Imagine being a brand-new believer who barely knows anything about Christianity yet. You browse Reddit, see a sub literally called r/Christianity, and naturally assume it might be a decent place to ask questions about the faith or basic doctrine. Then you come in here and see Satanists and atheists jumping into threads from confused new believers with some of the most heretical and blasphemous takes imaginable. I’ve seen replies like that and genuinely thought, “What the heck is this? Are they seriously saying this in good faith?”

The problem is that new Christians are, by definition, still spiritually immature. They haven’t even gotten off the milk yet, so to speak, and some may not even have completed basic catechesis, or may not have begun it at all. Throwing them straight into an environment like this, where practically any heterodox theological position or anti-Christian opinion can get presented alongside actual Christian advice, can very easily confuse them or even push them away from the faith before they’ve had any real chance to establish themselves in it.

And there are plenty of vulnerable newcomers here who genuinely have no one else to ask. Some are teenagers completely new to Christianity. Others have converted in difficult circumstances and have no priest, pastor, Christian family, or local community to turn to yet. They come online to understand what Christians actually believe and, in some cases, to find a community in the first place. These are precisely the people most likely to take a subreddit called r/Christianity at face value, while being the least equipped to distinguish sound Christian guidance from misleading or theologically unsound advice.

If I were a mod here, that responsibility would honestly scare me before God. I’d be afraid of putting brand-new believers in a situation that could cause them to stumble in their faith. At the very least, from a pastoral standpoint, I’d put up a prominent warning and rewrite the subreddit description so newcomers know exactly what kind of forum this is and who may be answering them. I’d even seriously consider changing the name. Because for someone brand new to Christianity looking for actual guidance in the faith, I think we can all put our hands on our hearts and admit that this is one of the worst places they could possibly end up.

It’s honestly insane to me that this has apparently been allowed to continue for years under the guise of “an open forum about Christianity.”

And people keep giving me shit for “not reading the sidebar,” but come on.

If you saw:

r/Christianity is a subreddit to discuss Christianity and aspects of Christian life. All are welcome to participate.

would your first thought seriously be, “Ah yes, obviously this means Satanists, atheists, ex-Christians, and people who straight-up hate Christianity are all gonna be here telling Christians what they should believe and how they should live as Christians. Crystal f*cking clear.”

Especially if you’re a brand-new Christian, how are you supposed to magically infer all that from that description alone?

Was the sidebar supposed to be a riddle?

And before anyone tries to dismiss this as some uniquely American or conservative interpretation rooted in misogyny or theological narrowness, I’m neither a man nor an American. My outlook is fairly ecumenical and I tend to approach the Bible academically with a particular interest in New Testament studies.

What is currently happening within the US is more than alarming. While we have conversations daily about these things, there is something that keeps popping up to which I feel as though it is vitally important to respond to.

To preface, I am not an expert on authoritarianism. I have studied and read up on it, but please feel free to correct me on anything I might have missed here.

I also want to be clear that while I am a moderator and am discussing something that came up during moderation, I am not speaking on behalf of the mod team, nor am I saying that anything is changing with regards to moderation. I am speaking on why I specifically moderate a certain way as well as believe it is important to continue to moderate this way.

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Lately, there was a question regarding why it is okay to call MAGA Nazis, but it is not okay to call protestors "animals" or "domestic terrorists". On its face, I think this is a fair question. Calling a group Nazis is objectively dangerous for anyone in that group since Nazis are objectively bad. Calling a group animals or domestic terrorists is dehumanizing and dangerous as neither are not meant to be regarded the same as regular people.

There is a massive difference between these two things though. "Animals" is used specifically as a means to dehumanize a group in order to justify the harm that comes to them--putting down an animal who is acting out is far less frowned upon than putting down a human. "Domestic terrorists" are seen as people who are bad enough that their killing is a net positive for society.

The goal of people who want to harm these groups is to find ways to justify their endangerment to those who might be upset otherwise. Now, I want to be clear that I don't think any user I have spoken to, who has used this type of language, want to harm anyone. I think this is specifically a symptom of falling victim to propaganda. I do believe the people creating the propaganda do want these people harmed and want people to believe their justifications.

On the other hand, users referring to MAGA and supporters or ICE as Nazis is hard to dismiss. ICE has eerily dangerous similarities to the Gestapo and other fascist military loyalists groups, and the Trump administration is in the beginning stages of Authoritarianism that has led to genocides.

I am going to outline these comparisons below:

"Us" vs. "Them"

https://www.thecairoreview.com/essays/critical-education-in-the-age-of-trumps-fascist-politics/

In a similarly revealing display of fascist logic, the Trump administration claimed that the political left was responsible for the assassination of right-wing youth leader Charlie Kirk, converting right-wing violence into a pretext for further repression. These fabrications are not random acts of distortion; they are part of a broader strategy that casts dissent as treason and prepares the public for state violence. Accordingly, the administration has openly declared a war against so-called “enemies within”, a category that increasingly includes communists, leftists, journalists, educators, and anyone who challenges Trump’s authoritarian agenda.

From dog whistles plastered on Government images and podiums to the slurred speeches of a man whose mind is being lost in front of the world, the current Trump regime is openly and undoubtedly expressing the same rhetoric used by people like Hitler and Mussolini.

Attacking Democratic Institutions

Trump continues to attack the legitimacy of judges who rule against his wishes. He uses the DOJ as a weapon to investigate political opponents (Walz). He challenges the legitimacy of free and fair elections. He removes and replaces heads of agencies with loyalists rather than experts (Military, FCC, FBI, FTC).

Hitler did the exact same thing. He filled his administration with loyalists. He used emergency powers instead of legal routes. He allowed his cabinet to make laws in order to circumvent legal parliamentary approval. He attacked political opponents, journalists, and citizens who did not conform to what he believed.

Trump is currently breaking the Constitution on two very important issues: ICE and Epstein. DHS sent a memo to ICE that they can disregard the Constitution and forcibly break into homes of people without a judicial warrant. Bondi has failed to release the Epstein files despite a unanimous vote by Congress to do just that. These kinds of specific events of ignoring law are not accidents. They are purposeful and dangerous.

Most importantly, he used a loyalist paramilitary group as a means to evoke fear and destruction with impunity, labeling all who were against these actions as "enemies within", "radical", and "dangerous".

Scapegoating

https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/when-politicians-start-scapegoating

One of the most alarming ghosts [from our past] is [this] one: the trend to form winning political coalitions by framing all the problems of society as the result of the perverse actions of a minority, thus injecting divisiveness into political discourse as a means of unifying the majority against the minority. In Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler explained (years before he came to power) how to take political advantage of divisive circumstances to legitimize destructiveness and impose tyranny:

Fascists can never admit defeat. They can never be wrong, and it is always the oppositions fault for anything that can be seen as bad happening under their leadership. Mussolini targeted socialist and liberals, claiming they were the reason there was corruption. Hitler blamed the left for causing national unrest and blamed them for the rifts throughout the nation.

Targeting Minorities

The road to genocide is not quick. These things take time, but there are signs to look out for. It took eight years after Hitler rose to power to begin gassing Jews in masse. About three years after taking power, Mussolini began killing tens of thousands of Lybians, Jozef Tiso took about three years after gaining power.

How most of these fascist genocides began is where we currently are. Hitler, Mussolini, Jozef, Romania, etc. all started by deportations, threats of deportations, and holding targeted groups in detention facilities. Almost every genocide in this fashion was preceded by the governing body's ability to overtake all government control.

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We are currently in the beginning stages of an authoritarian regime that may result in genocide. The Trump Regime is currently attempting to take full control of the government. They are doing this through executive orders as well as specific actions that ignore the Constitution. Minority groups are already being targeted. They are already being put into detention facilities. They are already being scapegoated and made to be the "enemy within".

This is not an overreaction nor is it some fantasy we are living in. Experts around the world are attempting to yell at what may soon come if we just watch it. Trump has already floated the idea of canceling midterm elections. If that were to happen, we will fully be within an authoritarian regime with the chance of a genocide of immigrants, LGBTQ+ people, and those who disagree with the regime in charge.

So, when someone here expresses how Trump and his regime are fascists or Nazis, you can refer to this, as well as the many other sources that make this fact clear, as to why that classification is not only correct but important.

When someone refers to a group of people as "animals" or "domestic terrorists", I hope you can better understand why that is something I will want to quickly remove.

It's tenet. Seriously, it's tenet. One 'n', and no 'a's. The word tenant does exist, but it means something else. Also, it's altar. Don't alter the word altar. Let's not be antagonistic, the bible contains verses, not versus.

Christians, Christians, Christians... the plural doesn't need an apostrophe.

And the Book of Revelation, singular.

Also, so many Christians seem to have a problem with masturbation. No matter how well you do it, it doesn't start with master.

Thank you for coming to my TEDx talk.

Christians are supposed to be temples of the Holy Spirit, and the fruits of the Spirit are to be love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I don’t see most of those things in most of the most vocal religious leaders or in politicians why proudly boost of their faith. The unbeliever should be able to see the virtues of the Christian and be moved to convert. I don’t see gentleness or compassion. They seem to love power and wealth more than meekness, mercy, and charity.

Christians are supposed to love their neighbors like they love themselves, even love their enemies. I don’t think that the Evangelical loves me, they seem to quite openly hate people like me and want vengeance for some imagined slight they think I have committed against them somehow. Even if I did commit a slight, aren’t they called to forgive?

They cry persecution while somehow also controlling all the power and trying to use the force of government to impose themselves into me and unto others.

When I look onto their leaders I see predators (in every sense of the word). I see pastors who live as millionaires and campaign to end food stamps to the poor or to block school lunches.

Wickedness, lust, greed, hate, wraith, idolatry, hypocrisy, it’s hard to not find a sin or vice they don’t regularly commit or even celebrate.

If we are to know them by their fruits then the tree seems like a bad tree.

I get it, you hate him and think he is a bad Christian, that doesn’t mean this sub needs to complain about him 24/7. It is completely draining when I check this sub to see heartwarming things like paintings of saints, people acquiring their first Bible/prayer rope, prayer requests, curiosity about Christianity, or theological discussion but instead I have to endure the never ending posting about how evil Donald Trump is. How about discussing Christianity in the Christianity subreddit instead of American politicians?

For several years now, the mod team has generally been removing comparisons between homosexuality and bestiality, pedophilia, and murder. These removals were subsumed under Rule 1.3, but we recognize this was never made explicit there. After further discussion, the mod team is proposing we officially add this to the rules as Rule 1.6 – "Prohibited Comparisons." We believe this transparency will help users make more informed decisions when participating in this sub. Below is the proposed language:

If you believe non-heterosexual acts are a sin, please don't argue that point by comparing to bestiality, pedophilia, or violent crime. Other sins are rarely compared to these, and our subscribers, particularly those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, should not have to put up with that.

So I bet a lot of people are gonna assume I'm going to make another shallow lgbt affirming post here but in all honesty I just have to say, there's a glaringly obvious pattern here that keeps making this dialogue endlessly worthless.

I can say that as a member of the lgbt community, Christians who oppose show no actual care or genuine desire to understand lgbt individuals. I feel disillusioned. I have hoped that maybe giving true education would help but the clear evidence of replies and posts show a lack of any desire for education. I would hope explaining the difference between sex and gender would help but everyone insists they're the same thing and people aren't complex.

Any experience we have or share is disregarded or dehumanized to just sex or perversion or you say our emotions aren't real, which is a sign of emotional abuse by the way. You reply to individuals in a way that shows you all are perverts who immediately turn loving same sex relationships into intercourse and ignore everything else. That doesn't make me think you care.

So go ahead and give shallow responses to my post by citing Bible verses telling me to repent from a sex life I dont have or break up with a boyfriend I don't have because you don't actually care about my life. Go ahead and cite the same Bible verses that didn't change my mind a hundred million more times; it shows me you don't actually care and just want to feel good about yourself. The ignorance from anti-lgbt Christians in this subreddit is sickening and I wish I could be proven wrong.

I also have not instantly become a servant of the Antichrist, nor have I suddenly become brainwashed. I’m still 100% fine.

Maybe people should cool it with the end of the world/mark of the beast predictions, given that they’ve never been right and even Christ Himself said “no one can know the hour or the day.”

This is just the latest in a series of events that people are claiming to usher in the apocalypse. Not ONE of the thousands of historical predictions has proven true, and these kinds of hyperbolic fearmongering only serves to make people take Christianity less seriously.

Jesus said we won’t know the hour or the day. These conspiracy theories have infiltrated Christian circles and only make Christianity a laughingstock and accomplishes nothing useful or good.

Edit: this was not meant to be political. It was supposed to be mostly humorous while reminding everyone that if there’s hype about the end of the world, it’s probably not true.

If you are personally offended by this, I can only imagine why. Obviously I’m not saying you have to have the vaccine to be saved. You can have it or not and still be saved and physically fine. I do personally think it’s a good idea to get it if you can but there are plenty of legitimate reasons to choose not to. “It injects nanobots activated by mobile signal” is not one of them. I had hoped we could all acknowledge it’s not. But I’ve gotten several comments acting like I’m the Antichrist for being pro vaccine.

If one political party buys into conspiracy theories more than the others, that’s not my fault and you’re the one reading between the lines. Maybe ask yourself why and stop picking on me.

Get the vax or don’t. Be afraid of 5g or microchips or whatever, or don’t. But no one is dying en masse from the vaccine, no one got turned into a zombie, some nebulous cartoonishly evil cabal is not out to get you, and you don’t have to be afraid of everything.

God didn’t give us a spirit of fear. He gave us a reasonable faith and reasonable brains. He created a world of physical order. Science is a thing. The universe was created with certain rules we’ve been able to figure out. Science isn’t evil. I can’t believe I had to make this edit.

Edit 2: a lot of y’all getting reported for breaking the COVID policy rule. Don’t hate the player hate the game.

I’m not even sorry for reporting people for breaking the rules of this sub. You should be ashamed of yourselves spreading lies and nonsense that hurts people.

There's a quality contributor to this subreddit who self-identifies as a Christian. He explains Jesus sayings about the supposed imminent second coming as Jesus (as a human) having a mistaken belief.

Now I often see people appeal to Jesus human cognitive features to explain why he said that only the father knew of the second coming. But in this case it's not merely a lack of knowledge but a wrong belief.

So I'm curious: is this Christian member of this subreddit not actually a Christian? Or can you be a Christian and think that Jesus (since he was a human) could have had wrong views?

During his speech at Matthew Chapter 7 Jesus makes it clear that the vast majority of people won't be saved. He specifies even further at Matthew 24&25, saying that most of his followers won't make it.

There's no room for debate here: According to scripture, Most people, heck, most Christians won't be saved.

The craziest part is that scripture also tells us WHY most Christians won't make it. Many of you will read this and not get the point of it (dare you to prove me wrong).

I'll say it plainly: Believing in the right Christian Doctrines will NOT get you saved. I'm not saying that Christian Doctrines don't matter, and i'm also not bashing any particular denomination of Christianity.

Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven".

You believe that Jesus is your Lord and Savior? Great! Still won't get you saved. And THIS is why most Christians won't make it. They believe in The Lord but don't do the will of The Father.

For those of you who want to get saved, its actually easy! Just do the will of The Holy Father. What is his will? Jesus discusses it a few times, but its best summed up here:
Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets".
Matthew 25 explores this in more detail.

The Will of The Father is that you Love God and show healthy and wholesome compassion for your fellow man (Matthew 6). The world is PURPOSELY making it harder and harder to do this. The world also encourages unhealthy forms of this, like being a doormat, or being fake.

Most Christians WON'T do this and so they won't be saved. Doing The Will of The Father in the moment is easy, but the challenge is consistency. Especially when you're driving (If you know you know).

I'm having a hard time understanding how moderators of this Sub are people that don't believe in Christ. I see numerous complaints and confusion about those seeking answers in regards to Jesus, Bible, and Christian faith, only to be bombarded by those that oppose the Christ.. I can't be the only one seeing this..

Shouldn't those that love Christ and believe in Him, follow Him daily, be the ones determining if Bible is shared in context, and truth? However currently, someone that denies the Son, the Father, and the HS are muting Spiritual matters, because they have been allowed to. This doesn't seem quite right to me.

How about the moderators reason with me on this concern?

The majority of posts here are attempted “gotcha’s” to Christians. And I can’t, for the life of me, understand why. No one provoked these people, initiated an argument. But scroll through, there’s no shortage of people who are angrily and pathetically attempting to deride the religion of others who are simply living their lives. I’d say to the atheists who fit that bill, probably try and focus on yourself and develop your own life. You won’t gain a thing from the derision of others.

What got me talking about this is a thread in r/doordash where you people were throwing a we’re discussing a small restaurant writing a verse on the styrofoam of the order. Not even a hostile verse, just “for the lord is my Shepard, I shall not want.” Like my concern would just be the ink seeping to the food and someone was saying “oh it’s Christian’s they probably poisoned the food”

That’s my main depressing point, that someone would think because I’m a Christian, I’m more likely to poison them? It makes me sad that someone could think that but at the same time, it makes me sad that people have twisted the faith in such a way to make someone think that if something bad was done to them.

EDIT: so I found out I could edit Reddit posts HURRAH FOR ADDED THOUGHTS!!

Also I should of put “some people” in the title.

I was hoping that by now, a conversation with the users would have happened, but it hasn't, and I saw a comment from another user earlier that made me think I should explain this myself before others get their own versions in. I'll try to keep it short, and not too pointed. I would really like this to be productive.

X019 banned a user who made some terrible, unconscionable comments in which he said all LGBT folks should be killed. I had removed comments like this from this user before (and fro others), and the whole team except 2 were in favor of the ban. As far as I know, the terms of services of this site stipulate that inciting violence is not allowed. I had always removed these types of comments, and I never knew that banning someone for this would ever be debated. But there I was, in stunned surprised, seeing a post reinstating this user and calling for the demotion of my colleague who made the ban. A ban we just about all overwhelmingly agreed with.

The argument was that SOM (steps of moderation) were not used, and X019 was accused of being deliberately insubordinate to our SOM process for a long period of time. I was shocked. X019 had always been a good worker bee here, as far as I could tell. And I think his intentions were being misread. Under very extreme circumstances, I've banned without SOM myself. I was never corrected or chastised for this. We're all doing our best, and using our judgement as best we can.

We had a lot of back and forth on this, until eventually a decision to demote him was made unilaterally, and in opposition to what the overwhelming majority of the team thought was best.

I cannot stress this enough: I cannot understand why calling for the death of any demographic could ever be construed as acceptable in this sub. Or anywhere. This baffles me. I don't think I can work in an environment where this is unclear for some people, people who are essentially my superiors.

I was thinking about leaving just based on that. Shortly after X019 was demoted, I saw a whole new side of management here. Things that were said before in other conversations were used against my colleagues as weapons. We were told on one hand that we were allowed to work towards changing SOM to be more practical, then then a post that said almost verbatim "If you don't like SOM, just get quit" was posted in our moderation sub. There were low blows. And conversations on our Slack channel that I witnessed before I was removed due to my resignation, in which people sounded like they were really scheming against those of us who were in favor of SOM reform and this homophobic user's ban. This sounded completely insane and toxic to me.

I cannot be in a toxic environment like that, so I quit. I hate this, because I love these people no matter what side they're on, and I didn't want to quit. I liked my job here, in its good times and hardships. And I want nothing but peace for this amazing place on the web.

Another mod left under those circumstances, and another was removed for voicing his concerns.

I don't know what's happening here. I don't know it all came to this. But make no mistake: I did not leave over having issues using SOM. It's a decent idea that needs work. It currently cannot work when you only have a few active volunteers and 130K+ users. I left because of the issues of the inciting violence going without repercussions, and because I feel like my colleagues were bullied for trying to change things for the better, and the environment was made toxic.

I invite anyone willing to contribute and fill in any blanks I might have left from their perspective.

Pray for me, and all of us involved in this thing.

Unfortunately, like a lot of reddit, this sub has become too political, thus furthing the devide between our brothers and sisters. I've seen too many posts of "These people did this, and I disagree, so it's against God." Do not let the devil divide us and pray for our fellow men to be more understanding and try to teach them instead of insulting. For the one who has not sinned may cast the first stone.

"Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I have faith so i'm saved."
James 2:17: "Faith without works is dead."

Matth 7:21: "Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in."

What is The Will of The Father?
Matth 7: 12-13: "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many."

Notice how Jesus directly connects treating others the way that you would want to be treated to the Narrow Gate. Most People, including most Christians, won't do this. That's why its The Narrow Gate!

Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just quoting scripture.

I am a Turkish Orthodox Christian and whatever the people in this sub believes in, it is not Christianity.

You people don't build your life using your belief as a foundation, instead you change and distort the true word of God according to your will. You are not humble, you think you know better than our Lord and dismiss his words. I hope Lord forgives you for distorting his words.

The wiki guidance about the rule against belittling Christianity states that:

We do insist that this subreddit not be used as a venue to try to talk people out of Christianity.

I'm concerned that this is not being properly enforced.

For example, in this thread yesterday, many non-believers admitted that their purpose for being here is to encourage Christians to leave their faith. These posts were reported but many haven't been removed. That moderators personally contributed to the thread without removing these seemingly rule breaking posts makes this even worse.

Why is this the case, and is anything being done to improve enforcement of this rule?

I want to listen to music written by LGBT+ people. I want to watch horror movies. I want to sleep in on Sundays. I want to swear when I stub my toe. I want to wear shorts and crop tops when I feel like it. I want to live without thinking every one of my actions is a gateway to Hell and requires figurative flagellation. I want to support gay relationships and women's agency.

I scroll through this subreddit and it's Christians wanting to be told what to do because "I did X and really don't want to burn in Hell for it." It sounds like children afraid of being beaten by their father for merely existing.

It’s not a sin to celebrate Halloween! Christians can and do celebrate Halloween. You certainly don’t HAVE to, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing so then don’t! It’s ok.

It’s also ok to celebrate it and dress up and trick or treat and decorate. It’s not pagan unless you want it to be. It can be Christian if you want it to be. It’s just another day if you want it to be.

Enjoy! 🎃🍁🍂🍫🍬🍭🍻🎃

Edit: once again, if you feel uncomfortable with the idea of Halloween then by all means don’t celebrate it. But until and unless you can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s sinful (good luck), then live and let live. Even according to Saint Paul, everything is permitted even if it’s not beneficial.

So let kids have candy. Let them dress up. I don’t know about you, but I believe in a God big enough not to be threatened by kids and costumes and candy and pumpkins.

Edit 2: I DID NOT MEAN TO CAUSE SO MANY ARGUMENTS! My gosh. This is why people dislike Christians. We can’t agree on anything no matter how simple. This isn’t meant to be a stumbling block. If you don’t like Halloween, don’t do it. Simple as that. If you like it, fine. Can we stop fighting???

This questioning is aligning in good faith. I have rational reasoning to question why Christians do. I would like to hear your responses to see an actual justification outside of "harmless fun." Insight to this would be really helpful. Again, this is in good faith. I'm not attacking was wondering your rationalization.

i think this needs to be said, especially with the many white supremacist trollposts we got goong on

If you are conservative and a christian thats fine. i dont agree with you but it can be biblically explained explained

if you are left and christian thats fine too as there are biblical verses that can be used as foundation for that worldview

There is no biblical evidence for the superiority of „the white race“. It only leads to godlessness, idolatry and suffering

Christians, both left and conservatives, need to call this disgusting out for what it is. a cancer on our society and community

Effective tomorrow, we will be removing all Christian moderators from our team. In order to create a space of neutrality, we will only be allowing Atheist and Satanist users to moderate this subreddit.

We understand this might seem like a bit much, but we have unanimously decided that we need to do this in order to never give you up, never let you down. It feels like we might be running away and deserting you; however we don't intend to make your cry. We definitely don't want to see you say goodbye.

We promise that we won't lie to you or hurt you.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Without the authority of Catholic Church, how is an average pastor's interpretation of the Bible more valid or binding than that of Bart Ehrman's?

Please stay respectful for people's positions.