Societal Pressure to be Christian

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I am an atheist living in the UK.

In primary school another child (whom I later learned was of catholic parents) told me that I would not go to heaven because I was not confirmed. That seems a rather cruel action by a god who was supposed to have made me and love me. My parents were pretty much agnostic but it took me until I was fortyfive to be able to say there is no god and believe it. (How difficult that must be for a child of muslim or catholic parents or any child indoctrinated from birth I can only start to imagine.)

I have travelled widely and visited catholic, muslim, hindu, bhuddist and shinto places of worship on every continent except antartica, india and mainland china. I have read large parts of the bible, parts of the koran and read up on many other religions (admittedly mainly on wikipedia). I have worked with people of those faiths plus sihk, and talked with them about their religions. I also try to keep up to date with scientific research and discoveries.

I have learned that you cannot debate (attack?) others religious beliefs uninvited and if you do undermine their faith you must be able to offer them something else as a substitute! The teachings of the Bhuddha are a good start. (Pure Bhuddhism is not a religion but rather a way to find inner peace.)

In sixty years only a few jehova's witnesses and a few street preachers have tried to pressure me into joining (entering?) their religion and I have never felt threatened. No muslim or ordained member of the clergy has ever put pressure on me to attend a religious service or enter their faith.

One self proclaimed christian man did refuse to work with me after I told him I do not believe any god exists! (Maybe he thought contact with me would endanger his entry to heaven. )

I am much more frightened of religious zealots than any imagined hell!

You are here today. Live each day as the best human you can be. You may not be here tomorrow.

Christianity is not that draconian. I doubt that people know that all the horrifying stuff associated with Christianity, and even Islam, is because of misinterpretation and that they have difficulty reading and needed someone to read for them. Even though books were around back then, people still had difficulty reading, and I bet that some could never read in their lifetimes. The extremists do not out number the nice and great people that are with religion. In Africa there are really peaceful Muslim countries. The Satantic religion is not a group of cult followers who drink goat blood. Religion does not cause terror, people cause terror.

One of the reasons I love living in southern California is that it's actually pretty diverse culturally and religiously. There's no pressure for anyone to appear to be Christian here, as most people consider one's religion to be a private matter. The only group that still seems to knock on doors are the Jehovah's Witnesses, but a No Soliciting sign seems to work in keeping them away.

No. I used to live in montana in a super conservative enviroment. Just don't tell people you are an atheist, and even if you do and they get mad, who cares? Why does it matter to people if Christians don't like their life choices? As long as they aren't burning you at the stake for you shouldn't care.

Thank you all for sharing your diverse experiences and opinions on this topic. This is so interesting to me and it is good to hear about such positive interactions.
Kicker: I would say that political and economic climate of the areas I've lived in also have a definite effect as well.
Chronos : I agree that there is an alternative motivation of control and that Christianity is an excuse often used as that vehicle of control.
Voyagegirl: Thank you for sharing your experience of your travels and study of several different disciplines. It was really a treat to read. Living in the now is a wonderful thing.
Meistersinger: Congratulations on finding an understanding pastor and congregation. I really like your way of being about your belief and respect your opinion. I am considering trying to be more social in my community and from time to time I have considered contacting local temples and churches to see what kind of community activities I can be involved in to understand people better.
Fandomconnection: Thank you for your response. I like your approach to religious concepts, communications and willingness to experiment if you find observations that it may be an improvement on your life.