There are all sorts of people who identify Christianity with bigotry. They   
   understand how a mentality gets transmitted through generations. They do not   
   understand why the mentality originated in the first place.   
      
   The early Christians were in no way bigots. Instead they faced bigotry from   
   the Roman Empire, which thought that Christianity and all sorts of other   
   things were primitive superstitions. And yet Christianity outlasted the Roman   
   Empire.   
      
   Are there Christians who are bigots? Of course there are. But they do not   
   begin to own bigotry. I have found exceptional bigotry in all sorts of people   
   of the materialistic persuasion. The worst of these were people who called   
   themselves “skeptics.”    
   These people were of the opinion that anyone who has spiritual or religious   
   beliefs is a lunatic, an idiot or a conman. This justified them in exceptional   
   viciousness.   
      
   Their beliefs are not even rational. If people are responsible for their   
   actions then anyone, including a “sociopath” or a “narcissist” can   
   choose to act rightfully; and if some people cannot choose to act rightfully   
   whatever they do then people    
   are not responsible for their actions. At least with Christianity there is the   
   concept of grace and forgiveness. With such people there is no such a concept.   
   Which means that they, if given power, would behave in a worse manner than   
   would the Christians.    
   And from what I've seen they would do just that.   
      
   I have seen unbelievable bigotry in all sorts of people of the materialistic   
   persuasion. They really think that the bulk of humanity are lunatics and   
   fools. If there is such a thing as narcissism, I can think of no more glaring   
   narcissism than that.   
      
   I for one am not a bigot at all. I started out as a militant atheist. But I've   
   had many experiences with less than a billionth chance of happening whose only   
   possible explanations are religious and spiritual ones. And no, I am not   
   stupid either. I    
   finished University of Virginia when I was 18.   
      
   Now there are many people who have had a negative experience of Christianity.   
   In most cases, what they were dealing with was Phariseeism. There are many men   
   who thump the Bible to control their wives but do not do what the Bible tells   
   them to do and    
   treat them rightfully in return. It is wrong to get one's opinion of   
   Christianity from the actions of such people. A true Christian would call such   
   people on their sin.   
      
   I have had a brilliant mathematics teacher named Henry Biddle. He was a devout   
   Christian, and he told me that there was no contradiction between science and   
   Christianity. I knew another man who had written a book about how the theorems   
   of modern science    
   are compatible with belief in God. None of these men were bigots, and none of   
   these men were fools.   
      
   Then we see people saying such things as that reason is a higher function and   
   emotions are a lower function, and that religion and spirituality are for   
   idiots and lunatics. These people are the true idiots in this case. Logic is a   
   method, not a worldview.   
    The correct place for logic is to investigate the universe. It is not to   
   demonize or pathologize everything else. A truly logical person, when faced   
   with evidence, will consider the evidence and correct the worldview. A person   
   who denies the evidence in    
   order to keep his worldview has no business claiming to be logical.   
      
   Nor do I get my views on the subject from the “patriarchy.” There have   
   been a number of Christian women whose opinions I have listened to and   
   respected. None of these women were stupid, and none of these women were weak.   
   All of them were strong    
   individuals. And all of them had very good reasons for believing what they   
   believed.   
      
   Now there are any number of women of materialistic persuasion who think that   
   they are strong people. Some of them are; but they do not begin to own   
   strength. Once again, I have seen great strength in any number of women of   
   Christian persuasion. And most    
   of them – as well as any number of other genuinely strong women – have no   
   use for militant feminism.   
      
   What, really, holds a greater promise: A mentality that demonizes certain   
   people and says that some people can only be evil whatever they do, or a   
   mentality that promises redemption for all sinners? What, really, holds a   
   greater promise: A mentality that    
   calls all sorts of people misogynists and racists who aren't, or a mentality   
   that teaches men and women to be good to one another? What, really, holds a   
   greater promise: A mentality that claims to be rational but is in fact   
   irrational in every possible    
   way, or a mentality that recognizes that such beliefs are in violation of most   
   basic reason?   
      
   I would follow someone who is actually great. I would not follow one or   
   another crackpot theory. And Jesus was a greater person than all of us taken   
   together, and I would far more readily follow Jesus than I would follow   
   Catherine McKinnon or Sam Vaknin.   
      
   So no, the claim that all Christians are bigots stands rejected. There are all   
   sorts of people – both men and women – in Christianity who have a very   
   good reason for believing what they believe. It is valid to expose people to   
   conflicting viewpoints;    
   it is not valid to consider one's attitude to be rational when it isn't or to   
   portray people as bigots who are not. Any mentality can create bigots. That is   
   not the nature of the mentality. Many Christians have a very valid reason for   
   believing what they    
   believe, and it is wrong to accuse all of them of bigotry.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)