Professions of Religious Belief or Lack of Same

[MineralMan]

are not predictive of the moral compass of the person making the profession. Not in any way.

Religious belief or non-belief have little to do with individual moral compass. Perhaps nothing at all to do with it.

If a person tells me he is a Christian, I know nothing else about that person other than the fact that he claims a particular religion. He may be a wonderful person or an absolute blackguard.

If another person tells me he is an atheist, the same is true.

Only through additional statements or actions can I tell anything about the moral compass of an individual.

Religious belief or the lack of it is predictive of nothing regarding how a person will behave in any situation. Period.

And, referring to my signature line, once again, that is my opinion.

[Pope George Ringo II]

1. I'd qualify that with the context

If somebody feels the need to volunteer that he's smart, I usually find small words are appropriate. If somebody feels the need to volunteer how honest he is, I keep a hand on my wallet. And if somebody feels the need to volunteer how good a christian he is...

[MineralMan]

2. Ah, yes. I reserve judgment on whether to believe claims

until I see evidence of the truth of those claims. You have added something worthwhile to my OP. For that, I thank you.

[Mariana]

4. One can be a genuine Christian and be an absolutely vile person

at the same time. Those things are not mutually exclusive. It all depends on which parts of the book they choose to take seriously, and which parts they choose to ignore.

[MineralMan]

6. I said that in my original post.

I do not take professions of faith as any indication whatsoever of a person's personal moral compass. Ever.

To do so would be naive and stupid. There is no relationship between the two that I have ever been able to find.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Yes - in some cases religious belief or affiliation can encourage

a person who is already decent and moral to do good things, and can provide that person with an organized means to do so. But in other cases religion can act as an excuse for a bad person to do bad things; he just interprets his religion's teachings to mean God wants him to do those bad things.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Even that depends on context. There are those who use their religious affiliation

to advertise their "morality." For others it's just a point of information about that person. If I meet someone and it turns out we have a mutual interest in music and we both sing in choirs, I might ask what choir they sing in and they tell me they're in the St. Whatzis Lutheran Church choir, I now know that they are either Lutheran or that they aren't bothered by Lutherans. It's a bit of information that tells me only that the person likes choral music in the Lutheran tradition and that they might or might not be religious. Most people don't come right out and tell you, apropos of nothing, what their religion is. That is, unless you're in the South, where when you meet a new person one of the first questions they ask is what church you go to (and of course they have assumed you're some kind of Christian and you attend church). But here in the North we consider your religion to be your personal business and such questions to be a bit rude and nosy, so we aren't going to ask.

If you do volunteer that you go to St. Whatzis Lutheran Church I will take it to mean only that this church membership is something that's important to you. If, however, you tell me that you are a "Christian" rather than designating a denomination, I'll assume, perhaps unfairly, that you're a fundie who thinks Jesus loves loves you more than me, and that you have a special relationship with God that other, lesser heathens don't have. If you tell me you're a good Christian I'll run away even faster.

[Pope George Ringo II]

5. Don't forget "Who's your Daddy?" as the other important question in the South.

But yes, it can quickly devolve into "I before E except except except..."