{"id":30761,"date":"2021-01-17T16:09:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T22:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=30761"},"modified":"2021-01-17T16:09:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T22:09:00","slug":"why-do-some-people-think-christianity-is-a-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-some-people-think-christianity-is-a-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do some people think Christianity is a problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<h2>Question:<\/h2>\n<p>Why do people think that the concept of religion and God is a problem? I understand that many evil examples by apparently religious persons have turned people away.\u00a0Still, I don&#8217;t fully understand why they think it&#8217;s something that needs to be eliminated.<\/p>\n\t<h2>Answer:<\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;<em>He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is devious in his ways despises Him<\/em>&#8221; (Proverbs 14:2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Few people enjoy having their flaws pointed out. They would much rather pretend there are no flaws. If that doesn&#8217;t work then these people will attack what is showing their flaws to claim that the messenger is the one actually the one in the wrong.<\/p>\n<p>The wicked desire to control their own lives. They don&#8217;t want anyone or anything telling them what they can or cannot do. &#8220;<em>Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties<\/em>&#8221; (Jude 8). The very idea that there is a standard above them to which they are held accountable gives them nightmares. Thus, any code of belief that holds standards they find unacceptable is ridiculed and removed.<\/p>\n<p>The wicked believe they are superior but Christianity teaches us to be humble and serve our fellow men. &#8220;<em>He who despises his neighbor sins, but happy is he who is gracious to the poor<\/em>&#8221; (Proverbs 14:21). Those given over to evil lie to themselves about their own importance. Thus, when they run across people who don&#8217;t support their view, everything about them has to be destroyed. The confidence of righteous people in their God and His teachings is a barrier to the wicked&#8217;s view of his own greatness. (Proverbs 14:26-27). Their arrogance can&#8217;t allow them to ignore the righteous &#8212; they have to destroy it so that they can continue to tell themselves they are great. Haman exemplifies this in Esther 3:5-6; 5:11-14.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: Why do people think that the concept of religion and God is a problem? I understand that many evil examples by apparently religious persons have turned people away.\u00a0Still, I don&#8217;t fully understand why they think it&#8217;s something that needs to be eliminated. Answer: &#8220;He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[90,1514,238,987],"class_list":["post-30761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-god","tag-religion","tag-righteousness","tag-wickedness"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":47748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/flaws-found-in-moderate-drinking-studies\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":0},"title":"Flaws Found in Moderate Drinking Studies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Source: Alice Walton, \"Moderate Drinking May Not Be as Healthy as We Thought,\" Forbes, 2016-03-23 In reviewing past studies that seemed to indicate that moderate drinking had some health benefits, researchers found that former drinkers were being included in the categories of \"abstainers\" or \"occasional drinkers.\" The problem is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Issues","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25247,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/help-me-understand-more-about-the-flaws-in-the-church-of-the-nazarene\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":1},"title":"Help me understand more about the flaws in the Church of the Nazarene","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a music minister, called preacher and leader. I currently serve with the church of the Nazarene. I am shocked by the truth you revealed. I have been looking for this, but I really need help to understand it more. I have been feeling deeply uncomfortable with some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":53718,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-you-call-joseph-smith-a-liar-then-you-are-calling-the-prophets-of-the-bible-liars-too\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":2},"title":"If you call Joseph Smith a liar, then you are calling the prophets of the Bible liars too","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, I must protest your accusation that Joseph Smith was a liar. You have oversimplified the meaning of those passages of the Book of Mormon and others. Can you not see that during every conversation, the perspective of meaning changes? If you call Joseph Smith a liar, do you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/design-flaws\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":3},"title":"Design Flaws?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton \"The design of our shared tubes for eating and breathing causing people to choke to death on their food proves the designer was an utterly incompetent halfwit.......or we evolved\" [NF]. I would say to NF that this argument is ridiculous! That is like saying that if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3165,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-do-i-answer-someone-who-believes-all-religions-are-equal\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":4},"title":"How do I answer someone who believes all religions are equal?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: One non-Christian I spoke with, a Unitarian, once said to me \"No one has shown me anything that proves the Bible is more valid than any other holy book.\" When I persisted he said, \"How would you feel if a Muslim friend kept telling you that your soul was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40792,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-it-mean-ill-never-marry-because-i-have-strong-feelings-for-a-married-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":30761,"position":5},"title":"Does it mean I&#8217;ll never marry because I have strong feelings for a married man?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have been struggling greatly recently with my feelings for a very close friend of mine. The problem is that he is married. He and I were very close to each other about five years ago. We both liked each other, but never actually dated due to long distance.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Answer&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}