Ieyke said:
It doesn't help Christians that so many of them literally believe so strongly in the veritable nonsense that fills so much of the Bible. A great many other religious groups will tend to admit that they believe in their deities, but the actual stories themselves are something they regard as mere parables, no more true than Aesop's Fables - simply fairy tales designed to succinctly illustrate a point and teach a lesson.
And then there are Christian extremists who run around spouting off enough annoying nonsense that they'd be put down, were it not illegal.
Honestly, no, it's not ignorant or malicious to dismiss Christianity as stupid when it boils right down to it.
There are so many things illogical and self-contradicting in many of the most fundamental concepts. Though the same can be said for pretty much all organized/semi-organised religions and their various myths.
The notion of gods and divine powers, fine. Nothing you can prove remotely wrong or silly in the overall idea, but the more and more elaborate a religion gets, and the more claims its mythology makes, the easier it is to find all the ways it simply doesn't line up with logic and reality, and the ways in which it is self-contradicting.
I have no criticisms of Christians who essentially just believe in the lessons that Bible parables are designed to teach, and that there might be an all-powerful being that is ultimately responsible for the physical laws that govern the universe.
The same can be said about Hellenists. If they believe in the lessons taught in Greek myths, and maybe that the universe is ultimately run by gods that embody hundreds of personified concepts and phenomena, so be it. The ones who believe the Earth suffered through the Titanomachia and that winter happens because Demeter misses Persephone....that's daft.
At what point did I prove myself to be a christian extremist? You cannot treat every christian you meet like one. Its stereotyping to assume all christians are like that. There is a very good reason to not assume all black people steal - it's called racism. Much like there is a fantastic reason to not treat any christian you meet like they're trying to shove the bible down your throat and burn gay people for fun - that one is sectarianism. They both have something in common - unprovoked, irrational hatred to a group of people for unacceptable reasons. I know that there are christian extremists but in my mind, a lot of them aren't christian. Anybody can call themselves christian and do things in the name of it but a lot of them are missing the point. The extremists are the ones who are on the news so they are the only ones society gets to see in action - precisely because they ARE extreme and doing something news worthy. Something that usually isn't looked upon kindly by anyone. Nobody thinks of the charity work done by many when they think of christians - only as people who tell you you're going to hell and as priests that molest children. You're judging millions of individuals based on the actions of a few.
(Also, I know non-christians and people of all religions do charity work - I'm not claiming its exclusive to christianity. However, a lot christians do charity work as it's woven into the belief very heavily.)
Look at it this way; if in the original post "The Christian God" was replaced with "Muslim Beliefs", would it still look harmless? What about "Buddhism" or "Islam"? Even Athiests defend their beliefs but when its christianity? Not a chance. Someone in a crowd need only mention they're a christian and they'd get verbally or emotionally assaulted.
And in any case, to insult someone and make fun of what they believe in ANY religion is just being an asshole. It doesn't matter what it is - there is NEVER a good reason to do it.
