there are NO intolerant christians and christians did not kill anyone in the name of god, the people who killed were NOT christians jesus christ taught nothing but LOVE and he was killed by so called religious people! so ask yourselves how many christians have been slaughtered for their beliefs,maybe we can all live in harmony one day on this earth!

Irish, I'm afraid that's a little naive.

You can't simply claim that the unpleasant aspects of Christianity aren't real Christians. They believed they were, and they were allowed to operate under the banner of Christianity and were endorsed by Christian authority figures. That makes them the Christian incarnation of that age. It may be repugnant to today's incarnation, but it's the way it's panned out.

The major religions have evolved over many years. Much of that legacy is bloodshed - granted, there are a great many positive aspects as well, but to try and claim only the good is a little condescending.

You can't pick and choose history according to the standards that have evolved today. Those standards weren't always the way.

Once upon a time, it was quite acceptable for Christians to have slaves. We've changed that now, but it wasn't always the case.

Who changed the slavery thing? Oh, it was the Christians. Good work.

Now, why can't Catholics hold the throne in the UK? Will rational thought overcome historical, political and national interests again?

Slavery of both body and thought is dangerous. Assent to faith is better than submission, and so the basis of a civilised society is where one can accept, reject or change their religion.

Sharing one's faith is the key. Ultimately there is only one truth, but beating it into someone else undermines its credibility.

Yes, people who are christians were involved in the abolition of slavery - my point is, the standards of a religion change over time.

irish's statement above implies there is a simple, cut and try classification for who a 'real' christian is.

The thing is, that definition has been different for every age and still isn't concrete.

Once upon a time slaves were acceptable. So were the crusades. So was the Spanish inquisition.

Of course there has been plenty of good as well - but it's a bit rich for a christian living by the standards of 2007, to say that the bad deeds committed by previous incarnations of christianity means that they weren't real christians.

To emphasise my point - I imagine plenty of christians today would say condemning homosexuality is acceptable and they should be ashamed of their behaviour.
Others wouldn't.
Who is right? Are those others who don't condemn them 'not real christians?'

I'm essentially saying you can't pick and choose who you call real christians. You've got to accept a little more responsibility than that.