No True Scotsman

[Tonus]

It's common for non-believers to condemn christianity for atrocities committed or perceived to be committed in the name of christianity. They use this to assert that christianity is an evil force in the world. A christian is defined as one who follows Christ. Therefore I ask if a nation or individual is truly following the teachings of Jesus Christ would they have committed those atrocities?

I would be more willing to consider this objection if so many Christians didn't appeal to the popularity of Christianity so often. We often see them tell us that the vast number of people throughout history --and even to this day-- who believe in the Bible should be considered as evidence of its veracity. But it doesn't seem to take much to get those same Christians to begin disqualifying massive swaths of those same people as not really being Christian.

Also, it seems to me that you cannot disqualify a person in such a manner simply based on poor behavior, because nearly all Christians admit that they are imperfect, fallen, unworthy sinners who only achieve salvation through Christ's sacrifice. If the only Christian is a sinless human, then there have never been any Christians. And if not, then you can't just dismiss the abominable actions of some Christians because they crossed some threshold that you decided to define.

If the Bible has the power to change people's lives and re-shape them into something better, then every time you dismiss someone as not being a true Christian you are showing us another example of god's word FAILING to do just that. And I'm not talking about some 'hard-hearted atheist' or anything like that. I mean people who insist that they are Christians and who believe in Yahweh and his book the Holy Bible. And you are saying that it simply isn't having sufficient impact in their lives, though you are willing to count them when you want to play up god's popularity.