How effective is threatening a non-Christian with "Judgment Day", when they don't believe in it? Why do so many do this?
by 
AntigoneRising
ANSWERS: 29
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Because they believe in it enough for all of us. I believe some of them are really trying to save us by there rules. Not all of them but there are some true belivers.
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It's not so much a matter of the beliefs of who they're threatening, but rather their own. For a lot of people, things like Judgment Day are reality, and their lack of perspective keeps them from being able to understand that other people see things differently.
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its not effective at all, and i dont know why they do it. its about as scary as saying the boogy man will come out of my closet...
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I think they do it, because it's part of their lifestyle -- they hear it everytime they go to church. I tend to say the same things about my beliefs over and over again too.
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Christians used to praise God for inflicting smallpox, syphilis and bubonic plague upon the Native Americans so that they could take over the lands the natives had previous settled. Now they praise God for threating all the people of the world with Eternal Torment. Who knows what they'll praise God for 500 years from now...:-P....
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I personally don't 'threaten' anyone with Judgement Day. But I guess if someone was doing that, and the other person didn't believe in Judgment day, then it wouldn't be very affective at all.
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when you dont believe in it and you know why then its not effective. However, if you hear it in church and you dont know why its nonsense then it VERY effective.
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I've never tried it, but I imagine it depends on the Christian and the non-Christian. Usually telling is more effective than threatening. We bring our own judgments upon ourselves, both in this life and the next. God is just the trustee. I imagine it is not his favorite job, since he loves us, but if we do not take advantage of Christ's atonement, we will be subject to justice, yes.
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There is no way of telling how effective it is, because there is no way of measuring it. However, those that have been born-again, 92% claim to have been “motivated” by other born-again Christians. This “motivation” included the telling about the impending Judgement Day, consequently going to Hell, Overall, it is a very small percentage of people that actually use this type (fear) of spreading the Gospel as evangelizing. So when one considers that this particular method of “drawing” people to God is, actually extremely small, so then the success rate could be considered admirable… The main “motivator” of people becoming a Christian, was an expression (lifestyle) of Love.
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Fear factor is a effective tool of bringing someone over to your way of thinking.....
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Depends upon the desired effect. If they want to push me further and further away from Christianity then I would say it's very effective.
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when they don't believe in it, they no longer get threatened by it. People do this not because they want to threaten people. Its because that they believe its true and they want others too to know the truth and be saved.At the same time whether you accept it and believe it or not depends on your wish. Whatever it is, I personally believe and wish to say that its true.
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You are ignoring the effect of the Holy Sprit convicting the human soul when relevant “truth” is present. Through which of the five senses you are “receiving” it, is irrelevant. Something you read, saw or “heard” (was told)…it does not matter. What does matter, is the fact that the Holy Spirit IS the one who introduces the event to you which your conscience regards as a truth or feeble. He will not cause you to respond to a fable, but He will cause you to respond to truth. If nothing else, then at a most miniscule level, as a answer to a “indentified and recognised ” question, and answer you “must” give, ether Yes or No. No wonder He (The Holy Spirit) is also called a “Hound Dog of Heaven”, thanks God he does not give up on us lightly. If we don’t respond clearly first time, he continues different angles, questions, people, but he wants’ an answer… Act of unbelieving is not considered until your heard about the object that you need to make a decision to believe or not. Once this object is presented to you, then you can either believe it, or not. You mentioned the “Killer Tomatoes”, should I be worried about this? (Grin)
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I would not think it would be much of a threat at all.
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This is something I've never understood. I think there was a culture and time when this was an effective practice. Obviously, this is no longer the case.
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It is meaningless. They do it for several reasons. One may be to "save" someone (Don't get me going) Another is to scare someone. Most are probably working with a combination of all of these motives. But, it is really useless if someone completely outside the Christian circle is threatened. First, they don't believe it, so the desired affect is lost. And more importantly, it may backfire and anger the untented target, accomplishing the exact opposite of what is intended. Third it makes the Christian look like an idiot.
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I know it is terribly ineffective against myself anyway. I especially hate the "Well you'll find out when you die!!!" that gets tacked on when I say I don't believe. I always want to say "Why don't you go first and nip back to let me know eh?" They keep doing it 'cause that's all they've got.
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doesnt phase me one bit....except when I get pissed off cuz people CONSTANTLY throw that, and or the whole hell thing in my face
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It probably makes not much of an effect, but it has to be said. It is like telling a person why they must wear a seatbelt, when they refuse to.
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I have never told anybody they are going to hell. I cannot judge the heart, I know this I myself have always been a "christian" but at times in my life I have been the furthuest from a christian. I didnt care, at all. The law is a horrible motivativator, I think alot of christians use it because they are always under the microscope. Expected to be perfect, they have salvation and they have sin they are just tired of having the idea that they are judgeing people tagged with them. There is a huge problem that any christian faces in society. Their behavior will be taken for that of the entire christian church and a biblical example. They are expected to uphold the commandments and precepts in the bible, even though all christians break every commandment daily. Gospel motivation is what the christian runs on, and so often do they crack and blurt out some law. The law does not save, alot of people who seem to be looking for an arguement and its so much easier to just use the law then actully show them what your faith means to you. Nobody should be threatened into the church. The Gospel is Christs motivator.
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I just laugh and laugh, so it can't be too effective.
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This is kinda why I don't like christianity. Using fear to get people to convert. I don't like the idea of it.
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zero effective, I've been told Im going to hell, blah blah blah, this and that. They have been saying that this year is the end of the world, and that year, and turn of the century, then 06/06/2006, etc etc etc. It's all a sad sad joke.
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They are hoping to make you believe in hell at least on a subconcious level so they can drag you into their religion.
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To reify for themselves their implausible (and absurd) credo. ;-)
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Not at all. It's me claiming I have a magic wand that will turn you into a turtle.
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You have to get inside the zealot's mind to understand this threat. To them, the threat of damnation on judgment day is very real, and they can't possibly comprehend how the thought could not be terrifying. Therefore, they continue with the threats, because they truly believe they are making an impact. It's sortof like a Creationist using the Bible as a source in an argument about evolution. The "evidence" may be compelling to them, because it's a part of their worldview, but not to others who don't share that view.
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When ever anyone pulls that on me I ask them how God might feel to have them presume to speak for God. Then I heartily wish that Judgment Day does indeed happen and that I have the pleasure of watching while they sort it out with God. I think people do it because they must have someone to condemn in order to feel better about themselves.
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About as effective as someone telling me that unless I do something the Fairy Queen will turn me into a frog.
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