Religious flamewars, which you predictably set off with this, are their own circle of off-topic hell on Hacker News. Please don't do this here.

Christians of all denominations actively proselytise - it's a core part of being a Christian, spreading the 'good news'. This distinguishes the Christian ethos from most other mainstream religions which have a weak or non-existent missionary instinct.

So no, it's not unusual at all for a Christian to highlight the fact. From the point of view of a Christian in an increasingly secular world it probably feels more necessary than ever.

P.S. I am a Christian by birth but not vocation.

To be clear, only some strains of Christianity are active proselytizing. There are strains that do none at all.

Most strains of Christianity will have some form of proselytizing, though it might be muted. Plus there also tends to be ebbs and flows in the history and culture of such things. It's interesting to note that proselytizing arguably has a very significant (positive) effect on formation of liberal democracies [1].

[1]: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic965299.files/Wood...

Christian by birth? You can't be a religion by birth. Your parents were Christian when you were born but that does not make you a Christian by birth.

It's the bio in his personal blog. He can put whatever he wants in it. And I don't think he includes it because it is "fashionable", but rather a reality that a true faith defines who you are and how you operate.

It's a personal blog, and that's a bio. A short list of interests, things that might turn up in the blog.

Is it different from calling oneself an abstract impressionist? Or a functional programmer? Christian teachings can absolutely be applied in software. I mean, look no further than the Temple operating system. Christianity is not a "skin" on that project, it's intrinsic to its design.

>I mean, look no further than the Temple operating system.

Ughh. One would hope you would pick a better example than workings of a confirmed schizophrenic with an anger management issue who "talks to God".

If I were to pick an example it would be something like Larry Wall's Perl treatises.

Since the beginnings of religion?

And I'm curious, where does it "define" him? he posted a Hillsong song.

No respect for your comment I'm afraid, as it shows your own personal biases very clearly.

Then you see it's Hillsong, and it all begins to make sense.

If you don't know what Hillsong is... well.. Wikipedia. :)

I'm not entirely sure what you think isn't offensive about your comment.

1. You are responding to the comment "Since when has it become fashionable to define oneself by religion?" (aside: the answer is since forever) in the affirmative

2. You find it "interesting" that "clearly rational and intelligent people have faith", by which you say that most people who have faith (and by association, Christians) are irrational and stupid.

3. You say that you believe that you expect those who have faith must be seriously uneducated.

4. You say that people who have faith use it as a crutch.

Hope this helps.

Being offended.

I am offended by you saying that people who have faith aren't irrational. That goes against my worldview and is therefore offensive to me.

Irrationality is cognition, thinking, talking or acting without inclusion of rationality. It is more specifically described as an action or opinion given through inadequate use of reason, emotional distress, or cognitive deficiency.

i wonder; do many people usually get offended merely by some abstract sense of "going against my worldview"?

Yes. That is exactly what being offended by verbal attacks to your religion is.

"verbal attacks to your religion" can mean many things, including abusive and disrespectful behavior, so it's unclear.

I have no problem with you sharing an observation. I do have an issue with you denigrating people who have faith.

Yep, I should stop sharing opinions on things that I simply fail to understand on any level.

I'm a bit touchy about this subject as I'm a Christian myself, so sorry if my response was a bit heated.

I can't reply directly to your apology, but there is no need to apologise.

Good Karma all around.