"She's a good Christian girl..."

So I went out last week to celebrate a friend of mine's birthday. During the evening, another friend of mine's mother, whom appeared to be a bit inebriated, began talking to me. She and I had met a couple of times before and I think it's safe to say she's taken a liking to me. This was especially apparent last week when she attempted to set me up with pretty much every single woman in her family. It even reached the point where she talked about setting me up with her other son's ex-wife and a 23-year-old niece that's in college. It was an awkward yet flattering moment to be certain. Knowing how intoxicated she was and how embarrassed her son was, I just attempted to go with the flow, let her know that her words were extremely flattering, but that I wasn't interested. One remark she made about her niece stood out to me and almost made me chuckle as a result. Fortunately, I was able to withhold from doing that, as I limited my laughter to the internal kind. Yes, I was laughing inside.

Her remark(s) went like this:

"She's in college. She's really pretty, sweet, and is a good Christian girl. She doesn't drink, doesn't smoke or do drugs, is Christian and a good Christian girl..."

I wanted to be a smart aleck and say something like, "Wait, so she's both a Christian and a good Christian girl? That kind of threw me off there," but I refrained from doing so, as it seemed like most of what I said she didn't hear anyway. But that description cracked me up somewhat because I really see no need for it. Perhaps it mainly has to do with me not being religious, but when trying to set me up with somebody, I don't really need to be told that they believe in an invisible yet omnipotent being in order to convince me they're a decent person. Mention that they're kind, funny, intelligent, laid back, easy to talk to, generous, good with kids and pets, active, open-minded, and include a picture. Telling me they're a good "Christian" girl isn't really going to do anything for me. Humorously enough, I only hear this descriptor used when it comes to the Christian religion in this country. When trying to impress me about someone else, a person has never told me the following:

- "Oh, she's such a good agnostic girl!"

- "She's such a sweet atheist girl!"

- "She has to be the kindest Satanic girl in the world!"

- "If you're looking for a Muslim sweetheart, look no further than her!"

- "This kind-hearted humanist girl would be so good for you!"

Why's it always a "good Christian"? When making such descriptions, I'm sure these people say such things because they themselves are Christians and associate the word "Christian" with being good, moral people. This woman probably described her niece in this manner to try and illustrate to me that she doesn't do drugs, doesn't sleep around, and is a "moral" person. However, I know many people who label themselves as Christian yet tend to act otherwise. Also, how can "Christian" truly be defined anymore? I know many self-described Christians whom basically believe that it's ethical to take care of the rich at the expense of the poor. While I may not describe myself as a Christian, I believe the direct opposite and ironically enough, believe my beliefs on the matter are more in line with Christ's teachings than the self-described Christians'. So I know what this woman was trying to say to me when describing her niece as a "good Christian" girl, however, neither she nor I truly know what that actually means.

So, to me, when I heard this woman say, "She's such a good Christian girl," what I actually heard was this: "She's such a sweet girl that believes an invisible man created the world, can see everything, knows everything, and will provide her eternal life."

It was at that point I just wanted to respond with, "Yeah, you really could have stopped at 'good.'"