Why can't most atheist be able to distinguish between phony Christians and real Christians?

Question

Insted, we are lumped together under one lable (hypocrites). Shouldn't and atheist realize that stereotyping people is wrong. I am not saying that all atheist stereotype. True some Christians stereotype atheist but I am not one of them. I don't know a thing about you.

Answer 1

Because their atheist, i guess!..

Answer 2

It is very difficult even for Christians to distinguish between phony and real Christians. (I know some folks are gifted with the spirit of discernment but, honestly, how many people have never been taken for a ride?)

Sometimes the Christians are not phony but are merely struggling or misled. Many (not all) atheists have very high expectations for others. They see it as hypocrisy, not weakness, if a Christian sins and seem to think that every religious person has a very good knowledge of theology.

I am neither Christian nor atheist but I feel sorry for both sides when they get stereotyped or judged by unfair standards.

Answer 3

To an atheist, there's no such thing as a "phony" christian; anyone who believes that Jesus is their lord and savior is a christian. There are just a diverse range of beliefs within "christianity". Atheists such all such beliefs as being equally valid; all that determines christianhood is the belief in jesus

Most atheists do differentiate between christians, though; just like any group, christianity consists of many different types of people.

The atheists who consider all christians to be foolish or hypocritical do so not because of the behavior of a bad minority, but because christians don't actually "follow" the bible - none of them do. Instead, they follow the parts of the bible that they like, and come up with justifications for ignoring the other parts.

Naturally, there are those christians who take the bible in context (ie: as not being the word of god), yet are still able to keep their faith at the same time. Those are few and far between, though.

Answer 4

Atheist, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist.... it is not up to us to determine which "Christian" is "phony" or "real", any more than the "Christians" whose opinions I have read on Yahoo try to determine who is a "real" Jew or Muslim. I have heard so many convenient excuses of "well,they aren't REAL Christians" bounced around by other professed REAL Christians that it's a wonder anyone could know what's "real" ( and in WHOSE opinion it's supposed to be "real".) And if you don't know anything about atheists, how can you know if you're getting stereotyped by a "real" atheist or not? I believe that when the professed Christians can unite with some common ground instead of squabbling amongst themselves, non-Christians may be able to recognize the phony and real much more clearly.

Answer 5

Its the same as Some christians calling us Atheists Morons, idiots, worthless etc.. Unfortunately not everyone has the maturity to respect each others beliefs!
AND people forget that believing/not believing is an opinion and with opinions there is no right or wrong answer EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU ARE RIGHT.. Dont hack down on someone else because there belief is different, you dont even know that person!

Answer 6

i think the word "stereotype" has gotten a bad... well... stereotype - of course we all sum up things into small compartments we understand

as we meet people we inevitably start categorizing (see a woman umm... female, dark skinned, long hair, nice legs, ... )

unfortunately we often tend to remember the compartment rather than the charachteristic of someone which we find ourselves at odds with

especially in discussing religion because it's certainly something we don't want to feel "wrong" about - but it would then follow logically that if one feels so strongly about defending that which is only between onesself and God it seems one should not take offense at another's opinion of the state of the spiritual or essential universe.

and personally i think the terms 'athiest' and 'Christian' are too often at odds with one another as 'athiests' are percieved as 'anti-christ' (heck they both start with an 'a') but from my understanding they certainly are not. and i believe that no human is not spiritual. simply athiests are not into organized religion or belief that anything exists outside of this and now

Answer 7

Uhhh.....Exactly how do you know this is true of "most atheists?" You don't know me, so why would you assume that I, an agnostic/atheist who grew up the son of a Methodist minister, majored in religion in a Methodist college, and attended a Methodist seminary, would be unable to differentiate between the nuances of Christianity? If you've been criticized, then you have a beef with those people, not the entire group of atheists. I suggest you look at your presumptions.

Answer 8

Because everyone who claims to be a Christian, claims to be a Real/True Christian and everyone else is a phony one... unless you agree with the "True" Christian. Then you are one too. It appears to be more of a popularity contest than people following an actual religion... in a lot of cases. But then, a lot of Christians do this as well... as you pointed out. So it's easy to return that favor twice over. ^_^

Answer 9

Because 'fake' Christians claim to be 'real' Christians - often they claim the be *THE* 'real' Christians. Since the other Christians either can't agree or are too cowardly to expel the fakers from their midst, to an outsider it looks like the 'fakes' are accepted as 'real' Christians and their behavior is at least condoned if not approved. Perhaps if the 'real' Christians were more circumspect about condemning and distinguishing themselves from the 'fake' Christians, the rest of us could tell the difference.

(You could start by defrocking the REVEREND Fred Phelps. Someone is letting him use that title while he spreads hate.)

Answer 10

Anyone who believes that Jesus was Christ is a Christian...I don't have a way of looking inside people's minds to determine if they are pretending or not. So, what is a phony Christian? One that doesn't conform to your interpretation of what a Christian should be?

Are all Christians hypocrites? No, there are those who actually do practice what they preach.

Answer 11

Atheists judge people by what they think they hear them saying. phoney christians know all the right buzz words as do all the real christians. we don't work with buzz words too well. I don't want to be known as a religious person. I have never wanted that. but loads of folks do.

I want to be remembered as one who had a relationship and not a religion. Sometimes our "religion" gets in the way of our walk. We try to hit people over the head with our theology and not hit their heart with our love. WE judge others. We aren't supposed to but we do. When they don't respond to us the way we hoped they would---we lash out and make piqued comments that are meant to hit them where it hurts.

Can anyone give me one instance where Christ was rebuked by the "religious" crowd and He responded with anything less than love and forgiveness. And for those of you unfamiliar with circumstances in the bible---the moneychangers were not the religious crowd they were merchants who were changing money in the temple. Give another example if you want to make it a reality.

We shouldn't lump all atheists into one category either. Some were believers at one time and they ran into someone or something that caused them great hurt or alarm. They were taught a false doctrine which turned them away from Christ and to their own theology. We need to try to understand that it is mostly hurt, frustration and consternation that the spout here. They are not mad at us---but they have found a place to put all that displaced hostility.

Remember, we are called to lift them up in prayer, not berate them for their unbelief. There, but for the grace of God, walk you and me.