There are no Christian principles
There are no Christian principles - or any other religious principles.
There are principles that may be embodied in the teachings of Christianity, but there are no principles that originate from or are exclusive to Christianity or any other religion.
Human principles exist independently of Christianity and they predate Christianity.
They exist across all cultures and religions throughout the world. They are timeless and have permanent enduring value.
Principles include honesty, fairness, equality, equity, justice, compassion, forgiveness, courage, human dignity, service, excellence, potential, growth, patience, nurturance, encouragement, respect, vision, accountability, initiative, altruism, charity, etc
For simplicity, if you wanted to boil all these principles into a single word, it would be 'integrity', the definition of which is: the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles.
Honesty and critical thinking are essential to living a life aligned with human principles, because without them a person can just lie about being fair or compassionate, etc.
Honesty includes being honest with yourself, about yourself, and the world around you. One of the biggest lies that people tell revolves around the false notion of the inherent goodness or the infallibility of their religious beliefs. No religion is inherently good. Everyone's belief in God or religion is just a guess.
Quoting Stephen Covey: “Although people may argue about how principles are defined or manifested or achieved there seems to be an innate consciousness and awareness that they exist …
For example, with fairness there are vast differences in how fairness is defined and achieved, but there’s almost universal awareness of the idea”.
Although it does have principles embodied in many of its practices, Christianity can often serve as an obstacle to moral or principled behavior because too many perceive it as being good in and of itself. There can be a tendency to focus more on membership and worship practices, and see them as a substitute for principled behavior.
In addition to its positive teachings, Christianity has unprincipled beliefs and practices embedded in some of its institutions and carried out by many of its members - such as misogyny or bigotry against the LGBTQ+ community. It is also ambiguous and easily misinterpreted and manipulated to turn people away from honesty and other principled behavior.
Principled behavior is the summit that people should strive for, and it can be achieved without the help of religion. The teachings and practices of Christianity and other religions can never provide guidance that is better than what would be achieved by trying to be aligned with human principles, but they can often lead people to engage in very unprincipled behavior.
Christianity and other major religions will never unite humanity or be a source of common values. Religion will always divide. There are simply too many differences in beliefs. Even within the Christian religion, there are wide differences in beliefs, teachings, and practices.
What should help unite humanity and be a source of common values is a continued effort to be aligned with human principles. For humanity collectively, there needs to be de-emphasis on religion and an increased focus on principled behavior. Instead of talking about how someone is a 'good Christian' - which is basically meaningless, there needs to be more discussion with regards to whether or not people act with honesty and integrity. Principles need to be the measuring stick, not religion.
Keeping human principles as your center - instead of religion, will actually strengthen religious practices, rather than diminish them. They can serve as a compass or lighthouse to keep people on the right path.
People should evaluate the interpretations, teachings, and practices of their religion against human principles and reject those that are not in alignment. If practicing your religion leads you to be unfair, unjust, hateful, etc, then you are on the wrong path.
