prejudice

For individuals who are actively opposed to (and oftentimes even pre-determinedly critical of) Christianity, one of their default or "go-to" tactics is that of pointing out examples of specific (sometimes famous or notorious) self-professed Christians who have failed to live up to the standard determined by the critic as being that of appropriate and genuine Christian behavior.

Another tactic is that of using individual "first-hand personal experience" anecdotal examples of what they consider to be typical "bad Christians", and to imply that such individual examples are statistically significant, thereby attempting to characterize any and all Christians, and Christianity as a whole, as inherently flawed.

Speaking of flawed, the next time you encounter a Christian on a tv show or a movie, decide for yourself whether or not they fit into one of the four primary Christian character portrayals: comically simple-minded, stupid or ignorant; mean, cruel or hateful (often hypocritically so); secretly crazy, mentally unstable, insane; or secretly evil or malevolent (i.e. violent, murderous, an emotional/physical/sexual abuser, etc.)

Okay. So for the moment, put aside the complete and utter absurdity of someone who is not a Christian; someone who actively opposes and ridicules any and all things Christian; who does not want to be a Christian or to live with the challenges that every Christian faces on a daily basis, but who then (!) stridently, viciously critiques and criticises Christians for not being, in the critic's own (oft biased) estimation, what a "real" or "genuine" Christian ought to be.

Instead, consider this: what would happen if the hypothetical critic mentioned here were to apply the same standards of judgement he or she uses to assess individual Christians and/or Christianity at large, to everyone he or she encounters in life?

Well, if he or she were to encounter an unskilled (but still enthusiastically learning, studying and improving) apprentice plumber or electrician, the critic would come to the conclusion that no plumbers or electricians can ever be trusted.

Upon meeting a world-famous artist, one who is particularly skilled at painting portraits, but not very good at all when it comes to landscapes, the critic would come to the conclusion that all artists are talentless phonies and hacks. And he or she would conclude that if such an artist attempted to teach the art of painting to others, that said artist was a hypocrite (for attempting to instruct others while being unskilled in one specific art form, i.e. landscape painting.)

If our critic were to learn of a surgeon who, during a 30+ year career, had, as all surgeons do, some patients that he or she could not save and that died during their surgical procedures, the critic would necessarily have to categorize all surgeons, across the board, as being incompetent and criminally-negligent idiots.

It wouldn't make much sense, would it?

My contention is that the most commonly-accepted form of prejudice in America is that of a generalized prejudice against Christians. Now don't get me wrong: I am NOT saying it is the worst prejudice in America (far from it, actually) but that it is the most casually and commonly accepted.

One can easily, in public settings, make or hear jokes (often vicious and tasteless ones) and knee-jerk generalizations about Christians that one wouldn't dare to share concerning any other group without receiving some sort or approbium or censure. One can say, across the board, "I hate Christians" and no one will blink an eye: as a matter of fact, the response most often heard in such a situation (usually accompanied with raucous laughter) is "hey, me too!"

"Any Excuse Will Serve a Tyrant". In the examples above, the tyranny is that of prejudice masquerading as objectivity.

"When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." If your only tool is a pre-determined and agenda-driven opposition to Christianity and to Christians, it's not difficult to filter your every encounter with a Christian or with any aspect of Christianity through a self-grinded lens of non-objective and hyper-critical prejudice.

Submitted June 23, 2018 at 04:04PM by thebloostink https://ift.tt/2tnnVz0