as far as my limited knowledge of the bible goes, the Christian god only commands not to worship other gods. However, most hardcore Christians believe that athiests are going to hell or whatever. But athiests are not worshipping any other god, they choose not to worship or believe in any of them. So God probably doesn’t have any beef with the athiests. Sorry to disappoint and bible thumpers.
Anyway, just a bit of MPSIMS.
Actually, I think it says somewhere that only those who believe in Christ can go to Heaven, but I’m too lazy to look it up.
I suppose. I don’t really know all that much about the dogma. But what about Jewish people? They don’t believe in Christ. Christ was Jewish/Hebrew. Does that mean the messiah will rot in hell when he has to judge himself?
Iit is my understanding that the Jewish faith recognises Jesus Christ as a historical figure. As does the Islam, by the way.
So I wouldn’t say Jewish people “don’t believe” in Christ. It’s just that they don’t consider him as important as Christians do, that’s all.
I’m gonna move this to Great Debates. Anything remotely theological ends up there anyway.
In MHO anything that replaces the position occupied by G-d in our lives can and should be considered an idol. Therefore sex, drugs, rock&roll, money or the Church could become an idol if more credence or importance is given to it rather than to the Creator.
Gp
You are, of course, correct; God loves atheists, like all of His children, more than we can possibly imagine. Why you think this would “disappoint and(sic) bible thumpers” is a mystery to me; this has been mainstream Christian doctrine since the beginning of the religion. Some cults do preach that all “outs” go to hell in an effort to scare people into joining, but this is not a religious stance — it is a frankly commercial one.
The Christian idea of Hell is that it is self-selected. You go to Hell because you choose to — because you reject God. He gives everyone every chance to come to Him, and those that do not are simply making their own choice.
I have railed against this misrepresentation of Christian doctrine before, and I do it again. The Catholic church has excommunicated priests that continue to preach that only Catholics can be saved, against the doctrine of the Church. What matters is the relationship with God, the kind of people that we become as we go through life. Christians believe that learning about Christ, and devoting ourselves to Him, makes us better people than we would be otherwise. God does not need our worship; we need to worship Him for the sake of our own selves, our own souls. But it is not some sort of entry requirement. It is an acknowledgement of the truth of our relation to Him.
So congratulations — you have this part of it right, at least. Now go from there. Figure out what kind of God would not really care if you badmouth Him on the boards, as long as you eventually wind up in the best place for you. Then figure out what your response to that God should be.
I can’t believe I ate the whole thing?
I guess for atheists, then, everything from a pet to the daily newspaper is an idol. 
I nominate the internet as our 21st Century idol! 
hmmm . . .
Nope. I cannot thinkl of anything that replaces God in my life.
Nope, no one threatens me with eternal pain. No one tells me to think like everyone else. No one says I have to say specific words and I’ll get to go to the land of happy fuzzy bunnies.
So, no idols in my life. Kewl.
dlb
Well done! 
And wherever Edlyn is, Libertarian cannot be far behind…
Sometimes I wonder how God thinks of unbelievers. Let’s hope it’s not like his followers say he is. I wrote this on another MB when asked about atheists’ views on death:
To which I was answered:
Ouch! Please, O Lord, save me from your followers!
Hi, my name is Darwin’s Finch, and I have been condemned to Hell…
According to Christians, the default destination for all souls is hell. This is because of original sin. So anything short of letting Jesus take the fall for your sins will get you into hell. No loopholes for atheists, I’m afraid.
Well, if you don’t want to become a Christian, then you’d be miserable in Heaven, wouldn’t you? What with everyone worshiping God there and whatnot. And you’re dead, so you can’t go back to earth. Therefore, where else are you going to go but Hell? When you become a Christian, you become a new person – someone who wants to worship God, by which I mean the God of the Bible. Athiests don’t want to worship the God of the Bible – heck, they don’t even believe he exists. Therefore why would they go to heaven to live with Him?
Who says we want to go to heaven?
The OP doesn’t say anything about wanting to go to heaven. He wants to know if God will send an atheist to hell for his disbelief.
God can love anyone He wants. He can also hate anyone He wants. He’s GOD! RAAAAAAAAAH!!!
(runs up and down roaring for a bit)
Well, that’s my perception of Him, at least. He can Whatever He Wants. Because He invented the concept of Whatever.
I know, it’s a bummer. But it basically comes down to Ineffable Infallibility, which humans can quite easily perceive as the Universal Cop-Out… if it wasn’t for the fact that He also invented the Universe, Ineffability, Infallibility, and all manner of Cop-outs.
This is a pretty basic thing (therefore I might understand it) which all Christians have to deal with.
And this is different from “might makes right” how exactly?