SCL

Christians don't know what is going on the the rest of the world, they are caught in a bubble.

To be honest, all the stereotypes about how conservative/right-wing/in-a-box we are just aren't my favorite. I have heard people say that Christians have no sense of humor, that we can't be that funny…I think this site proves them wrong.

i dont know if this is necessarily a stereotype but…

Christian girls mission in college:find a husband

All Christians think Kirk Cameron is an AWESOME actor!!!

All Christian females wear denim jumpers and/or long denim skirts and all men wear plaid flannel shirts.

Which is a terrible stereotype! Everyone knows that's only all homeschoolers who do that.

Christians speak in King James.

Sure, there are a lot of Christians that do this, but it's because they believe that the original text was written in King James.

Wait…is this a post on Christian stereotypes or Christian ignorance?

Thou art a heretic if thou don't say "believeth" instead of "believes" in John 3:16.

Oh yeah, we're all judgmental, too.

All Christians love the song, Our God is an Awesome God, and act it out with hand motions whenever they are alone.

That we are so determined to be counter cultural (and Bible geeks) that we would fantasize about a Tabernacle play set (draw back the curtain of the Holy of Holies!) with high priest action figures and bulls that come apart when you push a button… all in the name of raising our children "in the Word."

All Christians are judgemental. It's probably a simple one, and maybe even true among a lot of Christians (and non Christians alike), but when I hear homophobia, or hatefulness toward single parents, or any of the stuff the evangelical fundamentalist fringe says, what I'm really hearing is judgement of other people and their lives.

I wish the people who are quietly supportive and loving would get more airtime. But I guess that's the point – they wouldn't try to be loud about being loving and gentle.

"Don't smoke, drink, dance or chew and don't go with girls who do".

Christians don't gamble.

My brother and grandmother used to play poker every Easter (with spare change, not big bucks).

Changing the music and adding lyrics to "Amazing Grace."

Christians believe men have one less rib thn females.

Really?

Christians hate sinners – especially homosexuals, abortionists, evolutionists, communists, fascists, alcoholics, drug-addicts, food-addicts, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Donald James Parker
Author of All the Voices of the Wind
scaramouche9999 at yahoo dot com

a friend of mine, upon learning i was an admin asst at a church, assumed i wore pearls, twin sets, and pumps to work. that is not at all how i dress outside of work, just how she thought i must dress if i worked at a church.

Confession…since the concept of 218 very smart comments in front of me was intimidating, I went to my library's website to look for the book.

37 day waiting period for the one copy in the whole county.

So…back to the favorite stereotype about Christians:

Our churches all own stock in Panera Bread. That's why we go there every Sunday after church, because we've just tithed, want to see how our money's working, and therefore don't feel guilty about tipping poorly.

"Christian's don't fit stereotypes. They're unique and made in the image of God."

The guy I used to date was a firm believer in that sentiment. Needless to say, he had a bit of a difficult time with your blog…

But I appreciate your honest perspective on Roose's book, I've been reading a few different reviews and have been wanting to read it for some time!

Favorite stereotype:

Christians adhere strictly to the "be fruitful and multiply" commmand (though this sounds lame coming from me: my mom has seven kids). In addition to that, the family cannot be one of those good looking families. The children have to have dirty feet and clothes straight from goodwill (and not the nice stuff), that you have to live in a dirty house, the children share two rooms (God forbid that boys and girls share a room!). The mother's face is pinched, but she is pleased and serene that God has called her to her family, and that is her only devotion.

Side stereotype: christian women cannot be a part of the workplace.

Back to the family. The father has a low-paying job, and carries tracts regularly (and uses them!). Everything in life is a character lesson. The children have an abundance of chores. They go barefoot in the summer, and most of the winter as well.

The daughters' one aspiration is to be as good of a cook as her mother. The girls do not go to college; they instead wait for their future spouse to meet them at church.

Side stereotype: Christians don't date; they court.

Back to the family. The girls' highest aspiration is to meet her husband at church, and then be "called" to marry him, whether she likes him or not.

They homeschool with strictly Christian materials (except Saxon Math).

Oh, how I could go on….

I do think my favorite of them is the thought that we don't date; we court.

Wow, Americans have so many weird preconceptions of Christians! Here in Quebec, where there are barely any of us, the general consensus is mostly that we…don't exist. Or at least don't mingle with the common folk. People always seem to be so shocked and awed that I'm a christian because they forget that such a creature exists. Also that we're boring. Christians don't have fun, think everything fun is bad and so stick together in underground lairs and chant. It would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

I cannot believe that anyone who calls himself a believer in Christ would write something this worldly! Your carnal humor is displeasing to God. It is unbiblical even to suggest that any Christians should ever be stereotyped by ungodly standards. The BIBLE says that in the last days there will come MOCKERS such as you and DECEIVERS such as Kevin Rose (Jas. 5:14, 2 Chron 14:11, Eph 3:26)! You need to REPENT for dragging the church, the bride of Christ, through the mud like this!

[My second-favorite stereotype of Christianity is the guy who thinks it's helpful to make that comment on a humor post. My very favorite is the people who take his comment seriously and try to reason with him, starting a Holy Flame War.]

I'd have done televangelists, but I suspect someone else has– has anyone else done televangelists? If not, put me down for televangelists. Call today and receive your free(*) Miracle Water from the Holy Land.

All Christians aren't allowed to watch movies that include:

-Violence … unless said violence is directed at Jesus ("The Passion of the Christ") or can be used as examples in books ("Braveheart," "Gladiator," etc., are featured in "Wild at Heart")

-Witches and spells and other unseemly pagan characters ("Harry Potter") … unless said pagans were characters invented by Catholics ("The Lord of the Rings") or converted skeptics ("The Chronicles of Narnia")

-Cursing … unless said cursing was done by a Christian actor who would later portray Jesus (James Caviezel in "Frequency")

-Unmarital sex and adultery … unless said unmarital sex and adultery is performed by a Christian actor who would later portray Jesus (James Caviezel in "The Count of Monte Cristo")

Oh, and Christians shouldn't use anti-depressant medication. Jesus should be enough.

That all Christians are conservatives and Republicans and like Rush Limbaugh.

All true Christians don't dress up for church and use guitars instead of organs.

Anyone who dresses up and doesn't use a guitar is a Pharisee who hates Jesus and those other non-suit wearing sinners.

They don't understand what it means to show grace and they despise every fun thing in life.

Thankfully, they have their sandal-wearing, gotee-growing, Hawaii-shirt wearing, moderate-beer-drinking, cigar-smoking, Rob Bell-loving brethren to point that out to them.

everyone who goes to church is a Christian, I mean if it walks like a duck….

Also, wearing denium jumpers (really a Christian homeschool stereotype, but anyway..)

I was out to lunch with a friend one day when I saw two men approaching the restaurant. One was wearing an ugly polo, shorts, tube socks, and sandals. The second was wearing a pair of overly dressy black shoes, too-light khaki pants, and a short sleeved dress shirt. Before seeing the Bible in one man's hand, the first thought to cross my mind was "these guys are Christians meeting for Bible study." Sure enough, I was right.

These men were prime examples of the stereotype that Christian men cannot dress well.

To be a "good" Christian, you can't drink, dance, ever curse, and you must believe in homeschooling and not believe in birth control of any kind. You must be "good" to be a Christian AT ALL.

Christian Stereotypes:

1. "Secular" music is forbidden.
2. Christians can only hang out with other Christians.
3. Republicans
4. We all know each other (ie. I have a friend in TX that's a Christian… do you know him?)

One of the most annoying is that Christians are stupid. We've all apparently sold out our brains in order to accept the Gospel and Christ. Now we believe whatever our pastor or other leader tells us.

This is admittedly a retread of Christians=Republicans, but I'm saying it anyway:

Any Christian looking for a good place to raise the kids can look on a political map and migrate toward the red.

or

Responsible Christians who keep up to date about world news trust only Fox News.

Christians are like the people on the new Hulu commercials. Hulu is trying to turn all Earthly life form into mindless, brainless drones filled with dribble and senselessness. That is what Christians are like…they have been brainwashed with a shower of stupidity (or ignorance or baseless faith) and rely upon the mental crutch of faith and magic to get through life.

That pretty much covers it.

A true Christian would never read a book like "Unlikely Disciple" to begin with, as well as anything else that Kevin Roose will ever write.

Thus, anyone who just commented to get a copy of this Christian-bashing book obviously doesn't love Jesus and needs to register to win a free copy of the Bible (why would a true Christian want to read anything other than the Bible, anyway?).

My favorite steerotype about Christians and Christianity is "They're all a bunch of hypocrites."

Whenever I hear this, I say, "You know, you're right. They are. And so are non-Christians. It's too hard of a problem to cure on my own, so I go to church to learn more about the only one who can save me from it."

Interestingly enough this article appeared on boston.com today: http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/relationships/blog/2009/06/religious_differences.html. Many of the comments associated with the post pretty much sum up what has been said here.

My favorite misconception is that Christians don't like The Simpsons. I was raised on them. I love them.

I've heard good things about this book and would love to read it. I moved to Lynchburg to go to Liberty to get my Master's – and can't say I've had the best experience there (or in the "Bible Belt" for that matter). I'm interested to see what someone without a Christian background has to say about it…

The one I hate most and the one I hear most: Christians expect everyone else to live up to their impossibly perfect standard. When they see people not living up to this standard, they judge them. What I need to do is to figure out how my actions and words are sending this message to non-believers instead of the incredible Message of Christ, which is based not in judgment but in forgiveness, redemption, and love.

Ok so I thought of another one,
this one is one I actually hear from Christians themselves– that Christians are a minority in the US (usually the persona saying this either really has no clue about the % of Christians in this country, OR they assume that only "real" Christians count, real Christian of course meaning those Christians that share their beleifs, denomination, interpretation of the bible, etc.).
Most people that I know are Christians (for the record I am not, though I did practice Christianity for about 20 years). It is very rare to meet someone who isn't. I just laugh when I hear someone say "I was so excited to find out so and so is a Christian!" like it's something super unique and suprising. I just assume people are Christian until I find out otherwise and usually I'm right. Of course this MIGHT differ depending on the part of the country you live in.

Okay I gave up reading, so sorry if this has been said before: Christians are all matching-t-shirt wearers, descending upon amusement parks in long-sleeves and pants (except for their friends who came in miniskirts and tube tops) groups, touching everyone they meet and stopping people in teh amusement part street to either pray for or judge said people. Hey, I've seen it. an no, its not the one I'm the most bitter about. But it is my favorite

acewali: a rare kangaro-bird animal from Down Under that the Australians have been hiding from the rest of the world for centuries.

Common Stereotype: That Christians like to use King James English.

Uh, except this one is true…or at least we seem to think it's the language God likes to use, anyway.

Example: At a recent Bible Study, a woman couldn't wait to share the news that God had given her a word of knowledge about a man in our congregation who has a grave illness.

Apparently, God told her, "His affliction is not unto death."

Another woman chimed in, "Yes, I was praying for him, too, and God said, 'Trusteth me'".

You'd think God would be progressive enough to get on board with modern English.

But hey, as my father-in-law says, "If the King James version was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!"

My favorite stereotype about Christians is that all Christians are hypocrites.

It's my favorite because I sort of think it's true.

Anyone who is willing to hold oneself(?) up to a higher standard than they are presently living, anyone who is trying to be better, will sometimes fail to live up to that standard. People on the outside can very easily look at these failures and call them hypocrisy.

Be holy. That's what the Bible says to do and I can't do it (on my own) but I have got to try, and if you ask me for my opinion, you should too. Maybe that makes us all hypocrites.

I am a research chemist at a major university and I get a lot of strange looks when my collegues find out I am a Christian. "How do you reconcile your beliefs with your research?" Yes, that's right, Christians don't believe in science.

That Christians all love Eagles. Just because it's a stereotype doesn't mean it's not true.

WV: Unduva–a particular body part that stereotypically, all Christians are unable to mention in public.

That no Christian ever utters a curse word. That all words that leave their mouths are holy. Guess non-Christians are the only ones who stub their toe on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I've had to repent plenty of times over that one. Oh wait, that leads to another sterotype. That we repent over everything, because each and every Christian has the ultimate discernment to know when they need to repent.

@ Kitty Larue -

Current Barna survey: "Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview."

Barna Group Report: http://bit.ly/uJ4K

Wow.. This is book has totally made the short list for me, even before your endoresment – so now I really want to read it.

Favorite Christian Stereotype:
Christian always reference the Big G (sometimes for convience)- I Found this a great way instantly spritirualize yourself – (i.e. saying it's a God thing or I trying to figure out God's will) while you might use such language in an actually spiritual conversation – it usually involves why you don't have a job or a date right now.

My favorite stereotype is that Christians always look down on non-Christians because we think we are perfect or something.

I don't blame people for thinking that but man does that really go against everything we truly believe.

What is often called "Christian culture" is actually white, protestant middle class American culture. It precludes minority American Christians, international Christians, Catholics, Orthodox, peace churches (Quaker etc). It basically precludes most Christ-followers. – Clarita

Christians only get married because they're in a hurry to have sex…or because they have to hurry and get married before anyone finds out they didn't wait, and the bride is pregnant. : )

I really think that for some Christians, CS Lewis is pretty much the second son of God. His books are the only things that should have the glory of sitting on shelves, and be read concurrently with the bible. And when anyone ever TALKS to you, you just give them a big ol' Lewis whopper of a quote, and say, "Chew on that one for a while, heathen."

My stereotype? The long denim skirt-wearing Christian woman, probably with long hair wrapped into a bun or twist of some sort.