Societal Pressure to be Christian

Post Reply New Topic

I would like to clarify that this is not a discussion to persecute anyone of any religion or lack thereof.

I believe that people should be able to believe what they want as long as they are not forcing others to believe or live by their religious rules.

Has anyone here found that the community they live in is so pervasive about Christian belief that it actually causes problems with feeling safe to just live as an autistic or aspie?

No, but I have heard about places in the US where pressure to conform even to specific traditions within Christianity is very high, and even other Christians are made to feel looked-down-upon.

I actually am Christian, but I don't feel much pressure to practice it or any other religion because I live in a country that is fairly secular. I don't live in a country whose motto is "In god we trust" and has a "Bible Belt" where they even have signs in public telling you to go to church or the devil will get you. It is mainly online where the Bible-thumpers from that country try to force their beliefs on me.

Unfortunately, I think there are far too many communities where people in general who aren't Christian probably wouldn't feel welcomed, but I am not sure why it would be an issue for autism/Asperger's specifically. Your question seems to tacitly imply that being a Christian and being an autistic are somehow at odds with one another, which I don't agree with. Can you elaborate more on what you mean?

I'm not doubting that you may have issues in an overwhelmingly Christian community that are specifically related to autism, I am just curious as to what they may be. As for me, evangelical churches have been one of the few places where other people at least sometimes don't completely ignore me. It's certainly true that sometimes people just don't get it, but that's true everywhere.

Where I live is very secular. We've had an atheist prime minister (but only 1 so far I think).
But I did nearly join the christian group on campus once. The friendliness wasn't real.



edit: typo

Thank you for your opinions and experiences. I have personally found that there have been some Christians who are extremely judgemental and insist that all any neurodivergent person really needs is more belief in God and or Christ as a solution to their behavior differences. I have also found some Christians who are very kind and compassionate and support humane interaction and understanding about neurodivergent issues. I come from an area that has a lot of churches and religious (mostly Catholic) schools. I went to a public school. I have found that many religious people around where I live have very strange stereotypes about neurodivergent people. I am not sure how much of that is promoted by their religious belief or just general societal stigma. Unfortunately, I do not currently have the resources or connections to set up a proper survey about that although I've often thought It would be fun to collaborate with my Sociology Professor to create such a survey.

badgers86:
Thank you for responding. I agree I should have better clarified my question. I don't mean to imply that Christianity is an opponent to Autism/Aspergers. I have often found that some Christians are of the opinion that if a neurodivergent person were to believe or believe harder in Christ/God and practice specific rules of a particular church it would create the solution needed to prevent, manage or cure Autism/Aspergers. I have found a lot of pressure to convert here most likely because this area of Pennsylvania is very religious. I enjoy seeing replies and learning about how this may have or have not affected other people. I have several questions that I may just have to create a survey for sometime soon. It is good to converse with you.

I'm an atheist. But I live in the Bible Belt. Because I live in Arkansas. And it seems like their churches everywhere and more Christians everywhere. And I hate that or don't like it much. I kinda wanna move to a state like California where people are less religious. But probably won't. I just don't like religion.

Corny : Thank you for answering. I lived in Tennessee for a while and there were lots of churches there too. I often wondered what it is like to live in California. It sounds like a very open place. The wildfires out there and high price of living keep me away though. I love the idea of atheism. I'm agnostic. Good to meet you.

lostonearth35: Thank you for your response. It sounds so nice not to see the threat signs. I've lived in the biblebelt and Pennsylvania and sadly those signs have made it to some parts of Pennsylvania. It is good to meet you.

bumbleme: With the exception of that club It sounds like you live in good open area. It is good to meet you.

Redxk: Thank you for your response. There are a lot of different kinds of Christianity in America. It always confused me that there is infighting between some of them. Good to meet you.

I'm Christian, namely Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod via the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America via the Southern Baptist Convention. I do not prosetlyze, neither do I force my beliefs on you to force one to believe. I can only tell you what I believe to be true. I can not and will not make that kind of decision for you. If you chose not to believe, OK, that's your decision. I'm not going to question or second guess your decision.

Too many Baptist preachers have condemned me to hell because I would not force a decision for Christ from a person. Had I known many years ago I have an ASD, I would have told the preacher plainly, and mindblindness goes with the territory. They would probably still condemn me to hell anyway, since psychology and psychiatry, to those preachers, are the spawn of Satan. Fortunately, my current pastor understands (it also helps he, his wife and I are alumni of the same university.) It also helps that there is another kid on the spectrum in the same congregation. Most of the congregation knows, and they're ok with it.

Nice to meet you too. Also Oregon is another less religious state that would be nice to live.

I'm a Jewish Aspie and in some ways feel that the two go hand in hand for me.

Do you think that there may be other factors playing into your feelings of being unsafe around those who hold different ideologies than you?

In 2,000 years of social pressure to be christian, my family has not conformed. They just moved to a better area.

I find however, most people who pressure others to "be christian" are not actually pushing christianity. Christianity can take many forms. For example, coptic christians have a very different culture than southern Baptists, who have a very different culture than pentacostles, who have a very different culture than Greek Orthodox. Even within a denomination there are cultural differences depending on demographics. For example, a predominantly black baptist church and predominantly Korean baptist church will have different cultures than a predominantly white baptist church.

Most of these people who push "christianity" are pushing social conformity to a social entity beyond christianity itself. This is the same for most religious groups. For example, chassidic jews...why should being jewish mean that someone should speak Yiddish, dress like they are in 16th century European and not eat cream of chicken soup? Scripture says nothing about any of that. Those are social constructs.

Anyway I'm not interested to conforming to social constructs that are marketed under the guise of divine decree.

I am what I term atheist agnostic (I know that I can't know whether a god exists, but am inclined to think not because of lack of evidence). I think that all people have a right to believe what they will, so long as that belief does not manifest in a way which causes harm (physical or psychological) to others. I also believe that nobody should force their beliefs upon others, and only try to convert others if those people give permission.

Australia is not (I would argue) an extremely religious country. There is not very much pressure to be Christian (certainly no signs warning that you will go to Hell), but there still is some in some communities. However, I am one of those who gives permission for other people to try to convert me, as I am interested in why people believe the things they believe, and am not averse to altering my spiritual outlook should I see evidence for a specific religion.

Well put. Thank you.