In General, are the morals of Christians better than those of others?

Question

It would seem that one potential method of determining the validity of a religion is to look at the behavior of it's adherents.

Yet it seems that Christians behave no better than people of other faiths or those of no faith.

(In fact, asside from my 35 years in the US, I lived for over two years in a Hindu/Buddhist/Muslim/anamistic country. Of those groups, the Buddhists seemed to be the most tolerant, peaceful people.)

I realize this is not the only method, but it is one. I also realize that the point of Christianity is the idea of the eternal soul and realizing the divinity of Christ. It just seems that if Christianity was THE true religion, it's followers would be at least a little better people than those who follow false faiths or something else.

What do you think?

Answer 1

Short answer: No, they're not.

Long answer: Your method of analyzing Christian morality seems valid. And I agree that if Christianity itself were correct as a moral code then its followers would be notable for their good behavior. Alas: The majority of prison inmates (in the United States, at least) are Christians.

Answer 2

I think a better question would be " Does Christianity teach better morals...ect" rather than question Christians per se, since not that many people know who they are. Blame it on the early Christians for not applying for a copyright, but the name "Christian" doesn't mean anything anymore. It has degenerated into an over-the-counter expression adopted by a great number of peoples and applied to a wide variety of political and religious philosophies, many of which have little or nothing to do with the true Christian faith. The first amendment guarantees people the freedom to call themselves whatever they want, and lumping everyone together who uses that name in order to foster anti-Christian sentiment makes interesting reading , but its disappointing when people do so, because most of them know better.
A “Christian”, by definition, is one who is “Christ-like”, specifically, a follower of the Christ, the man called Jesus. The Christians who fit this description usually work quietly behind the scenes, with prayers and good works, and serve their communities without fanfare. And, unlike me, they rarely get involved in these public melees.
I know some Christians who are truly impressive. Some are tall and distinguished, some pretty and petite…and some are smart, talented and funny. But others have bellies that hang over their belts, have cancer or AIDS. Some are old, their skin loose and horribly wrinkled, and are unable to care for themselves. Others are young and rash, or bashful and insecure, their personalities flawed. Some are ugly, have crooked teeth and bad breath, and some make horrible mistakes. Some are levelheaded…some are not. Being a Christian is not about being “a good person”, belonging to some political party or organization, wearing a collar or having every hair in place.
Songwriter Billy James Foote said it this way:
“Amazing Love, how can it be…
That You, my King, would die for me?
Amazing Love, I know it’s true
and it’s my joy to honor you
In all I do…”
This doesn't answer your question, but your post was more about making a statement then asking a question...and under the circumstances, I don't blame you for making it. A lot of people do and say things in the name of Christianity, and how can you tell who is a Christian or isn't? You can't. No other religion that I know of suffers an identity crises of this magnitude.

Answer 3

IF the validity of a religion CAN be determined this way, then christianity is definitely not the most valid religion. Not saying that all christians are immoral, but they are certainly no better than any other group that I've had the pleasure of meeting. Just looking at this site shows how judgemental and bigoted some christians are which goes against pretty much all that Jesus taught. So no, I don't feel that the morals of christians are any better than those of any other group.

Answer 4

I think a whole lot of people profess to be Christian's of one kind or another, but professing to be one, or saying " I believe in God"...well that does not really make one a Christian does it? You will know them by their acts. The people who adhere to their beliefs and work at carrying them out every day, those people are more likely Christians.....I would also have to say I agree with you on the Buddhist being the most peaceful and tolerant.

Answer 5

No. With Christians it is not a matter of morals.Most non christian people I know have a decent set of morals. With Christians it is about obeying Gods laws.The is a commandment in the Bible for every situation. The problem is that a lot people who don't know the whole Bible tend to just look at the ten commandments and base everything off that. That is not right. There are over 200 commandments in the Bible to take care of different situations.The one we see most is peoples use of the commandment "thou shall not kill".They want to apply it to every situation that has to do with human life.That commandment is only meant to guide you in your day to to day normal life.There are other commandments that cover things such as taking a life by capital punishment or in war.Christians also understand that man is sinful by nature and will not always do the right thing. That's why we have Jesus to forgive us and carry the burden of our sins.

Answer 6

I lived in Saudi Arabia for about a year over twenty years ago and it became clear to me, as an American, that Muslims (at least KSA Muslims) have a far better "moral code" than do Christians.

There are individual exceptions, but based on my experience, Christians have the least morals of any group, including atheists.

Answer 7

The only difference is that Christians actually believe in right and wrong and know what falls into each catagory. They may try harder, but will be forever human. No one that is NO ONE ever went to heaven or hell on the basis of their behavior on earth. The only deciding factor for eternity is the acceptance of rejection of Christ's redeeming work on the cross.

Answer 8

Generaly, and this coming from someone whom was raised catholic,went to a german luthern school and was re-baptised as a southern baptist...I have found most christians to be very hypocritical. Best way to describe my opinion is as you can view most (not all mind you ) with the viewpoint of "do as I say not as I do"
That fits almost any topic a christian parent talks to their kids about as well be it..dont do drugs but I'll drink and smoke....dont have sex but me and your mom do it like rabbits...all the way to gambling is a sin but we play bingo in the church basement.
Let's not mention jimmy fallwell tammy baker and even jesus is known to befreind a prostitute and have kids outta wedlock.
Imagine, our government says a cult is any religion where one or more of it's members are claiming they are from god or heaven. Therefore catholosism would be a cult and had the knights templer to defend the pope and murder to instill that this cult survived as long as it has.
In closing know this..my kids aint going to no daycare run by a christian for fear that father john will give my boy arthrites of the knees one way or the other.

ps: i think battousi and nelent01 have very good points to look at.(sorry for missplelling)

Answer 9

I think a lot of the followers are giving the other followers a bad name. As a christian, I respect all religions and try to learn as much about them as possible. Even if I don't agree, people who do agree and have reason to believe in the faith have no more proof than I do in my faith, so who's to say who is right? We all go with what feels right to us.

Just as you will find bad examples in people of any religion, you will find it in Christians.

Answer 10

Morals is just a code of behavior, so there's a chance sometime you get into a position where you have to choose. Morals end up being just a matter of choice, either you stick with a basic set of beliefs or you transgress them.

Answer 11

depends if you mean the reality morals or what it should be. not all christians stick with the Bible as sure as not all muslims stick to the Quran and so on with other religions and their sources. as human beings, we need an explantation for our morals, i.e. to know why are we polite or to who should we be and so on... if you wanna stick with what the book says, i'd 100% go for Muslims are the best, check their book or at least read about what it says on how muslims should behave, you'd be amazed really