Question about hypocrisy in religion...?

Question

Isn't it extremly hypocritical for christian americans to view radical muslims in a negative light?

I mean, when christians first came to america they claimed a land that wasn't rightfully theirs, insisted on staying, killed many of the natives and attempted to force their religion on those who remained. how is that any better than what some muslims are doing currently? how is it any different from what hitler did to the jews?

Granted, there were no bombs and machine guns back then... but HYPOTHETICALLY, is there really a difference?

i'd like some valid responses to this question.

-Please no posts saying "because the bible says so, blah blah."

-if you can't spell and are ignorant of all things grammar-related, don't bother posting an answer here.

-please, no smartass comments.

Thanks.

Umm, when did i say that ALL people who came to america were christians?? I don't believe i did. now who's ignorant??!

and i do apologize, i didn't mean to exclude poor spellers who actually mean well. i'm just sick of being harassed by people with such poor communication skills that i can barely even understand what they've typed.

Answer 1

I am a Christian, for starters.

Hypocrisy is a fact of life, and of religion. I should not be any more surprised about hypocrisy in the church than I would be about a student in school getting an answer wrong. The whole point within Christianity is that people are imperfect and sinful, and they do dumb and hateful things because of it. To expect Christians to be perfect is a ridiculous thought to them. But they certainly should know better and have no real excuse because of that. They are, therefore, forever grateful for a relentlessly forgiving God.

This is not a cop out statement. The Bible specifically says (sorry) that our sinful nature is not an excuse for sin. These terrible things that people have done in the past in the name of their faith are borne out of their own sin and/or misunderstanding of what God wants. Even today, we all struggle with understanding the will of God.

Therefore, I can condemn the actions of people sinning in the Middle East, just as I can condemn those being done in North America, past and present (and often have). I did not personally commit such atrocities, and even if I had, it does not prevent me from being able to see the evil in another person's actions. I had better, though, to paraphrase scripture, take the slab of wood out of my own eye before worring about the sliver in someone else's.

(Side note: Thank you for caring about spelling, grammar, and intelligent respones. Now I just hope mine fit that bill.)

Answer 2

Ok. You have a good point, but you have to realize that we're supposed to be moving forward as a species... It was very wrong for those ancient Christians to perform such crimes, but that doesn't mean we should see other religions doing the same thing now... Two wrongs don't make a right, let alone one wrong for each religion. We're trying to build a better world, and learning from the MISTAKES of the past, such as some of the things our ancestors did, is a big part of that.

For the record, I am an agnostic.

Answer 3

Some Christians view anyone that does not believe what they do in a negative light. This is the "holier than thou" self righteuos behaviour that has led to persecution through the ages. However, decidedly this is a very "un-Christian" attitude. A Christian who is practising well....would follow Jesus' example and try to love thy neighbor and leave the judging up to God. But it's always been easier to talk the talk than walk the walk. There are hypocrits in EVERY religion.

Answer 4

well, that was also 200 years ago. Manifest Destiny ended over a hundred years ago, Times have changed and hopefully we have learned from the past, and one could hope that others, independent of region could learn from others mistakes, I know thats not the case, but... this is 2006, its completely different in Western Civilization than it was even 50 years ago. The western world has evolved, and it looks like some of the world is stuck in the 19th century barbarism... so its not hypocritical, its expecting others to be as advanced as the Modern world.

Answer 5

Religion (Chistianity & Islam both included) is responsible for much of the conflict in the world.

The really horrible part about it is that it is all man-made. I don't know if there is a god or not, but I KNOW that organized religion is all BS. The Islam vs. Christianity conflict is akin to Star Wars fans and Star Trek fans killing each other over which one is cooler...

Answer 6

The people who came to America were from very diverse backgrounds and religions. To say that they were ALL Christian is just foolish. I am as anti-religion as the next person, but don't make up fallacious arguments. It makes you seem ignorant.

Answer 7

Not all Pilgrims who came to America sought to usurp lands from the natives. Many wanted to live side by side with them.
As with any religion, each will have its share of hypocrites & true followers.

Answer 8

i think you will need valid components yet I cant assist you there. regardless of if, I propose which you look at modern-day incidents such by using fact the Tutsi/Hutu atrocity. This united states is predominantly "Christian" yet, Catholic and Protestant Tutsi killed their brethren Hutus. There are some awful examples of ways they did so - macheting toddlers, the infamous necklaces of hearth (petrol doused tyres place around the sufferers head and so on. in case you examine the information comments on the time you may get first hand components. yet does that count quantity as literature? in all probability not

Answer 9

The Christians did not kill the Indians, the rich used it "elitist snobs" to take this land from them and used the bible as basis to get others to kill in the name of God.
It is manipulation and brainwashing why is our gov't so good at knowing who is a brainwahser? Takes one to know one baby.

Answer 10

The muslims are not trying to convert the Jews or the Christians. They are trying to wipe them of the face of the Earth!!!!!