# I say "Christianity" What's the first thing you think of? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 30, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128 "2012-08-30T10:37:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/81 "2012-09-02T03:54:58Z")
mindless losers on message boards who have a laughably warped idea of what Christians/Christianity on the whole is really about or like today. All the rage though, come join the Christian-bashing fun whee :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/82 "2012-09-02T13:17:38Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > mindless losers on message boards who have a laughably warped idea of what Christians/Christianity on the whole is really about or like today. All the rage though, come join the Christian-bashing fun whee > > :rolleyes: I think we all got a pretty good dose of backwards notions, ignorance, groupthink, and hate modern Christians espouse when they lined up en masse a couple weeks ago to support a man who actively campaigns to deny equal rights to his fellow man. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/83 "2012-09-02T17:03:14Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > mindless losers on message boards who have a laughably warped idea of what Christians/Christianity on the whole is really about or like today. All the rage though, come join the Christian-bashing fun whee > > :rolleyes: As my post (#78 above) mentions, I feel the same about ALL religions, not just the Christianity cult. So go ahead and call me a “mindless loser” (blatantly showing your lovely Christian attitude for non-believers) - but I will continue to consider all organized religions as dangerous cults who prey upon the weak and desperate, doing their best to brainwash them into becoming one of their appropriately named “flock” of mindless sheep. You might as well use The Lord Of The Rings as your holy book, and pray to Gandalf. Of course, then you would need someone on the pulpit to interpret the book, convincing you that all non-believers in Gandalf were heathens and should be punished and damned to Mordor. I am sure they could prove there were no queer Hobbits, and condemn homosexuality - and you could scare kids with the threat of Gollum and Orcs until they promise to be good and stick with your cult until the day they die. It would only take that leap of faith to believe J.R.R. Tolkien was the author of the one and only Good Book. My guess is the results will be the same as adhering to any other so-called holy book and putting your faith in a mythical character, but you would probably at least get your flock to actually read the entire book. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/84 "2012-09-02T22:45:40Z")
Christianity - crusades and witch hunts, and strangely the mafia. I always think the Christian idea of free will is the same as the mafia collecting protection money. Yeah, you do _have_ a choice, you can do what I say or suffer the consequences. It also makes me think of the shepherd and his flock. I don’t know why people find comfort in the analogy because the reality is - The shepherd doesn’t protect his sheep because he loves them, he wants to milk them, fleece them, and barbeque them. The sheep are there for his benefit. I think Christianity (and Islam and I don’t know enough about the others) is the biggest con game ever. However, when I hear Christian, I know good ones and bad ones. I know very pious Christians who do their best to live by the spirit and are very loving and accepting, and judgmental hypocrites who think their way is the only way. One of my rules of life is, never trust anybody who claims to be a good Christian, the good ones don’t claim it, they live it. ---
**Author:** ![oreally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7ab992/32.png) [@oreally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oreally)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/85 "2012-09-03T20:23:13Z")
> [@Troppus](#): > > I think we all got a pretty good dose of backwards notions, ignorance, groupthink, and hate modern Christians espouse when they lined up en masse a couple weeks ago to support a man who actively campaigns to deny equal rights to his fellow man. No clue what you’re talking about and I notice you couldn’t be bothered to post a link or do anything other than word it in your favor all nice and vague. Bravo. Oh and thx for not daring to consider that “they” were a tiny minority of all Christians, to put it mildly. Or are you saying ALL Christians did indeed “line up” at whatever/wherever this was? WOW! I can’t believe that wasn’t a bigger news story. That had to be one crowded place. > [@DMark](#): > > As my post (#78 above) mentions, I feel the same about ALL religions, not just the Christianity cult. > > So go ahead and call me a “mindless loser” Interesting how I made a very general comment and yet you act like I pointed it right at you. > [@](#): > > I will continue to consider all organized religions as dangerous cults who prey upon the weak and desperate, doing their best to brainwash them into becoming one of their appropriately named “flock” of mindless sheep. …despite the fact that millions (billions?) of Christians flock to thousands of churches across the world without doing so. That’s one of the most tragically paranoid and deluded posts I’ve ever read. Clearly, the real brainwashing has been done on people espousing such blatant silliness. > [@](#): > > You might as well use The Lord Of The Rings as your holy book, and pray to Gandalf. (blah blah blah, remaining dribblings snipped) Good one. You want weak and desperate, just read the last few posts right above this one. I half expect you’ll blame Christians for El Nino and ring around the collar any minute as well. Those evil bastages! :rolleyes: This reminds me of the “alternative medicine” groupies, who opt for those over proven methods, insisting theirs work and the proven ones don’t, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. There is no rational thought in their posts, to say the least, and no rational discussion to be had. Clearly the same is true here and objectivity is clearly something you clearly have zero interest in. No just throw up those blinders and full steam ahead with Christian-hating. Why not? It’s far easier to jump on the bandwagon and give a rousing “me too!” in a sheeple kinda way and spew more of this silly house o cards Christian bashing. How trendy. Ridiculous, but then trends often are. Pet rock anyone? done w/this thread, but enjoy. blah blah cults, blah blah inquisition, blah blah arm twisting, blah blah fairy tales, blah de blah blah! Let er roll! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/86 "2012-09-03T20:33:24Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > No clue what you’re talking about and I notice you couldn’t be bothered to post a link or do anything other than word it in your favor all nice and vague. Bravo. No doubt **Troppus** assumed it was obvious. The reference is obviously to the Chick-fil-A hatefest. > [@oreally](#): > > Oh and thx for not daring to consider that “they” were a tiny minority of all Christians, to put it mildly. Or are you saying ALL Christians did indeed “line up” at whatever/wherever this was? WOW! I can’t believe that wasn’t a bigger news story. That had to be one crowded place. It was, there were long lines to get in. And it _was_ a big news story. And homophobic bigots are not a “tiny minority” of Christians, they are the majority. Otherwise laws like California’s Proposition 8 couldn’t get passed by appealing to the bigoted majority. ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/87 "2012-09-03T21:41:28Z")
The hypocrisy of the Religious Right, particularly in regards to the so-called “prosperity gospel” and the self-hating homophobia of the likes of Ted Haggard. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/88 "2012-09-04T04:18:04Z")
Boring, obnoxious people I don’t want to wind up spending an eternity with up there on cloud nine. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/89 "2012-09-04T06:50:40Z")
> [@oreally](#): > > done w/this thread, but enjoy. blah blah cults, blah blah inquisition, blah blah arm twisting, blah blah fairy tales, blah de blah blah! Let er roll! > > :smack: Mate, plenty of crosses in this thread already, no need to bring your own to get up on. BTW, can you see your house from up there? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/90 "2012-09-04T07:59:02Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Be excellent to yourself today, **Spoons**! I was, and I thank you. I would ask you, **Gagundathar** , to be excellent to your friends and relations also. ---
**Author:** ![Luk3112](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a9adbd/32.png) [@Luk3112](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luk3112)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/91 "2012-09-04T11:28:28Z")
> [@namkcalb](#): > > i say “christianity” what’s the first thing you think of? > > What’s the very first thing that springs to mind when you think of christianity? Or has you-know-what coloured your first impressions of it? > > This is a sequel to the surprisingly popular “[i say “islam”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=640629)” thread. Responsible for the retardation of human intellectual progress and spiritual evolution. ---
**Author:** ![getitrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@getitrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/getitrite)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/92 "2012-09-04T16:27:41Z")
The first thing to come to my mind is " Are you a good christian or a bad christian ?" communication is important. The bad bigoted, child molesting, idol (cross worshiping), beat you over the head if you don’t believe christian, or the good, sharing, caring about their brothers, and lifting up their neighbors, joyus, loving christians. Great things can happen at any given time, religion has helped and curtailed both. If it were important for religion, then wouldn’t it have been created befor man? religion was created by man. I will not eat the fruit of dogma, that is when sin begins. The uncarved block is neither good or bad it just is, so christian, islam, whatever when you say what do you think when you hear the word christian, I think religion, not for me. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/93 "2012-09-04T16:37:22Z")
A crucifix. Maybe surrounded by stained-glass windows. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/94 "2012-09-04T16:42:30Z")
Jesus, the original hippie. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/95 "2012-09-04T16:57:05Z")
I went to a Baptist elementary school, so the first thing I think of is images related to that. In the morning, we pledged to the American flag, the Christian flag, and the Bible. In addition to having a list of spelling words to memorize each week, we also had a bible verse. The verse was usually printed on a strip of paper, like a large cookie fortune strip. There was lots of singing. Sometimes there were bible stories that were acted out with cutout characters that would stick to a felt board. When I was in the early grades, the pastor for the associated church did magic tricks and the patter had Christian themes. We’d see a short magic show, usually at some event where parents came, a couple of times a year. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/96 "2012-09-05T17:45:02Z")
I’ll be honest and say - ignorance. I know there’s a lot of good about Christianity - music, art, hope, morality, etc, but I see so much ignorance and intolerance from the Christain right (gay rights, other religions, abortion, etc) that when I hear somebody say they’re Christian, my opinion of them decreases. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/97 "2012-09-06T06:16:35Z")
John 3:16. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/98 "2012-09-06T10:31:37Z")
Anybody else picture **Qin** standing there holding a sign? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2012, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128/99 "2012-09-06T10:33:30Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Anybody else picture **Qin** standing there holding a sign? 😉 With rainbow hair. That was [before his time](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollen_Stewart) though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-say-christianity-whats-the-first-thing-you-think-of/633128.md?page=4)