How Do Christians Behave?

[MineralMan]

Clearly, there's no real answer to that question.

Anyone can find a great guide to how Christians should behave by reading Matthew, the first book of the New Testament. In it, what Jesus supposedly said about behavior can be found, quite clearly presented. There's lots of good, sound advice in there about good behavior, and some pretty pointed advice against bad behavior. It's all in there. It's all common sense advice, based on the principle of reciprocity in most cases. Really, most of what is advised in that book is very similar to what is advised in most religions' scriptures or codified in the laws of most cultures.

How one should behave is easily known. I make the assumption that every Christian has been presented with the advice in Matthew. So, why do so many people who identify as Christians seem to completely ignore the advice from the man/god their religion is named after?

Now, a lot of Christians do quite well. I know many who do their best to follow what is written in Matthew. They make mistakes from time to time, because all humans make mistakes. However, there are plenty of people who assume the Christian identity but who seem never to have even seen those rules and admonitions for proper behavior.

The same is true, of course, for all religions. Some people try to follow their teachings, while others seem to freely ignore them. The non-religious can be the same in their adherence or non-adherence to cultural norms of behavior.

The bottom line is that it's impossible to predict, based only on a person's self-identification with a religion or philosophy. If someone tells me he or she is a Christian, I think, "OK." Then, I observe that person's behavior over time. I do the same with everyone. If the person turns out to behave well, that's good. If not, then I will probably try to avoid contact with that person. It has nothing to do with the religion a person professes to follow. Nothing whatsoever.

So, how will a random Christian, Muslim, Hindu or atheist behave? The label offers no help. Only observation will reveal how that person behaves. Really, that's all that matters, in the end. The religious label a person assumes provides no clue at all.

[gordianot]

1. I know some who make the claim.

They appear to me to me to be typical terrestrial hominids.

[atreides1]

2. To quote Wednesday Adams

"I'm a homicidal maniac, they look just like everyone else."

[MineralMan]

3. I found this:

[Mariana]

4. The word "Christian" has no meaning.

Some people say if you try to follow what Jesus taught in the stories, you're a Christian. You don't even have to believe he was a real person, much less that he was divine, to be a Christian. At the other end, you have people who say that to be a Christian, you must believe all the stories in the Bible are true, and happened exactly as they are written, and that the earth is 6000 years old. Add in the thousands of variations in between those who call themselves Christians, and you end up with a word that means nothing. Someone can believe or disbelieve just about anything and still be a Christian.

[MineralMan]

5. It certainly has no uniform meaning.

Thousands of sects and denominations, each certain that its interpretation of what a Christian is is the only correct one. We're supposed to accept that all who declare themselves to be Christians are, indeed, Christians, without knowing what actual beliefs they have.

In some cases, if you ask some sui-disant Christians what they believe, they will not tell you, but will give you some vague nonsense that means nothing at all. But they're Christians, too, we are asked to believe.

I simply take them at their word, but ignore all that completely until I've had a chance to see how they act. Then, I know what and who they are, to my own satisfaction. For me, religion is irrelevant, no matter how important it is to someone else. I'm going to judge based on how each person behaves.

In any case, the lack of a universal, comprehensive definition of "Christian," it's a word with no meaning as far as I'm concerned.