Opinion of atheists who call evangelicals "fake Christians"

[wimp]

Opinion of atheists who do not believe in the Bible themselves but call evangelicals "fake Christians" because they voted for Trump or are against welfare or immigration etc.

[If my soul was made of stone]

HP for being completely clueless and not understanding the fundamental difference between church-as-religious-transmission and church-as-power-structure. Some New Atheists like my former self seem to think that saying that Jesus was a hippie enough times will make the Pope have a complete breakdown and realize that his life is a lie, when that just isn't the point.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

[John Dule]

HP, because it invariably comes with an implication that Christianity is somehow not responsible for the insanity it promotes amongst its followers.

[PSOL]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

Your atheists are factually accurate so...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

Both are absurd No True Scotsmans, although your example is more annoying. It is pretty amusing though to see both New Atheists and fundamentalists be in total agreement that for example a church with a gay pastor is not a "true" Christian church.

The most annoying argument I've seen of these is probably atheists who unironically try to argue that Westboro Baptist Church is the most "pure" example of Christianity instead of that it's a deranged cult that has zero support from any other Christian organization no matter how fringe or fundamentalist and they themselves also consider all other Christians to be hellbound herectics.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

The most annoying argument I've seen of these is probably atheists who unironically try to argue that Westboro Baptist Church is the most "pure" example of Christianity instead of that it's a deranged cult that has zero support from any other Christian organization no matter how fringe or fundamentalist and they themselves also consider all other Christians to be hellbound herectics.

This reminds me of someone I once knew--not a New Atheist but definitely very pointedly secular and very pointedly socially liberal--who remarked that the ultimate legacy of Western Christianity would be the then-current (early 2010s) movement against same-sex marriage. As embarrassing as that lost cause has turned out to be for most of the people who were invested in it, and as psychologically devastating it was for many of us Ell Gee Bee Tees at the time, it's not even the worst legacy of Western Christianity's two-thousand-year history, much less the most consequential.

[sting in the rafters]

HP for their ignorance. Most mainstream Evangelicals adhere to the Nicene Creed which imo is a good litmus test.

[John Dule]

The most annoying argument I've seen of these is probably atheists who unironically try to argue that Westboro Baptist Church is the most "pure" example of Christianity instead of that it's a deranged cult that has zero support from any other Christian organization no matter how fringe or fundamentalist and they themselves also consider all other Christians to be hellbound herectics.

"Lack of popular support" is the only criteria that delineates the difference between cults and religions.

[Former President tack50]

FF because the only real Christian Church is the Roman Catholic Church /s

[DC Al Fine]

TP: Tedious People

[Torie]

Arrogant,  hubristic, and cruel.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Silly people who are not nearly as clever as they like to imagine they are.

[Hindsight was 2020]

FF because the only real Christian Church is the Roman Catholic Church /s

This minus the /s 😤

[Kingpoleon]

The most annoying argument I've seen of these is probably atheists who unironically try to argue that Westboro Baptist Church is the most "pure" example of Christianity instead of that it's a deranged cult that has zero support from any other Christian organization no matter how fringe or fundamentalist and they themselves also consider all other Christians to be hellbound herectics.

If you really want to get annoyed, go watch Richard Dawkins talk about the WBC on Joe Rogan. It is the single worst video on YouTube.

And in case you’ve forgotten, ISIS and Bieber both have videos on YouTube.

[Diabolical Materialism]

What about culturally Catholic, physically Calvinist atheists?

[The Puppeteer]

I feel that is a terrible way to try and get people to join your side. The old saying that "you catch more flies with honey than vinegar" exists for a reason.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

Both are absurd No True Scotsmans, although your example is more annoying. It is pretty amusing though to see both New Atheists and fundamentalists be in total agreement that for example a church with a gay pastor is not a "true" Christian church.

So atheists should not say evangelicals are fake Christians, and atheists should not say that evangelicals are real Christians. Got it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

Both are absurd No True Scotsmans, although your example is more annoying. It is pretty amusing though to see both New Atheists and fundamentalists be in total agreement that for example a church with a gay pastor is not a "true" Christian church.

So atheists should not say evangelicals are fake Christians, and atheists should not say that evangelicals are real Christians. Got it.

The latter is more saying that only evangelicals are real Christians.

[Statilius the Epicurean]

Opinion of atheists who consider conservative evangelicals as representative of "real Christianity"?

Which one is worse?

Both are absurd No True Scotsmans, although your example is more annoying. It is pretty amusing though to see both New Atheists and fundamentalists be in total agreement that for example a church with a gay pastor is not a "true" Christian church.

So atheists should not say evangelicals are fake Christians, and atheists should not say that evangelicals are real Christians. Got it.

The latter is more saying that only evangelicals are real Christians.

Just seems weird for Christians ITT to apparently want atheists to commit themselves to the nominalist position that Christianity has no essential teaching on moral issues like abortion, the death penalty or immigration.

Because if it is wrong to call evangelicals less true to the Christian message because they support the death penalty, and it is wrong to call evangelicals more true to Biblical teaching by virtue of a fundamentalist/literalist opposition to gay marriage (e.g.), then it seems to me that one is committing oneself to the position that Jesus would be okay with whatever, since positions on these issues have no bearing on your fidelity to what he taught. And that seems plainly untrue to me.

[Kingpoleon]

Just seems weird for Christians ITT to apparently want atheists to commit themselves to the nominalist position that Christianity has no essential teaching on moral issues like abortion, the death penalty or immigration.

Because if it is wrong to call evangelicals less true to the Christian message because they support the death penalty, and it is wrong to call evangelicals more true to Biblical teaching by virtue of a fundamentalist/literalist opposition to gay marriage (e.g.), then it seems to me that one is committing oneself to the position that Jesus would be okay with whatever, since positions on these issues have no bearing on your fidelity to what he taught. And that seems plainly untrue to me.

Christianity is a universal religion, not a cultural religion. As such, the idea that Christianity has an “inherent” position to issues which are cultural and subjective misunderstands Christianity. The lack of a clear and absolute consensus prevents me from suggesting there is such a thing. Now I can say some ideas are “better” than others - I may be wrong, though, and as such should not teach that my views are intrinsic to Christianity.