BibleForums Christian Message Board

So, there is an argument that I have been running across when discussing Lgbt, Trans issues or police violence against black people, et cetera... IOW issues that some folks in the conservative Christians community might describe as "woke". Often folks will point out to me how these issues only affect a tiny fraction of the population, therefore the degree of attention given to these issues or populations is wildly disproportionate. Of course they aren't wrong in that the amount of folks directly affected is small relative to the US population and even smaller relative to the world population, but I wonder is this desire to minimize these issues or as some might put it, bring their public profile more in line with the size of the affected populations (which is to say picayune little things) a Christian thing to do?

Now of course there are practical rationales for not putting a disproportionate amount of effort and attention into an issue that can be efficiently solved with fewer resources, especially if it is a detriment to other more wide ranging issues. To my eye it is very impractical for the sin of making eyes at your neighbor's wife to be equal to murdering your neighbor in order to force his wife back into the dating market, but Jesus says they all pay out the same. It doesn't seem to me that the moral rules of the Christian universe prioritize practicality. I wouldn't want to give the impression that I'm a man that simply ignores practicalities, but my point isn't really about practicality, I just bring it up in the hopes of avoiding getting the conversation bogged down here so that we can talk about what it is a Christian is obligated or compelled to do, practicalities be damned.

It is well known that I do not know Jesus, I do not have highly tuned spiritual discernment at my disposal, and I don't have a single idea rattling around in my head that was revealed by the holy spirit, but I insist that a plain clear eyed reading of the new testament would reasonably leave a person with the impression that Jesus was conspicuously preoccupied with the weak, the least, the marginal and the meek without any consideration given to how many of them there were with respect to the rest of the population. In my purely material appraisal I suggest that being like Christ would imply that those considered peripheral by something so tellurian as a headcount would be of central importance to the Christ-like. 

Now, none of this is to say that Christians should necessarily agree that trans folks should have a float in a pride parade down main street, but that their plight is of paramount importance in spite of, and maybe even because of their miniscule population. So the question is, does it make any biblical, spiritual or Christian sense that Christians would be arguing that a minor populace or an issue of narrow but existential consequence to a few should take up much less space in our hearts, minds, exertions and discourse?

Personally I think that any Christian who has found themselves making such an objectively Anti-Christian argument should tearfully self flagellate through the town square as they drag a giant boulder tethered to their ears while wailing to the skies for forgiveness because they have failed to be like Christ in such an obvious and fundamental way...but before I start shopping for cats-O-nine-tails to pass out to Christians that I've disagreed with on the internet, I figured I'd ask some Christians here in the unlikely event that I've misinterpreted Jesus' deal somehow.

Anybody feel anything is unusual about how Martin Luther King is being discussed in conservative circles, just me?

So,  I'm under no illusions that my personality isn't very off-putting, It is something I've struggled with my entire life. I'm also aware that the part of the human brain that causes people to limit sentence length or edit for succinctness or stop writing before they begin repeating themselves is severely damaged in me. These things I know about and when I fail to account for them that is on me, my fault. However I do sometimes feel that being an irritating person isn't at the heart of why I seem to get the hackles of Christians up.


So the question is simple, under what conditions is it useful, purposeful, interesting and or maybe even enjoyable to discuss, argue, debate , agree and or disagree about Christianity with a non-christian? Do these conditions change with different types of Non-believers ie atheist's  vs former christians vs persons of other faiths? Is there an ideal or acceptable way for a non-believer to express criticisms of Christianity and or Christians? Can you name a Non-believer that you think generally gets it right, and why?
Do you believe that Non-Believers should respect the Christian faith and beliefs  and in this context what does respect mean? Do you believe that Christians should respect the the non-belief of non-believers, and in this context what does respect mean?
Do you believe that your approach to potentially controversial discussions with non-believers could be improved and if so how so?

Hey, I used to post on bible forums...Its been a while since I spent time on any of this business, but I was looking for a very old & very ridiculous thread that I was involved in many years ago and came across this site....it doesn't seem immediately toxic so maybe I can read or talk about something interesting or maybe just maybe something valuable.