Just an open ended question.

What's with blurring the lines between those who claim Christianity and those who actually practice it? We've had a couple of recent examples of you guys assuming everyone who claims to be christian happens to be Christian just on their proclaimation. Why is this? I have brought up that Christ himself says in Mat 7 that not everyone who claims to be a follower is indeed a follower. What's more he even went so far as to say even some of those who do great things in His name are followers of Christ. But only those who do the will of the Father.

This means that a Follower of Christ is one who follows the instructions given to us to follow. Not anyone who just calls out 'Lord, Lord.'

I hope none of you think that God is bound by your understanding of some death bed effort on your part to keep you out of Hell.

I don't think any of us really care.

If someone wants to call themselves a Christian I don't see what business it is of mine to doubt or question them.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: Just an open ended question.

What's with blurring the lines between those who claim Christianity and those who actually practice it? We've had a couple of recent examples of you guys assuming everyone who claims to be christian happens to be Christian just on their proclaimation. Why is this?

You're right, maybe we should doubt the claim that another person believes what they say they believe.

You're not a christian, you don't believe what you say you believe. You're just going through the motions. Happy now?

Well, if you've been lying to me: I clearly like it. Lie to me some more.

A turd by any other name smells just as bad. Changing the definition doesn't do much to the facts.

Which of the 40,000+ denominations are the True Christians? If you go by the book, the only candidates are the fundies, not those fake ass cherry pickin Christians. And I don't know about you, but I prefer to have moderates than a world of only the WBC. To me, they're just claiming false bullshit all the same.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: Just an open ended question.

What's with blurring the lines between those who claim Christianity and those who actually practice it? We've had a couple of recent examples of you guys assuming everyone who claims to be christian happens to be Christian just on their proclaimation. Why is this? I have brought up that Christ himself says in Mat 7 that not everyone who claims to be a follower is indeed a follower. What's more he even went so far as to say even some of those who do great things in His name are followers of Christ. But only those who do the will of the Father.

This means that a Follower of Christ is one who follows the instructions given to us to follow. Not anyone who just calls out 'Lord, Lord.'

I hope none of you think that God is bound by your understanding of some death bed effort on your part to keep you out of Hell.

Because our criticism of Christianity isn't just about what it teaches but also the consequences of its teachings. Regardless of the fact that you want us to make an entirely subjective distinction, that distinction is completely unnecessary for us to make.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: Just an open ended question.

What's with blurring the lines between those who claim Christianity and those who actually practice it? We've had a couple of recent examples of you guys assuming everyone who claims to be christian happens to be Christian just on their proclaimation. Why is this?

Courtesy. It's not our job to police who is and isn't a real ™ Christian. Christians seem happy to accept nominal Christians into the fold when the topic is what percentage of (say) Americans are Christians. Neil Tyson calls himself an agnostic when he's clearly an agnostic atheist, but if he doesn't want to call himself an atheist, that's his right. If someone wants to call themselves a Christian, that's their right. If you have a problem with who is calling themseleves Christian, take it up with them.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: I have brought up that Christ himself says in Mat 7 that not everyone who claims to be a follower is indeed a follower.

Personally, and no offense intended, I think that describes you pretty well. I think your idiosyncratic theology has led you off the reservation of what legitimately can be called Christian. But if that's how you identify, it's not my job to convince you otherwise.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: What's more he even went so far as to say even some of those who do great things in His name are followers of Christ. But only those who do the will of the Father.

What has this to do with atheists? Why are we your target audience for your complaint? For the most part, we don't care who really is or isn't a Christian. For me, this is similar to my lack of concern for who really is or isn't a true Star Wars fan.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: This means that a Follower of Christ is one who follows the instructions given to us to follow. Not anyone who just calls out 'Lord, Lord.'

So convince the people you're complaining of that you're right. Convincing atheists is irrelevant to the matter.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:47 am)Drich Wrote: I hope none of you think that God is bound by your understanding of some death bed effort on your part to keep you out of Hell.

You seem to be thinking of Catholics, not atheists.

(January 12, 2015 at 11:49 am)Fidel_Castronaut Wrote: I don't think any of us really care.

If someone wants to call themselves a Christian I don't see what business it is of mine to doubt or question them.

Actually I am asking because I would think that you all would not care, therefore when a Christians says a member of a group of people do not follow the faith, if you did not care you would take the Christian's word. But it seems you do have a dog in this race because when ever it comes up, you guys seem to take the role of the defender of the faith, and argue for the faith of one who does not follow the 'rules' of the religion.

The dog is that the people who say that are generally twats, and also, apparently...might not even be christians themselves. You might take notice...when you find yourself in a position where an atheist is the defender of the faith you dishonestly claim to hold.