this post was submitted on 04 Jul 2025
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Not Christian.
I am not stopping my usage of that phrase. Ever. I'll limit it around people who are uncomfortable by it, but I'm not going to stop using it because I do not respect a religion that does not respect me. I refuse to play by rules that others do not. I refuse to limit myself based off of the whims of a few when the whims of those few killed my people for years.
Christians are not an oppressed minority. They do not get special treatment and I am honestly nearing 'enraged' territory because my entire life I've been told to fit into the mold of Christians. Whether it's how I talk, how I act, the people I love... it doesn't matter. And now you're telling me that I can't say an extremely common phrase that is used by Christians because it might upset them? No. Simply no. The entire religion upsets me by its simple existence and insistence that I am not a real person or that I am less of one.
That's the thing I really need to hammer home to you. Christians are everywhere. Y'all get say in everything, including how children are raised. What stores are open when. What things are taught in school. What politicial motivation a candidate has. Frankly, you have too much power and you have too much say. I have had to curtail so much in my life or suffer the hatred and ostricazation of Christians that I am simply not going to bow and curtail to Christians in my language. If you don't like it, tough. I don't like your entire religion and the fact that it has killed so many of people, driven them to suicide, stunted children, gotten them molested, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on and I'm only talking about shit that I personally have had to deal with from either personal experiences with creepy as fuck priests, creepy Christians, heavy parents that shamed my gay friends into taking their own lives, etc.
You're not changing my opinion. Ever. Christians do not deserve special treatment when the entire institution refuses to give it to other people.
And trying to compare "Jesus Christ" to "Fag" had me actively say outloud "ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME" so I'm going to need to go calm down now. One of those is a phrase that is used in media. The other is a word that was yelled in my face when someone stabbed me.
They do not fucking equate. When was the last time Christians were rounded up and summarily beaten to death in a dark alley while having Jesus Christ yelled in their face? When was the last time one was strung up to a fence and beaten then left exposed to the elements after having that yelled in their face? When was the last time that Christians were bullied walking down the streets holding hands with someone else having that yelled in their face? When was the last time that Christians had fear of telling other people they were Christians because they'd lose their jobs, their families, their friends, their homes? I am actually shaking with rage.
You are great at community building. You have built a FANTASTIC place here. In all of our conversation, I hope I haven't come across TOO awfully adversarial here? I felt like I was sharing my own, differing perspective, and naively even thinking in my head that I was HELPING by pointing this out... but of course my own perspective is not the only one that matters - any communication involves both a sending and a receiving, and I can only imagine your side of it, inside of my head.
It sounds like you are saying that "they deserve it". My point: so what? Talking that way does not demean them, it only conveys your own anger, directed at them. Some people were outright killed, so I understand that... although even so, painting an entire religion by the actions of a few is dicey.
Also, you really disliked "the old place" (I mean the one on StarTrek.website, not Reddit), because of the unwritten rules that were selectively enforced (and out of that pain was birthed this new one, which is much more welcoming, I agree and I love it!!!). This is why I am such a fan of transparency - and if it is okay to make fun of Christians, then put that in the sidebar, but if not then... why is that okay, not the making fun of them part but the part about doing it but not being transparent about that?
To clarify: I am not trying to tell you what to do in any way, shape or form? I am merely sharing with you my perspective, in case it helps illuminate your own thinking. If that causes stress in your brain, then there may be a reason for that, and you may be happier to spend time untangling the reason why, to lead a more Zen lifestyle where such cares no longer intrude upon your thoughts and weigh you down? But if not, then those defenses are likely in place for a reason, and moreover perhaps on some other day you could have but maybe you cannot handle that right now, especially with... (waves hands) all of this going on in the USA right now? I get that, I don't know how to convey just how MUCH I DO get that!
But fwiw, you are not correct imho. It doesn't matter if they deserve it. It doesn't matter if they are the minority or majority. Nobody is asking for "special treatment", I was pointing out the differential treatment that selectively they seem to be getting - this is a safe space for people of all walks of life, except for some reason that one, that "other" one that you do not care for, because they hurt you. FUCK THEM for that btw, I am angry on your behalf! Though it does - should - not matter.
Do as you please, of course! I just thought I would open my big mouth and insert my thoughts where I was not invited:-P. I did think it could help... but how you choose to receive all of this is up to you. And I DO GET IT - they messed with you, and it is now hard to forgive. But since you asked...? No, you "can't" say that extremely common phrase, and also have this remain a safe and open and welcoming space to the people that you are denigrating by doing so. That is not me, not my "perspective", that is just how words work. Hurting them in return... will not bring you peace, nor engender a welcoming environment (I mean here retaining the one that already exists). That's just my two cents, unasked-for as it was. I am sorry for your pain, I truly am, and I hope that one day you heal from it and move on past the bigots. (If it helps, many Christians think that nobody is a real person - they are super judgemental of EVERYONE, think "my child intensifies" vibes, but that is just how they choose to live, it has nothing whatsoever to do with you. I hope you can be free of that one day.)
As for what stores are open when, what things are taught in school, that is rather "democracy", not "Christianity". Democracy has real problems, especially when people choose to remain uneducated. Christianity has a real problem too, in encouraging people to trust authority structures rather than think through issues on their own. Thus, the issue is not caused by Christianity, but the latter does exaggerate the issue and make the existing way worse. Even so, again, that is on them, while what we do is on us.
Christians are killed all the time, but anyway this seems neither the time nor the place to get too deep into all of that - but if it helps, yes Christians are killed, not so much in the USA obviously. Hatred and bigotry exists everywhere in the world, it is part of our human nature, it just takes different forms in different local areas, each according to whatever excuses the people currently in power there try to use to weild their authority over others. Highly ironically, Jesus himself is a perfect example: for daring to say that the religious zealots of the day should actually bother to help people instead of merely claiming to do so while actually doing the opposite. But not recently, not in the USA, not locally here and now... although also not never, anywhere either. I have been consistently trying to argue that abuse of power is wrong, regardless of the target, or the reason.
I hope that helps explain what I was trying to convey. If you have more questions then I am happy to continue, but if this is merely causing you pain then perhaps I am not the right person to help you heal and see this point here, and we can stop? I want to be sensitive to your needs so I will simply trust your judgement here: just do not reply, or if you want the last word then as part of it tell me plainly that you want to stop, and I will drop it. Thank you for engaging with me so far - yes I agree that your pain is much greater than what I was saying you were feeding forward out to the world, so in that narrow aspect you are correct, I just hoped to help you see beyond that to what it might be like to leave all that behind us; though I must fully acknowledge my own limitations in that regard - I am most often not understood, and I take ownership of my lack of ability to communicate my thoughts. Conversely, I felt like it was not so "friendly" of me to remain silent either though, if I saw something that bothered me? So I offered, in friendliness, these thoughts. I apologize that it caused you pain. Yeah, fuck those that caused that originally... and I hope that you find a way to heal. I also hope that you stop feeding forward those divisive modes of thought, that were so forcibly pushed onto you, again at a much higher degree of severity that you now push out to "others", but fwiw I do see that you need to heal first before you can do so. I hope you get there, I really do!:-D
This entire comment is predicated off of a false assumption.
No. I am saying that they do not deserve protections of speech as Christians are not a oppressed minority but the oppressive majority. I'm not seeing the difference between "Jesus Christ" being called a slur or somehow derogatory towards Christians and some some white supremacist claiming that "Cracker" is a slur.
You're also putting far too much emphasis on what you think that I feel instead of asking for clarification. This is also deeply bothering me because I do not fucking care about Christianity. It isn't a concern of mine nor something that drifts across my thoughts. I do not think about it. I do not change my life for it. It's a fairy tale that was invented thousands of years ago to get people to listen to basic rules and has turned into a tool of extreme hatred and oppression. So forgive me if I have little patience or care for the entire institution. I'm not saying it out of malice. I'm saying it because I don't fucking care. I do not consider Christianity because it does not consider me.
Once again. You are really sounding like a white supremacist claiming that "cracker" is somehow a slur. It is not "making fun of Christians" to say Jesus Christ. It simply isn't. You can be upset by it all you want, and that's valid to be upset by it, but you do not get to reframe reality so that your personal feelings on the matter override how things work. Saying "Jesus Christ!" is not a swear, it is not a curse, it is not hatred directed at someone. It is an exclamation of surprise or bewilderment. It is not mocking of Christianity but you suggesting that a literal slur that, when spoken, is evidence of a hate crime feels pretty fucking mocking of my community and everything we've gone through.
And in no instance or example of that was "Jesus Christ!" ever said during it as a slur or hatred. The worst you can argue is that someone said "You believe in Jesus Christ!" It was never used as a swear. No one says "You Jesus Christ!" It is not a term used in hatred but a term used in surprise and I am beyond furious at you daring to suggest that Christians being killed for their religion is even remotely comparable to gay people being disowned by their families, being evicted, being killed, killing themselves, etc
I'm not even going to bother responding to the rest of your comment. You've made way too many assumptions about my opinions, my stances and my feelings without asking for clarification. You've compared the usage of "Jesus Christ" as a remark of exclamation to a word that is said in spitting venom, hatred, and is used during hate crimes. These are not the same and you have managed to offend me so severely in even suggesting that they are that I had to outright leave my fuckin house and walk away for a while before I broke shit and also guaranteed I'm never going to interact with you ever again. I do not appreciate people trying to compare hate crimes with a phrase spoken casually on a daily basis by Christians.
Also, what would Jesus have preferred here? Seriously? That someone use his name as an exclamation of surprise or that someone compare using his name as an exclamation of surprise with the poor, weak, downtrodden upon and victimized who have had to hear the word faggot spat in their face by people who were deemed their guardians and protectors? Because the Jesus I was raised on? He would have shrugged and said "They know not what they do."
But I dunno. Maybe I read a different book.
Have a good day.
Christians are the oppressive majority, yes. But where is the word or concept of "majority" in Rule 1? Your own words are "Remember that diversity and coexistence are Star Trek values." - I love that!
Cracker is likewise a slur as well. Use it, or don't, whatever, but it is a slur... right? I mean, wikipedia even says that it is: "Cracker, sometimes cracka or white cracker, is a racial slur directed at white people". That's not a deep cut, it's literally the first sentence on that page.
Use of slurs isn't about what you, the slinger, feels, it is about how the recipient feels upon receipt. I do not call black people n- uh... nope, not going to finish that thought there. I do not call women cunts or whatever, I do call men "dick" or "jerk" or whatever, but that's irrespective of gender, color, etc... and quite frankly that's even in theory though I cannot now recall the last time I actually used it, either irl or even online.
More to the point, if the slur recipient did not feel hurt by use of the slur, then what is even the point of using an actual "slur"? Why not call a black man by "sir"? Why not call someone "madam", as opposed to "broad", if not to denigrate them? It's certainly not a term of fucking endearment! A man calling a woman a "broad" is saying that he, a (implication: superior) male is looking down on her, an (inferior) female.
Anyway, use of slurs makes the recipients feel less "welcomed". If you walked into a restaurant and someone said "be rite wit ya cracka", you might think twice about eating there? Slurs focus on the "diversity" part, but not to enhance "coexistence" as in togetherness and making people feel welcomed, and rather acts to divide.
And I wasn't asking you to delete the post or anything, just sharing my thoughts that I do not care to see people denigrated. Even when they are the oppressive majority. It divides, but the problem with divisions is that eventually they wrap back around to something that you do, finally, actually do care about: "First they came for...".
I will add that imho it's okay to be mad at Christianity: they deserve it:-P. But despite your feelings, are you going to sling slurs at them - and not even the handful of people that improperly abused their religion to hurt you, but half the people on the planet? Stupid, mislead, whatever else they may be - they, no "we", are all humans here, aren't we?
TLDR: CRACKER IS VERY MUCH A SLUR - look it up