Why do Christians project their fear of God?

I get this over and over again. There are Christians who insist that when non-believers deny the existence of God, they do so out of fear that he truly exists.

If a person suspected that there exists a supreme being, how could they possibly plan to simply argue God out of existence (given its supremacy)? Science is not faith-based. Conclusions come from available data.

Is it not that these Christians are assuming everyone experiences spiritual undercurrents as they do, and are projecting their own insecurities?

Skylolo, read it again. Did St. Peter or Mother Theresa tell people they deny God's existence out of their own fear of him? I am assuming they did not.

Religion is all about emotional manipulation. Note how in all of their arguments, they make emotional pleas: Fear god, god loves you, pity Jesus because of his "sacrifice", feel guilt over not living up to impossible lists of rules, and so on.

It is better to die believing He exist and find out He didn't than to die not believing and find out He did.

There are as many reasons to deny God as there are people on the planet. One thing to take into consideration: Being a Christian means spreading the word and converting as many people as you can. They are not doing their job if they don't try to convert you.

i totally agree with you mate. its like when they say you can only be happy with god in your life but the biblical god is not in my life an im as happy as can be. so where does that leave their statements

I wouldn't call it fear. It is more like Extreme Respect!

You have no idea what you are talking about: St Peter denied knowing Jesus but later on went on to be crucified himself.Mother Theresa roamed the streets of Calcutta fearlessly ;did she do that out of fear of God or did God help her overcome her fears?
I don't project my fear of God ;He is like my father and I never feared him either.Why should I ?Unless I did something wrong.And what right have I to do something that's evil?

Of course they are. They're not able to understand any other religious viewpoint than their own, so of course they try to project. Remember, these are the people who like to refer to themselves as "God-Fearing". How bizarre is that? I'm proud to be afraid of my god? And you better be afraid of him too?

How nice it is to have loving and happy relationships with my patron deities. No fear here.

There are some people who indeed deny God out of fear He exists.

And there are some who deny God because they are sure He does not exist.

There are some Christians who still have a fear of God's wrath.

There are some Christians who are beyond that and understand that His wrath isn't for them.

I could go on, but isn't each person different in their belief and why they believe what they do?

It was the fact that religion would want me to fear an entity that wants my love that my mind started to think. I would not have wanted my children to fear me.

Fear is the tool used by those that want to control you. I don't believe fears is an emotion a being of love want you to feel.

Fear is used to put people on the right track in some religions

For the same reason they have warning signs on electrical appliances.We don't want you to get burned.

Fear is not necessarily a bad thing. When you look at it how a parent disciplines their child. If the child has fear, then the child respects the parent more. Just like children we as adults desire discipline and love.

When our dad gave us a spanking as a child for what we did wrong it instilled fear in us to get another one. At-least the ones I got made me fearful of a repeat performance. Now as a father to my hyper son, I see the need to spank or to have a healthy amount of fear to me so that he will follow what is considered good behavior in our house. When there is no fear of me, he starts to get crazy and do whatever comes to his mind without accountability to me.

The fear that is produced is out of Love and not a scary fear but a desire for disciplined behavior to make him think twice about his decisions to do this or that.

We are to be accountable to our Father in heaven who has the authority over us to turn us over to our sin full nature if we do not seek His ways. God desires what is righteous for it pleases Him to see His children do the guidelines of what is deemed good in His house as my son pleases me when he treats his sisters with love and respect.

I cannot speak for other Christians but I've never heard this arguement and I've never even considered the possibility that I could understand all the motives of another human being.

A person who plans to argue God out of existance isn't being very scientific either... and surely doesn't fear that he actually exists (or they would believe, wouldn't they?)

Almost all of the greatest minds of our time believed in a higher power. From Einstien to Hawkings.... their beliefs were engendered because of their knowledge that there is something, an X factor if you will.... which spawns all mathmatics.... which causes the big bang.... which brings life on this planet (and others?).

I think that maybe you're projecting your own insecurities by asking this question.

When non-believers deny the existance of God, they do so because they have lost sight of what matters, they do so because they are wounded in some way and cannot believe that there is anyone, anything... protecting them.

It's sad, but it's not a fear of God's existance... it's a fear of God NOT EXISTING that drives a person away from faith... sometimes a person needs a gun to their head to find God, and sometimes a person needs to hit bottom.. or be driven into a foxhole.

Funny thing though, no one ever is at the top of their game when they find God.... I wonder why that is.

Ted... you asked about Hawkings beliefs.... many of his quotes can be found here:

http://atheism.about.com/library/quotes/...

Like me, he tends to vacillate about God but more often than not he refers to a "creator".... I never said anything about the Bible, which... like religion is man made and has flaws.

They just cannot accept that you have studied all the available evidence and formed your opinion on that. Think about it ,it is completely alien to them because they are taught that you must believe in their god without question or you are committing a sin.
I couldn't care less why they believe what they do so why are they concerned about what I think?
Adam F... God may well exist as you say but I find no evidence to support that theory, because like evolution, that's all it is except there is a lot more evidence supporting the latter.
Can you please tell me where I can read that Steven Hawkings believes in God, as in the bible?

God did not give us a spirit of fear i am a christian and the fear that i have of Him is reverential(awe)fear// God is love He wouldnt want His children afraid of Him only to revere Him and hold Him top priority

Yes I noticed that too. It'd be like me telling you, you're afraid of believing in unicorns and if you don't one will trample you to death while you're sleeping.

They simply project their fear onto others, just because they are afraid of their imaginary friend they think everyone else is. That's a good way to figure out which ones believe in god out of fear.

The reason that it's impossible for you folks to accept that God exists is because to do so you would have to admit to yourselves that the boundaries of truth extend past those of human logic and comprehension. It's much easier for you to stay in your comfort zone where all truth makes logical sense and God doesn't exist because you can't fit Him under a microscope.

I think they do it to help convince themselves; if they truly had unshakable faith in whatever they believed, they'd have no urge to defend it.

The same way we are afraid or do not like to displease our earthly parents, this is what is meant by being afraid of not pleasing GOD.

I do not know why some Christians do this. It would seem to be that they come down on the fear side of the fear/faith dichotomy. Unable to love they can only operate out of fear, and only understand others doing likewise. Science, incidentally, is faith based. It is based on ones faith in the data presented, and the conclusion derived therefrom. Everyone believes something, I believe I'll have a bit more chocolate.

We see things not as they are: we see them as we are. Talmud and Anais Nin

It has nothing to do with fear, rather ignorance.

In Science one postulates a hypothesis and then tests it then one extrapulates froom there. initially that is an act of faith then to presume that it will continue to hold true is another act of faith. Over time there are paradigm shifts which cause scientist to give uo their old beliefs and accept new ones. A recent example of this is the theory that ulcers are caused by an infection that can be treated with antibiotics. You speak to securely of science It appears that it is your religion.