The main reason I no longer identify as Christian, but do identify as (among other things) a follower of Jesus is that so many people who identify as Christians are nothing more than flaming assholes who try to make the world conform to their bigotry in the name of religion. I have no time for that.

In the story of the Good Samaritan, the Samaritan is everything that the Jewish people despised – a half-breed, and so religiously unclean, they were to avoid these people at all costs. Despite that, a Jewish person attacked by robbers and left for dead was helped by the dreaded Samaritan after being passed up by several of his Jewish colleagues. The Samaritan would have had every reason to let the injured person lay there. The odds are that, were the roles reversed, the injured man would not have helped the Samaritan because he would have felt that doing so would violate his religious beliefs.

Time and time again, Jesus and all the great teachers from all of the great religious traditions were quite clear that we are to act compassionately and help those in need. In fact, it’s virtually possible to act in accord with ones alleged religious beliefs while refusing to help someone. Despite that truth, popular Christianity in America has turned into a contest to see who can most consistently violate the teachings of Jesus in the name of Christianity. It’s not a game that has any interest for me. Neither does the long, uphill battle to reclaim the Christian traditions from morons. I’m not going to live long enough to see that happen, and I’m not inclined to waste my time pretending otherwise. You can take you wedding pizza and do whatever you want to it, because I’m simply not interested. I’d rather be the Samaritan.