I think I'd say "born-again Christian" or "evangelical" or even just "Protestant."

well I don't know about "born-again" but there are evangelical Catholics. And they are all Christian! As far as I remember.

Yeah, I'm sorry guys. I really mucked that up. And I wasn't trying to say anything about that at all.

Oh, yeah, no problem!

I just had TOTALLY forgotten about that fight. Part of my history of not taking bullshit from nominal authority figures. Sometimes to my detriment.

well I don't know about "born-again" but there are evangelical Catholics. And they are all Christian! As far as I remember.

That's true, but I think the term still defaults to a subset of Protestants.

Thing is, ALL the terms are confusing. I can say I'm Presbyterian, but there are so many flavors of Presbys that by itself that doesn't tell you much. I'd have to go on to say that I'm PC-USA, which is mainline and the most liberal flavor of Presbyterianism, but that my church is evangelical, but lefty-evangelical what with ordaining women and so on, and that I'm liberal by my congregation's standards, and by then you've probably fallen asleep.

My exact denomination is "evangelical free," which sounds like it's on the really evangelical/conservative side, which it's actually not. Well, at least not compared to some churches I've been in. It is really confusing. And kinda stupid, actually. I mean, not entirely stupid...we each need to know where we stand, but I sometimes really hate that there are all of these divides. Why can't we just get along?

But, we can't, and blah, blah, blah. And I'm gonna shut up before I step in anymore guac.

That's true, but I think the term still defaults to a subset of Protestants.

Huh, that was never the case in the circles I grew up in. Christian included all Christian churches and the dividing line was whether or not churches were Protestant or not.

Huh, that was never the case in the circles I grew up in. Christian included all Christian churches and the dividing line was whether or not churches were Protestant or not.

The term I was talking about was "evangelical"--that while there are evangelical Catholics, when I see "evangelical" by itself I assume the speaker/writer is referring to conservative Protestants.

I think it's more that a number of born-again Christians don't consider other denominations Christian. I don't know anyone who isn't "born-again" that would use Christian to mean only that one subset.

The term I was talking about was "evangelical"--that while there are evangelical Catholics, when I see "evangelical" by itself I assume the speaker/writer is referring to conservative Protestants.

Gotcha, I misread your meaning.

and by then you've probably fallen asleep.

Well, I haven't fallen asleep, but then I'm freaky that way.

And, ugh, lisah, I also bear the scars of a childhood run-in with an officious asshat who explained kindly and patronizingly that everyone knows that Catholics aren't really Christians (though, in this case, not an authority figure of any sort, just the jerkface girl across the street).

Dork that I was, I ran to the school library and showed her the Webster's definition of a Christian: one who believes that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. At which she @@'d at me, "But, Jacqueline, even the devils in Hell can do that. That's just a fact; knowing it doesn't make you a Christian."

Though what really still rankles is the day I walked to school sobbing uncontrollably because one of my mom's best friends had just committed suicide (our mothers made us walk to school together, even though we were not friends at all), and she said cheerfully, "If he committed suicide, then God is sending him straight to Hell!"

It's possible that I still have issues.

I'm with ND--"Christian" is the term for all people who believe in Christ and the trinity, and the two main types of Christians are Catholic and Protestant, and the various subcategories below Protestant (although since I was a kid, I've found out about the offshoots of Catholicism, including Mel Gibson's favorite excommunicated priest).