So is there such a thing as a 'good' Christian?
Sorry for the elementary nature of this question. I'm a recovering former-Christian and after spending decades trying to make Christianity make sense, I've given up.
My wife is pretty much in the same place I'm at. Recently we were discussing if there is such a thing as a 'good' Christian. I thought it would be interesting to read some of the thoughts on this here at ThinkAtheist.
This is how I've arrived at this question: Let's say there's a scale of Christianity, and at the far end of the scale is Fred Phelps, of the Westburo Baptist Church and the famed 'God hates fags' preacher.
So what's on the other end of the spectrum? Is it tolerant, love-they-neighbor Christianity? Or is it non-Christianity.
I illustrate my point by saying that nearly all of my Christian friends denounce Fred Phelps, but with every one of them, I can ask them a few questions and they end up defending him. In other words, it seems that the difference between Fred Phelps and mainstream Christianity is that Fred Phelps is living a life more committed to Christian principles than the average Christian. If this is the case, then if a person doesn't want to be like Fred Phelps, then the only choice is to not be a Christian.
Does this make sense?
Tags: Christianity, Fred, Phelps
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anathema6205 on -
I don't think you can be.
If you follow only certain teachings, like love your neighbor, don't hurt anyone, embrace all walks of life...you would still conflict with other teachings of the old testament, like gays are evil and all that nonsense.
Not only that, by in order to be a good Christian, you would have to obey laws that make no sense, therefore destroying critical thought and the ability to think for ourselves.
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Permalink Reply by Apple on -
I think this response would fit perfectly with a question more like "Can someone be both a good person and a good Christian?"
In other words there are many, many good people who are "christians," but good christians according to the dictates of the Bible they are not.
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Permalink Reply by Mo Trauen on -
I like M's response. I think there are good people who are Christian (broadly defined), but I think they are good IN SPITE OF being Christian.
I think Christianity and the other Abrahamic religions are inherently evil. The god they worship appears to be an immoral, narcissistic psychopath. Their moral "philosophy" seems designed to encourage sociopathic behavior--and the acceptance of it in others. It encourages insanity and divides people up based on the flavor of their fantasies and then encourages them to behave intolerantly and violently toward each other...
I could go on, but I am sure you can see that we have similar ideas. I don't think you are just in a bitter stage. I think you are seeing it clearly. You just need to work out the details in your mind about what it all means.
http://goodatheistarguments.blogspot.com/2010/09/religion-and-moral...
http://goodatheistarguments.blogspot.com/2010/09/religion-and-moral...
http://goodatheistarguments.blogspot.com/2010/09/religion-and-moral...
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Permalink Reply by dataguy on -
Wow... I just spent the morning perusing this blog. I don't know if it's your blog or not, but the Masked Offender really should be writing somewhere other than just blogger.com.
Thanks for the links.
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Permalink Reply by Chris Thomas on -
The head of my department is a nice bloke, logical mind for the most part, considerate etc
He happens to be a Christian. I have no idea if he is a good Christian but he is a decent bloke. Odd that such a logical man believes in a deity though. *shrug*
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