What do you guys think?
2007-01-05 02:41:22 · 35 answers · asked by G 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not by any particular follower but by the overall compassion that the average follower seems to have for the world.
Buddhists get an A
Christians, Muslims, and Jews Get a D or an F.
I'm not quite sure which.
love and blessings Don
2007-01-05 02:51:38 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Well yes and no.. You cant really judge a religion based on people and things that arent a part of it, on the other hand, not everyone in that religion behaves the way they should. Ive noticed that people who do not like Christianity, dont like it because of some of the professed followers, those who are NOT good representatives for it. It's not fair to say Christianity is judgemental, just because some in the religion are, or that it is violent because some claiming part of the religion, are violent. You cannot learn what Christianity really is about by outside sources, so you do have to go inside and look. The best place to do that is from reading the Bible (not books ABOUT the Bible) and not asking the wackos what it means.
2007-01-05 02:56:05 · answer #2 · answered by impossble_dream 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's hard to say. I know of some churches who have regular people come who are not followers of Christ at all, they just go for whatever reason they may have. Then there are others who are baby Christians and don't do well will warm greetings and Bible verses. Over all, I think if you don't feel comfortable at a church then don't go to it. You will always find some people in churches that may be rude or impolite or any number of things. Should you judge the whole church on this when it's only one person or a few people? Of course not. Most churches allow you to talk to the Pastor if you see this happening and he will address that issue with that person. God says that before we look in our brothers eye and smite him we should look into our own eye first.
2007-01-05 02:51:38 · answer #3 · answered by Stacey B 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you define "followers" as true adherents of the religion's teachings, you can judge the religion by their behavior. If they only casually wear the name then, of course, you cannot judge the religion by their behavior. This may be difficult, at times, because only God can judge the heart.
2007-01-05 02:48:36 · answer #4 · answered by ob_ms_man 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would say no, for if you do, you'd have a "bad apple ruining the whole barrel" syndrome before long due to the inappropriate actions of a few zealots/pretenders. Though religion is nothing more than God's view of man, I believe that all Christian religions have at least a PIECE of the divination of the truth, therefore there should be more tolerance and learning instead of hatred over defending ones beliefs against another.
2007-01-05 02:47:07 · answer #5 · answered by bigvol662004 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You cannot judge a religion based on the followers. You can only judge a religion based on its teachings.
You can judge whether or not a person follows their religion by their fruits, that is, how they live their life and treat others and how that compares with what their religion teaches.
2007-01-05 02:46:37 · answer #6 · answered by Emperor Insania Says Bye! 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it would be nice if we COULD... the problem here is that the followers are humans... and humans do what humans want... which even includes twisting sacred texts to fit what they want it to mean.
So, no, I don't think we can judge any religion by the actions of it's followers... sad, but true. Instead, let's judge the followers based on their religion (and before Christians jump on me too quickly, I'd like to remind us that Paul told us in 1 Corinthians that if we would judge ourselves, then we wouldn't have to be judged).
2007-01-05 02:51:07 · answer #7 · answered by Rev T L Clark 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To a certain extent, I believe you must do this. Jesus said you would know his followers by "the love they have amongst themselves". The problem lies in the fact that we all inherited sin from Adam and Eve so none of us is perfect and consequently the love is not perfect and neither is our behavior. Therefore, it would be good to look at several other things he said, like, his followers would "be no part of the world" and they would "learn war no more". He said "Beg the Master of the Harvest to send more workers into the field" and that his true followers would "beat their swords into plow shares" showing that they would be cultivating other followers instead of using violence against others.
2007-01-05 03:08:52 · answer #8 · answered by Sparkle1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely. Religion is a congregation of like minded thinkers. When they think in unison, with one purpose, they belong.
Its a bit like birds of the same feather flock together. (ain't that the truth?)
You form an idea about one's religion by observing its followers. You said 'judge'. That's a strong word. You don't go around judging people.
You see a commonality, a bond, a thread, uniqueness about their gathering. Their focus is their God. This, you see when you are not part of 'their' gathering (or religion).
Disagreements crop up only when one says "...my God is better than yours....." or in a more arrogant fashion, "...my God is the only God. All others do not exist..:". such statements do not show respect to other people's beliefs. And it is downright rude and crude. It is known that people who disagree with such statements and vociferous see their heads chopped off. That person had a bad day.......!!
2007-01-05 02:56:59 · answer #9 · answered by Nightrider 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can't judge a religion by behavior of "self proclaimed" followers.
You can only judge the teachings.
If the teaching is love - but self proclaimed follows issue hate, you can't hold the teachings wrong for the acts in spite of the teachings.
~ Eric Putkonen
2007-01-05 02:49:36 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋