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Comment by woodrowbarlow | Hacker News Reader

just because it doesn't align with what you've observed doesn't mean it's "mental". that's rude. please be constructive.

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I think he means it's mental to imagine Christians actually doing that. I agree.

No judgement in if you do that, good for you. However the point is not that it's too much reading or w/e, but rather that it's far more than the typical christian cares to do. To assume christians actually do that is the mental part, but you choosing to do; if that makes sense.

edit: To the downvote, do you honestly think the majority of christians in America, some self proclaimed 70% of Americans iirc, read several passages a day? Really?

Not a downvoter, but you're probably being downvoted because it's clear that "mental" IS being used to mean "crazy", and quite obviously so.

I mean, imo he very clearly meant the frequency was mental; I guess I just interpret his reply to someone saying that Christians read that frequently as mental, rather than it being mental itself to read that frequently.

For what it’s worth the comment you’re replying to is completely right about what I meant. I see that my phrasing invites misunderstanding, and the distinction is subtle.

Of that 70% is a large chunk who never even attend church, who claim to be Christian for reasons unclear to anyone.

It turns out about 27% of Americans[0] read their Bible several times per week, with more than half of those reading it daily.

[0] https://www.barna.com/research/state-of-the-bible-2018-seven...

TBH I'm actually impressed it's even that high. I'd speculate that the 27% (if self reported) ~~is~~ would be far lower if consistency over a period of time was checked. Regardless, I feel the need to reinforce, this is just human nature, not a comment against christians.

There are many, many social pressures applied in most protestant churches, which contributes to the high percentage. From childhood, kids are told, "read your Bible and pray every day." Human nature is what it is, so even the "every day" crowd likely misses days here and there, but anecdotally, people take this very, very seriously.

I think he means that it's "in your mind", not that it's crazy.

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