Reply #55: The problem is how the religious right-wing uses the word "Christian"

[kwassa]

The right wing uses "Christian" to mean fellow fundamentalists who have a belief in the literal truth of the Bible. No one else is a true Christian to them. Conservative cultural beliefs are drawn into this mix as well, and defined by them as true Christian beliefs. To be anti-Christian simply means disagreeing with their fundamentalist religious and cultural agenda.

I often quote from this essay on religioustolerance.org which discusses the trouble of people identifying as Christian.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_defn.htm
quote:

"many Fundamentalist and other Evangelical Protestants define "Christian" more narrowly to include only those persons with beliefs like their own. Or they might accept as a "Christian" anyone who has been "born again" regardless of their denomination. They might estimate that about 35% of the North American adult population are real Christians."

(jump)

"Different definitions on such a fundamental topic makes dialog and debate among Christian groups very difficult. It also makes estimating the number of Christians in the U.S. quite impossible. By some definitions, 75% of Americans are Christians; by other definitions, it is a small fraction of 1%."