• Rodeo@lemmy.ca
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    11 months ago

    There’s not really any room for interpretation in “by this they will know you’re my disciples: if you love one another.”

    There is room for interpretation in every statement, and that is far from the only quote in the Bible that defines what a Christian is.

    and I’m not going to accept their redefinition of a term that applies to me.

    Then nobody else needs to accept your definition either.

    I’m not trying to convince non-Christians that he’s not a Christian. I’m trying to convince other Christians that he isn’t.

    You are literally trying to convince me, an atheist, right now.

    Love to, but he (and those like him) doesn’t believe I’m a Christian, because I’m not a Republican. So they won’t listen to people like me.

    You can’t do anything about it and it’s his fault that you can’t? Because that’s a really pathetic defense.

    • SCB@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      This is a really dumb slapfight you’ve picked and you should apologize to this guy.

    • MarsAgainstVenus@fedimav.win
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      11 months ago

      It seems you jest want to argue. If he said that grass was green, you’d come back with “well actually it’s all colors EXCEPT for green. Green is what’s reflected back to your eye.”

      The fact is there are basic truths. Christians believe and follow the teachings of Jesus. If someone is not following those teachings, they are not Christian.

      I can say I’m a purple elephant and I hate all pink mice because the my savior in the Book of Phants told me to. None of that is any more true just because I said it. Likewise, for Mike Johnson. He and his friends can say whatever they want. Their actions show their true beliefs.

    • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      There is room for interpretation in every statement,

      Not if you’re intellectually honest. Which…ok, fair enough, but I stand by my statement.

      and that is far from the only quote in the Bible that defines what a Christian is.

      Very true. But the guy who started it all said it quite clearly, and everything else he said that drew edges around this thing points to or flows out of that statement. It’s not like there’s some arcane other thing people can do that’s completely unrelated; there’s no secret magic. It’s all pretty straightforward.

      Then nobody else needs to accept your definition either.

      I’m not asking non-Christians to. I’m asking people who claim to be Christians to understand what that term has historically meant, and what it meant at the beginning.

      You are literally trying to convince me, an atheist, right now.

      You’re the one asking.

      You can’t do anything about it and it’s his fault that you can’t? Because that’s a really pathetic defense.

      I mean, if you’ve got any better ideas, I’m all ears. Seriously, I’m willing to try quite a lot at this point.

      I do want to point out that this is a standard that most groups are not held to. Dog lovers are not called to “come get your boy” anytime sometime who claims to be a dog lover kicks a puppy. I’m all for Christians being called to a higher standard—I think we should be, and I think we should rise to it—but I’m really not sure what you think the options are here.