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nearly 82% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians.

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Where did you get that from?

No more Christians to me is quite insulting, even though there are some who don't follow the Christian faith to the every letter doesn't mean that they aren't faithful to their Christian values...Everyone (Christian I should say), are found with some sin in their lives, but that doesn't mean they don't go back and ask God to forgive them of the sins they committed...No Christian/no man in this world is found clean of any sin, if that were the case, we would be in the Garden of Eden...

Italian:

All of you arguments are based on half-way points. "Well if you factor in this, that and the other things, and talk to these people, at this time..."

Christians ARE committing spiritual suicide, and quite flamboyantly so. nearly 82% of Americans consider themselves to be Christians. I would dare to say maybe 1% actually attempts to live a daily Christian life.

Churches across the nation (and world) are becoming emptier by the hour, and no one seems to care. Mission trips are under funded, there are less and less of them. Even right here at home, in Atlanta (where I live) the Food Bank last year saw a lost of 300 volunteers the year before, and that number was down from the year before that.

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vagueness of the Bible

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Sermon on the mount was quite clear, as was many other commands given to Christians on daily life, yet even the most straightforward commands are being ignored.

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Basically, you should not make such arrogant and ignorant assumptions about a specific religion. Yes, I agree that there are those individuals who break traditional Christian dogma, but that does not mean that the entire religion is a failure.

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I wonder if you're a Christian. If not then your comments are the only "ignorant" ones thus far.

Allow me to try and explain and justify some of the actions you have mentioned that seem "anti-Christian" on the surface.

I'll assume that when you said "I have heard Christian...wage unjust war" you have a conception of what a just war is. If not, a careful read of St. Augustine's Political Writings will demonstrate the justice or injustice of war. If you indeed do understand such a concept, then I will agree that there are some Christian who believe that we should just, for example, storm into the Middle East and kill all of the Muslims thereby ending the conflict in the region. We all get angry and none of us is perfect. I'm sure there have been times, especially after 9/11, when you yourself was seeking retribution upon the terrorist faction who committed said act. That's all I can say to that.

As for the abortion issue, I agree, it is upsetting when I see Christians deny children the right to life.

But you have to understand, you are making a huge gross generalization. To say, quite bluntly, "Christians are committing spiritual suicide" is simply ignorant. Unfortunately, I don't believe that there is any Protestant sect (Luthern, Methodist, etc.) that can effectively unify an opinion about any of the critiques you mentioned. For example, if you went to a Conservative Protestant church, they would tell you that abortion is wrong. If you went to another Liberal Protestant church, they might tell you that abortion is justifable under certain circumstances. The lack of unity in these churches allow for a pluarlity of ideas to be expressed without a mediating force. And, based on the vagueness of the Bible, one can interpret it as he/she sees fit.

However, the Catholic church has avoided this issue by creating the Cathecism (a book containing the beliefs that all should adhere to as a Catholic). And remember, it is the Catholic Church that historically determined what a Christian was, but alas, I digress.

Basically, you should not make such arrogant and ignorant assumptions about a specific religion. Yes, I agree that there are those individuals who break traditional Christian dogma, but that does not mean that the entire religion is a failure.

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Korith, you obviously have different opions of what's right and wrong.

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I was clearly speaking to Christians, who aren't supposed to judge life and death, even (especially) if that life might seem less significant than yours.

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Christians are committing spiritual suicide.

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No, they're not. True Christians aren't abandoning all original beliefs; the self-proclaimed Christians are, but that does not make them true. Just because one says he/she is something does not make them so.

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We are selfish, humans are selfish. That's the way we are

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But are we as selfish as many philosophers say we are. To me it seems like we creating our own self fulfilling prophecy when we say "humans are naturally selfish." How much of this is reality and how much of it is us creating our own truth? Also how do you explain society’s general tendency towards altruism?
The overall question I have is how true is the statement that “humans are naturally selfish,” which many pseudo-philosophers such Ayn Rand have been pushing. Because it seems that these people who say “humans are naturally selfish” have a different meaning for the word selfish then me.

Well damn, wouldn't that be the day... No more Christains... woot.

If no one got that, that was sick sarcasm... anyhoo.

Korith, you obviously have different opions of what's right and wrong.

Some people would say abortion wasn't murder, so that wouldn't be wrong to someone else. And that the war isn't unjust.

People have different opinions about what's right and what's wrong.

Well, now that's been cleared up let me get back to the topic.

Everyone has done a lot of what you just said, not helping someone because they simply don't want to. I've commited that crime and I'm sure you've done the same. Humans aren't perfect.

We are selfish, humans are selfish. That's the way we are. We fight for no reason, we do horrible stuff out of feeling. That isn't always right. Yes? But, you can help and not give in to that. You can't stop someone's mind or body from doing something.

It'll never end. Good luck if you try to end it completely.
-Sunset