Some of the best people I've known in my life have been Christians. All of the worst people I've known have been Christians. I can't think of a single atheist I've ever known that was a bad person.
Now I can think of one guy that claimed to be an atheist but he also claimed to worship Satan so I think that makes him a Christian opposed to Christianity (i.e. he operates in the mythology of Christianity while worshiping the badguys in the story). That guy was a dick.
I just thought of another real shitheel I know that's not a Christian, he's hindu. So I should say that all of the worst people I've known have been religious.
I am able to separate the fuckwad Christians from the good ones, but the good ones can't seem to separate themselves from the fuckwads. Say something bad about the cross wielding shitbags that hassle women going into family planning clinics (yeah, fuck them for wanting an affordable pap smear) and many people feel you're attacking Christianity as a whole. Say the Pope is a dick for his stand on birth control in Africa and you've somehow insulted all of Catholicism. Say the world is better off without Oral Roberts and you are the anti-Christ.
What I can't figure out is how someone who is kind, giving, sharing, thoughtful, and educated would feel they need to defend the hateful, greedy, mean, rude, assholes that shove their religious beliefs down everyone else's throats in the name of Jesus.
And while I'm at it, what's with the hypocrisy, huh? Does being a Christian give you some kind of pass on being a womanizing liar? Or is it just the fundamentalists? If you really believe something to be right and you do the opposite regularly, does the fact you've had your head dunked under water by a preacher make you right?
Last point: Christians are not a minority in this country. Not even close. A certain type of "Christian" leader pushes the attitude of persecuted minority for their followers when, in fact, the vast majority of Americans and all but a handful of elected officials are Christian. When a true minority (us atheists, for instance) want a practice changed we have to appeal to the majority to stand with us. When Christians want a practice changed they can and do use the brute force of majority. Voting rights for blacks ultimately came about because enough Christians agreed it was a moral duty. Before then blacks did not have equal rights because Christians blocked it. Today because of their beliefs about abortion Christians forced changes in the sad health care bills. We can't even begin to have a rational conversation about this because a large percentage of American Christians believe abortion of any kind (and a large percentage of them believe birth control of any kind) is against their religion. If Christians were a minority we probably could have a rational discussion about abortion and it would be controlled logically and morally as it is in Europe. But a very large slice of these Christians are also suspicious of education in any form though education is the best way to control population and raising quality of life. They are suspicious of education because to learn more and more difficult concepts you have to be able to look at things from all angles. To learn you must question and when you can question religion you can disprove most of it. The fundamentalist types don't appreciate questions of any kind.
I have a cousin that is a preacher. He has no problem discussing religion at length with someone like me. He believes caring for the poor and helpless is his highest duty. He doesn't believe the universe is 6000 years old and people used to ride dinosaurs. He is well educated, rational, moral, and endlessly enjoyable company. He is never offended by attacks on Christianity because he can agree with what is bad while defending what is good about it. He's one of the best people I personally have known and he is a Christian.
And in conclusion, I'm sick of the war on weekdays. I want us to put Thor back in Thursday.
Christians?
Christians?
[size=75]You are as bad as Alan, and even he hits the mark sometimes. -charlie
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
"Not all conservatives are stupid, but most stupid people are conservative." - John Stuart Mill[/size]
