Why is it ok to regard christians and christianity with such intolerance?

Question

Our society looks harshly on those who act with intolerance towards minorites, gays, buddhists, pagans and many other people with differing ideologies and beliefs and yet when it comes to christians many people seem content to cast the first stone against them or at christianity in general. Why do you think that is?

It seems like christianity has become one of the most intolerated, unacceptable things to be these days and many, many people are extremely ignorant about christianity in general and act hatefully, spitefully and with snide towards christians and christianity.

Of course thats not to say their cant be ignorant christians, there are and can be, but why do you think for christianity in particular, this mindset has become acceptable while many other religions are not targeted with such animosity? Something we should all think about...

This is my point exactly. I opened the question for intellectual debate and for the most part received ignorance and animosity. Those who claim to have tolerance for all are yet again seeming to be quite intolerant. As a christian I have never condemned anyone and I know many christians who have never done that and yet I am labelled as a condemner. I would call this ignorance.

My point is, people seem irrevocably content to cast all christians under one umbrella of ignorant terminology: Bigots, hateful, intolerant, uneducated. A plethora of others.

Isn't the act of doing this to one group of people the very definition of stereotyping? Why do people who do this, think its ok?

Many christians are none of those things! There are bad examples everywhere one goes and yet most people are simply labelled. That is not ok.

Answer 1

It's hard to be intolerant to the ruling power.

Answer 2

Individually, I have met some fine people, who just happened to also be christian. However, in the general sense, christianity is as a whole, an intolerant, and ignorant religion. I can speak from experience, as I used to be a christian. Part of the reason people bash it so hard, is because it is the largest religion, at least in the USA, and it is doing everything it can to grab power. This, I cannot tolerate, especially in a country that was founded on secular ideals. USA was not ever supposed to be religious. It has only been in the last 30-40 years that christians have done what they can to rewrite the constitution, and to create laws that make christianity all but a state sponsored religion. We are only maybe 5-10 years away from that becoming a reality! That scares me. It means we are taking a HUGE step back, back to the days when king George wanted to control what religion everyone warshipped. Only this king's name is Bush.

Answer 3

I think one of the biggest reasons is because we see so many groups within Christianity who get on TV or protest in our streets against any and everyone who is not like them. Westboro Baptist Church... Pat Robertson... just to name the 2 biggest that we see who speak out against Homosexuals, Pagans, etc... They lump all of these groups together and just basically call us all Satanists.

I think when you see them casting stones, you are seeing them do so at the generalization that the above mentioned groups and people have done to others for so long. Granted, it's not right to simply lump a person in with a group, just because they carry the same label... I'm sure most don't think all Republicans or Democrats are alike, but when it comes to religion and Christianity in particular, you see many who willfully lie about the past, ignore the present and dodge people's protests against what some groups do... Some Christians will follow along just because a speaker claims to be Christian... and so the snowball affect happens and you end up with nothing but generalizations.

What's not tolerated is when the group as a whole has no problem with doing certain things (like protesting against others) yet cry when it is done to them... and they usually do pull the "I'm being persecuted" card when someone protests against them... as if when it happens to them it so much more terrible than when they did it to others. When we see such hypocracy, everyone in the group gets a taste of our anger towards it... Maybe it's because some of us hope that sooner or later, the Christians who Don't do this will shut the one's who do up before the name is, not just dragged through, but buried in the mud.

Answer 4

FIRST STONE? FIRST STONE???? Come on, know your history! And I consider it a stone thrown when any, and I mean any christian smears their religion all over me! Without my permission!
Perhaps it has become the most....blah blah blah is because it IS the most intolerant, unacceptable thing toward others.
What do you mean, many people are extremely ignorant about Christianity? I don't know one Pagan, et al, across the states that hasn't read the bible, gone to churches, or studied the religion. We know exactly what it is - THAT'S WHY WE LEFT IT! and don't want it shoved back in our faces. How disrespectful can you get????
If Christians would just leave us others alone, well, guess what? We'd have no reason to be intolerant of their continual, constant, redundant, same old/ same old, repetitive verses they keep tryng to remind of us of - ad infinitum, ad nauseum. You do know hell is repition, don't you?
Do you know the difference between a teacher and a preacher? A teacher lives his truth and just by others observing his way they can (get this! IF THEY CHOOSE) learn from her/him.
A preacher is someone who yaks about a truth but doesn't walk it! Id est!
Think about that!
You really need to get a pulse on this.
With all that said, now
Blessed Be

Answer 5

I'm a Christian. And I don't take it personally. There's a lot of Christians out there who've given Christianity a bad name.

And perhaps its time for a new name for those who at least know that they don't know a lot of stuff.

For me, I can't understand how Christians (with a living faith) will not say, simply, "I don't know." Or "good point."

While I'm not a scholar, I've read most of the Bible and bits of the Quran... and I must admit, still, I don't know crap. If we could ALL come down off the metaphorical Mount Olympus, perhaps we can discuss this without judgement and prejudice (on both sides....or rather.... ALL sides :)). Why not learn from each other nad maybe appreciate another perspective.

All else is wasted energy.

Just my thoughts :)

Answer 6

It is not Christianity that is regarded with such intolerance it is actually Christianity's logic that seems to be constantly under scrutiny. Most people who are atheist have nothing against christians themselves, in fact, I will be first to agree that christians i have met are generally good people. IT is the fact that they use logic and rationality in all areas of their life EXCEPT for this one area which is their faith. So to answer your question, nobody has any intolerance to christians, it is their idiocracy and hypocracy that is treated with intolerance. And if it seems that most of society has a problem with irrational concepts of religion, then maybe you should think for yourself and question your own belief system.

Answer 7

Unfortunately, Christianity has a long history of intolerance, persecution and many other evils. They can be humble and Christ-like enough when they don't have the power, but whenever opportunity arises, they can be just as corrupt and oppressive as their former persecutors. During the first two Christian centuries, while Christian apologists assured the Roman Empire they were no threat, they rioted and murdered each other in the cities over their theologies, Arian, Monophysite, Donatist, and proto-orthodox. Once Christianity was legalized, they soon moved into the corridors of Roman power, exterminating the worship of the old gods. When Rome fell, the Church took over the material realm, managing it worse than its predecessor.

Under the guise of theological differences, East and West feuded, eventually excommunicating each other. The Crusades were begun ostensibly to "liberate" the Holy Land from heathen Moslem hands, but well before they were over, Christian Constantinople was sacked by Western Christians, and peaceful "heretics" were slaughtered in southern France under the Roman Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisitiion murdered Jews, Muslims and insufficiently pious Christians all in the name of God. Attempts to reform abuses were ruthlessly repressed with excommunication, exile or execution, up until the Protestant Reformation, which set off centuries of religious wars between "Christian" countries.

Today we find evangelical Christians relentlessly seeking ever more power, wealth and security, while ignoring the cries of the poor and oppressed. Rather than seek justice for the impoverished, exploited and unrepresented people of the world, they focus their moral ire on on people with the wrong faith or lifestyle. And even the well-behaved Christians seem to prefer the comfort of the sanctuary, praising Jesus for his sacrifice and listening to holy music on their ipods, oblivious to the suffering around them. Take up my cross? Why? It's already been done before.

There are many fine Christians who believe and live out the gospel in their lives every day. But they are the quiet ones. The loudest "Christian" voices come from hypocritical, gold watch-wearing televangelists who put on multimedia shows of piety, fleece credulous believers of their money, and literally call out in the public media for the deaths of people they don't like. Didn't Jesus have a complaint about similar behavior by the religious authories of his day?

Whatever the state of its soul, the public face of Christianity is one of hatred, oppression, intolerance and disregard for humanity. It is little more than a holy mask to hide behind these days. Everyone has flaws, but under the Christian call for ever greater moral perfection, the flaws seem to grow and multiply, erupting in scandals of corruption and abuse. It may not be YOUR particular denomination today, but it is what the world sees.

Christianity is potentially a great force for good, for building up the "kingdom of heaven". But it needs to do some serious soul-searching. How can it condemn people for their sexual inclinations and the medical decisions of people they don't know while remaining completely silent about a world of social injustices (for which they may even bear some personal responsibility through their own lifestyles). A little of that old time humility might be good to bring back. Instead of categorically condemning people on other spiritual paths, Christians should do some spiritual housecleaning of their own. Evangelization by word is the least effective means. Christ modelled every idea he ever preached. If they want to convince anyone, Christians should try to do the same.

Answer 8

I don't think that many people have a problem with the idea of Christianity itself. But truthfully, Christianity (at least the way that it is practiced by those who are in power or in the media spotlight) is very seculsive and harsh towards other groups.

We're living in a society that I believe is (thankfully) moving more towards the idea of equality. Years ago, most people went to church -- they just did, because they were raised and taught to believe that there is no other alternative, that pursuing another alternative would make you sinful and evil. As we have changed, our society has learned to accept and embrace and respect the rights of those who choose a different path.

And in the midst of moving our society towards equality for all, the only people who seem to want to stand in the way of that are ... fundamentalist Christians. During the time of suffrage, fundamentalists railed against women having the right to vote because of what The Bible says about women speaking up. When the government decides to remove organized prayer from schools to respect the rights and beliefs of all the children there, its fundamentalists that scream and rant about it. They want to protect their rights to worship, even at the expense of the rights of other people. And now that society is pressing for the right of any person to enter into the contract of marriage regardless of their sexual orientation, its fundamentalists that want to stop it because homosexuality is against their religious rules.

So, while society is making this move to ensure that all people are afforded the same rights, its fundamentalist Christianity that wants to stand in the way of it. You don't hear about Wiccans demanding that all children break into covens first thing every morning and call the corners. You don't hear gay men and lesbian women (seriously) fighting against the heterosexual's right to marriage.

And all this is coming from a Christian. I think, to combat this, more of us need to take a stand and say that the fundamentalists and extremists DO NOT represent us and ARE NOT a reflection of the faith that we hold. But until more of us do this, we're going to be grouped in with a bunch of people who, socially, want to ensure their own rights and say to hell with everyone else's.

Answer 9

I'm not sure how persecuted we are, especially in the United States, except on the R&S Answers forum.

But I do think there's a backlash right now because of the heavy-handedness of the Bushies and their Fundamentalist allies. The vocalness of the far right in this country drowns out the much greater numbers of the moderate center and liberal left Christians (yes, there are some).

So maybe, like the non-Christians here are saying, it is indeed our fault for not exhibiting the love and acceptance we're supposed to and for allowing the Fundies to drown out those of us who are rational, thinking, people.

Answer 10

I don't have anything against most Christians. When a vocal minority of Christians start demanding political power to impose their religion upon others, though, I will argue back. I also find it offensive when some Christians say how loving they are, and then turn around and condemn everyone else to hell.

Answer 11

Unfortunately, we have many hatemongers here, most of which claim to be atheists. You can't judge our society on the bashers/trolls/hatemongers we have here, they are the bottom of the barrel form of atheism, not a real representation. Most of the hatemongers here are under 15 years old, and they freely admit they do it to tick people off because they think its fun. Mature atheists do not hang out in this section for obvious reasons, they hang out it sections they actually have interest in. So please don't think these idiots are representative of society, they're representing bored teens with no life and no respect for others. These people have no clue what tolerance is.

Notice that most of the people here right now answering this question are antagonistic, arrogant, rude and downright insulting to any who aren't atheists. They blame christianity for our laws, guess they don't really understand that abortion is perfectly legal, and christianity is aganist it, that God isn't allowed in schools or government, that kids aren't allowed Christmas pagents anymore or anything else religious. But they persist is saying we're making the rules, despite it being obvious we're not. They're also are under the impression we're all fundies, which we're not. Like I said, they're children and simply don't have a clue, or they're just very ignorant adults.