A Twitter hashtag meant as a tribute to Christopher Hitchens has turned into a mini religious war, with Christian users of the site threatening violence against anyone using the tag.
The hashtag #GodIsNotGreat began trending internationally shortly after the sad announcement that Hitchens had passed away from complications linked to esophageal cancer. The tag is, of course, in honor of Hitchens' best-selling book God Is Not Great, where he lays out his argument for atheism. God Is Not Great is a foundation of the modern atheist movement, and makes a compelling case for the uselessness of religion and the non-existence of any deities.
Many Christians on Twitter, apparently unfamiliar with the book (and, unsurprisingly, unfamiliar with the act of researching something before shooting off at the mouth about it) began frothing at the mouth when they noticed the hashtag. Rather than recognizing it as a reference to a book they took it as an attack on their religion (again totally unsurprising, especially when you consider the ridiculous 'Christian martyr' syndrome popular in American Christianity). Their responses were brilliant in their idiocy and hypocrisy.
"#GodIsNotGreat WHO EVA MADE THIS A TRENDIN TOPIC ...ILL PERSONALLY KILL EM MYSELF....GOD IS THE BEST THANG EVA MANE...AMEN" is one of the more...loving...tweets on record. (Image at link may be NSFW.)
"If #GodIsNotGreat to you, do us all a favor and kill yourself. Thank you" was another example of Christian compassion in response to the Christopher Hitchens memorial.
And, as is to be expected, there was plenty of atheist bashing going on: "You are weak and destined to a horrible way of life if you think #GodIsNotGreat. Blasphemy to have this as a trend. It's said, now I'm done."
It's a fitting memorial to Christopher Hitchens, in a way. His death has prompted thousands of Twitter users to demonstrate exactly why his book was completely on target.
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Comments: 40 ( 2 removed by Renee Shah )
I also agree with the premise that 'religon can kill you'; after all, the point of Christianity to to have a 'personal relationship' with Christ - for many people need to be saved from themselves with regards to their acts of stupidity. In the Bible, there are examples where people are compared to sheep; sheep are one of the dumbest animals and therefore require direction for their lives.
Just because some people label themselves as Christians, does not mean it's actually true - as demonstrated by an inability to 'walk in love' - which is clearly shown in the ignorant comment of "I'll personally kill him myself". Attending church regularly does not necessarily make one a Christian; a simple analogy would be this: Standing in a garage every weekend does not mean you'll become a car'. Christianity requires a change of heart; that change becomes evident to others in the way people live. After all, "Faith without works is dead." and one is not saved by their own actions.
Unfortunately, many horrific acts have been committed 'in the name of God'; (too many to be ennumerated here); so the Church and other individuals are not free of sin - thus it's not surprising that people have doubts to the value of Christianity. Forgiveness seems to be a scarce commodity wherever one happens to go. One can and should never judge God based on the actions of people - hence the need to have a personal relationship with God in order to discover His Truth.
-Joe Breunig
Reaching Towards His Unbounded Glory
It's very easy to excommunicate people once they've embarrassed you, but the fact remains that Christianity, the concept, has been the cause of a lot of bad in the world. We know Christ through the Bible and the Bible has been relied upon heavily to support much evil; Slavery, War, Misogyny, you name it.
If a firm belief in God, the Bible, and Jesus "The Christ" Jones doesn't make someone Christian, then I'm not sure what to categorize those people as because, believe it or not, these people actually believe God and Jesus approve of their actions and even do them in his (their?) name.
If you have a problem with that, then you should take it up with upper management for not making their mission statement clear enough or at least not have God change his mind about how humans were supposed to treat each other. If selling my daughter into slavery is bad, I'd like to have known that from the offset.
Sorry to sound like an angsty atheist lol, but I am what I am.
The bible also clearly states in Psalms 14:1-3: "Fools say in their hearts, There is no God. They are corrupt and do evil things; not one of them does anything good."
A christian is anyone who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus. That's all. Haven't you heard the phrase "not perfect, just forgiven"?