When “Christian values” mean “whatever American conservatives like,” then I agree. However I do feel the need to remind everyone to remember to be fair about religions, as they can contain great intellectual value and represent a large diversity of thought that is far greater than the simple-mindedness being criticised here (to clarify, I’m not accusing you of anything, just adding to the discussion). Christianity has thousands of years of great minds who have written at-length about what the religion means and what values it stands for. From pre-Christian Jewish and Greco-Roman philosophical and religious influences, to the Church fathers, Mediaeval philosophers and mystics, all the way to Christian existentialists such as my personal favourite: Søren Kierkegaard. Really my point is that it is a vast intellectual tradition, and as relevant and necessary as it is to challenge the harmful dogma of American Christian fundamentalists (much of which, might I add, is rather unprecedented in the history of Christian thought, especially with regards to biblical exegesis), I do believe that there are an even greater number of Christians who are on your side and who follow a great many values and ideals from the religion that led them there.
Absolutely. Fundamentalists will tell you that there is a clear and completely non-negotiable set of “Christian values” because admitting that there is genuine diversity within Christianity would mean conceding that they aren’t the sole arbiters of True Christianity™ and could even be (gasp!) wrong about some things.
When “Christian values” mean “whatever American conservatives like,” then I agree. However I do feel the need to remind everyone to remember to be fair about religions, as they can contain great intellectual value and represent a large diversity of thought that is far greater than the simple-mindedness being criticised here (to clarify, I’m not accusing you of anything, just adding to the discussion). Christianity has thousands of years of great minds who have written at-length about what the religion means and what values it stands for. From pre-Christian Jewish and Greco-Roman philosophical and religious influences, to the Church fathers, Mediaeval philosophers and mystics, all the way to Christian existentialists such as my personal favourite: Søren Kierkegaard. Really my point is that it is a vast intellectual tradition, and as relevant and necessary as it is to challenge the harmful dogma of American Christian fundamentalists (much of which, might I add, is rather unprecedented in the history of Christian thought, especially with regards to biblical exegesis), I do believe that there are an even greater number of Christians who are on your side and who follow a great many values and ideals from the religion that led them there.
Absolutely. Fundamentalists will tell you that there is a clear and completely non-negotiable set of “Christian values” because admitting that there is genuine diversity within Christianity would mean conceding that they aren’t the sole arbiters of True Christianity™ and could even be (gasp!) wrong about some things.