Roxy Hammond

It was Mahatma Ghandi that said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

Lately, I’ve found myself agreeing with him.

It’s obvious religion is important in the United States. We elect presidents based on their denomination, we make laws guaranteeing people the right to freely practice their religion and we legislate based on the morality of our most dominant religion-Christianity.

Is there a problem with that? Well, not really. What I’m finding the hardest to stomach, however, is this ‘Christianity’ we pass off in our culture nowadays.

What right do I have to object? I don’t attend church, nor do I pray regularly. I have a hard time finding faith in anything. But, I am a moral person in the most basic and raw sense-I treat people with respect and understanding. I don’t like scamming or taking advantage of anyone, and I do not like to judge.

Yet I am constantly blasted by people who feel they have the right to tell me that I will be damned to an eternal hell, and to judge my way of life, simply because they call themselves Christians.

They take it upon themselves to attack me with Bible verses, in proof that since they’ve read it, they have the moral authority to tell me what I’m doing wrong.

Excuse me?

Is that what Christianity is about? Practicing a religion so you have the right to pass judgment on those who don’t? If that’s the case, you can keep your religion, and I’ll keep my lack of it.

Yet, I don’t think this is Christianity. I think this is an institutionalized version of it. I think if you have faith in a god, you don’t need the Bible, or churches, or anyone else to feel that love in your heart.

And if you truly felt that love of a Christian God, then you wouldn’t spend your time trying to convert everyone else around you, or judging those who don’t share your views. You would practice what you preach, and have the understanding that people come to terms with faith at their own pace, and everyone has their separate reasons for needing it.

Still, some of the most obnoxious Christians I know are also the biggest hypocrites. They can spend one minute talking about their love of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior, and spend the next minute treating people with judgment and intolerance.

I somehow doubt that’s the type of Christian Jesus wants them to be.

Now, I’m not expecting perfection from anybody. I myself am certainly not perfect. And as I’ve heard, God is the supreme and perfect being, not his/her followers.

I’m just asking for consistency. I’m asking that if you’re going to preach to me about God’s love, then you better reflect it in your own life. Don’t use religion as a weapon to hold against those around you. Use it like it was meant-to lead to a more thoughtful and understanding life. To love those around you, despite their downfalls.

Because after all, it was Ghandi that reminded us, “God has no religion.”

At least, my God doesn’t.

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