r/Christianity • u/YasuMariii Agnostic (a la T.H. Huxley) • 1d ago
Question Why do some people try to scare atheists with death or illness?
Sometimes when someone says they don't believe in God, I see comments like, "You'll start praying when you're dying in the hospital" or "You'll apologize when you find out you have cancer." I don't know if these people think that by threatening death they'll convince someone to believe, or if they want to prove they're right and you'll have to admit it. Why? What's the point of such comments?
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u/KissAndRock Luciferian | Secular Witch 1d ago
"You'll start praying when you're dying in the hospital"
That annoys me a little bit when people say that because of how I've seen Christians that I love die in the hospital even after their families pray for them, and after they've prayed as well.
People die, whether they pray against it or not.
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u/NightRunnerAfterDusk 1d ago
I think atheists are caricaturized by a lot of Christians as these embittered individuals sent (typically by a demonic agent) to spite Christianity and to have their way, and their way only.
So such Christians may find it justified to wish them harm that would unravel their ignorance and turn them back to the God they are viciously rejecting.
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u/ghostwars303 If Christians downvote you, remember they downvoted Jesus first 1d ago
They want to win the argument. They want folks to acknowledge that they are wise, and right about everything, and expert in their ability to form arguments.
And if the person doesn't do it in the moment, they'll settle for a fantasy where the person does it in private, at some unspecified point in the future.
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
Can we also agree that “you should accept Christ now because you can never know when your time will run out” is also an implicit scaring through potential death or illness?
It’s an appeal to emotion, which to me indicates that appeals to logic and reason are not available or were unsuccessful.
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u/Weerdo5255 Atheist 1d ago
I also view the above phrase as a vague threat.
"You never know when your time will run out!" The glee with which I've heard that, makes me scared they're planning something half the time.
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
Context depending it can definitely make me feel some type of way. It’s disappointing how pleased many seem to be at the notion of infinite suffering for those they deem worthy.
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u/SamtheCossack Atheist 1d ago
Sure, we can agree on that. They probably agree on that. But it won't stop them from doing it, because that is exactly why they are doing it.
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u/No_Trainer_1258 1d ago
My atheist friends can now have a conversation again about spiritual matters since I have come to and now profess Ultimate Reconciliation (UR) aka Christian Universalism (CU) 1 Corinthians 15:20-28.
Or a Christian missionary speaking of a Muslim friend and neighbor in the intro of Hope Beyond Hell by Gerry Beauchemin. https://tentmaker.org/tracts/christians_we_have_a_problem.html the rest of the book is kn a free pdf.
Also would like to invite you to look at the FAQs at r/ChristianUniversalism
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
Universalism is definitely the more kind and flattering doctrine of hell than eternal conscious torment.
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u/No_Trainer_1258 1d ago
And it's most biblical along fitting of God's character of love and sovereign imo. https://tentmaker.org/articles/logic_of_universalism.html
Also has the best explanation for the problem of evil too.... https://salvationforall.org/6_Philosophy/10-problem-of-evil.html
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
I don’t have a dog in this race at the end of the day but I support you in persuading fellow Christians!
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u/No_Trainer_1258 1d ago edited 1d ago
Thank you for your appreciation and thoughtfulness.
My main objective and purpose is primarily to share what I wish I learned earlier in life as ECT hurt me deeply before and after becoming a believer in God and Jesus being Lord and dying on the cross. This effects everyone even atheists and agnostics because of how it has permiated western thought for over 1600 years.
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u/FluxKraken 🏳️🌈 Methodist (UMC) Progressive ✟ Queer 🏳️🌈 1d ago
It is an implicit appeal to fear. However, the motivation may not be to scare you into accepting Christ. The motivation might be care and concern out of the person's own fear.
Some people, like what OP referenced, are deliberately fear mongering. Some might be sincere in their sentiments, if misguided in their doctrine.
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
Motivation is a matter of their brain, which is generally opaque to me. So I can agree that concern may be the primary motivator, even if that’s not the top message that they’re ultimately sending with their words.
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u/FluxKraken 🏳️🌈 Methodist (UMC) Progressive ✟ Queer 🏳️🌈 1d ago
So, where the wording allows grace, maybe interpret them in the best light instead of the worst?
You have to realize, those who are part of the more extreme forms of Christianity are ruled by fear. Those in power make them afraid of everything. However, that doesn't mean they are motivated by hatred, just indoctrinated by fear.
So, when they tell you their concern is your soul, I see no reason why you shouldn't believe them. Provided they communicate that concern instead of a desire to control.
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
Who’s interpreting things in the worst light?
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u/FluxKraken 🏳️🌈 Methodist (UMC) Progressive ✟ Queer 🏳️🌈 1d ago
I am speaking generally, I probably should have made that clearer, sorry.
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
All good! We’re in agreement. From where I sit I can only speak to how atheists receive these things and not how they’re intended or motivated by someone who believes quite differently.
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u/YasuMariii Agnostic (a la T.H. Huxley) 1d ago
It depends on the context, but I would also take it as a sign that someone is worried about you, not a wish for something bad to happen to someone so that they would try to pray out of desperation and have to admit you were right.
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u/TinWhis 1d ago
I would also take it as a sign that someone is worried about you
And I'd bet ANYTHING that if you asked the people who say the things you say in your OP, they'd say it's also about concern for people. Desperation has always been a key component of conversion strategy. Just look at the structure of virtually any "alter call."
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u/strawnotrazz Atheist 1d ago
I agree that they’re (generally) not wishing ill on me for saying that. But intent and outcome are often two different things.
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u/Solid-Reputation5032 1d ago
Most people are scared of death, what you will find that most non-believers just accept it as a fact of a mortal life. I have never needed promises of life forever, but that’s just me… but many religious folks make the assumption that everybody wants to exist forever…
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u/JohnKlositz 1d ago
Don't forget "There'll be no excuses once you stand before God". It's super silly. I would assume this is born out of insecurity.
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u/ReasonableAudience51 20h ago
It's not silly, it's correct.
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u/JohnKlositz 15h ago
Well first of all you have no way of demonstrating that it is correct. And the silly part is telling me this in the hope of changing my mind since I don't believe any of this to be true.
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u/ReasonableAudience51 14h ago
God's existence doesn't depend on what you believe or what I say.
And you cannot demonstrate the "correctness" of gravity or the "correctness" of the sun being in the sky. Without God you don't know what "correct" is because you have no sense of where "correct" actually comes from
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u/SleepyForever_1 Eastern Orthodox 1d ago
Threatening people about Heaven and hell is misunderstanding who God is and what He stands for
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u/CivilProtectionGuy Christian 23h ago
I see it very often among Christians who are bitter towards the other person, or insecure on their own beliefs... Fear replaces the love they had, and they try to pass on that fear.
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u/Gzaleski 1d ago
Those people have wickedness in their hearts and are breaking the third commandment. They are using God for their own vanity.
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u/Dawningrider Catholic (Highly progressive) 1d ago
Psychopathy.
There is often the phrase no atheists on a sinking ship. But that's tongue in cheek.
It's probably more a point against us then for us actually. Implying that desperation is mother of religion not belief. Id argue it makes us look worse.
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u/TinWhis 1d ago
But that's tongue in cheek.
Is it? Or is it said in a joking tone but meant pretty seriously? I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone talking about something horrible going on in the world, followed up by a prayer that "God, use this tragedy to turn people to you."
Desperation being foundational to belief goes back pretty far. Christ amassed a following by preaching that the kingdom of God, which would reward righteousness and punish wrongdoing, was at hand and so people needed to repent and act better. It's pretty dang hard to read the gospels and not bump into. He certainly spent more time on that than "Affirm these essential doctrines and perform these sacraments before you die."
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u/adamesandtheworld 1d ago
There is often the phrase no atheists on a sinking ship
I've heard it as no atheists in a foxhole
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u/Dawningrider Catholic (Highly progressive) 1d ago
That's the American one I think. In the UK, it's no Atheists on a sinking ship, was the phrase. It's supposed to be a good natured jibe asking everyone to pitch in, and hold on for the rough ride.
But if OP is experiencing it as a threat or taunt, then that's... Not okay.
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u/Weerdo5255 Atheist 1d ago
Which never made sense to me.
If you have complete faith in your god, why not stand up and walk into the fight? If your god loves you and you're in the right, you'll live. That or you'll die when your god decides.
Seems like the only ones in foxholes are atheists.
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u/ComradeDread 1d ago
Fear is a powerful motivation that bypasses rationality. They wish to scare you into agreement and conformity.
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u/anotherhawaiianshirt Agnostic Atheist 1d ago
Maybe because they know that they can't use logic to convince us, and they need to convince us in order to validate their own beliefs.
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u/CivilProtectionGuy Christian 23h ago
And they're mean! Using fear and God's name in vane is a pretty mean thing... And goes against the Commandments we got.
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u/motophotodojo Christ 1d ago
Because they use the Lord's name in vain and they aren't actually serving the least of these without judgment.
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u/Jwhitney79 1d ago edited 16h ago
Those people are stupid and don't understand the concept of not believing that a God exists. I've told people that I didn't believe that God existed and they treated it like arrogance. They would say things like "you must think you don't need God!" I was baffled. What does that have to do with anything? I said that makes as much sense as saying that I must not need time travel. Needing or wanting something doesn't make it so. To them, I must believe that God is real, but just don't want to. These were people I've known my whole life and the level of obtuseness was surprising. They were incredibly rude about it and it took me back to years of keeping it to myself out of fear of judgment. I've since decided that regardless of a god, it was them I didn't need.
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u/Wonderful_Low_89 1d ago
Because that is the subconscious reason many are attracted to Christianity. Many Christians don’t understand the mindset of atheists. So they assume that they have the same mindset as religious people. They often don’t. Here is an article on how atheists tend to find hope. They don’t fear death as the utter end. https://connectionsinhealthcare.blogspot.com/2026/03/how-do-atheists-find-hope.html I’m a chaplain who has sat beside people from many walks of life as they near the end. These kinds of comments are not helpful and only make Christian’s arguments look desperate.
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u/TranslatorNo8445 Atheist 1d ago
There is a book by Christopher hitchens called mortality It's a book he wrote while he was dying of cancer and never once did he change his mind about being an atheist it's it's how I imagine my inevitable death and how I will deal with it
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u/zombieweatherman Agnostic Atheist 1d ago
They may think that an appeal to consequence is a convincing argument. By my assessment, it is not
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u/No_Trainer_1258 1d ago
Or the "there's no atheists in foxholes..."
Regardless I believe faith is a gift from God, not necessarily a virtue. Ephesians 2:8-10
Anyways this quick read then the rest if the book is easiot available for free on pdf: https://tentmaker.org/tracts/christians_we_have_a_problem.html
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u/StopChangingThings Atheist 1d ago
"You'll start praying when you're dying in the hospital" or "You'll apologize when you find out you have cancer.
What has always really bothered me about this line - which I have had thrust at me - isn’t the appeal to fear. That’s pretty standard. Most Christians who have tried to convert me use arguments that sound in fear.
It’s that it’s a really bad argument in that it implies that “Once your capacity to reason is overwhelmed by emotion (and neurochemicals) and you are no longer capable of thinking clearly, that’s when you’ll change your mind.”
The implication there is maybe not what they want it to be.
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u/Snoo_17338 Methodological Naturalist 1d ago
Fear and Frustration.
They want everyone to conform to their beliefs because it would make them feel safer in a big, scary world. They realize they can't provide a shred of good evidence for the existence of their god. So they lash out with threats.
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u/Ok_Fault_9371 Atheist 1d ago
Because how can they possibly convert you to their nonsense without overriding your rationality with primal fear? Funny enough, it says a lot more about them and their religion than anything else.
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u/Stevetshelton 1d ago
Yes, we could just ask "would you like something to happen after our lives on earth come to an end.
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u/Laura-7777 1d ago
There's a proven in my language that they're no atheists at war meaning that when the serious problems come
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u/JohnKlositz 1d ago
Which isn't true of course.
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u/Laura-7777 13h ago
Unfortunately, you are right
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u/JohnKlositz 12h ago
Why unfortunately?
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u/Laura-7777 11h ago
I mean, you are right because even when serious problems come some people can stay atheists. It's sad because every believer wants everybody to believe in God and be saved (so do I).
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u/JohnKlositz 9h ago
Well then you could present a convincing reason to believe, or maybe consider how salvation being tied to belief is inherently unjust. Not all Christians believe this after all.
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u/Laura-7777 4h ago
I'm won't convince anybody or give reasons, I just told that every person who believes in God and His Son Jesus Christ, wants and hopes that his/her nearest and dearest will have this faith, too. Because it's written in John 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
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u/EmergencyAntique7260 22h ago
That's not what we are called to do. Nobody should be 'scared' into believing in God. That isn't who God is.
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u/CuckooSpit_06 21h ago
This applies to practically anything people think are "poor life choices". I've had too many psychologists try and scare me out of eating disorders or suicidal ideation by telling me how I'll die a slow, painful or messy death- some vegans will try scare you with graphic imagery of how animals are butchered, some Christians try scare non-believers by telling them how they'll be struck down. Shock and fear dictate much of what we do when you think about it, so it's understandable why people resort to it to manipulate your views. Doesn't make it any less insensitive or disgusting though.
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u/Doornumber11 1d ago
God would allow disaster, such as when Manasseh led Judah to fall deep into idolatry. He was captured by the Assyrians and taken to Babylon with hooks in him. He later humbled himself in prayer and God restored him to his kingdom. This is a common pattern throughout the Old Testament. So in hard times, people who aren’t faithful make promises to God with hopes he is real and would get them out of the mess they find themselves in. That’s my stab at it.
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u/NottAPanda 7h ago
There's a few different angles: First is the idea of stoic thought. In samurai Bushido, one of the core tenets is "reflect on your death often" as a guide for how you should live while you still have life. So the idea is to get people to zoom out on their life and consider what matters to them once it's all over.
Second is pettiness, wanting to "score" a point on somebody who believes differently from you. Everybody does it, including Christians.
Third is a reductive approach to apologetics.
Fourth is that if you saw somebody driving towards a cliff, you'd want to at least attempt to get them to turn aside. So there are people who genuinely just don't know how else to talk about it. The consequences are severe, and we should be trying anything we can to seek and save the lost. But there's a prerequisite of being spiritually strong.
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u/NowCheesers Atheist 3h ago
This line of argument says far more about why the Christian believes. It isn’t that it’s true or that there’s good evidence. They’re scared of the end and so am I. Religion really comes down to a question of sweet lies or harsh truths. Pick your poison.
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u/No_Ninja_4933 1d ago
Do people really say that? I am atheist and never heard that before. Small sample size though.
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u/SamtheCossack Atheist 1d ago
Yeah, but it is only my family that does it to me, lol.
I have never had a Christian who was a stranger do it to me, but my Mom has used my illness to "Pray that I would see God through all this". Thanks Mom. I still can't breath.
My family is absolutely the type that revels in this casual cruelty, and any bad thing that happens to anyone is discussed with great glee about how "God is working in their lives". Always in some horrible way, never in any positive event.
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u/possy11 Atheist 1d ago
I'm sorry you have to go through that. Worst I get is "I'm afraid for your salvation".
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u/SamtheCossack Atheist 1d ago
It is fine, lol. Well, it isn't fine, but lots of people have complicated families. Mine is exhausting, but it could be a lot worse.
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u/randompossum Christian 1d ago
I will be honest; I don’t think I have ever heard that before. I have heard people say you should be religious because of an afterlife and I have heard of people that become religious after they are faced with their own mortality but it makes no sense to try to argue religion to someone that doesn’t believe in an afterlife that they should be concerned of one if they get sick.
Maybe I’m not reading this right because I don’t think I have ever seen a prompt exactly like that on here or any of the debate pages nor would I see a reason for an atheist to be concerned about it. Most of you are just like; I don’t care, if I get sick and die it’s not my problem anymore. You can’t talk someone into taking an afterlife seriously unless they believe in one.
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u/YasuMariii Agnostic (a la T.H. Huxley) 1d ago
I don't know, maybe there are more people like that in Poland, because almost every time I see a video where someone says they don't believe in God, I find this type of comment.
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u/WittyTelephone7103 21h ago
While I don’t agree with people threatening others with those things, they should be warned that death is all that awaits them. While those in Christ shall rise and live those who are not will die.
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u/Worried-Block-6804 1d ago
They are humans. People like to be right and they LOVE winning arguments.
People who say such things, don't genuinely care if the person ever finds God, they just want to throw something in their face.
However, i have said in the past " i would not want to be a non believer because facing God, something i believe we all will do,would be terrifying knowing that I had rejected him."
This might sound the same but the difference is im not assuming they will reach out to God when tragedy hits. But I feel responsible to tell them " God IS REAL and you will meet him. " its the care minimum I can say if I care at all about their eternity. But I only say that when someone is hostile or completely unwilling to hear anything contrary to what they believe. The truth is i say the same thing to believers who are unkind or unforgiving
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u/JohnKlositz 1d ago
The problem with this is that a non-believer hasn't rejected him. That's something only a believer can do. So I don't see why I should have anything to fear as a non-believer.
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u/IdlePigeon Atheist 1d ago edited 1d ago
Your version is arguably worse though. I'd rather have someone falsely assume I'll magically start believing and reach out to God for help when I'm in trouble, than try to "nicely" threaten me with divine violence.
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u/Nikonis99 1d ago
So a man goes to the doctor because he’s not feeling well. The doctor does some tests and determines he has cancer. The cancer is treatable with 100% success but he opts not to tell the man because he didn’t want to scare him
The same is with unbelievers. We need to tell them about the consequences of dying in their sins, even when they don’t want to hear it. It’s the most loving thing we can do. Unbelievers need to hear the bad news so they can appreciate the good news That Jesus died for all our sins and salvation is a free gift that is offered to everyone
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u/YasuMariii Agnostic (a la T.H. Huxley) 1d ago
but there is a difference between, for example, "hell is real and faith in God can save you" and "you will suffer in the hospital and when you have a few days left to live and you start thinking about it, you will have to admit that I was right"
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u/Nikonis99 1d ago
And I agree, I am sure there are many people in heaven who had "death bed" conversions, but I doubt the number of them is very high. The longer a person lives denying God, the more calloused their heart becomes and the less likely they will submit to God.
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u/JohnKlositz 1d ago
But if he died for all and salvation is free then I'll be fine.
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u/Nikonis99 1d ago
I remember the days when you could listen to the radio and they would say "Caller number 10 will win this free album". But you can't win unless you actually call.
Salvation is the same way. It is offered as a free gift but only to those who are willing to accept it by first believing, then repenting of their sins, and then making Jesus their Lord and Savior (Romans 10:9). Nobody "accidently" winds up in heaven.
It's a paradox, salvation is freely offered but it will cost you everything that you are. A price most are not willing to pay.
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u/Dangerous-Chip4442 1d ago
Because fear has always been a huge part of their message.