(insert 'American' in front of 'Christians' and 'non-Christians' for clarity)
So here's the thing; Christianity says it changes people. That's one of the core claims about the faith; it makes you a new and better person, desirous of being loving and of following the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.
In other words, Christians should be living differently from non-Christians. There should be, as the Bible puts it, recognizable "fruit' in their lives.
But statistics tell us a different story. Teen pregnancy rates among Christians are the same as in the population at large. Divorce, drug addiction, alcoholism, domestic abuse, rates of incarceration - all of these tell us that Christians live and act just like non-Christians.
Now, some Christians will tell you that this is because most of the people who call themselves Christians aren't True ChristiansTM - but this argument doesn't hold water. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that only 10% of the people who identify as Christians are, in fact, ChristiansTM - fair enough?
Well, even if that were true, there would still be a statistically significant difference between the actions of those who call themselves Christians and those who do not. It would be smaller, but it would still exist.
But it doesn't.
Another counter-argument is that we don't know what sort of people these Christians were before they got saved, so we can't really know how much they have changed. Unfortunately, there are plenty of serious jerks among the unsaved as well! And besides, the Bible doesn't say "you will become less of a jerk and end up statistically indistinguishable from the average person." It say's you'll be really, noticeably different - so different, in fact, that the world will know you by your love for one-another.
But we don't. You can't tell the Christians from the non-Christians without asking them. Christians sue each-other just as often as non-Christians. They divorce just as often. This is not particularly "loving" behavior.
Bottom line: The Bible does not deliver on its promise to make people new, more loving, more considerate, or less judgmental. The only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that little label they give themselves when asked (and often tell you even when not asked).
Christians bear no fruit. Unless you count Westboro Baptist.
So here's the thing; Christianity says it changes people. That's one of the core claims about the faith; it makes you a new and better person, desirous of being loving and of following the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.
In other words, Christians should be living differently from non-Christians. There should be, as the Bible puts it, recognizable "fruit' in their lives.
But statistics tell us a different story. Teen pregnancy rates among Christians are the same as in the population at large. Divorce, drug addiction, alcoholism, domestic abuse, rates of incarceration - all of these tell us that Christians live and act just like non-Christians.
Now, some Christians will tell you that this is because most of the people who call themselves Christians aren't True ChristiansTM - but this argument doesn't hold water. Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that only 10% of the people who identify as Christians are, in fact, ChristiansTM - fair enough?
Well, even if that were true, there would still be a statistically significant difference between the actions of those who call themselves Christians and those who do not. It would be smaller, but it would still exist.
But it doesn't.
Another counter-argument is that we don't know what sort of people these Christians were before they got saved, so we can't really know how much they have changed. Unfortunately, there are plenty of serious jerks among the unsaved as well! And besides, the Bible doesn't say "you will become less of a jerk and end up statistically indistinguishable from the average person." It say's you'll be really, noticeably different - so different, in fact, that the world will know you by your love for one-another.
But we don't. You can't tell the Christians from the non-Christians without asking them. Christians sue each-other just as often as non-Christians. They divorce just as often. This is not particularly "loving" behavior.
Bottom line: The Bible does not deliver on its promise to make people new, more loving, more considerate, or less judgmental. The only difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that little label they give themselves when asked (and often tell you even when not asked).
Christians bear no fruit. Unless you count Westboro Baptist.
