If Christians hold themselves out to public scrutiny are they fair game for ridicule when ridiculous?

Question

Thomas Jefferson once stated, "Nothing but free argument, raillery and even ridicule will preserve the purity of religion."
Granting, for the sake of discussion, that Christians KNOW AND ACCEPT that Christianity is true & is pure ... why, If Jefferson is correct, do Christians get so upset when ridiculed? After all, look at the late night TV Comics and their poking fun at President Bush.
If an individual or an organization holds himself/themselves out to public scrutiny aren't they setting up to be fair game?
Is it just Christians who are unsure of their religion that have such thin skins?

Answer 1

If one in confident in their convictions there is no reason to be upset when others do not see things the way you do.

The moment you advertise information publicly you are open to scrutiny, like it or not that is unfortunately the way it is.

Argument is one of the foundations of many sects of Christianity. Why should it become Taboo now?

Answer 2

No, it isn't just Christians. There are people from many different walks of life that would get upset when ridiculed. You are correct in your assertion tho. If one puts themselves into an open/public forum, then they have postured themselves to possibly receive criticism or ridicule. That's comparable to a Hollywood star saying they just want their privacy. There's people of many different faiths that do not wish to be in a public forum. As for me, I only care what God thinks of me. Ridicule doesn't bother me. I know who I am and I know the God I serve. It's all good! Nothing wrong with healthy debate. Arguments between believers and non-believers is an exercise in futility.

Answer 3

I don't think it's a matter of Christians having thin skins. Anyone who is ridiculed or attacked generally feels insulted and hurt. It feels like a personal attack. No one, unless they are a masochist, enjoys having their beliefs, ideas, ways, ridiculed or criticized. That's just a part of human nature. Christians, when their beliefs are being ridiculed, they not only feel that they personally are being ridiculed, but also The Most High whom they have put their total belief and faith in is being ridiculed and attacked. Now, if a close member of your family, such as wife, husband, child, mother, father......was being ridiculed or attacked, what would your response be? You would be ready to fight back with everything you have. It's human nature. Christians are very strong in their feeling toward their God. They will defend him with their total being. They, as any human, don't always have rational responses when they.........and their most loved being.........is under attack of any kind. Good question. :)

Answer 4

Public scrutiny is what keeps a strong Christian to his faith and sends a weak one searching. Christians have been persecuted and publicly humiliated for a long time. I think Christians who's faith is not strong are the "thin skinned" ones. I have been a Christian since I was 6yrs old there have been times in my life when I was very wishy washy about my Christianity. As my faith in Jesus became stronger and my trust in his plan for my life became firm my Christianity grew strong. It is a growing process. I am still growing. My children are still growing, sometimes we slip and slide back but then we move forward once again. The thing about Christianity that is different than some other religions is we are allowed to back slide we are allowed to be human. Jesus paid for our mistakes all of them and we just need to follow his lead. Ask him for forgiveness and allow him to guide our lives.

Answer 5

Nothing about being unsure of their faith...but Christians are, after all, humans who want people to like them (we are designed this way).

You, are no different and that is okay...otherwise you wuldn't ask for agreement on this question :-)

But you make a good point in that Christians are to seek their approval from God and not concern themselves with man. Moreso, they are reps for God and need to practice self-control.

Last, there have been many times that people thought I was being rude or angry or something on this...when I was actually quite relaxed and trying to give an educated answer. When typing you miss an essential part of humanity (about 75% of it).

Answer 6

In this you must act as Christians claim they do:
" Love the believer, BUT CREAM THE BELIEF."
You shouldn't go around saying things like, "Christians are silly for believing." However, any doctrine itself is fair game. And it is the duty of anyone with an ounce of intellectual integrity to combat ideas that seems absurd, counter-productive, or harmful.

Answer 7

Because every living person in this world today has feelings. If I came up to you and ridiculed you, would you not get mad?? I would. I am not ashamed that I am a Christian, but when you judge someone who acts ridiculus, do you just judge Christians?? Why not judge everyone the same, no matter what religion.

Answer 8

>>>s it just Christians who are unsure of their religion that have such thin skins? >>>

No, it's not. Plenty of atheists also have thin skins, and show it every day on this forum.

That's why they must try so hard to try to "prove" that Christianity is untrue. It's why many of them even call for our faith to be legally banned -- they are so unsettled and insecure about Christianity that they must resort to such desperate measures.

If their skin was thicker with regard to beliefs that differed from their own, they wouldn't act so insecurely and so dictatorially.

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Answer 9

I guess we are ridiculous and thin skinned...anything else?

Since when do christians adhere to the words of Thomas Jefferson? yipes, that's quite a stretch. Do you like to be ridiculed? I mean this question is a no brainer.

Answer 10

That's like asking why a poem doesn't undergo the same standard of scrutiny as a blood pressure drug. Evolution is both scientific fact and scientific theory. Science explores the natural world. God is supernatural, so He is outside the purview of science.