There is a common argument or jab that the agnostics and atheists like to throw out towards Christians and that is the statement that Christians are narrow minded. Before I talk about my view on this let me give you a couple definitions:
Narrow minded: Lacking tolerance, breadth of view, or sympathy; petty.
Open minded: Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others.
So are Christians narrow minded? My answer would be that yes some of them are, but there are many open minded believers as well. Just like with non-Christians—some are open minded and some are not. The same could be said for the argument that Christians are unintelligent. I would say that yeah some are but some are very intelligent. Again, just like non-Christians.
Lacking tolerance, breadth of view or sympathy—sadly that does describe some Christians but it describes many atheists and agnostics as well. When I go on to a youtube video about anything to do with the existence of God the comments are slammed with people that are not tolerant at all to the theist view. It’s their way or the highway. This is not open mindedness, but they are the ones constantly saying that Christians are so narrow minded.
With me I have viewed myself as being an open minded and optimistic person. I believe that it was my open mindedness that led me to go on a spiritual search. Being open minded and optimistic gave me the idea that there could be more than what this world has to offer. God forbid I go on the spiritual search and actually find something. Then once I have found something I get thrown into the narrow minded category? It doesn’t make sense to me.
A truly open minded person in my opinion is a person who is honest enough with themselves to investigate each conflict of interest from both sides. An open minded person tries to really get a feel for both sides of an argument before siding. But… they still side eventually so does this make them narrow minded once they’ve sided? Of course not! Before becoming a believer of God I read science books and studied evolution. I still like watching documentaries on the Big Bang theory and of different theories of our existence. I have weighed out the evidence from both sides and in my honest opinion the evidence for the existence of God far outweighs the evidence against Him. There are unanswered questions on both sides—the theist and atheist. But I do believe there are more unanswered questions on the disbelief in God side… and if we believe in God His word constantly reminds us that He sees the full picture and thinks on a level that we cannot even start to understand. (Prov 3:5) (Isaiah 55:8-9) (Job 38) (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)
I guess what I’m trying to get at is that the whole narrow minded argument of an atheist or agnostic toward a Christian doesn’t work because by definition with their rejection of the Christian faith they are being just as narrow minded as the Christian would be in rejecting their views. What it comes down to is we all have to share this world. So lets try to be respectful of both views no matter what side you’re on. I think one thing both sides can agree on is what Jesus said was the most important commandment of all—to love one another.
-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]
iwanttobelieveingod 