The bottom line, is that I also wish that more ‘reflective Christians’ (as you call them) would speak up against the lemming Christians.

I’m well trained to defend my views in a quite calmful way. Most of my Catholic friends do NOT agree on my suggestion of letting women be ordained as priest. Guess whether i get heat from there too I noticed that: A friendly way of discussing, without namecalling, shows confidence and that one actually believes in what one is saying.

I would say Sweden is one of the most secular countries in the world, accept for Iceland. Famous people/wellpayed/polititians almost never dare to declare any kind of faith whatsoever.

We share one thing with the US: Our leader is, for some mysterious reason, not allowed to be of islamic faith.

There are indeed intelligent, reflective Christians. However they are not the ones blathering nonsense on cable TV

Yes, but AFAICT they’re not telling the demented blatherers to STFU either. Why not?

I would say that us other Christians, don’t consider someone who believes in prayer as “full of shit”.
It’s not a mean thing to believe in.

It looks as though you live in Sweden, so you may be unaware of the amount and intensity of religious insanity one finds in the US (just read Fundies Say the Darndest Things or Ray Comfort’s weblog for a while).

Do you think that praying for rain, as the governor of Georgia recently urged his constituents to do, works better than just waiting for rain?

Do you think that there is a hell where people will be tortured forever? Do you think everyone deserves to be sent there by default?

Do you think that the book of Revelation is a straightforward account of things to come in the next few years?

Do you think that God cares whether you masturbate?

If you don’t agree, on doctrinal or theological grounds, then why aren’t you educating your fellow Christians? These are not matters of opinion, but of fact: they are either true or not, regardless of whether we want them to be true or not. If religion really offers insight into such truths, then it should be possible for different people to come to the same conclusions independently, and for one person to convince another, on the basis of evidence.

In short, Christians should be able to figure out among themselves what’s true and what isn’t, and correct each other on matters of fact. So why do atheists get grief for doing so?

It would be nice if they’d become more outspoken and start telling the idiots to stop acting like ignorant jerks. However I don’t see it happening unless they are really pressed to the wall. (Some of them even become indignant when the idea is suggested, as if it’s not their responsibility). Right now they still have a majority in the US, all the rights and privileges that go along with that, and accordingly no real reason to act.

Noted, and I also note from your blog that English is not your first language although you seem to communicate quite well in it. That said, I don’t feel your motivations invalidate anything I said in my response even if the intended audience might need to be adjusted.

Perhaps it’s time for “you other Christians” to reconsider your position then. What degree of intellectually dishonest behavior do “those other Christians” have to engage in before “you other Christians” decide to speak up and/or out? Or are you satisfied that as long as the more extreme viewpoints remain in the square of public debate “you other Christians” can somehow take advantage of this situation? Sin is sin regardless of the motivation, situation, or consequences (at least that’s what “those other Christians” would lead one to believe); to turn a blind eye to their blatantly dishonest words and deeds when “you other Christians” are well aware of them is to condone the sin.