Why is it so darned hard to give respect to Christians?

Question

I mean come on! We're just people, who happen to have a belief! I'm not complaining, (God knows I'm better off than those who throw rocks at me) I just want to know why?.....I'm off to get some coffee I expect a barrage of sludge to have been thrown at me when I get back.

Ok I get it the whole "Christianity or die" motto of the past several centuries. But honestly that's the path everyone's been through (except the buddhists, and a few others I know nothing of).

thanks ya'll

Answer 1

Joh 15:20

Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

Answer 2

Some people are really thin-skinned and can't handle the fact that not everyone in the world agrees with everything they think and everything they do, especially in their sex lives. Christianity says there is an objective standard of right and wrong (even wrt to sex), there are consequences for not living up to it, and there is a standard of truth. Not all religions are equally true. People obviously have very different opinions about religion and God, but that doesn't mean that some of those people aren't incorrect.

For people who have a vested interest in there being no standard of right and wrong (especially about sex), in there being no consequences for bad behavior, and in there being no standard of truth (it's all just your opinion), the mere presence of Christianity and Christians drives them up the wall. They might rail against intolerance and "judgmentalism" as the most evil things ever, but in reality they are the ones who are the most intolerant. They cannot handle disagreement. Instead they assume that anyone who disagrees with them must be motivated by nothing more than bigotry. Notice how people who think homosexual behavior is immoral, but otherwise get along with gay people and certainly don't want to see gays locked up in jail, beaten up, or even discriminated against, still get accused of being bigots, "homophobes" and such. Anti-Christians tolerate no dissent whatsoever. It's not enough to "agree to disagree" - you have to agree and celebrate everything they do or else you are a bigoted piece of sludge.

Personally I think this over-reaction to disagreement is motivated by guilt and insecurity. Deep down these folks know that they are not living the best lives they could and Christianity is an unwelcome reminder of this. Deep down these folks know that relativism is bunk, not everyone can be correct, and they have no way of coping with the fact that they may be wrong in their beliefs. Christianity reminds them of this unpleasant fact, so they flip out against Christians.

References to things like the crusades are a ruse - no one really rejects Christianity because of something that happened 1000 years ago. It's an excuse and nothing more. I've sometimes wondered how many of the people who scream "but what about the Spanish Inquisition" could even find Spain on an unlabeled map if asked to. People who say that stuff are just parroting what they heard from others - they have very little understanding of history and the actual events they use as an excuse to hate.

Answer 3

An overwhelming majority of Americans (at least 83%) consider ourselves Christians (56% Protestant, 26% Catholic and 1% Mormon or LDS) so who are left who find it hard to give respect to Christians? The remaining 17% minority? I hardly think so.

As a church going Christian, I've had colleagues, neighbors and friends who belong to other (non-Christian) religions or who do not belong to any but who treat me and other Christians with great respect, the same way I treat them. In fact, in many communities throughout America, there are inter-faith organizations that foster good relationship between Christians and members of other faiths and they are growing.

The difficulty comes in when there are some people of our own religion (Christianity) who want to define who they consider to be true Christians : only people who belong to their particular sect or denomination or who subscribe to their narrow definition of Christianity and nobody else. Their attitudes do not help either ("I'm better off than those who....") and any honest discussion of the diversity in our beliefs are consider an attack ( they'd like to use violent terms to describe any act of diversity as "throwing rocks" or " a barage of of sludge"....).

In fact, they actually provoke reactions by using those terms and then claim martyrdom when people take exceptions to their provocations. In that respect, these self-proclaimed Christians have a lot in common with the religious extremists of the Middle East: sowing seeds of discords and then complain about the consequences. They are two of a kind even though they dislike one another intensely!

Answer 4

I respect Christians. Family members and some of my best friends are Christians. They agree not to try to convert me, I agree not to try to convert them, and we all get along just fine.

What I can't respect is people trying to make laws based on Christianity, people trying to defend bigotry (which is disrespectful to ANYONE) based on Christianity, and people speaking as if they are better than everyone else based on Christianity. (They can certainly believe that, but it's rude to act on that belief).

I'm glad to report that the majority of Christians do not do ANY of those things. However, because of that? We don't immediately recognize them as Christians, and so think the ones being obnoxious represent the entire faith.

In other words, I have no respect for some of their actions, but I have total respect for the people.

Answer 5

Because most christians don't deserve that respect. Anytime anyone states something that goes against their beliefs, they turn in Mr./Mrs. Fire and Brimstone. Most christians refuse to believe anything other that what they were brought up to believe. It's just so hard to find an open-minded christian these days.

Faith is a powerful thing, no matter what that faith is in. Just because it's not YOUR belief doesn't mean you can be judgmental about it. If it is respect that you want, then try respecting the beliefs of others.

Answer 6

While there are several good (but lengthy) answers already, I boil it down to a variation on the Golden Rule. You'll get as good as you give. At least from me. Respect me as a non-believer and I'll gladly return the respect. In other words, keep your religion/ faith/ whateveryoucallit to yourself, do not bother me with it, do not create laws to limit or control me based on your beliefs, and I won't do it to you. It's so darn simple.

Answer 7

I've been pagan for a decade, and what I have notived is that a lot of pagans had bad experiences being raised Christian (which is, no doubt, part of why many of them became pagan in the first place). You have people who were forced to go to church, told that anything they were interested in that their families disagreed with was evil, and prevented from learning about anything outside of a certain set of parameters. You also have situations like what my husband went through when he was 18--his mom found out he was a pagan from a friend's mom, and she made him burn all his books on paganism and magic.

That sort of treatment can lead to a lot of resentment, especially when these people aren't exposed to the more sane flavor of Christian who is more tolerant of others' beliefs. Additionally, many pagans (and others) often take certain pieces of Christian doctrine out of context and use it to try to prove that Christianity is evil.

A lot of the blame lies on the shoulders of some--not all--of your fellow Christians, but it also belongs in part to those who can't look beyond their own prejudices to see that Christianity, in and of itself, is just another religion, adn just like any religion it has idiots who abuse it in the name of their own egos. Every religion has good people and bad people, and unfortunately the bad ones are usually the loudest.

As for me, I had my own scars being raised Catholic, but I've long since made my peace. It would be a disservice to those friends and family of mine who are Christian, as well as people of that religion I don't know, whoa re decent, kind people, to place them in the same basket as the fundamentalists and the jerks. I know that I don't like being mistaken for a rabid anti-Christian pagan just because some members of paganism are that way; why should I subject other people to similar stereotyping?

Keep in midn, too, that this is the internet. People are a lot more bold about what they say than in person, and because we can communicate so quickly we often don't think about what we type before we hit the send button ;)

Answer 8

I have trouble respecting the idiotic kind... I admit that there are some perfectly respectable christians, however rare they seem to me.

By, "Idiotic kind," I mean the kind that deny things for the stupidest reasons...

For instance, I was talking once to a fundamentalist who said he doesn't believe in fossils because he'd never seen one... (Yet he believes in god/all the stories in the bible/jesus even though he'd never seen the slightest trace of any of them either.)

It's obvious that fossils are real... Only an "idiot" would think otherwise. Those are the type of christians I cannot respect.

Answer 9

Will that is your feelings and opinion. Everybody is entittled, but having envy and hatred in your heart is not healtful. Could you imagine it in your every day life having no respect to others means same like you do not like them and seeing them or meeting them along your way will spoil your day. Can you see the result of not respecting others, your spoiling your day but while loving and respecting them make your day bright and productive, isn't it. And for that you have no pain in your heart, all things around you will be beautiful as they are.

Answer 10

Personally I'm annoyed that my country (U.S.) which is supposed to practice freedom of religion, is largely prejudice against those people who choose not to believe. Don't believe me ? Few Christians say they would EVER vote for an atheist president, completely ignoring freedom of religion. That speaks volumes by itself.
Our country is turning into a theocracy (some argue that this has already happened), and I don't like it one bit.

So I try to do my part to try to minimize the damage by promoting what I believe.

Answer 11

I have no problem granting respect to Christians. I open doors for nuns and everything.

BUT...when Christians (or any group, really) try to get their religious beliefs passed as law or try to mangle scientific fact in favor of their pet dogma, then I get "disrespectful" very, very quickly.

Obey Matthew 6:6 and everything will be fine.