the very claiming of these values for Christianity, as opposed to any other religion
(emphasis mine)
why on earth do some Christians claim these principles as their own exclusively
The values Steph listed are the values of the Christian faith; thus, is is accurate for her, as a Christian, to describe them as "Christian values". She neither said nor implied that they are *exclusively* Christian. In fact, the way I read her post, she seems to be saying that they are *not* necessarily exclusive to Christianity. I understood her to say that she is more interested in a person's values than in their religion, and that as long as a man shares her values (forgiveness, giving, faith, hope, love, honesty, generosity, etc.), that is more important to her than what religion he practices. I also understood her to say that she feels we would have a better country if everyone practiced these principles, and that she is glad that the founders of our country believed in them (due to the fact that the founders happened to be, for the most part, Christians, and Christianity teaches these principles.)
