Well, which are you saying? That people:
A. Shouldn't reject Christianity as a whole if they choose to disagree with some of it's teachings?
B. That people should accept all of the teachings if they find most of them valid, regardless of their personal feelings?
A. Very much A. The whole reason I'm an Episcopalian (besides what I mentioned before) is that Episcopalians believe that many parts of the Bible are simply fables, meant to give a lesson, and not to be taken literally. Also, for the most part, they/we believe that the Bible was written with the era it was written in, in mind, and therefore some of it (e.g. "you must be stoned to death if you wear more than one fabric at the same time") doesn't apply now.
(Side note, and I don't know how many other Christians would feel this way, but I don't believe that "Christ will come again". And see, if I told a fundamentalist that, they'd be convinced that I was not, in fact, a Christian, and that I would go to hell. And yet, I consider myself Christian. So, as you can see, Christians are a varied group, more so than many might think.)
Also, some of its "teachings" are contradictory. The Old Testament and the New Testament have very different moods; the New Testament is all about love and forgiveness and hope, and the Old Testament is heavy on the smiting. You HAVE to pick and choose, in a sense.
Did you see the "Proposition 8 Musical" on YouTube? There's a great quote aimed at Bible "literalists": "Well, it seems to me you pick and choose/ So why not choose love instead of hate?"
And yes, I suppose it's homosexuality, other gender issues, and women's rights. Oh, and slavery.
Whoa there, man.
This is definitely something I've heard before, both from friends and from famous people on TV (cough Bill Maher cough). This is assuming that all Christians are closed-minded bigots. We aren't. I personally am ashamed of those in the past who justified slavery with religion. Slavery violates the basic tenants of Christianity, and of many other religions. What happened to "Love thy neighbor"? What happened to "All are equal in the eyes of God"?
It was just a ridiculous, twisted mindset. Any Christians who still think that way are in the minority.
I've always heard a lot of Christians say that such people don't count as Christians because they don't accept all of the teachings, and that they'd rather people just admit that they reject Christianity than pretend to be something they're not. So I did thusly. I'm not sure what to make of that...
I see the issue here. Do you live in a conservative town/city/community?
That is exactly what I believe, and it's the reason I'm an agnostic. I believe there's a higher being, and a spiritual aspect of the world, but I don't believe there's a single philosophy about it that's true and falsifies all the others. Because there's a lot of overlap, and the things that do overlap seem like the more significant ones. The things that don't seem less important and more like they might have been artifacts of the culture or writer's perspective.
We have a lot more in common, philosophically, than I thought.
I feel like I should note at this point that I, too, get really annoyed when people try to convert me, be they Christian or otherwise. Mostly, though, in my case, it's been atheists trying to convince me that religion is a crutch.
Yeah... I've never heard of anyone going to church for the atmosphere. I've only heard of people going in order to show service to God, since that was supposedly the purpose. I'm kind of surprised anyone would think of it that way.
Church services, for me, are a time to repent and think of others in their times of need. The atmosphere (which, in my church, involves a pipe organ and beautiful stained glass windows) is more somber than that in most other churches, and helps me contemplate. That's why I mentioned the atmosphere - it's so different from anywhere else I go, and it encourages religious thought in me.
