What are non-christains getting wrong when dealing with christains?

Do you think that preaching the gospels is a means to an end?

John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

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Multicam said:

And you're right, it's not a matter of "this is the way it is for me and if you don't like it you don't get it". It's a matter of "this is the way I believe it to be and if you don't like it you may or may not be right and I'm not the one to say". Also, "it" is intolerance of Christians, not the validity of the Christian faith.

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My opinion is that you are either yourself being vain, or you are implicitly claiming that people who read your words in vain are committing sin. But I don't see how miscommunication is any indication of an opinion of how well Christians may be liked. Did you think you could solve that problem by explaining yourself? No, the problem is far deeper than that. Anyone with any level of exposure in non-Christian communities knows that Christians are generally well regarded, even by non-Christians. Trying to victimize yourself with the conflation of misconception and miscommunication won't accomplish anything. I don't hate you because you're a victim.

Christians regularly interact with non-Christians in secular matters. To me that is the most important part of the question. The only "sacred" aspects which concern non-Christians is the presence of the church and the history of Christianity. The opportunities to talk about this should occur mostly in interactions with Christians. The separation of church and state, for example, does not mean that non-Christians hate Christians in their everyday lives - this applies to other faiths as well. If non-Christians are ignorant of the Christian faith, I don't think either party attempting to change that will benefit Christians. It's a two way street and non-conversion means coming up empty handed.

Multicam said:

I see the intolerance of Christians, especially compared to other religious people, as being something exceptional.

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I don't.

Intolerance is a common human behavior, and is exhibited by a wide variety of religions, philosophies, ideologies etc.

Christianity, and American Christians, are not exclusively conservative either. There's a long history of liberalism and leftism in Christian churches, ranging from involvement in abolitionism, to civil rights, to helping illegal immigrants, to advocating government intervention for anti-poverty policies, to opposing right-wing governments (e.g. "liberation theology"). And of course, many Democrats and liberals are Christian. The association with conservatism and/or Republican Party is not a full picture of the politics of American Christians.

Quag said:

There is nothing with with people having faith in something greater than themselves.
The problems occur when people try to impose their beliefs on others.

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That works for me.