Gandhi's quote about Christians

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Mahatma Gandi once said "I like you Christ, but I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike you!"

What he meant by this was that Christain countries tend to be the most selfish and materialistic countries in the world, and I agree with him 100%. Most Christians for centuries seem to do the exact opposite of what Jesus wanted them to do which was to obey the golden rule of "do unto others as you would have them do unto you".

So what do you guys think about his views on this? Was he right?

"What he meant by this was that Christian countries tend to be the most selfish and materialistic countries in the world"

No, that was not re: Christian countries at all Read his autobiography, in particular about his spiritual development. Gandhi-ji loved Jesus and his teachings. What he objected to was Christians not living up to the teachings and examples of Jesus, in particular non violence (ahimsa). Gandhi never blanket condemned christian countries as the most selfish and materialistic in the world.

That's pretty much what I just said. And that's exactly WHY Christiain nations suck.

you made the leap to Christian nations suck, not Gandhi

He said "I DON'T like your Christians! They are so unlike you!" That seems pretty cut and dry to me. He was blanketing all Christians in my opinion. Maybe he did not hate them as individuals, but as a whole he was pointing put the fact that they are largely hypocritical.

Well you know what? They do suck! Sorry but not sorry.

I could go on and on forever about the atrocious things Christiain countries have done TO THIS DAY.

I think religion is a cancer on mankind. But you need to delve more into Gandhi's teachings and beliefs as opposed to using him as cover for your own beliefs.

Matthew 7:21-23: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"

Matthew 7:6: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces."

The idea that merely calling oneself a Christian will do nothing to change the heart of a person or nation is actually completely in line with the teachings of Christ. I'm a Christian. I've studied Christian imperialism and slavery. I can tell you right now: almost no particular command you will see in the New Testament has any bearing on Christians who have an unholy agenda in mind. Such as slave owners, leaders of slave based societies, strong capitalist venturers, and imperialistic governments. You can take anything in the book and contextualize it, give reasons as to why it doesn't apply today, etc. Did you know that the slave trade is condemned in Timothy 1:10 and Revelations 18:13? Most people don't, because slave traders bsed their way out of those proscriptions.

To be a Christian, you need to internalize the values that Jesus preached. Such as the essential equality of the powerful and the weak, the exaltation of the poor, the complete irrelevance of current social order to the innate value of every person, and the fact that the leader must be a servant to their flock.

You may say that I have a biased reading of the Bible if you hear my exegesis. I am biased, in that I believe in reading the most merciful and selfless interpretation I can of the scripture, because we are called to be humble and to serve. "Christian" imperialists called others to be humble and to serve them.

Christian nations (as well as Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist nations and communities, etc) will continue to exploit the poor and serve themselves as long as they have the power to, their religion is irrelevant. I'm a democratic socialist because I believe that the leaders of a community must serve their people, and I know that merely calling oneself a "Christian" will not force someone to act like it. I believe it's not just a matter of religious authenticity, it's a matter of public justice and human rights.

Gandhi was commenting on the fact that Christians will ignore or twist around scripture because they are slaves to the world, and not to God. Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon at the same time, and St. Paul said that love of money is the root of all evil. I certainly believe that it's the root of all social evil, and the globalized evil that Catholics and Anglicans spread.

"I certainly believe that it's the root of all social evil, and the globalized evil that Catholics and Anglicans spread."

interesting you single out Catholics and Anglicans. I take it you believe your brand of christianity is more pure.

I'm not arguing in terms of purity. I'm arguing in terms of which particular denominations of Christianity perpetuated and spread Western imperialistic goals the most... can you name many examples of Ethiopian imperialism? Nothing on the level of the Catholics and Protestants (particularly Anglicans.)

Not that I have anything against people in those faiths. But 99.9% of the stuff you hear about Christian imperialism comes from them.

So YOUR brand of christians were never "imperialistic". It's those other christians (*shudder*). Of course.

I like G.K. Chesterton's:

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."

You have a problem with the idea that Christianity is not one monolithic entity? That different communities and ideals exist within it?

Barring religions or even ideologies that have no societal power whatsoever, you'll find social evil dictated by economic necessity being tolerated by plenty of religious and social traditions. I live in a democracy and believe in its ideals, but I know enough to know that people have been abused and exploited in the name of spreading and preserving "democracy". I'm a democratic socialist, but democratic socialist economies can still exploit people if we don't put continuous protective measures in place.

Almost all of the ideologies we're familiar with can be abused and used to exploit people. In the end, the root of all evil isn't capitalism, or socialism, or democracy, or monarchy, or Christianity, or atheism... it's greed and the willingness to subjugate others' human rights for our own gain.

Yes in the global sense.

But, Many people try everyday. We may be found wanting and imperfect, but we are trying.