# The stupidest thing you ever heard a Christian say **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 20, 2003, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757 "2003-03-20T06:56:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/41 "2003-03-20T19:14:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by yosemitebabe \* > \*\*How about I start a thread titled, “The stupidest thing you ever heard a gay person say” or, “The stupidest thing you ever heard an Arizonian say” or “The stupidest thing I’ve ever heard a black woman say” and see how nice of a reception I get from people from Arizona, gay people or black women. \*\* Go right ahead. ---
**Author:** ![mazirian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@mazirian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mazirian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/42 "2003-03-20T19:17:36Z")
Christians say the darnest things. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/43 "2003-03-20T19:29:46Z")
\*\* Whats the stupidest thing you ever heard a Christian say \*\* Gee… I dunno …Did Bush say anything last night? \<_Rimshot_\> _Thank you folks, youve been a great audience!!_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/44 "2003-03-20T19:37:51Z")
I once overheard part of a sermon on the radio. The preacher sincerely recounted the old story of how Columbus proved that the world is round, and that you wouldn’t fall off the edge if you sailed too far west. This was no more that 5 years ago. I also once heard a fundamentalist claim that dinosaurs lived thousands of years ago. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/45 "2003-03-20T19:38:36Z")
I think this thread is fine if you read it as DanielWithrow rewrote it; roughly: What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard in a support of “christianity.” I’d have to say every single time someone uses specific words in the Bible to “prove” God’s will. Um, you know how many times that thing has been translated? Do you know what happens when things are translated? Learned scholars of all faiths continue to debate what the ancient greek or aramaic may have actually meant, and you want to tell me that YOU can sit down and read your New Living Bible and know what God’s will is because of a specific way a passage is worded? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/46 "2003-03-20T19:44:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Defensive much? Whiole there are certainly dumb non-Christians, the fact remains that a greater percentage of Christians, at least in America, tend to be more gullible than is the general population. \*\* Sample size? Organization performing the study? When? How was the sample chosen? What statistic was used to reject the null hypothesis? What were the sums of squares? Or are you merely going by personal anecdote and deciding that this necessarily is a valid sample? Now **that** would qualify as stupid. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/47 "2003-03-20T19:47:14Z")
> [@](#): > > gobear wrote: > Go right ahead. Oh sure. Like you _really_ mean that. Like there would be no backlash or flaming. :rolleyes: > [@](#): > > Cranky wrote: > I think this thread is fine if you read it as DanielWithrow rewrote it; roughly: What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard in a support of “christianity.” I’m with you there. There are a ton of lame things that are said to support Christianity. And there are a ton of things said to support vegetarianism (I’m vegetarian, and yes, obviously some misinformation is spread) and there are tons of things to support meat-eating. And so on. Wording it that way takes away some of the snotty superior attitude as was displayed in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/48 "2003-03-20T19:53:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dogface \* > \*\*Sample size? Organization performing the study? When? How was the sample chosen? What statistic was used to reject the null hypothesis? What were the sums of squares? > > Or are you merely going by personal anecdote and deciding that this necessarily is a valid sample? Now **that** would qualify as stupid. \*\* Given that by definition, Christians believe in an invisible man in the sky who likes them to sing to Him on Sundays, I’d say that there is no need for statistical analysis to test levels of gullibility. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/49 "2003-03-20T19:55:46Z")
Who’s Jeanne Dixon? Dumbest thing I ever heard in SUPPORT of Christianity? Oliver North saying that Muslims hate the US because we’re Christian and they know we’re going to Heaven and they’re not. Um, what the hell? Even if that were TRUE, why would they be Muslims, then, if they believed that was a false religion? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/50 "2003-03-20T20:03:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*Given that by definition, Christians believe in an invisible man in the sky who likes them to sing to Him on Sundays, I’d say that there is no need for statistical analysis to test levels of gullibility. \*\* So Polycarp, tomndebb, Libertarian, Bricker, myself yadda yadda yadda (throw in Zev and other believing Jews for your criteria as well) are all **gullible**? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/51 "2003-03-20T20:12:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by beagledave \* > \*\*So Polycarp, tomndebb, Libertarian, Bricker, myself yadda yadda yadda (throw in Zev and other believing Jews for your criteria as well) are all **gullible**? \*\* If you believe in a personal God who is all-powerful and all-good, if you believe that you have a soul that will exist after the death of the body, if you believe in angels and devils, if you believe that water can be changed into wine by a wave of the hand and that a man can walk on water, then you are gullible. I’m am an atheist; I deny the existence of God. Unless God is Schodinger’s cat, He cannot both exist and not exist simultaneously. On this matter, I believe that all of you, good as you are, are mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/52 "2003-03-20T20:20:16Z")
On the one hand, I can see why people might not be happy about the wording in the OP, but the flaming is overboard. OTOH, I see weird stuff all the time on the SDMB. Maybe not the stupidest, but it’s so common that it grinds my gears: “As I Christian, I believe …” Umm, no matter what is said next is absolutely not believed by _all_ Christians. Please replace “Christian” by the label for the particular subbranch of your denomination (since not all denominations are 100% together on something). You beliefs are not the same as all other Christians’ beliefs. Thankyou. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/53 "2003-03-20T20:26:02Z")
Nice dodge there, **gobear**. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/54 "2003-03-20T20:26:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*If you believe in a personal God who is all-powerful and all-good, if you believe that you have a soul that will exist after the death of the body, if you believe in angels and devils, if you believe that water can be changed into wine by a wave of the hand and that a man can walk on water, then you are gullible. I’m am an atheist; I deny the existence of God. Unless God is Schodinger’s cat, He cannot both exist and not exist simultaneously. On this matter, I believe that all of you, good as you are, are mistaken. \*\* Well of course “gullible” and “mistaken” are quite different notions. I may believe that Zev is **mistaken** about his belief that the messiah has yet not been on earth (and he might feel similarly about my belief)…but I wouldn’t call him “gullible” or otherwise disparage his intelligence. So, I’ll ask again (since you used the word “gullibility”) …are the posters I listed gullible people by virtue of their Christianity or Judaism (hell throw in the Wiccans for fun as well)? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/55 "2003-03-20T20:51:26Z")
OK, no, I would not say that the people you have named are gullible in general terms. That is, I don’t think any of them would expect to receive money from Nigeria or pass on chain letters. I certainly think they are intelligent, perceptive people, but that doesn’t meant that they are not susceptible to being tricked into believing something that is not so, whether it’s the belief that Bush is a good president or that Jesus rose from the dead or that moving your living room furniture will bring you good luck. ---
**Author:** ![dil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f04885/32.png) [@dil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dil)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/56 "2003-03-20T20:55:56Z")
> [@](#): > > “Jesus died for your sins.” And this is stupid why? Man is sinful, God is perfect. In order to reconcile humanity to God, God Himself paid the penalty for our sins. > [@](#): > > “Accept the lord Jesus Christ into your heart, and you will go to heaven” > paraphrased from the ideology, but it has been said to me like that… despite the fact that i am (generally, i really do try ) a respectable human being - no murders yet, i stay under my weekly sin quota… but i am still going to hell, hmph. Everyone has sinned. **No one** is worthy of heaven on their own merits. It is only by the **grace** of God that we have the opportunity to spend eternity with Him. If you choose to reject that grace, that’s your own decision. > [@](#): > > “…Jesus deliberately turned the water into non-alcoholic wine, because drinking is wrong…” HAHA that’s a good one! Interestingly, as is normally the case with flawed Christian ideas, the scripture itself makes the truth clear. After the wine is served, guests at the wedding comment “Normally the best wine is served first, but you have saved the best until last!” I highly doubt they would say this if the wine was non-alcoholic. Another interesting point in this story is that it makes clear that the people are already pretty drunk and yet here’s Jesus, giving them more wine. Lots of it too! > [@](#): > > I’d have to say every single time someone uses specific words in the Bible to “prove” God’s will. > > Um, you know how many times that thing has been translated? Most good versions, like NASB? Once. And its not like every verse has a debatable meaning. When you look at the whole text, percentage-wise, the disputes are pretty inconsequential. But I am certainly not a Biblical scholar. > [@](#): > > Given that by definition, Christians believe in an invisible man in the sky who likes them to sing to Him on Sundays, I’d say that there is no need for statistical analysis to test levels of gullibility. So belief in God is a silly thing now? And believing that God appreciates our worship (however we choose to do it - singing is certainly an option) is silly too? There sure are a lot of silly people out there! About 95% of the world, in fact! ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/57 "2003-03-20T21:09:27Z")
> [@](#): > > So belief in God is a silly thing now? And believing that God appreciates our worship (however we choose to do it - singing is certainly an option) is silly too? There sure are a lot of silly people out there! About 95% of the world, in fact! Accepting the approval of the majority as evidence for a claim is a logical fallacy. Try again. And the first part of your post is _petitio petendi_, another fallacy. ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/58 "2003-03-20T21:11:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*OK, no, I would not say that the people you have named are gullible in general terms. That is, I don’t think any of them would expect to receive money from Nigeria or pass on chain letters. \*\* Thanks for that clarification. > [@](#): > > \*\* > I certainly think they are intelligent, perceptive people, but that doesn’t meant that they are not susceptible to being tricked into believing something that is not so, whether it’s the belief that Bush is a good president or that Jesus rose from the dead or that moving your living room furniture will bring you good luck. \*\* I guess I’m still a bit confused here, then. Are those posters **more** “susceptible” to being tricked into believing something that is not so (politically…culturally…scientifically…any category) …than Joe or Jane Atheist? ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/59 "2003-03-20T21:21:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Are those posters more “susceptible” to being tricked into believing something that is not so (politically…culturally…scientifically…any category) …than Joe or Jane Atheist? They are certainly more susceptible to believing in miracles or supernatural manifestations than are Joe or Jane Atheist, and it is their good natures driven by their religious beliefs that, IMO, makes them vulnerable to being hurt by the greedy and the wicked. A con man with a competent sob story could wheedle money and property from a good, caring Christian more easily than he could from a suspicious atheist SOB like me. ---
**Author:** ![inertia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/d07c76/32.png) [@inertia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inertia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2003, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757/60 "2003-03-20T21:24:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Unintentionally Blank \* > \*\*On Topic: When you masterbate, God kills a kitten. > > (I’d love to cite where I heard that, but it escapes me at the moment.) \*\* There’s a link to a poster and some additional information on [Rotten.com](http://Rotten.com) . I would provide a link, but I can’t get to Rotten from work. Which is where I am now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-stupidest-thing-you-ever-heard-a-christian-say/162757.md?page=4)