"most Christians are in debt up to their ears...is it the result of pride?"

I'd have thought it could well be a result of covetousness, e.g., oooh, Jones has got a new Audi, I'd better get at least a Merc to keep up with him, or even show him a thing or two.

Walking around preening oneself like a peacock or demonstrating a superior, Queen of Sheba-like attitude might be manifestations of excessive, antisocial pride. Snobbery is another symptom. But pride in moderation is a good thing. We don't want to lose our self-pride completely and go about looking like slovenly tramps/hobos. "Take a pride in your appearance/work". These are commendable aspects.

It is not accidental that Christianity regards pride as a major sin. A man of self-esteem is an unlikely candidate for the master-slave relationship that Christianity offers him. A man lacking in self esteem, however, a man ridden with guilt and self-doubt, will frequently prefer the apparent security of Christianity over independence and find comfort in the thought that, for the price of total submissiveness, God will love and protect him.

In exchange for obedience, Christianity offers salvation, that there is something to be saved from. Christianity has nothing to offer a happy man living in a natural intelligible universe. If Christianity is to gain a motivational foothold, it must declare war on earthly pleasure and happiness, and this, historically, has been its precise course of action. In the eyes of Christianity, man is sinful and helpless in the face of God, and is potential fuel for the flames of hell. Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can induce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can induce salvation.

The fundamental teaching of Jesus-the demand for conformity thus gives rise to a fundamental and viciously destructive teaching of Christianity: That some beliefs lie beyond the scope of criticism, and that to question them is sinful, or morally wrong. By Christianity declares itself and enemy of truth and of the faculty by which man arrives at truth-reason. - Robert Harbour

According the Bible, all people are made in God's image (Gen. 1:26-27) and are God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10). The Bible also teaches that Christians are God's children (Rom. 8:16) and co-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). And we see that in the example of Christ, The Bible also tells Christians to not think more highly of themselves then they ought (Rom 12:3), but to be like Christ, who became a servant in spite of being God (Phil 2:5-7).

Each individual has been given gifts from God (1 Cor 12), and we have been created for good works in Christ (Eph. 2:10) so boasting about the gifts God has given is inconsistent with our recognition that God is the one who has given us the talents and abilities. We also see that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34). Pride is the one thing that people despise when they see it in others yet they fail to recognize it in themselves.

I've never been a Christian but there are plenty of ex-Christians who understand very well the intricacies that such a life-long commitment entails. They have written many harsh and even brutal criticisms of the faith they once held. But it is a fallacy to think that just because someone isn't a member of a cult that they cannot possibly understand it. It's always the people inside the cult, the members of the religion themselves who don't realize their beliefs are false. Those of us on the outside, those of us not beholding to the dogma of the cult are the ones who can see the truth.