It's no wonder people hate Christians

In history class we've been talking a lot about Christianity and the Renaissance, etc. Back during this time, there was a lot of confusion as to what a true Christian was. The priests (Christianity was predominantly known as Catholocism) were basically corrupt. They took advantage of the fact that very few people could read back then because of low educational training. Those who could read and write were mostly the priests and the nobility. Therefore, they could use this to their own advantage and define for themsleves what a true Christian was. They would tell the people to purchase indulgences (pieces of paper saying their sins were forgiven and it guaranteed them entrance into Heaven) just so that they could have more money. They believed in material goods, such as painting the Cistine Chapel to make it the most elaborate church in Europe. The priests lived very well, too. There were also a lot of philosophers born in this era, such as Martin Luther, Martin Bucer, John Calvin, etc. They all had their own beliefs and people still couldn't read well, so they didn't have any idea what the Bible actually said. They were being told about purgatory, that church was wrong, that priests knew nothing, to follow the priests, to create their own religion, etc. So the people were confused and it was a difficult time for Christians, because no one actually knew what a true Christian was.

Therefore, the people were manipulated because of their ignorance and therefore, we are taught in school that the Catholics/Christians were bad for this, which they were, but that's our only impression of Christianity from a historical point of view. Sure we briefly talked about Christ and the Cross, but even then, the teacher stated it as either myth, or just some "nice story" that some believed to be true. This is why Christians have a bad rep. People aren't being taught the truth. As well, people are claiming, in history and in the present, that they are Christians, when in fact, they just claim the title and that's it.

Take for instance the Conquistadors. They called themselves Christians, but you know what they did? They went and killed several cultures, such as the Aztecs, Mayans, Incas, and other tribes. They said that they were "doing the work of God", but it was really out of their greed and lust that they created genocide among those tribes. Last time I checked, the Bible didn't say that we should be going around killing those who do not believe. Judgement is not our job, that's God's.

As well, people nowadays confuse themselves as Christians when they have no example to do so. They go around saying they're Christians, but they don't act like ones. I'm guilty of this as well. I use to just go to church, just because. I liked church and I liked worshipping and everything else to do with church. But then I would go to school and not act like a Christian at all. Actually, it was kinda bad, because all my friends knew I was a Christian and everytime I messed up, they would be like, "oh I thought you were a Christian". This made me realize that I need to be an example to others and that's what I'm trying to do now. So i think the reason people don't like Christians or think they're hypocritical, is because it's true. We can be. The thing is, we're only human. We do make mistakes and have to repent often, I'm sure. The thing is, it's too easy to condemn Christians and people don't really understand why they are or how hard it is to be one.

On a different note, I was at this presentation at school where this old woman was speaking about her story, because she's a survivor of the Holocaust. Her story was amazing and I cannot believe that she survived through the conditions she spoke of. Anyways, she said that people have been saying to her, "where was God?" But she asked them a different question, which I thought was very interesting. She asked them, "where was man?" I thought this was very true, because she went on to explain that God was always there and he didn't create the Holocaust. Man did. She said that man was responsible and other countries never came in and helped them. It wasn't God's responsibiity for the Holocaust, man created it and man had the power to change it. So the question is, where was man? Where were other people who were against the whole thing? So I think it's important for people to think about who's actually to blame before they point their fingers at God. God gave man free will. We have the power to change and we should use it to help others instead of judging them like we so often do. So what we, as Christians, need to do, is to make an example of ourselves and stop telling people that we're Christians when we don't make an example of one. That's why people are so confused and hate Christians. So, since we have the power to change, we should stop the stereotype that Christians are hypocritical and we should act like TRUE Christians.