I'm not falling into any trap. I realize that he's the minority and folks like him are also in the minority. My point was that religion [not just Christianity] can be - and has a history of being - used to promote hate and intolerance. Those people believe what they're doing and saying is the right thing to do. They emphatically believe that "God" (whatever he, she, or it is) wants them to do all of the awful things that they do...all in the name of Christ, Christianity, and the Bible. Same with the radical Islamists. They emphatically believe that Allah wants them to kill infidels (which has become a representation for Americans essentially).
They use the "word of God" to back their outrageous and seemingly insane beliefs.
Religion splits people 1 of 2 ways. Those who don't care what others do and legitimately want to just develop their own personal spirituality and then those that develop various forms of intolerance because that's how they are interpreting their religion (or that's how it is being interpreted for them...I'd venture to say this is probably more true).Quote:
The louder and zanier your antics, the more likely you are to be on television. Johnny Knoxville is a great example. You brought up Fred Phelps as an intolerant jackass, which he is. That's one. Now think of all the Christians you know who aren't jerks. You'll be surprised that we out number the jerks by quite a large margin.
And Johnny Knoxville is a Saint. :)
This got a chuckle out of me and I assume you're just joking. However, isn't this statement in and of itself a bit of intolerance in that you think people should be striving to reach your standards?Quote:
To clarify, I mean Christians who aren't INTOLERANT jerks. I'm a Christian and a huge jerk but not intolerant. I just think people should strive to reach my lofty standards of awesomeness.