I am an average good Christian, when you don't push my Christianity too far. And all the rest of you – which is a great comfort – are, in this respect, much the same as I am. Wilkie Collins, The Moonstone
I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good ... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time. We don’t want pluralism.
Our goal must be simple. We must have a Christian nation built on God’s law, the Ten Commandments. No apologies. Randall Terry, Operation Rescue
It was not necessary to call in the evidence of science, or to refer to the supposed inconsistencies, impossibilities, contradictions and absurdities contained in the Bible, in order to prove that there was no truth in the Christian religion. All that was necessary was to look at the conduct of the individuals who were votaries. Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropist
‘You’ve got some title to call yourself a Christian, haven’t you? As for the happiness that passes all understanding, it certainly passes my understanding how you can be happy when you believe that millions of people are being tortured in Hell; and it also passes my understanding why you are not ashamed of yourself for being happy under such circumstances.’ ibid. Owen
On his way home, in accordance with his usual custom, Slyme called at the Post Office to put some of his wages in the bank. Like most other ‘Christians’, he believed in taking thought for the morrow, what he should eat or drink and wherewithal as much treasure upon earth as possible. ibid.
The greater number of them were quite willing and content that their children should be made into beasts of burden of other people. As he looked down upon this little, frail figure trotting along by his side, Owen thought for the thousandth time that it would be better for the child to die now; he would never be fit to be a soldier in the ferocious Christian Battle of Life. ibid.
‘No one can be blamed for doing the best he can for himself under existing circumstances,’ said Owen in reply to Slyme’s questioning look. ‘This is the principle of the present system – every man for himself and the devil take the rest. For my own part I don’t pretend to practise unselfishness. I don’t pretend to guide my actions by the rules laid down in the Sermon the Mount. But it’s certainly surprising to hear you who profess to be a follower of Christ – advocating selfishness. Or, rather, it would be surprising if it were not that the name of ‘Christians’ has ceased to signify one who follows Christ, and has come to mean only liar and hypocrite.’ ibid.
‘In this matter the difference between ‘Christians’ and Socialists is this: Christ taught the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Men. Those who today pretend to be Christ's followers hypocritically profess to carry out those teachings now. But they don’t. They have arranged ‘The Battle of Life’ system instead!’ ibid.
But although they would not allow the children to be fed, they went to church and to chapel, glittering with jewellery, their fat carcasses clothed in rich raiment, and sat with smug smiles upon their faces listening to the fat parsons reading out of a Book that none of them seemed to understand. ibid.
Slyme replied that the fact that he was a Christian did not imply that he never did anything wrong: if he committed a sin, he was a Christian all the same, and it would be forgiven him for the sake of the Blood. As for this affair with the paper, it was a matter between himself and God, and Owen had no right to set himself up as Judge. ibid.
And in the midst was the Reverend John Starr, doing the work for which he was paid.
As he stood there in the forefront of the company, there was nothing in his refined and comely exterior to indicate that his real function was to pander to and flatter them; to invest with an air of respectability and rectitude the abominably selfish lives of the gang of swindlers, slave-drivers and petty tyrants who formed the majority of the congregation of the Shining Light Chapel.
He was doing the work for which he was paid. But the mere fact of his presence there, condoning and justifying the crimes of these typical representatives of that despicable class whose greed and inhumanity have made the earth into a hell. ibid.
But although the self-styled ‘Followers’ of Christ, ever did that the things that Jesus said, they talked a great deal about them, and sang hymns, and for a pretense made long prayers, and came out here to exhort those who were still in darkness to forsake their evil ways. And they procured this lantern and wrote a text upon it: ‘Be not deceived, God is not Mocked’.
They stigmatized as ‘infidels’ all those who differed from them, forgetting that the only real infidels are those who are systematically false and unfaithful to the Master they pretend to love and serve. ibid.
Barrington thought he would rather go to hell – if there were such a place – with some decent people, than share ‘glory’ with a crew like this. ibid.
Just before I was forty I became a Catholic. I’ve come to wondering if I’d be born in another place could I just as easily have been a Jew or a Muslim … I assume it’s the same God. My Mediterranean with Adrian Chiles, BBC 2016
It was only the Christians, specifically the Evangelicals, who beg to differ. My Mediterranean with Adrian Chiles II
What I don’t get is those who think they have a monopoly of the truth … the Christians are the worst of this. ibid.
The more they preach Christianity, the less Christian they become. Rumpole of the Bailey s5e3: Rumpole and the Age of Miracles, Rumpole to Hilda, ITV 1988
Meet Deborah Drapper. 13 years old and very different from the average teenager living in Britain today. Deborah lives tucked away in a remote corner of rural Dorset. Deborah 13: Servant of God, BBC 2009
‘So you’re a lying, thieving, blasphemous, coveting person. Do you still think you’re a good person?’ ibid. Deborah
Deborah is the fourth of eleven children. ibid.
Deborah is a strict evangelical Christian. She believes she found God at the age of six and hasn’t looked back. ibid
Deborah prefers Creationist sermons found on the internet. ibid.
‘Anyone that’s told the smallest white lie should go to hell.’ ibid. Deborah
The sinner is at the heart of Christianity ... No one is as competent as the sinner in matters of Christianity. No one, except a saint. Charles Peguy
Nobody has the absolute truth. American Heretics, Reverend Robin Meyers, author Why the Christian Right is Wrong, Amazon 2019
Oklahoma: We are Southern Baptist in our orientation. ibid.
This gets to be called the Bible Belt largely because the kind of religion that was in the South created in the Civil War and came out of the support of slavery. It’s the kind of a religion that’s stark. ibid. dude
Social justice churches will thrive. Especially now. ibid. Myers