If you’re a Christian, are you really? I recently read some posts on Twitter that told me that I shouldn’t refer to anyone that claims to be Christian as, well, not so much. I don’t want to go to far here. People believe what they want and Christianity is so diverse, there sre some denominations that may believe that theirs is the only true belief. So, yes, probably all of these people are in fact, Christian. But I don’t see it quite that way.
It’s not so much, the belief but more of how they act. Think about it. How many Christians do you know that live in any semblance a Christian life, as described in their own text (The New Testament)? I know a few, but they are in the minority. I’m nt referring to how in the Book of Acts, Christians were told to sell their goods to give money to the poor. but just the basic tenets of the belief, the main one being Love one another. How much of that do any of us see from those that are not afraid to display their faith? Of course, humans are just that and we are not perfect, but how often do we find those that will reveal their true self? Is it okay to criticize those that want to throw their belief in another persons face and yet cannt find a single scripture in their text that they can live up to?
I think it’s okay to criticize these individuals. I wouldn’t go so far as to apply this to all Christian believers though. There are some that are true believers, but I really think that the mass of those that claim Christianity as their belief system, couldn’t find the the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), much less quote anything from any of the writings of Paul or those purported to be from others. In fact, I don’t really think that many, if asked, could even find their bible in their home. If they have one.
So yes, I think it’s okay to criticize those that claim a belief that in no way attempt to live that belief.
Conservative Skeptic 
What I like most about Christianity is that it’s not Islam, which is a major bonus in my opinion. Unfortunately, it is Christianity, which kind of takes most of the shine off it for me.
One of the biggest reasons that I criticize religion is the expectation that it shouldn’t be criticized. I find it absurd and unsettling that people would expect a set of ideas that have a significant impact on billions of lives to go relatively unchecked. Too often religion is used to justify immoral behavior in ideas and ways that no other concept could. This is perhaps the biggest reason to criticize religion
The existence of apologetics should be a red flag. Truth requires no apologetics; the practice exists specifically to defend ideas that can’t withstand scrutiny.
With over 34,000 different flavors of Christianity, it begs the question on how anyone, Christian or Non-Christian, can take the religion seriously when they can’t even agree on the basic fundamentals & principles of their own religion. They don’t agree because they do NOT base their opinions and laws on what’s in the Bible. They base it on what they THINK is in there. That’s even more troubling. It’s obvious that believers will interpret the bible any way they want to. Hermeneutics is a philosophy and by no means a science. It creates the illusion that you understand the bibles verses or the universe for that matter. Religion relies on speculation & interpretation. And then tries to label it as observation & investigation, when its not.
All ideas should be met with skepticism and criticism especially those that make absolute claims. Disbelief in these kind of claims should always be the default position until that claim has held up to real scrutiny.
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“What I like most about Christianity is that it’s not Islam.” Hahaha! I could not agree more. In fact, I am on the same page you are in all you wrote. And I learned a new word…hermeneutics.
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