Respecting ALL people's beliefs

[Little_Toad]

I hope no one takes offence to this.. it isn't meant to be a nasty post.

I am not religous in any way neither do I cone from a religous family.
I prefer to belive in science as to how the world was made. It would be nice if there was a god, and if there was ever scientific proof I'd jump on board.

My little sister is married to a born again christian and has also become devoutly religous. During our conversations over the net she used to talk about religoin and would always say things like "I needed god in my life" etc..
My response was: "I am very happy you have found god and that it has enriched your life, but I have my own beliefs and choose to stay that way". I asked her not to discuss religion with me so it wouldnt interfere with our relationship and I wouldn''t offend her.

Due to other family reasons, my sister no longer talks to me, but over the last year of so I've been getting religous spam emails from her.

Why is it that many religous people feel it is ok to force their views onto others, but as non religous people we have to be respectable to their views.
I would never dream of sending her information on being an athiest.

[Mum&bubs]

I know exactly how you feel. I wouldnt say that i dont believe in god as such but i dont believe in a lot of religious ways and my MIL constantly forces me to go to church with her & is trying to baptize DD. She sends me things in the mail, paid $500 for me to go to Adore (a 5 day religious program) and tells me i am going to be cathlolic. I am happy for her to have faith but i just wish she would understand that i dont have the same passion as her & dont need to feel guilty if i dont go to church with her.

[~Emmylou~]

I think alot of it has to do with them feeling like it is their moral obligation to "save" you from yourself.
It's more about them than you - they feel like they HAVE to try to convert you in order to be able to sleep at night just knowing they have tried, and that's enough in God's eyes.

I totally understand how you feel, as someone who was raised Catholic but is no longer I find it incredibly insulting when someone assumes that I haven't put any thought into my beliefs - in my twenties that was ALL I thought about and I am very happy with my conclusions thankyou.

[Mum&bubs]

Yep apparently it is part of my MIL's religion to "convert" people

[lukesmama]

I agree, i find it really difficult to even have a normal conversation with religous peopple without religous talk shoved in at every opportunity.
My DF's step mother is a very committed Seventh Day Adventist and she is constanlty telling (not asking) us to get married asap because we have a child out of wedlock, which she hates. She scoffs at my wedding day plans especially the part about the colour of the dress i would like. Its not like i'm doing it out of disrespect but she just wont accept the fact that we don't have the same beliefs as her. It's actually quite upsetting because she is a very intimmidating woman.

[tyler's mum]

i know where u are coming from i DONT believe in god and never will..... there is nothing worst them people who preach to you,, my nan is christian and she is all ways preaching to me about god and her beliefs having her or anyone preach there beliefs will not make me change my mind for me there is no GOD,,, i dont really have any real beliefs in whats out there but i dont junge the people who have there own beliefs its there choice....

[Bessie]

I'm a Christian and have lots of non-Christian friends, whom I love to bits. I would never force my beliefs on them but they know I am here if they ever want to know, sometimes they ask my opinion on stuff and I then tell them what I think.

When I first became a Christian I was accused by my brother of forcing my beliefs on him, but he was the one who interrogated me and then gave me the choice of "Your God or me". I was actually staying with him and he threatened to chuck me out, it was pretty heavy. Thankfully in time he came to accept my beliefs although I'm sure that if I was any other religion I would have been embraced as being cool or something... he is very accepting of his friends of other religions.

I don't really get the forcing beliefs on you though. To me you can't force God on anyone, it has to come from them and you could put them right off by that kind of thing... so what's the point? But if they are genuinely seeking, you can then encourage them, it's about being sensitive to others I guess.

When I was an atheist I was actually much more vocal in my criticism of religion and would often annoy the heck out of people. I remember being really negative about Christianity in my uni lectures and would argue my point as much as possible. OK, you might not see atheism as a religion, but it is a belief system. I used to tell Christians that religion was the "opium of the masses", that it was "just a crutch" and was very pro-evolution etc, despite the fact that as a science student I was very aware that it was a theory with lots of disputable areas etc.

I don't get too much criticism now as a Christian, probably because I'm a SAHM and can choose who I spend time with, but DH does at work. He's constantly asked to defend his beliefs and he shouldn't really have to. As someone who values integrity and truth (I might add you don't need to be religious at all for this) he is often put between a rock and a hard place, working for a company who will gladly sack you if you don't tow the line... but so far he has stuck to what is right and is doing well.

So basically... we all get judged by others from time to time.... whether we are an Atheist, Christian, Buddist, Muslim... whatever. Maybe it is human nature or just bossy people? Thankfully that's pretty much where it stops in Aussie, when I think of places around the world where people are getting treated much worse or killed I feel pretty content with my own lot.
Take care x

[kymmy]

I believe ppl may want to convert to feel like they have helped you as they feel God has helped them.
I don't think its right to push beliefs on others as God is not like that
I believe we have free agency so we may choose for ourselves
I certainly would not be happy to have someone tell me to not believe in Christ

[Tea Lady]

I think that there is a big difference between individual "religious" people on this one (and a big difference between how individual "non-religious" people react too).
I agree with whoever said that often people are motivated by wanting to share a good thing they have - to me it wouldn't seem inappropriate for someone to do that unless I'd asked them not to (I'm thinking about how I"d feel if someone from a different religion did that to me). I also don't personally mind people offering to tell other people about a religion (eg handing out pamphlets) as long as they don't force people to stop and talk to them.

I think the disrespect starts when someone refuses not to talk about it if you ask them to, or it can also be in the tone of the way they talk - I don't enjoy interacting with people who are mocking or arrogant about the way they present their own belief system - I don't think there's any excuse for that, even if by some chance they are right about the facts!!

I don't think you have to agree with what someone believes to respect them - I think respect is about how you treat them as a person, whether that's the way you talk about your own beliefs, or the fact that you shut up about them when someone asks you to!

[sunnyflower]

i am a committed christian and i love to talk about God,however i would never dream of forcing my opinions down other people's throats.God lets us choose or not to follow him so i let others choose for themselves.i think it comes down to the personality of the person whether they force their opinions not if they are religious.