JJ50 Posted May 1, 2014 #1 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Why is it some Christians, usually of the more fundamentalist 'born again' dogma, seem to think they are better than non believers, and even other Christians of different doctrines? However their behaviour can leave a lot to be desired, and is often worse, than the 'heathen', and Christians of other doctrines they appear to despise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted May 1, 2014 #2 Share Posted May 1, 2014 You can make that same statement about any group of people. You seem to have a very high level of hostility towards Christianity, do you feel the same way about Judaism? Islam? Buddhism? Shinto? Taoism? Sikhism? etc, etc......? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almagest Posted May 1, 2014 #3 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Their religion gives them a sense of moral superiority. Same goes with all religions. Islam is the final revelation and supposedly a complete guide to life. The Jews are of course the Chosen people. Hinduism has a caste system. There's always something that an elitist can latch on to. The same thing goes for unbelievers and intellectual superiority. However I tend to find that intellectual elitists aren't as smart as they pretend to be. It seems to me like compensation for shortcomings. It's possible that believers who act superior to others are compensating for their own doubts. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+and-then Posted May 1, 2014 #4 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Their religion gives them a sense of moral superiority. Same goes with all religions. Islam is the final revelation and supposedly a complete guide to life. The Jews are of course the Chosen people. Hinduism has a caste system. There's always something that an elitist can latch on to. The same thing goes for unbelievers and intellectual superiority. However I tend to find that intellectual elitists aren't as smart as they pretend to be. It seems to me like compensation for shortcomings. It's possible that believers who act superior to others are compensating for their own doubts. I agree with this as a general statement. Meaning that I think it is true in most cases. Everyone has a bit of arrogance from time to time but I don't know that people who really follow Christ's example would often fit here. The truth of most of the Christians I've known is that they are more humble exactly because they KNEW they weren't worthy - that they'd been saved by grace, not of their own abilities. Everyone slips though and returns to the old carnal pride and sin at times. Like the saying goes: Christians aren't perfect - just forgiven 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafterman Posted May 1, 2014 #5 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Why is it some Christians, usually of the more fundamentalist 'born again' dogma, seem to think they are better than non believers, and even other Christians of different doctrines? However their behaviour can leave a lot to be desired, and is often worse, than the 'heathen', and Christians of other doctrines they appear to despise! It's so Christian of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ50 Posted May 1, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted May 1, 2014 (edited) You can make that same statement about any group of people. You seem to have a very high level of hostility towards Christianity, do you feel the same way about Judaism? Islam? Buddhism? Shinto? Taoism? Sikhism? etc, etc......? I don't know enough about other faiths to make a judgement. I know far too much about the 'born again' Christian dogma, which I detest. I have no quarrel with mainstream live and let live Christians though, even if I don't see it their way. Edited May 1, 2014 by JJ50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted May 1, 2014 #7 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Does anybody recall the episode of the young ones when they're getting ready to throw a party and the born again christian comes by to save them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almagest Posted May 1, 2014 #8 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I agree with this as a general statement. Meaning that I think it is true in most cases. Everyone has a bit of arrogance from time to time but I don't know that people who really follow Christ's example would often fit here. The truth of most of the Christians I've known is that they are more humble exactly because they KNEW they weren't worthy - that they'd been saved by grace, not of their own abilities. Everyone slips though and returns to the old carnal pride and sin at times. Like the saying goes: Christians aren't perfect - just forgiven Well that is one element of Christ's teachings I agree with - humility. That doesn't mean one can't be confident - a trait I often find confused with arrogance. It really bugs me when I hear experts who speaks with clarity and confidence get called arrogant. I doubt you're a fan of his, but Richard Dawkins is a good example. Yes, he can be arrogant when he's talking outside of his expertise. But he is also one of the top Evolutionary Biologists alive today, and when he speaks on the topic he does so with the confidence that can only come from working in a field for over forty years. We wouldn't treat a mechanic with the same amount of experience in a similar fashion. Personally I find being a little cocky is a good coping mechanism for some of my issues, but I try my hardest to ensure that I'm only promoting myself, not putting anyone down or making them feel insecure. We all have our own talents. Mine just happen to be intellectual in nature. We also have our own shortcomings. I'm terrible at sports(besides Cricket and Bowling, where I'm merely sub-par) for instance. It doesn't make sense for me to brag about my wit and my good memory to a footballer. They can brag about their fitness and their sexual conquests to me and nothing of value has been exchanged between us. Ultimately it boils down to good manners. It's fine to say you're confident in your faith, but not so fine to tell everyone who disagrees with you that they're going to Hell. Likewise it's fine to say you're confident in your lack of faith, but not so fine to go around calling people ignorant sheeple. It's perfectly OK to acknowledge ones limits, particularly when it comes to the understanding of things. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+and-then Posted May 1, 2014 #9 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Well that is one element of Christ's teachings I agree with - humility. That doesn't mean one can't be confident - a trait I often find confused with arrogance. It really bugs me when I hear experts who speaks with clarity and confidence get called arrogant. I doubt you're a fan of his, but Richard Dawkins is a good example. Yes, he can be arrogant when he's talking outside of his expertise. But he is also one of the top Evolutionary Biologists alive today, and when he speaks on the topic he does so with the confidence that can only come from working in a field for over forty years. We wouldn't treat a mechanic with the same amount of experience in a similar fashion. Personally I find being a little cocky is a good coping mechanism for some of my issues, but I try my hardest to ensure that I'm only promoting myself, not putting anyone down or making them feel insecure. We all have our own talents. Mine just happen to be intellectual in nature. We also have our own shortcomings. I'm terrible at sports(besides Cricket and Bowling, where I'm merely sub-par) for instance. It doesn't make sense for me to brag about my wit and my good memory to a footballer. They can brag about their fitness and their sexual conquests to me and nothing of value has been exchanged between us. Ultimately it boils down to good manners. It's fine to say you're confident in your faith, but not so fine to tell everyone who disagrees with you that they're going to Hell. Likewise it's fine to say you're confident in your lack of faith, but not so fine to go around calling people ignorant sheeple. It's perfectly OK to acknowledge ones limits, particularly when it comes to the understanding of things. Absolutely - it gets down to simple respect and good manners I think. Life is complicated enough without gratuitous hatefulness. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simplybill Posted May 1, 2014 #10 Share Posted May 1, 2014 JJ50 - I may be one of the "born-again fundamentalist literalists" that you're addressing in your OP. (To be honest, I've assigned that label to myself. It's a long story.) You mentioned your Pentecostal background. Is there a specific incident that you're thinking of when you describe fundamentalists as acting better than others? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodentraiser Posted May 2, 2014 #11 Share Posted May 2, 2014 JJ50 - in what way? Are you talking about the fundamentalist desire to bring us all into the fold, which is usually their fold, and asking why they think their religion, and not a religion of, say, Catholicism is good enough? Because maybe they're not thinking they're better than everyone else. Maybe because no other religion is pushing the political agenda, they merely stepped up to the plate to fill that void. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Merton Posted May 2, 2014 #12 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Humility is indeed a rare thing, especially when it comes to the idea that our beliefs might be wrong. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shiloh17 Posted May 2, 2014 #13 Share Posted May 2, 2014 It boils down to practicing what you preach, but usually it turns into hypocrisy. And those are the worst Christians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LostSouls7 Posted May 2, 2014 #14 Share Posted May 2, 2014 most religions thing they are right and everyone else is wrong. Some even think anyone who does not believe the way is going to die. But in the end... they are only enslaved to limited thinking.. and limited spiritual potential because of this.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcion Meets E. Sibyl Posted May 2, 2014 #15 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Life is complicated enough without gratuitous hatefulness. Life is complicated enough...even when you give your all to avoid complications and scrapes and awkward situations, they still come at you. Earlier today at work was a great example. There are people who just don't know how to be polite, courteous, considerate and civil. It's not always about too much testosterone in the air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ50 Posted May 2, 2014 Author #16 Share Posted May 2, 2014 JJ50 - I may be one of the "born-again fundamentalist literalists" that you're addressing in your OP. (To be honest, I've assigned that label to myself. It's a long story.) You mentioned your Pentecostal background. Is there a specific incident that you're thinking of when you describe fundamentalists as acting better than others? Yes, but too many to list. They were always banging on about going to hell if you weren't 'saved' and salivating at the prospect of the 'heathens' burning. The 'born again' dogma, if it had any credibility, is truly disgusting and only an evil deity could devise it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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