I don’t really know what to think about the OP. It seems to me that when Christian beliefs are “bashed” it’s because they are stepping up and asking for it. This is the Great Debates forum. To complain about someone raking your beliefs over the coals here is sort of like complaining to the referee that the other guy hit you in the middle of a boxing match.
I will agree that I have seen shots that seemed to me to be cheap ones (from BOTH sides), but I don’t see a campaign to bash your beliefs in particular when they are presented civilly. Blanket condemnations like “Gay Christians aren’t really Christians” or “Eternity. Smoking or Non-smoking?” are the things that generally sound the call to arms from what I remember.
Why is Christianity itself is such a big target?
- We have all been exposed to it for most of our lives by virtue of living in the western hemisphere.
- We have all seen the misdeeds of countless high-profile followers while at the same time, how many “professional atheists” are there out there?
- Christians often drop by to proselytize. The ones I have seen that make it a point of doing so here are very weak in their knowledge of other religions, philosophy, science, the history of their own religion, logic, and occasionally even the Bible itself! Our representatives from other faiths-- Deism, Buddhism, and Judaism are ones I have seen recently-- never seem to drop by on a conversion mission.
- There’s a certain judgementalism inherent in some strains of Christianity that is reprehensible to many. The idea that we are all so utterly loathsome that God cannot abide us, that people who do x or who do not do y will spend eternity roasting in Hell. That is your belief, and that is fine and dandy. But it does certainly make Christianity somewhat more of a target since it happens to level those charges at everyone. None of the other religions make it their business to insult us all by the very fact of our having been born.
- Some Christian groups are a political force with a definite desire to impose their values and religious beliefs on non-believers through legislation and politics. This is not a trait unique to Christians, but I seldom hear of Buddhists trying to get a TV show off the air, or trying to put prayer wheels in schools.
- Certain Christian visitors have been unwilling to acknowledge that anyone else’s experiences of God, or their interpretations of the scriptures can be as valid as their own. Their death-grip hold on the truth is unassailable, and by doing so, they tacitly raise themselves above everyone else, even disagreeing Christians.
A distinction should be made between attacking the consistency and logic of someone’s belief, attacking the belief itself, attacking the person, and attacking the person’s posting style. When Gaudere homed in on the contradictions of FriendofGod’s “perfectly just and perfectly merciful”, that was an attack on his logic. When David B. began to refer to FoG as “FriendofInfanticideTyrant” (or something similar) and began using profanity it was, IMHO, a direct attack on the person and the belief, and out of line. “Bible Thumper” is usually reserved (at least for me) for those posters too dense or hidebound to do anything else but spout scripture as argument. It’s fine when the argument is about scripture, as in the “Christ’s birthdate doesn’t fit with the bible” thread, but is hardly an appropriate argument for the existence of God or the validity of the Bible itself. As such, I consider “Bible Thumper” to mainly be a comment on the person’s skill as a debater.
I don’t believe that I have ever seen someone flame RTFirefly, or Polycarp when they post about their beliefs, and primarily it is because they are thoughtful and respectful when they do so. They never claim to have a stranglehold on capital “T” Truth, but put forth their beliefs as beliefs. They honestly consider another’s viewpoint from the other’s viewpoint, and assume the other is genuine in their statements unless there is evidence to the contrary. So if I post something like “I listened for God and heard nothing,” they accept that I did, in fact, do this. It is diametrically opposed to the “You are wilfully hardening your heart against God,” brand of Christian belief, or the even more insulting “You know the truth, but you are too afraid to admit it.” (Which, I feel compelled to point out, has been used by atheists against Christians as well, though I’m not sure it has been used on this board that I recall.)
Sometimes shells lobbed against certain Christians turn out to do collateral damage to other Christians as well. That, I think, is the nature of the beast here on a message board. Sometimes it works the other way too. (See: Unsaved heathens roasting in the fire.) Some people really are jerks, and sometimes decent folks get the wrong button pushed or have a bad day and take it out on the wrong target. One of the first threads I posted was on the lack of miracles today compared to the OT days. I had a serious question, and wanted an answer, but was less than tactful in the way I asked it, primarily because I was still steaming from an encounter with a "you’re-gonna-burn-you-sinner-you! Fundie.
Needs2Know:
I disagree with the notion that religious debate is an exercise in futility. It might be if the effort behind it is to convert someone, but I find them to be quite valuable and interesting. I also quite simply disagree with your assessment of the people on the board. Half the infighting I have seen seems to be amongst the old timers, as well as half the “ass kissing.”
(Oh, did I mention I’m the UU Poster Boy on this board? :D) I mean, UU congregations vary quite widely - in the Boston and far northeastern US areas the churches there are remarkably Christian-oriented, whereas the church where I was choir director was a bunch of middle-aged ex-hippies with kids in college. 