Is it harder to be a Christian than an atheist? Is it harder to be a Christian than any other religious theist, especially in America? It's common for Christians to say this and I'll allow that the Christian belief system imposes burdens on people which may be difficult to bear sometimes.
However, I don't think that Christians generally or always mean something like "Christianity set high goals that are hard to meet." Quite often, they mean something more like "Society doesn't always reflect my beliefs and tell me I'm right, and that makes me sad."
A forum member writes:
First off, I'm an atheist, formerly a Christian. I've often heard the argument that Christians are weak-minded and use their religion as a crutch. This may be true for some, but i believe it's harder than most people realize to be a Christian.
One of the hardest things in the world to do is tear down your pride on a continual basis and place your faith in someone/something else. It involves the denial of one's self, which completely goes against our nature. Sometimes it can be just downright scary. I know i struggled with this every day of my life as a Christian, as did a lot of other people i know.
Not to mention taking a stand in your belief system that is ostracized by a large portion of the world.
Since when has Christianity been "ostracized by a large portion of the world"? Even in the Middle East where Islam dominates, I'm not entirely sure that "ostracized" would be an accurate label -- although it is true that Christians don't always have the same status as Muslims.
In the West, and especially in America, Christianity is generally the norm while members of minority religions and nonbelievers in particular are the ones who are typically ostracized. I would argue that not having to take full responsibility for everything that goes on around you is far harder than simply praying and leaving it all in the hands of some absentee deity.
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