Are you a good Samaritan or a good Christian?

[hiddley]

Don't know why this occurred to me tonight. Listening to too much Stormzy for my age I think lol.
I would consider myself a good Samaritan but not a good Christian.

For e.g., I don't go to church, I don't praise the Lord, I don't pray, I don't engage in charitable works. On the other hand, if I see a homeless person on the street I will give them whatever change I have in my pocket (usually fuck all) and roll them a cigarette.

I am also the type who will stand up for the one being picked on, which usually lands me as the new central victim. But ..........

I actually think actions speak louder than words and songs of praise.

I do recognise that the Christian and other religious communities are social centres for people also, but often, they don't carry anything spiritual out of their prayer service.

I just don't usually find people to be both. They are either one or the other.

Then what did you mean by "they are one or the other"? You were clearly claiming that they can't be both.
So you can spot a Christian a mile off by the way he or she talks to you? And other than them saying (through a megaphone presumably) "I am a Christian" how do you tell? You are guessing, and then smugly assuming that your untested guess is correct. If they are a mile off and haven't brought their megaphone, are you claiming some kind of telepathy?
Are you now claiming that passport office staff revere their service-users? It's a funny old world inside your head isn't it?

And if you really think think people a mile away are judging you then you should genuinely seek help. If you don't really think that you should stop taking shite.

Well I can spot one heathen from my psychic laptop right now.

Talk about a dog with a bone! GRRRRRRRRRRr

A member of the clergy can sign your passport application form, same as a member of police.

I doubt any of them are revered, but they still have clout.

Matthew 6:1-4
"Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. "So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. "But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

stupidity But do you do anything charitable?

Thank you runners. Ironically, I think the people who actually gave money had no idea about that part of the bible. They just saw and they gave. The 'holy' ones though would tell you at great lengths about how the Lord would save you and how much prayers they would say for you. Great thanks. Thanks a lot.

OP you do realise that having spent time being homeless doesn’t justify the stereotype of a Christian you have created in your head?

Buy the big issue.

Pay my taxes.

Took a homeless man to KFC last week.

Conservative donor.

Gave a family a rent-free-December last year (my property).

'Well when you see them going into a church, that's a dead give-away. When they try to lure you to their church, that's a dead give-away. When they are a Catholic priest, that's a dead give-away.'

Indeed, but you said you can 'spot them a mile off' which isnt quite the same is it. Is it just Christians, how to Buddhists, Muslims or Jews behave in your experience?

Its clear you have had bad experiences with 'church goers', but you really shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush. That's judging people without knowing the facts, which I'm sure you don't agree with.

@MyrtleMaracas

We all judge people all the time without knowing all the facts. It's impossible not to.

Any 'believer' certainly goes down in my estimation.

missy - if the cap fits? I'm a Christian (technically).
I even had a thread about 2 weeks ago asking for recommendations for a church to go to. That's how Christian I am! Haha.
Maybe I shouldn't have used the word Christian. I suppose I was mostly referring to the good Samaritan who goes out of their way to help vs 'others'.

Don't be mean Polidori . The OP is saying that in her(?) experience she has come across many hypocrites who think themselves great people because they go to church. And like it or not there are a lot of people in this country who associate church going with great (good) people and something to be admired, even if they don't go themselves.

I have met and know ( related to quite a few ) who are appalling people (think DV and abuse ) but think themselves great people because they go to church regularly. When you have been on the receiving end of an abuse in those circumstances it does stink.

The OP gave examples of obvious churchgoers but you don't seem prepared to acknowledge them.

And it's true that a member of the clergy can sign a passport photo so yes regarded with some esteem.

Just give over and go and pick a fight with someone else, or better still go and do something nice for someone today.

stupidity are you under the impression that Christians aren't supposed to eat pork?

Well to generalise, Buddhists usually don't have a penny to give (too busy not hurting anyone), a few Muslims gave me money (I could only identify the women by the head-dress, I don't know if any of the men who gave me money were Muslim).
Not sure how to recognise a Jew apart from the Orthodox ones with the long curls, but I never encountered one. As I understand it, Jews have to give 10% of their income to charity anyway, so they're ok in my book lol.
White, well dressed people from 30 onwards would not even so much as look at you. That's not a generalisation. That's a fucking fact.
I'm white and over 30, so it's obviously not all of us. Admittedly though, prior to being homeless, I used to turn my handbag to the far side in case they'd rob me. I ain't no saint. Believe me I'm far from it.

I remember asking one guy (think he was black) why was he so generous (think he had given me a fiver or something) and he said because I understand where you're at. My people have been there.

I think people have empathy when they've experienced similar perhaps. My attitude towards homeless has certainly changed. Maybe it was God's mission to teach me a bloody hard lesson lol.

The fact that one of the many professional people you could choose to endorse a passport application might include a member of the clergy comes nowhere close to explaining the OP's strange delusion that church goers are revered.
I'm not being mean. I'm simply pointing out that the OP's assertion the Christian individuals don't do good things is offensive shite.
And her claim that she can tell someone a mile away is (a) judging her and (b) a Christian is either a lie or insanity.

“White, well dressed people over 30”

A lot of the black people I know are Christian. Ditto young people.

Polidori. You're just talking through your arse at this stage. You love Christians. You think I can't spot a church-goer. We've gotten the point. 10 times over. Have you any contribution to the actual question? No doubt you're both a good Christian/Buddhist/Jew/Muslim and give to charity all the time and work with your various churches but would never give money to a beggar on the street. That's fine. No need to go on about it. Sheees.

You don’t need to believe in fairies to be a good person.

I have mentioned in a previous post that black people were the most likely to give money.

no my point is they wouldnt tell you what they do for charity and you cant possibly know what religion most people are

Not sure though whether it was because it was a predominantly black community. But you could clearly notice the posh well-dressed ones (white), who just ignored you as they would ignore and avoid a piece of dog-shite.

I'm an atheist, but I have a lot of time and respect for the Christians I know who really live it. They do a tremendous amount of real good in the communities around them, working tirelessly to help others, to a point that puts all "good Samaritans" I know to shame.

I do not, however, have respect for Christians who don't live it. Any more than I have respect for vegetarians who eat bacon or any other form of raging hypocrisy. I had a couple of landlords (!!) who were headbanging Christians of the most offensively public type, and yet their faith didn't extend to providing the tenants who were paying their mortgage with double glazing, central heating, or a flat that wasn't riddled with mould. With Christians like that, the devil doesn't need followers.