@mattbrowne – You completely misunderstand my argument, and therefore I don’t think you understand how damaging your counter actually is.
First, your argument is illusory (note – this is probably all going to sound more curt in text than it would in person, so just try to take no offense. ;-)). It’s dishonest to use numbers that are assumed when your categories are completely undefined. What is behaving very, very badly? And who is it that we should really judge when we talk about people behaving very, very badly? And by what standards should we judge them based on the available freedoms, information, etc.? I argue that we cannot honestly look at all global parties when it comes to religious ideology with the same lens, particularly when we are talking about the issues of Christianity and Islam, as we are dealing with a majority of one living in states where there is a ideological respect for freedom, whereas the majority of the other is living in states where there is an ideological respect for obedience to authority.
Context always always ALWAYS matters. When we talk about the behavior of Christians vs. Islam, we can only be fair when we talk about them in the U.S. or the Western world…and even then, I would say the U.S. only, as European speech and religion laws were directed at multiculturalism (which therefore allowed for ghettoization of certain populations) where the U.S. is more geared toward diversity (which therefore requires one to sacrifice certain traditional beliefs in order to interact more with the general population). We cannot talk about the populations globally. It’s like saying white people are more hard-working in the U.S. because they are generally more successful and are the vast majority of the wealthy, and ignoring that discrimination and poverty worked to prevent other minority groups from starting on equal footing in many cases.
In essence, therefore, the behavior of U.S. Christians should be held to a high standard as (1) the religion’s central message is one of love and acceptance, and (2) it’s adherents are in a nation where they are the vast majority, as well as (3) that has a basic foundation of equality and respect for the beliefs of others.
Instead, we have hearings on Muslim radicalization in the U.S. Instead, we claim that not enough moderate Muslims are speaking out. Instead, we have Christians stating that gay pride parades shove a lifestyle down their throat, and that the community should expect that people dislike them because they can’t quiet down and keep their private lives private.
THAT’S behaving badly. And that’s not a minority at all – in fact, it may very well be a majority. And that’s the problem with any Christian attempting to qualify their behavior by talking about Islam or Muslims. Do you disagree that when they do, they are almost inevitably talking about people who were not raised in a democracy, and almost always certainly not native-born U.S. Muslim citizens? I know you’re not in the U.S., but I know you’re familiar enough. ;-)
Therefore, the comparison lowers, essentially, the standard of behavior for Christians in Western areas to that of Muslims in non-Democratic areas, or raised with that mentality. Even more harmful, it is a comparison raised as an excuse to avoid criticism for behavior that is bad by a majority (and, if you look at polls on civil rights issues on things like gay marriage, you’ll see that there is a MASSIVE movement against allowing for the recognition of the rights by the Christian majority – not extreme, but majority – against it in a manner completely contrary to both Christian tolerance and democratic equality). It is, in essence, what you’re doing “Well, it may be bad, but it’s not really really bad.”
So what you see is a profound hypocrisy, don’t you think? Your statement is an attempt to argue against, somehow, putting your house in order, because what can you do? Kick them out of the club? Legislate their speech? It moves the goalposts to a point where because you can’t get out the worst elements unless you resort to dictatorial tactics, the criticism is misplaced. This is the same argument that seems to be the one used by a vast majority of Christians – and, this is the one time I feel comfortable generalizing. BUT, at the same time, the Christian majority is stating that a minority group isn’t doing enough to change the majority’s negative impression of that minority. That the minority group is more responsible for eliminating the worst elements in it if the majority group, which is again based on an idea of love and tolerance, and in a Western respect for equality, if that majority is to respect them. So it’s fine that Christian leaders are saying that gays are a danger to our children, or that political Christians are spreading fear about extreme Sharia law taking over our Constitution…because while there are still terrorists, or while there are still flashy promiscuous gays, they should expect Christians (ironically) to judge and generalize them accordingly.
No, I’m sorry, but in this instance, @mattbrowne, fairness actually places a higher duty on Christians, if we are being honest about fairness. I know you know that I will step in and defend Christianity from criticism, and think that it’s a religion that has profound potential for good. But where it is deserving of criticism, objectively, we can’t forgive it. And it is when Christians push responsibility for their behavior off by unfairly comparing their bad deeds to the bad deeds of those in a completely different context that criticism is warranted and fair. And it is fair, here, to hold Christians to the highest standard, as they are the majority in a free country (or countries). They are the majority of the people in power. They are the majority of the leaders. And a majority of those leaders are, instead of accepting responsibility for their bad behaviors, trying to shift the blame.
In my opinion, every single time that a Christian is criticized, even virulently, it is their duty as a Christian, as dictated by Christ, to accept the blame, turn the other cheek to the hate (as, if we’re again being fair, most likely comes from bad encounters with Christians) and try to be an example of what it is to be good – not point to someone who is worse. It is the duty of every Christian who, seeing a politician attempting to spread fear about a minority group, or a church leader speaking against another religion, or against gay people as dangerous, or against immigrants as stealing our jobs, to vocally protest and declare that it is not Christian to attempt to approach the problem by looking at the other as an enemy, and talking about what they’re doing to us or what they want, and instead reaching out and understanding. As the majority, they have the power to do this. They could be successful at it. And they would potentially eliminate so much conflict and push progress in doing so.
Don’t, therefore, presume to compare the bad behavior of Christians as a majority to that of others if it is, indeed, bad. There is no excuse for it. And it allows for the worst kind of apathy in the end. Because, arguably, it is not those that do bad or evil that are to blame for the success of it, but those that silently allow it to happen.
Arguing that there are people that act worse than you is objectively true. It almost always is. But the very fact that there are Christians judging minorities and blaming them for not changing the majorities mind, or claiming that the majority’s sense of morality is the mightier that it is therefore right, is to me proof that Christians are not doing anything remotely close to what they should be.
In the U.S. the majority has voted to amend their state constitutions to deny the rights of marriage to gay men and women. To deny them the right to adopt children. The majority of people have done this. The majority of Christians. They are in the majority and they have the ability to enact sweeping change for the good at all.
That Christians make me fight for the right to not be called a deviant, to love whom I want equally…that the majority (and it is the majority) assume that U.S. citizens who are Muslims aren’t really Americans…that this happens is, objectively, deplorable. It seems it should take so little effort for someone raised in a religion of love in a country of freedom to promote equality.
Why then isn’t it already here? Because Christians don’t want it. They want their privilege. I say that with sadness in my heart, because it’s objectively true. The votes prove it.
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