[article] What Is a REAL Christian?

Over time, I've encountered a very interesting phenomenon. Its a very old one, of course. This is nothing new. It is a bit ironic, and I find it most intriguing. Often times I'll see Christians from different denominational groups fighting with each other, claiming that their group is "the only real Christianity" and that all the others are "not really Christians". In the not too distant past, the Catholic Church announced that "Catholicism is the one and only true religion" and the Lutheran Missouri Synod responded with "The Pope is the office of the Anti-Christ".

Wikipedia has a massive list of Christian Denominations and it is not anywhere near close to a complete list. I was raised in an atmosphere of Lutheran Missouri Synod and noticed that they didn't treat each other very nicely, nor did the Catholics I observed, either. I have since read the Bible using my own mind, especially seeing as that what the Pastor tends to preach on the pulpit, is merely his own personal interpretation of what he thinks the Bible is saying. Yet he tends to present it as the absolute truth of the perspective of God. If you get different Pastors from different churches together within the same denominations, they will argue about what passages in the Bible supposedly mean. If you get Pastors together from different denominations, you'll be lucky if the discussion doesn't quickly turn to mud slinging and personal attacks.

These days, I consider myself as Non-denominational Christian, but the closest denomination I can think of that most accurately seems to represent my perspectives on the subject, is Gnostic Christian. Gnostic comes from the word "gnosis" which means "to learn by direct experience". As a result, I tend to have extremely different viewpoints about Christianity than the vast majority of other Christians.

I personally view most of the attitudes of most Christian denominations, as being based in being paranoid and hateful towards anyone who does not believe in exactly every single perspective that they do. Jesus says things such as love your neighbour, just because someone else is being a jerk doesn't mean you have to adopt their attitude, show love, show understanding, show compassion, etc -- yet I see very few Christians doing this. I see mostly judgement, hate and contempt from them towards both Christians and Non-Christians alike.

This is why I tend to just say I am "spiritual" because I am practically ashamed to associate myself with Christianity, because of the contemptible and hateful attitudes that most people are met with when they encounter most Christians, and I don't particularly want to be boxed in and stereotyped as that -- as I think that such an attitude is deplorable and I would not personally hold such contempt towards any Christian or Non-Christian.

The different churches tend to be based in the same high-drama and competitive egos that you would find in a typical elementary school or high school setting. Lots of drama, manipulation games, peer pressure, ridicule, belittling and utter contempt.

I think all of the different denominations are "real Christians" and I think all of the fighting and drama is stupid. I don't think fighting and drama has to do with what type of Christian you are, nor being Christian or not Christian. Its just a result of society being what it is.

In the words of the famous psychiatrist Jiddu Krishnamerti -- "it is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society" and in the words of Martin Luther King -- "there are some things in our society and in our world for which I am PROUD to be maladjusted".

The way I see it, if people want to have a state of being based in fear, hate, contempt, prejudice, drama, manipulation and all of the other various societal dichotomies, I respect their right to choose that for themselves if that is who they wish to be. It would just be nice if those people did not claim that this was a "proper Christian attitude". It may be the attitude of most Christians these days, but proper is not a word I'd use to describe it. More like, clinically pathological and neurotically self-destructive.

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