Xianity vs Christianity

[fewwillfindit]

I am not sure if this is the proper subforum in which to be raising this issue, and I hope that I am not overstepping my bounds in doing so. I've noticed the term "Xian" being applied to Christians in various threads. It is not my intention to call out any specific individual or individuals.

I consider Xian to be a pejorative term, and I think that it is disrespectful. We do have a name by which we are called, and that is, "Christian." I am stating the obvious here, but the term means, "of Christ." We are not "of X," and we do not worship a Savior called X. We worship Christ.

To call it Xianity is to imply that the name of the One after Whom it is named isn't even worthy of mention. This also implies that He is just one of a plethora of various flavors of gods from which to choose, and ours just happens to be god-X. I understand that many promote the latter viewpoint, but Christians to not.

I would request that it become a forum-wide rule, that satirization of the names of various religions or non-religions that are represented on this forum should not be allowed, in light of the primary thrust of this forum, which is "civil and engaging debate."

After all, it would be disrespectful for theists to go around applying satirical monikers to non-theists. Instead, we call them non-theists, because that is what they choose to be called. I would ask for the same level of respect.

[cnorman18]

[JoeyKnothead]

I am not sure if this is the proper subforum in which to be raising this issue, and I hope that I am not overstepping my bounds in doing so. I've noticed the term "Xian" being applied to Christians in various threads. It is not my intention to call out any specific individual or individuals.

I consider Xian to be a pejorative term, and I think that it is disrespectful. We do have a name by which we are called, and that is, "Christian." I am stating the obvious here, but the term means, "of Christ." We are not "of X," and we do not worship a Savior called X. We worship Christ.

To call it Xianity is to imply that the name of the One after Whom it is named isn't even worthy of mention. This also implies that He is just one of a plethora of various flavors of gods from which to choose, and ours just happens to be god-X. I understand that many promote the latter viewpoint, but Christians to not.

I would request that it become a forum-wide rule, that satirization of the names of various religions or non-religions that are represented on this forum should not be allowed, in light of the primary thrust of this forum, which is "civil and engaging debate."

After all, it would be disrespectful for theists to go around applying satirical monikers to non-theists. Instead, we call them non-theists, because that is what they choose to be called. I would ask for the same level of respect.

I want to respond to this first by saying I can understand this angle, even if I disagree a little bit.

I try not to use it because I am aware some folks see it this way, and I try not to be just "vulgar" when I "pick on" folks.

That said, we gotta get to Post 2...

[fewwillfindit]

I appreciate your input on this, Mr. Norman. I understand what you are saying, but we do not live in a Greek society, and Greek is not the common language of contemporary humanity, nor is it of this forum.

Xmas is certainly an attempt to secularize Christmas and make it palettable to society. However, this isn't an issue with me as Christmas was an invention of Catholics, not the Bible, and was an successful attempt to enmesh Christianity with existing pagan tradition and ritual. Christian, not Xian, is an English translation of the term that was first coined in the book of Acts, and has been used ever since.

You and I are familiar enough with Greek to know that the Greek letter X is transliterated as the letter "c" in the English language. However, I would venture to say that the majority of people aren't students of the Greek language. When a non-theist consistently and repeatedly uses the term Xian rather than Christian, one must wonder why. It is not that difficult to type a few extra letters.

[JoeyKnothead]

[Ooberman]

I consider Xian to be a pejorative term, and I think that it is disrespectful.

That may be, but the Xians who used it, the Chi Rho and other abbreviations hundreds and thousands of years earlier didn't.

Personally, I find it a wonderful tool to discover who is a fair-weather, weekend warrior, ignorant, luke-warm Xian and who actually knows about the history of their religion.

Fewwillfindit, how do you feel the Xians who used the X, or XP as a secret symbol to avoid persecution when burying their loved ones in the catacombs would feel about your opinion? Did you know that your early brethren used it to keep their faith alive in the face of unspeakable torture and prejudice?

How do you feel that you, in the safety of your modern home, in a Xian country, have ignored this history of the martyrs and the people who risked their lives to make sure people learned about Christ, but you would have it labeled as offensive?

I find your ignorance of your religious heritage, and then your implication that we should bow to your whim, more offensive, personally.

[fewwillfindit]

[Ooberman]

So we should dumb ourselves down because an ignorant Xian wants us to?
No thanks.

[JoeyKnothead]

So we should dumb ourselves down because an ignorant Xian wants us to?
No thanks.

Naw, that's a party foul. Fewwillfindit does not present himself as ignorant on this issue.

[cnorman18]