in a while.

 

Just ask yourself a question "why or how is there something instead of nothing?". That kinda makes you wonder so if you want you want to believe in a supreme creation that started all of this then you have 3000 to choose from.

I don't know how I could convince you to believe in just one of the 3000 ones because I also deny all of them.

I agree with Ricky Gervais as he once said: "If you destroyed the Bible, it would never come back the same after 1000 years. If you destroyed all the science books, they would all come back the same after 1000 years."

 

Indeed, if you assume I do not tell the truth, or try to tell me I'm one thing when I say I'm another, there is no reason for this conversation.

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This indeed can work. This is a very effective way to convince me to believe in your religion.

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I'm sorry, if I'm not convinced on the basics, what reason is there to talk about the rest ?

 

There is an innate search of reason, nothing to do with 'spiritual'.
Actually is we assume 'spiritually' then there is no need in convincing is there ?

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So you have no answer, but you think it is trivial. There is no much to go on, is there ?

 

"Search of reason" is much different from search for Spirituality. With a search for spirituality, one decides that there is no rational explanation, and it is above and beyond me. I believe this is what Einstein tried to express.

 

Can you be persuaded?

 

I don't claim to be an expert on the dogmas of world religions. I've read some books. Taken some philosophy classes, etc. The "perfection" that you cite in Islam, would be unattainable in Christianity. Christians (and mankind) are the sinners who actually put Jesus to death. Buddhists don't necessarily look to Buddha for salvation, but for an increased spiritual attainment. Hinduism speaks of different levels of Kharma, which would also be a form of spritual attainment.

I am not critical of these religions. I think that people commit good acts and horrendous acts in the name of all religions. I think we can all agree on this. In Christianity, "falling out" is consistent with man's nature, and salvation is required, because it's not consistent with God's nature.

 

I am an agnostic/ atheist. I will approach this question differently. I will tell those of faith that seek to proselytize folks like me, some traps not to fall into.
1. you have to find out if I am interested in the discussion, and if I am sincerely open to a dialogue. If I am just interested in playing word games, and using your salesperson for sport or entertainment, you need to figure it out fast because this potential interaction is worse than a waste of time, its borderline sadistic or toxic.
2. you need to pick a time that works for me, and a method of communication that works for me. You don't want me stressed or frustrated.
3. You need me to be alone. No kids to distract us and no adults to interfere with their 'two cents'.
4. Be willing to make concessions. Arrogance and defensiveness are dual enemies in this dialogue.
5. Do not under any circumstances insult or belittle either other faiths or atheism or agnosticism. Lead very very gently and with a positive message all the way.
6. Know when to quit so that you leave me before I wish you had never showed up. Its better to leave a seed that may later sprout, than to tear up the entire garden so nothing may grow

as your intended target, I promise to treat those who want to sell me a religion, as though they are trying to sell me a politician or a Rainbow Vacumn Cleaner, or aluminum siding. If you are polite, respectful and take your hints well, I will treat you with respect. For the most part that means, I will politely tell you I am busy or not interested rather than waste our time. Once in a blue moon, when I have some empty time, I will let you talk to me, and I will treat you with courtesy.

This is about marketing an idea and marketing ideas is not a bad thing in a country that purports to be open to ideas..

 

Who are you to say they weren't "true Christians"? They believed they were just as mich as you believe you are.

 

Why would I want to do that?

 

Well, how does the argument of humanity's goodness make you single out Christianity when other religions have their own perspectives? It seems to me they're all consistent with humanity's nature, although they have different perspectives.

 

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking? I'm saying that humans are not good, and can't even approach the goodness of God. It's only through the Son that we can even achieve salvation, and meet God in the afterlife. And that's because Jesus took on the sins of the world. When he died, his last words were, "My God, my God, why have you foresaken me". When he took on the sins, he was separated from God.

 

The attraction of religion is that its meant to be something that goes against the grain; a rebellion against the social norms. That feature has always made Religion exciting and appealing, especially to the classes of downtrodden and the marginalized. When religion becomes "mainstream", "established", its magnetism ceases and it becomes boring; like going to church on Sunday morning to hear some old guy drone on and quote a few verses. There is no charisma, no energy, its a dead religion, a relic.

Religion should be controversial, it should be a movement to radically change society and make people active. Its about the experience. Mainstream Christianity has definitely lost that energy. There was a reason Christianity spread originally in its infancy; it was a radical movement that was challenging the social norms of the pagan Roman empire; which is why it encountered such fierce resistance and persecution.

When you look at all the religions today Islam is the only one which seems to stand out in this regard. Islam is getting all the attention, even if it is negative attention. But then religion is supposed to receive negative attention, its suppose to be controversial; the powerful and the establishment are supposed to fear Religion. Look at the history of every prophet and charismatic religious leader; they were always opposed by the so called "conservative Religious establishment".

 

I've come across very few Christians who didn't start off an attempt to persuade with, bizarrely, a presupposed god. Some have even started 9/10ths of the way to the destination - and opened with "so what do you think of God?", or words to that effect.

I would assume that since this is an absurd way to commence any attempt to convince someone of the existence of your god (which is no attempt at all, obviously), it explains why Christianity - when not compelled via childhood indoctrination and threats - is dying.

 

I was just commenting on the idea that you say

but I don't really see how the justification you give supports the conclusion you mention. Why is "man being evil and in need of salvation" a good (even your primary) reason to choose Christianity? Many other religions don't hold that man is uniformly good, so rejecting them because of that seems hasty.

I didn't really mean for this to divert into one of the old atheism/theism debate, but that's the angle I approach it from.

 

You really twisted and tortured the words there. He meant religion, faith. You don't need faith to take calculated risks.

 

When I say that other religions hold a different opinion about the nature of man, what I'm referring to, is that most of them believe that man can attain levels of spirituality. Most Christians, even the Pope and other leaders would say that they are sinners. We believe that if we follow the teachings of Christ, that we will tend to stay away from sin. But we can never be sinless. Our very thoughts are often misguided. In other words, there's a recognized reality of our sinful nature, whereas, most other religions strive to attain spiritual levels beyond this.

Again I'm not critical of these other religions. I just find Christianity to be my truth.

 

Yes, I believe you're right that many Christians move directly past the question of why there is a God. I don't tend to do this. If you look at my first response in this thread, I started out with the following.

I think an innate search for spiritual truth resides in all of us. It's only theories, that are used to explain the origin of the universe, or the origin of life on earth. For example - the "what blew up?" question to the big-bang theory. Also, as much as scientists have tried, they have not been able to synthesize cellular life from inorganic matter. I find the concept of "a creator" to actually be the more logical choice. Even Einstein thought that there was evidence of a higher order.