Why are so many religious people self-righteous?

Question

Especially when the teachings of the Bible say this is not right?

Answer 1

I am not self righteous, I know who I am, a rotten sinner saved
by grace. I believe all the teachings of the Bible, tne NT are
for this dispensation.

Answer 2

They aren't real or true believers in their faiths which exhorts them to be kind, humble, patient,loving and most importantly forgiving! They prefer to feel superior and puffed up and have their way over others. The idea of sacrificing for God and others well, that shoots right by them. Personally they are in deep ignorance living unenlightened lives with hard hearts and closed minds. They can't feel the suffering of others less fortunate than them and being self-righteousness is the armor they wear to protect themselves from trusting God. Self-righteousness easily turns into hate which is a problem for the intolerant extremists in all faiths. TWH 05292007-5

Kaliko, the Q did not say all religious people were acting self-righteously, it said *many* which is not a lumping term. It is you who have generalized the Q by saying incorrectly that the asker was overgeneralizing. Other posters read the Q correctly, why couldn't you? And why not try to answer the Q asked rather than criticize the asker?

msg to another poster:This Q is about religious people, it is not about atheists. To point out that many atheists may suffer the same fault is irrelevant to the point of the Q esp since you made no effort to answer the Q asked. Apparently the word , *self-righteous*, struck a nerve in you since you made a defensive comment.

Answer 3

People are self-righteous without religion.
it just makes it worse when they're organized together.

Personally I believe self righteous persons are just people who have low self-esteem- and pointing a finger at others makes them feel better about themselves.

The sad thing is that religion is supposed to advocate love and acceptance - it's people that mis-represent religion.

you've got the right idea - the Bible teaches something alltogether different than what organized religion promotes.

Answer 4

I know many "religious" people that are not, but i do understand what you mean. People who think they are btter than others because they are Christians etc. I am a Christian and am far from self-righteous. I know that everyone, including me, is a sinner and needs to be forgiven of their sins by asking Jesus to forgive them. I don't think i am better than anyone else. I make sure people know where my inner happiness comes from though. From God above.

Answer 5

Well, I don't think a lot of them are. I think it seems like a lot, but really, that's the noisy fringe. There are hundreds of millions of Christians in the world, but most of them are not on Yahoo answers. And the ones on a forum like this are more likely to be the more vocal. Most Christians son't carry bibles with them or listen to Billy Graham revival on their IPOD. They are regular people that you meet every day at work. People are often surprised with me when I mention my faith.

Also, it has been my experience that they seem, at least in this forum to be attacked more often. I see a lot more "Christians Why are you so stupid" questions then I do "Atheists, do you know your going to hell stuff". So, tell me? Why are Atheists so bitter that other people have a belief?

Answer 6

Why are so many PEOPLE self righteous?

It is human nature to succumb to self righteous behavior. We are ALL guilty of this.

Once again, self-righteous is another "buzz word" - like hypocrite - to try and put Christians & religious people in their place.

Lumping people all into one barrell is very narrow minded.

Answer 7

We are all born with a sin nature.

Those who are saved realize that we need a savior, those who are not have not come to that realization.

Picking out things to criticize a certain group of people is called, let me think, would it be bigotry? hypocrisy? childish name calling?

We ALL sin and fall short of the glory of God, Christians and non Christians alike. (I am assuming that you are targeting Christians when you say "religious people" if I am wrong let me know.)

Answer 8

Because they are "religious" people. For those of us who have been called to a personal relationship with God, we soon learn that "we" are no different from anyone else and all the surface things don't matter. We are all God's children and no one is better than anyone else. He loves all of us the same and will welcome those who choose to walk with Him.

Answer 9

It's par for the course. Take the class "Introduction to Brainwashing 101" for a better understanding... it's offered by all faith based educational systems.

Answer 10

Well, I think it's a question of ego not of religous belief. Read some of the postings and you'll see some atheists who have some of that going on as well.