Posted on 02/17/2018 5:30:55 AM PST by Kaslin
Christianity is a great faith that has been integral to America’s success and so perhaps those of us that are Christians should spend a bit more time tackling the misperceptions about our faith that are out there.
1) Christianity Requires Us To Hate People We Disagree With: Christians have been instructed to love the sinner and hate the sin, which is good because we’re all sinners. Christians also frequently have rules we are supposed to follow that we wouldn’t have necessarily come up with ourselves. For example, if I were writing the rules, I’d very selfishly make it morally acceptable to have sex outside of marriage. Nevertheless, sex outside of marriage is a sin regardless of how I may feel about it. Those are just the rules, but there are no rules that require Christians to hate people who disagree with them. Quite the opposite, in fact. Are there Christians who spew venom and hatred at people they disagree with morally anyway? Of course, because being Christian doesn’t transcend being human and we humans often tend to be petty, hateful creatures. At least Christianity as it should be practiced tries to get us to transcend our hateful tendencies.
2) Christians Are Anti-Science: I’ve never actually met a Christian in America or, for that matter, anyone I think is fair to call “anti-science.” However, I have met a great number of people who feel very comfortable disregarding scientific evidence when it conflicts with their ideological agenda, policy goals or self-interest. Percentage wise, people of that sort seem to be all over the map with regard to their religion, lack of religion or ideology. Sometimes, people like to claim Christians are anti-science if they disbelieve in evolution. This is quite silly seeing as how if evolution exists, that was merely the manner which God chose to create and change life. As a Christian, I see no scientific conclusions from Big Bang on down that potentially conflict with my faith. The vast majority of us see it the same way.
3) Christians Want A Theocracy: In my 47 years on this earth, I have yet to ever actually meet a Christian who wants a theocracy although I have met quite a few who’ve correctly complained that the 1st Amendment is being incorrectly interpreted to be much more hostile to religion than the Founders ever intended. The idea that devout Christians would like to overthrow our republic to replace it with…oh, I don’t know, the Pope, Franklin Graham and Joel Osteen is quite ridiculous. On the other hand, it is true that Christians do quite often advocate for policies they agree with and the rights they believe they have under the Constitution. Every other group in America does exactly the same thing; so I see no reason why Christians should be any different.
4) Christians Are Intolerant: American culture has grown extremely intolerant and ironically many of the least tolerant people are the ones screaming the loudest about other people’s supposed intolerance. If Christians are supposed to be intolerant, I guess I’d have to ask, “Compared to whom?” There are violent riots on college campuses to stop alternate viewpoints from being heard. People on the Left and Right habitually disregard all comments from people who disagree with them. Simply holding a conservative view is enough to cost you your job in Hollywood or a newsroom. The mildest disagreements can produce oceans of abuse on social media. Maybe at one point in American history when Christians were dominant, you could claim that we were intolerant, but if anything, far too many Christians are willing to shrug off or ignore insults, offensive policies and even blasphemy. Christians may be TOO TOLERANT in comparison to the rest of American culture.
5) Christians Are Hypocrites: It’s always a great scandal when someone who professes to be a Christian cheats on his wife, gets caught with a prostitute or otherwise sins. That’s fine as far as it goes. In fact, we’d likely be better off if Americans were more scandalized by the immoral behavior of prominent people, Christian or otherwise. However, there seems to be some sort of expectation that Christians will never do that sort of thing. Christians do not have such expectations. We know better. We know we’re weak; we’re fallible and broken creatures embracing Christianity in an effort to get well. We will NEVER reach our goal. We will never be perfect like Christ. However, a man who shoots at the stars and falls short may still reach the moon. We can’t be perfect, but we can be better. If this is hypocrisy, be glad of it. The alternative, where people refuse to condemn horrible behavior on the grounds that they may harbor a desire to do such a thing in the darkest corners of their heart would lead to an abominable society that none of us want to live in.
Kind of a broad brush here - Christians are people, and a diverse group which has as many flaws spread among them as anyone else.
Christians Are Hypocrites - the word comes from an actor playing a part that is not himself. We are trying to live into the image of Christ - but it is not natural. Thus, we are all - to some degree - hypocrites.
One of Alinsky's rules.
Christianity has but a single rule. Many churches and highly organized religions created additional rules for Christians not required by scripture.
People often confuse the Old Testament Covenants with the Hebrews with the New Testament Covenant.
I have no problem accepting the possibility that we "evolved" from apes.IMO the same God that created Jupiter (among *many* other things) could very well have chosen such a route to arrive at "Man".
2) Christians Are Hypocrites:
It must be noted that there are more than a few Westerners who *pretend* to be Christians but are anything but.The Senior Senator from Chappaquidick and Bella Pelosi are two that come quickly to mind.But even genuine Christians are imperfect...some are even *very* imperfect at least on occasion.They struggle to avoid sin...usually with less than *complete* success.
Many religious preaching seems to ignore the fact that if we could be "as good" as they purport, He wouldn't have had to die for our sins.
Christianity is about seeing the log in your own eye and how God views each of us. The day I became a Christian was the day I realized that I was truly a hypocrite and prayed that God would save me from myself.
Those who would condemn Christians as hypocrits simply do not realize their hypocrisy.
“I have no problem accepting the possibility that we “evolved” from apes.”
As a Christian, if you accept the bible as the Word of God then how do you square that statement with:
Genesis 1:21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:25 God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:27-28 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
He created animals “after their kind”. Man was created in the image of God.
BTTT They are indeed hypocrites
Isn’t that Islam?
These are not “misconceptions” that need clarifying. The people leveling these charges against Christians know very well they are lies. Their purpose is to smear Christians and create hatred of Christians so we are never taken seriously, thus denying us a voice in cultural issues.
These people do not need clarification, they need to be exposed for the liars they are.
Joy Behar knows very well that Christianity is not a mental disease. She is speaking out of hatred, not ignorance.
Except Genesis tells us God created man and woman. We did not evolve from apes or microbes.
I don't know about you but the God that *I* recognize is capable of *anything*...including having made Man in 6 days or having done so over a period of many centuries.
See Post #15
See Genesis 1-2.
The text is clear....man was created on the sixth day in the image of God.
The Hebrew indicates a 24 hour day as we understand it.
Adam was able to think, reason, and talk. He had knowledge.
We did not evolve from a microbe and so on to apes and then to man.
Genesis 1:27-28 immediately came to mind when I read that, too.
Ummm, no. He is not capable of *anything*. He can't lie, for example.
You're exactly right. We Christians should be wiser about evil. We disobey God if we always assume those who are against us are well-motivated but ill-informed. Many are ill-motivated. We should pray for discernment and be ready to call out evil and lies for what they are.
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