How many Christians are believers because of Fear?
967726
that would be an oxy-moron.  To know God is to know true peace and remove all fear
996307
I was a Christian for many years. I feared many things... death, evil, Hell, God, "backsliding".... all sorts of things.\n\nI am now an atheist and do not believe in ANYTHING supernatural, so by default Hell, gods, demons, etc. hold zero fear for me. Also, I do not think it will be any different for me after I die than it was for me all those years before I was born, and while I do try to avoid death, I do not fear it. I accept it as part of life. If you listen to what Christians pray for, it's pretty obvious they fear a lot more than the wrath of their own god.\n\nAlso, I no longer have Satan or God to blame for my actions in any way. Taking full responsibility for what you do brings self-confidence, and self-confidence is a great way to get rid of fear. When you think you can pray and some powerful buddy will bail you out of trouble, you aren't showing much self-reliance. Not feeling like you can do anything on your own against ultra-powerful entities should make it obvious to the Christians themselves that they naturally have more fear than atheists.\n\nI know many  Christians who use the argument that if I am wrong and there is a god, I will go to Hell. So if they use fear to recruit new Christians and keep them, doesn't it stand to reason they would have more fear?\n\nAdded after reading other responses: Almost every answer from Christians so far shows a fear I overcame... the fear of not being Christian! LOL!
376778
twolilangels0,\n\nI appreciate the question. It is unique for Yahoo! Answers. Most questions are pretty predictable.\n\nThe truth is Christians should never stay afraid. There are situations that everyone is afraid. That's why so many people are saved in "foxholes." Death, danger or the threat of death brings fear to all. A lot of people on those planes flying into the World Trade Center and a lot of people inside the buildings were trying to make hasty preparations to meet God.\n\nA Christian overcomes fear. Anyone who will live for Jesus will die for Jesus. Death is a promotion and not to be feared. I would like to stay around this earth a long time and influence as many people as possible to choose the life that I have found, but truthfully sometimes I feel like I can’t wait to see Jesus.\n\nThere are also many Christians who worry or fear life's unfolding circumstances. They see their problems and challenges are huge. They forget, hopefully temporarily, how big God is. It's just a matter of perspective.\n\nGod bless.
598474
No!!\nIf they really fear the implications of the existence of God, they would believe in God to avoid the implications!
57878
Far too many.\n\nStrange, can't think of one person that has died because of reason and rational thought; unless of course, they were the victim; killed out of fear by the religious.
1171682
Psalms 27:1 (NLT)\n\n The LORD is my light and my salvation--\n\n            so why should I be afraid?\n      The LORD protects me from danger--\n\n            so why should I tremble?\n\n\n\nHave a nice day.  :>
293655
This is something I've wondered about for a long time.  To me it makes so much sense that everyones spiritual path is unique to them, that there is no such thing as a "one True" way.  Everyone sees a different face of the divine.... \n\nThe reasons why people are afraid are simple though - they are uncertain.   Any act of faith makes people feel vulnerable - it should!  Faith is an act of belief without any tangible proof, of course people can get touchy/defensive about it.  Faith makes people feel good, but any challenge to that (such as the existance of multiple religions) means that there may be something else that they haven't considered.   They are insecure.
678598
No, I am not scared at all. I believe in Hell, but I know I will go to Heaven. I am a Christian and will always follow Jesus Christ. As long has I keep on doing what I am doing, I will go to Heaven. On judgement day, you will realize that there was a Hell and you will regret not believing in it. You better think about believing in Heaven, Hell, and Jesus Christ.
1179662
At best 2 billion people are considered to be a form of Christian.  Although of those people a significant proportion are reporting that they are Christian even though they do not attend church and have not read the Bible.  Within this group there are many different sects and factions who believe differently from one another.\n\nThe problem with the 'logic' of your question is that there are 6 billion people on the planet.  So Christians are in a clear minority, outnumbered two to one.  So how is it that some Christians are so arrogant to assume that they are superior to the four billion people who believe differently to them?
12111
I am also a Christian and the reason they do is because they're scared. To believe in god is to much for them. And that would mean not going to heaven they would want that. So for them it's easier to just believe that there is no god just a heaven. And that they are going there. E-mail me it would be cool to finally have another believer to talk to. Oh yeah don't listen to this "Skeptic Man".
565487
Nope, not just you.  People are getting crazy!  It terrifies me to see these scary, force-feeding, frenzied christians (generally at their most scary when evangelising), but you've just got to remember that that was never what God wanted and seek a personal relationship with him and your saviour Jesus Christ - the people that do it wrong don't have to be the be all and end all - be your own Christian!
980188
their are more Christians and less practicing Christians
514234
Is it fear? For me, no. As a matter of fact believing, for me, brings out more fear than not. If I believe, I am afraid I will be someday tested on that belief, where as if I didn't believe, there would be nothing to be scared of. \n\nRandomness of life? No. I still feel as if life is random, just a long series of events sometimes subject to change on a whim. Sure, I believe that is all attributed to God, but it doesn't make it less stressful, or meaningful to me.\n\nMy Parents? My parents were not of the same religion, and it was never practiced in our home. I knew my mom talked about God in times of trouble, and that my dad hated the idea of church, but other than that, I didn't learn it from them.\n\nAlways believed? For me, like I said above, no. I actually had heard VERY little of God until I was 15, and my parents put me into a Christian school, because I was a bad kid, and had behavioral problems in Public School. Thats where I first hear about religion, God and Salvation.\n\nGod gave me a shot, and when I'm dead, I'm dead? Yep. I believe all that I do based on faith. but I have no proof, and it is possible the scenario you stated could be true. If thats the case, what do I have to lose anyway. I'll be dead, and it wont matter what I thought anymore.\n\nHelp me sleep at night? Sure, a little. But I worry about so much as it is, and I have more to think about than just falling back for comfort on my belief. Thats not what real belief is. It should not be a crutch we use only when we want, or need it.\n\nBeliever to non, or reverse? yes. I was a non-believer, and now I am a believer. For me, all the proof I needed was how my life changed when I came to believe in Christ and have faith. I was a terrible kid, no conscience, no guilt, no shame. I was abusive to my little brother, our animals, I routinley made my parent cry. I lied, I cheated, I stole, you name it. And I felt nothing about it. When I became saved, it all stopped. And it didn't stop just because suddenly people said I had to, but instantly, it ended, through no effort of my own. I changed into a new person in a moments notice, with no effort, no work, no conviction on my part. That alone was proof to me, I had found something real, and it was given to me freely. THATS why I believe in God. From that moment, my life has never been the same, it has only gotten better, and I could not have done that alone.
240087
I am a former fundamentalist Christian and I can tell you that religion definitely causes harm. It instills fear - especially in children - fear of God, the devil, the unknown, demons, natural feelings... the list goes on. I spent my life terrified that anything I did or didn't do might have been a sin, and praying for forgiveness just in case. I think I was more afraid of Jesus than any "devil". Of course, I believed in the teaching that Jesus is love, and therefore any fear came from the "evil one" - but the fact of the matter was that it was God who imposed all the rules in the first place, so at the heart of it, I was terrified of my idea of God.\n\nI preached to strangers, gave more than a tithe (tenth) of my before-tax income every week, and was only friends with non-Christians because I believed it was my duty to bring the Gospel to them. I read the Bible every day and believed my church pastor and elders when they told me that it was my responsibility to take the message of Jesus to non-believers, and that if I let an opportunity slip by when I could have shared the Gospel, and that person then died without knowing Jesus, "their blood [would] be on [my] hands."\n\nReligion has caused countless fights within my own family alone and was the basis for abuse at the hands of my ex who raped me (among other things). The church elders informed me that I was too tempting for him, it was my fault because I was a woman. I was to accept such treatment (and other abuse) because I was the woman and the man is the head of the house - it was not my place to question this.\n\nIt took me years to recover, and after living in fear for so long - and fear of a person for which there is no historical evidence - I can tell you religion definitely causes harm.\n\nMost people wouldn't hold religious beliefs if they weren't taught those beliefs. They may believe in a "higher power" but in today's society, chances are they wouldn't believe in the stories of the Bible. We know that bats are not birds, that donkeys and snakes don't talk, that you can't determine a sheep's colouring by the plants they view while copulating. Most people today would not extol the virtues of a book that tells us to feel happy while smashing babies' heads on rocks, that contains a rape manual, and that glorifies brutal treatment of women and slaves. There are many people who, if they actually read that book, would be utterly horrified at the things that have been attributed to their god.\n\nWhether people want to believe in a deity is neither here nor there, as far as I'm concerned. What they do BECAUSE OF that belief is what matters - and that's what religion is: organised belief in a deity.\n\nI have helped more people as an ex-Christian than I ever did while a Christian - and whatever I do to help people now is worth more because my motivation is that I give a damn about people, and not out of fear of punishment. When "help" is given by religous people and organisations, there is often (not always) a pound of flesh - whether that be an expectation that you attend services, or constant conversion attempts, whatever - because the motivation is a religious one. If people would just love each other because they CARE, it would mean much more.\n\nWould you like your loved ones to help you and be good to you because they care, or because they think they're going to get a reward from you (an inheritance, perhaps)? Worse, would you want them to help you because they're terrified of what you'll do if you don't?\n\nI'm not saying there is no "god". I'm saying that I believe there is no god as people believe it. If such a being exists and is truly all-powerful and all-loving, it certainly doesn't have a need for a "hell" and sure doesn't need our money.
325208
If you are a Christian there is no reason for you to live in fear.\n\n1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
169202
christianity as a whole(all sects/subsects)  has the maximum number of believers , followed by islam. but you will be suprised to know that the bahai faith although with few followers as compared to christianity and islam, is the most wide spread (geographically) religion in the world
998320
They are afraid. Their fear of what they don't understand makes them always on the definsive. They are walking around in life in total darkness, while we as Christians can go through this world in Christ's light and not live in fear.\n\nThey fear what they can't control or see. What they do not realize is that when you become Christian, God gives you more of life than what you had without HIm. But since non believers don't have concrete proof of this, their fear of the unknown caused them to lash out foolishly. Essentially what they re doing is telling the world that they are satan's disciples when they behave that way. But consequentiy they will have all the proof they have been asking for, but by then, us Christians will be sitting with Jesus in heaven, and they will be sitting in hell with their lying buddy satan. But they made that choice. God did not put them there. They put themselves there.\n\nJesus is our armour in life. His name is as beautiful as the life we live with Him. His strength is more powerful than all the strongest men in this world put together. And He keeps His promises, which is something that most mortal people can't seem to. So...\nIf the Lord says something, you can bet your life that it is so.\n\nCome visit my prayerline at...\nhttp://www.freepowerboards.com/praywithcarol/praywithcarol.html\n\nEmail me at carolbmartin1958@yahoo.com and I will give you a access code if you wish to become a free member of our little prayerline family in Christ. We even have a chat line called the shout box where you can chat online if you wish. The posting on the prayerlien is for Members only.\n\nGod bless you\ncarol