Ira - Christians Are Picked On

How does Ira feel about Christians? His response may surprise you. He shares about Christians in his life whom he "adores". He talks about including faith as part of peoples normal lives.

[@Lit123ful]

We know Christianity by its fruits. It is not blood thirsty but for life, especially the most innocent the baby. Non religious or those that reject god are for themselves only. They could care less about how what they do affect everyone.

[@devinmurphy5930]

As a Christian I appreciate Ira's outlook on this. No doubt there are people professing Christ that make Christians cringe along with the rest of the world. The same thing happens with Muslims, they are popularly identified by actions of minority groups claiming the religion. This balanced, documentary view is simply great and I appreciate it greatly. I gave up long ago on thinking that Christians should get special treatment by the media because the faith is so stained with political allegiance

[@Michael-xv1gn]

Very mature and balanced view faith. Though I am also a secular person, faith is a big part of my life because it is and has always been all around me. I was raised around religion. I'm Hispanic, and my twin brother is a minister at his church. I went a different way and became a philosophy major. And many of my friends in both the philosophy programs and the humanities and science programs at my school were of course very derisive about the whole faith thing. But I never felt like they understood what faith actually was outside of an abstract concept. Here I'm not talking about tolerance, or acceptance,but understanding. There are many people who believe they have to save people from religion, That is their one goal in life, is to tell people they are wrong and stupid for believing in a god. That is their prerogative. And they might be completely right. These might be extremely ridiculous beliefs. But that does not speak to the nature of the believers experience with the belief. The question we might ask ourselves is why do people believe? Of course at that point we always fall back on generalities. He doesn't have any will, he is afraid of death, she is indoctrinated. But I could never reduce religious experience to such gross simplifications because my twin brother, who is every bit as intelligent and rational as I am, is a card carrying, hardcore, minister at his church. And even though I don't understand how he can do it, I had to understand why he was doing it and what it meant for him, because he is my brother and a part of me. And I don't believe he does what he does for any of those reasons. His spirituality, as I understand it, comes from a very complex place. And I have seen him go from a troubled kid who was always getting in fights and very ruthless at work and in his personal life, to an extremely kind and gentle man, a much better man than myself, who is very engaged in doing service, civil rights advocacy and just being as kind a person as is possible and sensible for him to be. If anyone has read this through, and is not of any faith, know that I'm not inviting you to accept religion or to like it, but simply to understand it a little better, if only to better get on with the people in this world who are of a faith and are worth getting along with.

[@fergusmccorquodale4388]

Michael i

[@biga8u]

Thanks Ira, that is a very thoughtful evaluation.

[@joshsteichmann2948]

Ira's got some massive selection bias going on - pretty much every hour-long drama on TV has an affirmative portrayal of a Christian. Walking Dead, Criminal Minds, Law and Order, on and on. "Christian" is such the default in America that Ira's missing all the background and only catching the outliers - which are inherently newsworthy because they're outliers.

[@leightonmann]

Ira Glass is the most irritating, suck up closet case in modern media.

[@Brifromscratch]

What an interesting interview. Listened to This A. Life for years in my 20's. Thanks Jim for this.

[@RebeccaMooreHealthCoach]

love the interviewer's question: "you don't think they deserve this coverage?" and "you mean, YOU feel sorry for them??" answer: these people are nothing like the people in my life. 'nuff said.

[@JimHendersonPresents]

go to youtube and search jim henderson and ira glass and you'll find more

[@stevenhuyck7076]

Inaccurately titled piece. Ira talks about the incomplete picture of Christianity, particularly in America, that the media present. There is no "picking on" in his discussion. This is part of the meme of many present-day Christians that they are victims and martyrs. It fits well with their view of their religion, so I suppose it makes sense, but it does not reflect the reality any better than the media's depiction of what Christianity is. As the predominant religion and moral framework in the US, Christianity on the whole is hardly the victim, although some individual Christians may from time to time be made to suffer for their beliefs. Such occurrences allow those Christians who like this view of themselves to then proclaim that "Christians" are being persecuted, as though it is widespread and pervasive, although logic tells you that isolated incidents never prove a general rule. What Ira is saying is that there is a fuller, more nuanced, and richer story to be told about modern Christianity. That is true and that is what "This American Life" always strives to provide. That it is why it is some of the best reporting going on in the US today. But please, Mr. Henderson, don't mangle Ira's words into supporting the victimhood meme of certain Christians. It's just not there.

[@ilililhy1]

Most Christans deserve it? a Christian is a Follower of God.God,who has a Son,Jesus Christ,this means Satan Hates you,good for him,I have Victory over Satan,through Jesus Christ.We are sinners saved by Grace and Mercy.Jesus Loves You.I don`t want to be a warm, watered down Christian,GLORY,Thank you Jesus.On FIRE FOR GOD.

[@shoulderkolibri]

Oh Ira, you know you're wrong. The *bad* Christians are covered because they are *bad*. The good one's defend themselves by seeing themselves as victims to the high potential of the misuse of faith by hypocrites. It's the fact that they defend themselves that's so pitiful. Atheists (and more intelligent theists, hopefully) don't need to 'defend' ourselves in lieu of morals, because that expectation is not just in the 'eyes of god', but the sum of one's experience in connection to others.

[@jaychall100]

How about if you're religious than don't impose your will here on earth but wait till death when God will sort out the sinners from the saved. This way we can all be happy - religion will not affect politics and personal freedoms and the religious will be free to practice in tolerance.

[@FREEK777ful]

listen christ himself said that following him wasn't going to be easy take a look outside of the u.s and you'll see what i mean

[@men_of_god7]

Nice to see Ira confront some ignorance about christians.

[@spress15]

hmm... it ends rather abruptly. Is there a longer version of this interview?

[@jaychall100]

Please don't speak for people whom you know nothing about.

[@spress15]

Thanks, should have just searched before asking. :)

[@JimHendersonPresents]

he does look kinda creepy now that you mention it :)

[@BruceFnLee]

The words of a crazy person

[@MissPooslie]

what order do they go in?

[@lourencopeppe952]

Not good !

[@ghostie7790]

he's a cool dude.

[@carlcgranieri]

Word, Ira.

[@JimHendersonPresents]

so are you

[@svonkie]

Christ being the son of God and someone who died on the cross for our sins is a completely nonsensical idea based loosely on the ancient practice of human sacrifice. Despite the fact that it is completely loony, this belief is central to the Christian religion. So the very foundation of the religion is absurd. That's what we're dealing with here.

[@yeetsquad9380]

Svonkie it’s not human sacrifice the people got him crucified. he suffered for our sins in the garden of gethsemane and then was crucified because the people didn’t think he was the son of god.