It’s difficult to be Christian these days.

It’s no secret the current GOP and right wing base has wrapped themselves up in the cross and done all manner of questionable and shameful things in the name of the Lord.

I don’t blame people for hating Christians or Jesus Christ because of it. As a Christian, this stuff pains me to no end. It’s so wrong on so many levels it’s hard for me to stomach some of it.

And what really bothers me is that the fact that there are good, decent, sensible Christians out there. Sadly, we’ve been thrown under the bus thanks to Catholic sex scandals, Theocratic nutcases (Bryan Fisher), Bigoted Pastors (Fred Phelps/Terry Jones) and other generally unfortunate “spokespeople” (Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Mike Huckabee, etc.).

All of these people make Christianity seem like something so evil and rigid and cultish that no one in their right mind would want to be part of it.

But that’s not representative of Jesus at all.

These mainstream Christian political types, I don’t know what Bible they’re reading but it must have some odd passages. Last I checked, the Bible doesn’t direct a Christian to hate gays and wish they’d die, it doesn’t direct us to piss off Muslims or anyone who isn’t a Christian every chance we get. It doesn’t direct us to treat women as second class citizens.

For example, if the story of Jesus and the prostitute occurred using the brand of “Christianity” favored today by the religious right, Jesus would call the woman a useless whore, throw her to the ground and stone her himself.

I am a Christian because of Jesus. I believe the relationship between a man and his God is very personal and intimate. If you read the stories of the Bible you’ll notice many things unique about Jesus but one in particular is forgotten about so easily today: Christ NEVER disrespected anyone.

He did talk to people sternly and scold on occasion, but just as a parent would do this to a child out of love, so too did Christ. If Jesus tried to spread his message the way some of the mainstream Christians do today it would have turned out very badly, guaranteed

Not to mention Jesus was also very rational and reasonable, something sorely lacking in many Christians today.

The easiest way to make someone completely unreceptive to your message is to insult them or disrespect them before even getting to the heart of it. Imagine if a salesman walked up to you and said “Hey you black douchebag, I got a deal that you absolutely won’t believe!” Would you stick around and listen to the pitch? No. In fact you’d probably punch the poor saps lights out…or worse.

This is the equivalent to how some Christians conduct themselves these days and it’s sickening. The Bible specifically states men are imperfect and warns that God’s word and intent and desires will be twisted and misrepresented.

Please don’t misunderstand my intentions here. I’m not trying to convert anyone or come off as arrogant. I simply don’t appreciate my faith being railroaded by certain individuals on the political right and wanted to say something about it.

Don’t judge all Christians based on the morons you see featured on this blog far too often. We’re really not all like that.

Having said that, I completely understand how those personalities can drive people away from God and Christianity, which is truly sad because it’s the exact opposite of what they should be doing and what the Bible tells them to do, which is “love one another.”

Yes I do go to Church and yes I feel it’s an important part of my spiritual life, but for me the most vital of my interactions with God happen one on one, usually right before I go to sleep at night.

I try to live my life as much like Christ as possible. That means I treat everyone with respect. That means I sacrifice where I need to, that means I am generous when I can be and that means I show love wherever possible. That’s what a real Christian looks like.

I absolutely refuse to hate anyone whether they be black, Latino, gay, transgender, Muslim or Buddhist. I don’t think that’s what the Bible says and I’m reasonably certain that’s not how Christ felt either.

In fact, the greatest teaching I have received from Christianity is that there is no greater thing a man can do for his fellow man than show him proper love and respect. If everyone did that, the world would be a much better place.