To say that you are not a true Christian

[MiaMarshmallows]

If you do not want to help someone who you claim is important to you? When you know they are struggling emotionally and with health issues?
I know someone like this and it surely goes against all their values?

Does believing in God make you good/nice? Does not believing in God make you bad/mean?
Religion doesn't make you a better person. Your caring personality does not come from scripture it comes from within.

@MiaMarshmallows

Are you not going to contribute to your own thread at all ?
If you ask a question it is only good manners to engage with those who take the time to reply.

@Frymetothemoon

The most spiteful, selfish and downright nasty person I know says she is a Christian. Go figure!

Me too, it could be the same person! She’s truly horrid, her and her DH are very active (and dare I say preachy) Christians but they both treat people terribly and are very toxic.

Luckily, I'm surrounded in my work and in my family life, by Christians who are extraordinary people with great generosity of spirit. I'm an atheist and none of them ever bring that up or try to change it. They just get on with life without mentioning their religion to me.

I think we should assume that in almost every group of people there are kind and generous people, and mean and selfish people. And the kind and generous ones are entitled to boundaries.

Yes, you are being very unreasonable. It is not your place to decide that.

@onelittlefrog

If Christians only ever did good things then we could have been saved a lot of wars and death

Same with communists but somehow they always get left out of these comments

[quote Kite22]@MiaMarshmallows

Are you not going to contribute to your own thread at all ?
If you ask a question it is only good manners to engage with those who take the time to reply.[/quote]
No, the important thing is to put the boot in and allow a lovely space for everyone else to do the same based on anecdata.
/ Left the church for various reasons but have spent more time around practising Christians than many boosters ever have, I'd bet real money...

booters

@saleorbouy

Does believing in God make you good/nice? Does not believing in God make you bad/mean? Religion doesn't make you a better person. Your caring personality does not come from scripture it comes from within.

This. The reason for the argument that only God could judge whether people were good or not was because human beings can be terrifying when they take on that particular duty.

Granted, it hasn’t quite worked out as intended but that’s because people are always looking for the technicality that allows them to behave poorly. The problem is people, not religion. What can you do?

You can be a Christian and generally follow the teachings pretty well, but still withdraw from someone who constantly dumps their emotional and health issues on you to the point of your exhaustion (or just annoyance). Everyone has a limit.

@toconclude I'm not quite sure where communism, a political and social ideology, features in a conversation about Christians.

@toconclude ah! That’s a bit of a sad way for a person to spend their time but I suppose trolling on the internet is all some people have. They should find God. They’d feel better ;)

Christian does not equal doormat. It sounds like you're trying to use someone's faith to guilt them into doing something for you.

Lots of famous " Christians " were tyrants , take Henry VIII ...

Same with communists but somehow they always get left out of these comments

Yeah, every discussion I've seen about communism has concluded that it's all sweetness and light.

Seriously, this has got to be one of the oddest whataboutisms I've seen on here.

[quote NotAnotherPylon]@toconclude I'm not quite sure where communism, a political and social ideology, features in a conversation about Christians.[/quote]
I understand @toconcludes comments to mean that Christians seem to be a soft target. I do agree. It seems to be widely acceptable to stick the boot in on Christians.
Communism has more deaths on its hands than iany other political or religious ideology yet, bizarrely, does not seem to attract the ire of many people, relatively.
Maoism killed 60 million, Stalin is said to have murdered around 20 million and that's not even including the Holodomor, which would add many millions on top of that 20million. There are more , I just don't want.to get off topic.

Someone threw this accusation at me, when they were being entirely unreasonable in their behaviour and expectations. They seemed to think that because I'm a Christian I should be able to do what they wanted at the moment they wanted it. I wasn't able to. It wasn't possible.

Being Christian doesn't mean you can or should do what other people want you to do.

I am a Christian and do my best to help people in general for the greater good however Christians as anyone else have commitments, mental health issues jobs etc.
Just because someone has a religion it doesn't mean that everyone else can load all their stuff and that it okay because we all need space. Like any cross section of people there are people who give more and others less so.
I don't know the back story but maybe the person with the difficulties has asked too much in the past and the Christian person has nothing left?
I try to help people but I can't help every person and nobody can expect that of anybody religious or not.

Churches are full of people that claim to be Christians but don't really follow the bible's teachings (or interpret it in a way that suits them). Going to church on a Sunday doesn't make one a good person.

However, we're all sinners, and even Christians do things that go against the teachings of Christ. Sometimes unknowingly, other times it's just hard to do what we know to be right.

*diamondpony80 F

However, we're all sinners,*

You can decide you are a sinner- fill your boots, but you don't get to decide that for anyone else.

The idea of biblical sin is weird and twisted- and I want no part of it.

You don't stand in judgement of me.

Compassion is a Christian value that unfortunately a lot of Christians lack. Like a pp very rightly put, being a Christian who may very actively practice their faith, (frequently attending church etc) doesn’t necessarily make them a ‘good person’ who has and demonstrates Christian values.
A lot of Christians like me (hopefully!) don’t attend church frequently but live their life in a Christian way. Being compassionate, thankful, respectful and loving.
You can’t change people but you can change how you engage with them. I don’t see the people anymore who claim to be something they’re not. It’s fine that they are like they are,(completely toxic and take advantage of everyone) but I don’t want to be around them. Live your life and let them live theirs, even if it’s not as Christian led as they’d like to believe.

Apologies, I should’ve maybe put, that some Christians lack, not a lot of Christians. (A bit generalist there wasn’t I?!)

Compassion is a Christian value that unfortunately a lot of Christians lack.

I don't want to derail the thread, but I do think it's odd when basic values are attributed to Christianity/Christians.

I can't think of a single religion that doesn't encourage compassion, it's not a solely Christian preserve.

coolhwip, Christians don’t claim to have the monopoly on it!

But my point was that some Christians lack it.