Most Christians Are Immoral

[Bikerman 2]

Most of us are simply trying to make sense of this life, into which we are thrust without invitation and which we have to try our best to deal with. Some believe that we can best proceed by learning lessons from others who have gone before. I count myself in that category. Some take it further and believe that we should model our lives on a particular role-model. Christians would, I believe it is fair to say, be in that category.Now, when I try to learn lessons from others, the first obvious thing to do is learn about them - what did they actually say and do. If I want to learn from Kant and the categorical imperative then I need to understand what he was actually saying - otherwise I am simply projecting my own views onto a label and calling it Kant, which is fundamentally dishonest in the same way that constructing a straw-man argument is dishonest.Now, let's apply that simple standard to Christians. Do they make it a priority to learn about Jesus before adopting him as a role model?Well, the only source of information we have is the New Testament. Anyone claiming to be a Christian must surely, therefore, be familiar with this set of documents as a minimum. But is this what we observe? I would say no. Most Christians I debate are woefully ignorant of scripture. Their notion of Jesus is almost entirely fantasy, or 'received wisdom'. You can test this assertion. Ask a Christian to repeat a few things which Jesus actually said. Most will struggle to misquote a few of the more well known phrases. Then ask them what the basic message of Jesus was. You will normally get trite answers like - love thy neighbour. Ask them where this is said and I can guarantee that most of them will have no clue - they know the phrase because they have seen it repeated on the media and in church. They are prepared to believe that Jesus said it, but they are too lazy to actually find out if he actually did, and in what context. The same applies to the list of platitudes that normally pour out of apologist mouths.In truth the average Christian hasn't got a clue about Jesus. They are intellectually lazy, ignorant bigots, who profess belief in something they don't understand and, worse, are not prepared to put the effort into understanding. I have nothing but contempt for this. They are quite happy to support the bigotry found in the bible without actually reading it. Thus Christians often say that homosexuality is a sin, but ask them which part of the bible this comes from and you will be met with either blank looks or, at best, they will name the book of the old Testament. Now ask them what else, from that book, is to be considered immoral. Be prepared for a long wait because they will not know - I absolutely guarantee it. Why am I sure? Because the list of things in Deuteronomy and Leviticus that are considered 'wrong' is massive and largely ridiculous, and nobody could possibly live according to the prescriptions of these books - and I must emphasise that I mean that quite literally, they would not be able to live.But I hear people saying - why single Christians out - surely most people just struggle through life without knowing what they believe chapter and verse. Ask a supporter of evolution what Darwin actually said and they will not know. This is true, but there is a difference. Firstly, evolution (to take a specific example) does not tell you how to behave. More importantly, it does not tell you to condemn others who do not behave the same. Secondly, evolution is testable - like any scientific theory it must be capable of being proved wrong. There are, in short, good reasons to believe it is true, without appealing to faith.So, it is my contention that most Christians - particularly the evangelical variety - are fundamentally immoral. They accept a dogma on faith, discard elements of that dogma they find inconvenient, adapt the actual dogma so that it is nothing more than a reflection of their own prejudices and desires, and then judge others on the basis of this un-testable self-serving bollox.They do not deserve respect - in fact they do not even deserve benign tolerance. They deserve contempt, or at best pity.PS - I have been pulled-up on my use of 'most'. Why, the questioner asked, do you say 'most' Christians? Surely ALL Christians are equally culpable? Well, yes, in actuality that is probably true. I left room, however, for the Christian who knows the bible and genuinely tries to live his life in the way that the biblical Jesus taught. Such a person would not be a hypocrite in my evaluation. They would, however, be a dangerous sociopath who, I sincerely hope, would already be in prison for the rest of their life.If you don't understand why I say this then you haven't read the bible properly.As it happens I also believe that Christianity - as laid-out by Jesus in the New Testament - is a fundamentally immoral philosophy, but that is a different debate.