Good Christians ...

[Dez]

Re: Good Christians ...

I have met a lot of very good Christians.

A friend of my mother's when I was growing up had studied to be a minister, and went to a tiny liberal church in Utah. Her family had (gasp) left the LDS church before she was born. She ran a flower farm (mostly lilies), and I worked for her during the year that I was 14 and my grandmother's health began to seriously decline. Her family helped me through some really tough times, and I doubt she has any idea, to this day, what an impact she had on my life.

I think that there are a lot of good Christians in the world, but they often "aren't Christian enough" for the really loud people. I also think that there are a lot of really good people who get suckered into believing that someone (ranging anywhere from misguided to downright bad) has more of a right to tell them what they ought to do then the words of Christ and their own intuition.

[-Emotions-]

Re: Good Christians ...

I had a social worker who gave me sports therapy. He was a Christian that believed in reincarnation, angel-contact, channelings and such. He gave me a great deal of religious and non religious advice. That was my first time encountering someone with a different belief but matched so close to mine.

[gwynwas]

Re: Good Christians ...

[quote author=magusjinx link=topic=589.msg8424#msg8424 date=1288488026]
I know it is a weird title but bear with me ... We all know people that are "real" people ... Someone that is "the salt of the Earth" ... "Real down-home folk" ... In general (I sometimes hate that phrase) those people that we know are of a non-Christian nature or have Pagan tendencies ... But do you know someone who is a real good person and a good Christian? ... I know, "good Christian" defining is an open can of worms too ... Oh well ... Give it a try ...
[/quote]

I've known good people who are good christians my entire life. Many ppl who are christians are so because of the basic values inherent in the religion. "meek shall inherit the earth" "turn the other cheek" etc. But, in my experience, being a good person seems to have something to do with the person and usually, sadly, very little to do with supposed beliefs and values (and that's not a dig at any particular belief system) .

christianity, like buddhism, is one of those recent religions that incorporated morality (for better or worse) in way that older religions just didn't seem to, at least not to the same degree.

It was one of the reasons why christianity came to be as big as it is in the urbanized and post tribal world of late classical europe. And i do believe that it is still a very big part of what draws people to the religion. I work in social services and i have known many people who are good honest christians and take is seriously and are very ethical and compassionate.

[Illumin]

Re: Good Christians ...

I knew a very good man, who lived the christian life, as Jesus taught it to be lived. He gave of himself to everyone and never asked anything in return.
The amazing thing is that, he always had something to give. He was disabled, living on a fixed income, with four children and a wife, yet somehow always managed to have enough to help whoever came to him for help...
Great man, its a shame he died at such a young age.

[Witcher]

[Lane Trip]

Re: Good Christians ...

The majority of my friends are Christian, including my room mate. They are all loving and understanding people. None of them have tried to convert me back since I left Christianity and things haven't changed between us. So yes, I know plenty of good Christians and hang out with them on a daily basis.

[Dumuzi]

Re: Good Christians ...

Christians protecting Muslims while they pray during the protests in Egypt

[Maulus]

Re: Good Christians ...

i heard about this, it sounds like the Christians were repaying the protection afforded them by their Muslim colleagues and neighbours a few months earlier. It is good to see
M

[LiadanWillows]

Re: Good Christians ...

My room mate from college was wonderful. She was a Christian under the Nazarene denomination. She encouraged me to come to their bible study (only if I wanted to) and when I went they asked me so many questions and were so open and interested that I was shocked. I had some of the deepest most mind opening conversations with Julie. She really opened my eyes and helped me see that I was being slightly prejudiced against Christians and that I should see a person for who they are not what book they carry.

[calfhill]

Re: Good Christians ...

My favorite "good Christian" is a young lady that worked for me a while back. Before she knew I was Pagan, we were talking about the upcoming RenFair. She told me she loved going, but that the "pagans make me nervous." I almost wet my pants at that. As time went by, she eventually learned that I am Pagan. One night I asked, "I don't make you nervous, do I?" She said, "No, of course not." "But you know I am a Pagan, right?" "Oh, well, yeah..." It was great. She still thinks I'm going to Hell if I don't accept her religion, but she's great anyway.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Good Christians ...

I've had a lot of bad encounters - they don't even know what I believe in, just that I don't attend THEIR particular church. I don't believe that kind really ARE Christians at all - they've been duped by con-artist fire & brimstone "preachers" and are quite cult-ish. Real believers in any faith/religion/whatever are those who live & breathe it, not those who rant & rave about it for an hour a week. That being said, I've met quite a few good people of many different faiths including Christians, but the best Christians I've met aren't the regular church-goers.

[PharaohKatt]

Re: Good Christians ...

I actually find this whole topic quite offensive. Seriously, stereotyping people because of their religion? I really don't agree with that. There a heaps of people who are "good" Christians; hell, I used to be one!

[Dumuzi]

Re: Good Christians ...

i heard about this, it sounds like the Christians were repaying the protection afforded them by their Muslim colleagues and neighbours a few months earlier. It is good to see
M

Yes, that's true

Egypt's Muslims attend Coptic Christmas mass, serving as "human shields"

[Dez]

Re: Good Christians ...

I actually find this whole topic quite offensive. Seriously, stereotyping people because of their religion? I really don't agree with that. There a heaps of people who are "good" Christians; hell, I used to be one!

The goal of this thread, PharaohKatt, isn't to try to be insulting...the point is to try to talk about good things we see in the Christians in our lives. It's way too easy to fall into Christian-bashing, and constant complaining about how dumb the ones we deal with are, and that sort of thing isn't cool. Sometimes, too, though, there are people on here with legitimate rants, based on intolerance due to someone else's religion. This is to balance that.

[PharaohKatt]

Re: Good Christians ...

Ok, that makes sense. It just feels like theres a sort of surprise that actually, really, good Christians exist can you believe it!! It's this idea that most Christians are bible-bashers, so we have to go to great lengths to find good ones.