True Christian

Liking something such as "Let's see how many true Christians are on Facebook. Like if you're a TRUE Christian" on FB doesn't make you a "True Christian", what it makes you is an unimaginative twat.

I'm so sick of getting spammed with shit like that by people who get some sense of satisfaction from telegraphing a bullshit ubiquitous comment to the world. You know what makes you a true Christian? Worshiping Christ. I used to think being a "true Christian" meant doing something nice, being a good neighbor or something along those lines. Therein lies many of the problems with the term "Christian" in the United States of America.

Most people in the US equate being "Christian" with being a good person. But, if you look at the history of Christianity, you'll find perhaps the most atrocious crimes against humanity were perpetrated by Christians. Hitler was raised Roman Catholic and often purported to be a Christian. The Catholic Church has certainly performed its share of nastiness. And, if you talk about the crusades, well, the Christians did enough murdering, raping, torture and terrorism during that period to last an eternity.

However, many of the views set forth in the Bible are very pleasant ideals. "Love thy neighbor". "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you". That sort of thing, right? The thing is, those aren't Christian morals. They are HUMAN morals. Those ideals have been around for thousands of years - long before Christianity came to this earth. If you look at nearly ever major religion, you'll find those exact sentiments backing their belief system. It's in the Koran. It's in the Hebrew Bible. The teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) instruct his followers to think along these lines. And though polytheistic traditions of Europe prior to the arrival of Christianity depends on the God(s)you primarily worship, many of the beliefs of both ancient religion and society believe in these ideals.

So, if you want to be "Christian", then follow the faith of Christianity. If you want to be a good person...if you want to live your life in a way that leaves the world better than when you left it, then be a good person. Take care of your fellow humans and be a Humanist. Take care of the earth and be a Naturalist. Take care of your Family and be a Familist. Do whatever you want to, but don't forget that Christianity invented neither "doing good" or "doing bad". We did that all on our own.