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this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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The people you are talking about are not Christians. They do not follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. They are at best cafeteria Christians and at worst Christians in name only.
Ok, but a "Christian" is anyone who claims to be a Christian. There are no other unifying features of Christianity that make one a "True" Christian. Of course, all Christians claim to be the "True" Christians, and claim that any Christians who do not meet some arbitrary requirement aren't really Christians. All Christians have equal claim to the ideology, and this equally validates their claim to be Christians and invalidates their claims that others are not real Christians.
Christians follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. If you don't follow the teachings of Jesus Christ but call yourself a Christian you are a Christian in name only.
Jesus Christ had a lot of teachings, one of which is that all humans are imperfect. All fall short, and let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Does that mean you aren't a Christian, since you're expecting perfection of Christians?
Perfection, no. An effort, yes. I am an atheist and live in a country with actual religious freedom.
I'd argue that anyone claiming to be a Christian believes they are making an effort to follow the teachings of Christ as they understand them.
I'm not sure why you think where you live is relevant, but OK.
If "Christians" had read and understood the Bible instead of just accepting what bad faith actors told them I bet they would probably be better Christians.
Where I live is relevant since as an atheist I have actual religious freedom which means that the Christian prohibition against judging others does not apply to me. I am free to judge that false Christians are horrible people.
The problem is in understanding the bible. Christianity is an esoteric religion. A quick read is not going to get someone there. It is beyond most peoples range of knowledge. Eastern religions ( Buddhism, Hindu, etc ) make it clear that a teacher is needed to understand. In the west Christianity is a perverted false religion at this point and has been for a very long time. This has allowed for many "false Prophets" (which the same religion clearly warned against) to lead masses of people down a wrong path.
Christians are the followers of the teachings of Jusus Christ. If you don't follow the teachings of Jesus Christ you may call yourself a Christian but you are not a Christian.
And who exactly decides whether you are following the teachings of Jesus Christ?
Are you the arbiter? Out of curiosity, should I send prospective Christians your way for adjudication? I just feel like I need to know who I can safely ignore and those who legitimately are Christians and have the correct moral standing to judge my placement into eternal damnation.
What's the best way to get a hold of you? Do you charge for this service or is this something of a ministry? Do you have a website or should I just DM you here?
Fortunately, the teachings of Jesus Christ are well documented and whether they are or are not following those teachings is self evident.
Agree that that no one is the arbiter of "true" Christianity. Saying "Christians are Christians" though falls into the same trap. The UCC is nothing like Southern Baptists.
They behave wildly differently, though, which to me is the thing that actually matters.
One duck quacks "hate the gays" and the other duck quacks "love the gays" (for one example of many). Almost like the fact that they're ducks isn't the problem.
They pick and choose.
They follow Leviticus 20:13 but not Matthew 7:1-3 or Luke 6:37.
They chose which teachings to follow based on their own fear, hate, and self-loathing.
Or simply following the lead of their priest/minister. That takes away the hard work of reading and interpreting for themselves. Your take gives them a bit more credit (the haters) than I would...
Fair.
Ever been in a shitty cafeteria? I have.
Might want to change the name of your religion then, because it's been mainly overtaken by evil hateful people, and you're not going to get it back.
I'm an atheist. Atheism is not a religion. It's the complete lack of religion.
I'm aware of what atheism is, thanks, sweetie.
Maybe don't talk like you know what a """real Christian""" is. I know what it is because I lived that life and am now stuck in a town where it's the majority. Fuck your pussyfooting.
Sit down.
Does that ever work? It isn't going to work with me.
It's obvious that the loudest modern """"""""Christians"""""""" (I'm not sure what the point of all those quotation marks is but I'm just going with it) pick and choose the most hateful passages of the Old Testament to justify their own fear, hate, and self loathing.
You may not like it but it is the truth.
Sorry that it hurts your feelings to know that current Christian ideology is hateful and shitty.
It doesn't hurt my feelings. As I've said a couple of times, I live in a country with actual religious freedom where what those shitty people believe doesn't effect me in any way. Their beliefs don't prevent my gay friends from marrying and they don't prevent my wife, daughter, and female friends from making decisions about their own healthcare without interference from shitty people who don't know them.
There is a difference between pointing out that they are shitty people and having hurt feelings. It appears that the only people with hurt feelings in this conversation are those who are butt hurt because I pointed out that some modern Christians are horrible people.
That's kind of the problem though - they do follow the teachings. The bible clearly states that two men who sleep together must be stoned to death, and that people are encouraged to spread these beliefs. It is true that they are ignoring the parts about being kind to other people, but at the same time, you are likely ignoring the parts that tell you that you can keep slaves as long as they are from other regions, that you cannot eat pork and shellfish, and that you must stone gay men.
This makes you absolutely a better person that the dipshits that OP is complaining about. But nevertheless, they are likely just as christian.
It also says in multiple places that judgement is for God, not man.
And that adulterer should be stoned to death. Bring Trump and I'll bring the stones?
That defiant daughters should be stoned to death.
That the babies of your enemies should be killed by bashing their heads on rocks.
We have moved past those barbaric religious practices as a society.
The opposite of progressive is not conservative. The opposite of progressive is regressive. Backwards. They are backwards.