What constitutes as a Christian?

[scorpia]

A Christian is someone who follows Christ, correct?

However, I have to ask myself, is that what I really do? Look at all this stuff; a television, a computer, a playstation 2, various CD's, DVD's, books, an excessive quantity of clothes, pretty looking paper-weights... *throws it all onto desk* but do I really need all of this stuff? People on the other side of the planet don't have any of this stuff. By all means I should sell it to help give someone else a better chance at life. But do I do it? No. Guess that makes me a selfish fool.

However, I believe in God, I like everything about him. Yet you're supposed to show that love by compassion/ charity etc. I haven't even learnt to love every fellow human. What does that show? I COULD go ahead and do all that, at any time. Nothing is stopping me. But if I don't it means one thing only; that I am simply weak willed. Blaming it on anyone but myself is even lamer.

Now with all that said, what does that make me? I believe in God/ Jesus/ The Holy Spirit, but I can't say a Christian; I've seen Christians with my own two eyes go out and make every effort to show their love, help others. They're the real deal and most of them are twice the person I am. And despite what people say here about them, this is after all the internet and you can't trust said over the internet too much.

[theleftone]

Neither necessarily means ignorant.

To be fair to Scrotum, the reason he equates "American" with ignorance is the fact that Americans are on the low-end of the totem pole for genetics as they related to intellectual status. He equates Africans and Americans as being intellectually inferior in comparison to other groups of people. Fortunately, for Scrotum, Scandinavians top the list and are part of the new race Homo Illuminatus.

Remember, being Canadian, you're on par with the Western Europeans who are still inferior to the Scandinavians. Hence, you are incapable of understanding this fact. Further, it's good for you to remember you are the dog and Scrotum is your master.

Well, this is at least the best summation I can provide based on what my intellectually inferior mind can muster. Hey, at least I'm trying.

[Cathar1950]

Wow, I am Jewish, Native, American and mostly Scottish.
My ancestors didn’t care who they breed. I don’t think I care either.
It might be our schools are more concerned with behavioral control and creating a work force for the corporation then intellectual pursuits and learning. Of course we have many intellectuals and they are usually labeled liberals. We have a tendency to suspect intellectuals and scientist and it may be due to religious issues and disenchantment.
Are all people in other countries really smarter the people in the USA?

[theleftone]

Are all people in other countries really smarter the people in the USA?

According to Scrotum.

[Cathar1950]

Bust does not represent all Americans.

Here is a fun article.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060621/sc ... 0621141513

A declaration signed by 67 national academies of science Wednesday blasted the scriptural teaching of biology as a potential distortion of young minds.
"In various parts of the world, within science courses taught in certain public systems of education, scientific evidence, data and testable theories about the origins and evolution of life on Earth are being concealed, denied or confused with theories not testable by science," the declaration said.
"We urge decision-makers, teachers and parents to educate all children about the methods and discoveries of science and to foster an understanding of the science of nature.
"Knowledge of the natural world in which they live empowers people to meet human needs and protect the planet."
Citing "evidence-based facts" derived from observation, experiment and neutral assessment, the declaration points to findings that the Universe is between 11 and 15 billion years old, and the Earth was formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
Life on Earth appeared at least 2.5 billion years ago as a result of physical and chemical processes, and evolved into the species that live today.
"Commonalities in the structure of the genetic code of all organisms living today, including humans, clearly indicate their common primordial origin," it said.
Signatories of the declaration include the US

National Academy of Sciences, Britain's Royal Society, the French Academy of Sciences and their counterparts in Canada, China, Germany, Iran, Israel and Japan and elsewhere.
The statement does not name any names or religions, nor does it explain why it fears the teaching of evolution or the scientific explanation for the origins of planetary life are being sidelined.
It comes, however, in the context of mounting concern among biologists about the perceived influence of creationism in the United States.
Evangelical Christians there are campaigning hard for schools to teach creationism or downgrade evolution to the status of one of a competing group of theories about the origins of life on Earth.
According to the website Christian Post (www.christianpost.com), an opinion poll conducted in May by Gallop found that 46 percent of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form within the last 10,000 years or so.
Scientists say hominids emerged around six million years ago and one of their offshoots developed into anatomically modern man, Homo sapiens, about 200,000 years ago, although the timings of both events are fiercely debated.
Nearly every religion offers an explanation as to how life began on Earth.
Fundamentalist Christians insist on a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis in the Bible, in which God made the world in seven days, culminating in the creation of the first two humans, Adam and Eve.
A variation of this is called "intelligent design" which acknowledges evolution but claims that genetic mutations are guided by God's hand rather than by Charles Darwin's process of natural selection.
US President George W. Bush said last August that he believed in this concept and that he supported its teaching in American schools.
The academies' statement says that science does not seek to offer judgements of value or morality, and acknowledges limitations in current knowledge.
"Science is open-ended and subject to correction and expansion as new theoretical and empirical understanding emerges," it adds.