The thing is, most religions advocate grace and mercy, but Christians have been the only people who tell me that I WILL GO TO HELL for not believing, which definitely makes me want to reject their religion even more (because it is rather rude to come up to a complete stranger and say "GO TO HELL FOR NOT BELIEVING!").
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against religion in general. It is perfectly fine by me if you choose to believe in Christianity, Islam, Buddhism or ANY OTHER religion on Earth (even paganism). I am even fine when you tell me why YOU YOURSELF choose to believe in God and not science. But I draw the line at attacking my faith in Science and that Science will one day explain all the wonders of the world (including where we came from, which would really mean filling the holes in Darwinism).
Unfortunately for pious people of the world, what I personally keep experiencing would be people telling me that Science is wrong. Ok, perhaps science is part wrong about some things, but it can't all be wrong. Is gravity wrong? Is it a fact that the world is round and not a dish? Is it true that the Earth revolves around the Sun and not vice versa? Is it a fact that we all have about 6 litres of blood in us(adults only)? Must they try to coerce me into accepting their religion?
Sure it is probably my own fault for becoming such a prick, in demanding I see proof, but since when has it become the Christians' problem to educate us "lowly people" that Science is wrong? I find it amusing that some of the brightest scientists humanity has ever seen were religious, since they were, were they constantly torn apart by the whole Science vs Religion debacle?
True, such... people who try to coerce atheists/agnostics into becoming Christians over-actively may be in the minority and that there are SOME Christians who are actually quite open and accepting towards people like me. But that's because they realise I'm entitled to my own view and that if I am to accept ANY religion, it must be due to some form of enlightenment on my part ALONE.
I don't personally go all out to refute Christianity, at least not all the time. My whole point in singling out Christianity over all the other religions is to hope that Christians realise that we, non-believers of religion, have our right to our point-of-view(strangely, the Muslims and Buddhists seem to understand that automatically). Religion is undoubtedly a sensitive topic, one in which wars have been fought over, so really, why start one?
As to your comment on Christianity being about grace and mercy, so is just about every major religion in the world. I'm not saying that Christianity isn't about grace and mercy, but merely saying that it isn't the only religion that advocates that. You probably think that I'm anti-Christ, but I really just want to clarify that I'm not, I'm just sick of walking in the streets, being accosted by Christians proselytising and being held up for the next 20mins when they promised me all they needed was 5. If I were anti-Christ, I wouldn't even have bothered to give them my supposed 5 minutes. Strangely, I was even some-what born into religion (coming from a long line of Catholics, but I was never baptised, since I had a Taoist-cum-Buddhist mother).
So just in case, you leave thinking "SHe is incorrigible and so anti-Christ!", I'm gonna say it once more, abeit in a more summarised form, that I am not anti-Christ, just anti-"Christians telling me I am destined for hell for not believing and taking up 20mins of my precious time when they only said they needed 5". I don't believe in other religions as well, but so far, only Christianity has been constantly thrown in my face. Trust me, if the Buddhists were doing the same thing, they'd get it too. Grace and mercy? Who's to say that atheists aren't capable of that? Good for you if you practice what your religion advocates though (doesn't apply to Muslim extremists who probably misintepreted the Quran. Ouch).
Phoebe
P.S. Will reply to your other comments after lunch.
I'm a 3rd year student in what is probably the largest autonomous university in Singapore majoring in a Science-related subject (well it sorta IS SCIENCE). I'm known to be introverted, sarcastic (at times), funny when I rant (which isn't a good thing lol) and somewhat of a loner. I miss LA and would move there in a heartbeat :(
Gosh... there are actually people dumb enough to say that science as a whole is WRONG?
Okay, that's almost close enough to unbelievable.