Reply #36: I think C should own up to A being part of the faith. [View All]

[knitter4democracy]

For example, "Dr." James Dobson (yeah, I know, his Ph.D in sociology's real, but most of his followers think he's an MD, and he lets them) is a Christian. I can't stand the guy and think he's done massive harm to real people and to the faith in general, but I can't say he's not a real Christian since he self-identifies as one. I can take apart his insane stances on things and attack him theologically (and have made his PR chick hang up on me when I proved her wrong on gay rights, but that's another story), but I can't say he's not a real Christian.

Christianity is a messy faith. Whenever you have groups of people involved, things get messy, and often, sadly, people get hurt. I've seen horrible things done to good people all in the name of the faith, but I have also seen great good done as part of the faith, so I'm not giving up on what I believe or my church, as flawed as those are.

That said, I'm really not sure what kind of Christianity Westboro Baptist is. It's so far wacked out that it makes no sense as part of the faith. I know they self-identify as Christians, and while they can quote scripture until the cows come home, their interpretation of it is insane. I don't know many Christians who would recognize their version of the faith.

It's like art: you know it when you see it, and people get into arguments over whether something's really art or not. If the artist says it is, I'm going with that.