Christians Are People Who Believe in Christ
Regardless of What You've Heard in the Media Belief in Christ is Their Defining Characteristic
During the course of the last election cycle, a lot of fundamentalist Christians did a lot of mudslinging. They used a lot of dirty tactics to try to put another Republican in the White House. In some ways this was fortunate. It opened the eyes of millions of Christian Americans forcing them to take a stand and show that the views of Christian fundamentalists were not their own.
I feel this will nurture a greater understanding and acceptance between Christians and non-Christians in America. Prior to the presidential election, what the world saw of America's Christians was not pretty. The Christianity we saw advertised was bigoted, elitist, and judgmental. The Christianity advertised sought to hamper human rights, turn its back on the poor, and cripple education. It looked like a big display of WJWD - or What Jesus Wouldn't Do.
Those advertisements are what lost their cause in this last round. Millions of Christian Americans were watching and they were appalled. They didn't agree with divisiveness and bigotry. Valuing their own freedoms and the freedoms of others as well they didn't want to see the separations of church and state to fall.
When liberal American Christians spoke out, they were attacked by those vocal fundamentalists. They were called bad Christians, accused of turning their backs on God, and even called atheists. Whole blocks of Christian fundamentalists called the entire liberal complement of the United States atheist Liberals even though the people they were talking about were mostly believers in Christ.
As you can imagine, this pissed a lot of people off. So, finally, we non-Christians actually got to see what most American Christians are like. They aren't the talking heads on TV or the protesters with vile signs invading funerals. They aren't the politicians sending youngsters off to kill and die for "God's mission."
Until recently, the majority of American Christians had no more representation in the media than atheists did. We can see you now, and it's a very reassuring picture. Just like us, you want the poor to be fed, the sick to be well, the children to be educated, justice to be served, and the freedom of all to be preserved as well as our safety.
It just goes to show you that you can't believe advertisements; you just have to check out the "product" yourself.
Published by Kylyssa Shay
Kylyssa Shay spent 18 years as a professional floral designer and has aquacultured marine life for fun and profit. Ms. Shay is a freelance writer, an atheist and an avid life-long learner with unusual life e... View profile
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- Christians are people who believe in Jesus Christ and worship a single God.
- The Christianity we saw advertised was bigoted, elitist, and judgmental.
- Millions of Christian Americans were watching and they were appalled.
10 Comments
Post a CommentI'm a follower of Jesus myself and this article was a breath of fresh air. It's nice to know that people are starting to realize not all who claim the name of Christ hold to the same politics.
Your interpretation of Christianity is off. Christians are Christians because they believe Jesus the Christ is the son of God and was sacrificed to pay for our sins, both past, present and future. Through God's grace and the gift of His own son as a living sacrifice can we have eternal life.
Jews, Muslims and Hindus believe in Jesus of Nazareth. They just don't believe his sacrifice atoned for their sins.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. There's a lot of bigotry, misunderstanding, misinterpretation and speaking out of turn (but rarely with foot out of mouth) all around us. The same can be said for almost all faith practices. We can all stand to open our eyes a little wider and open our hearts a little deeper.
Thanks for posting your thoughts and opening up honest discussion.
RIGHT ON!
I would be very upset if I were a Christian in this country with all the idiots out there pretending they speak for me. Why is it those that talk the loudest always seem to be the mean ones that hate? I know most Christians and most Republicans are good people, they just have bad spokes people and bad leaders respectively. -Rich
Poignant and entertaining, as always!
some good points here!
So now an article on what makes one a Born Again Christian - then i will know more about them in general.
I don't believe Christians have been neglected, I just believe that the average Christian hasn't been seen - all we see are those bent on controlling the country using their religion as a tool of domination and oppression. The "Moral Majority" is, IMO, neither moral, nor a majority. The results of our last election show that most American Christians are not looking for a theocracy.
Great work! I have to admit I know a lot of "bad" Christians.... And only a few good ones.
The majority of U.S. citizens are Christians. They have never been ignored or neglected; in fact, the "moral majority" ie: Christians, have been ruling the country since day one, going back to reforming those "heathens" who lived upon the land prior to the settlers claiming it as their own. The odd thing is there is but one Christ and thousands of different Christian religions.