On the other hand, the last time I went to an Evangelical church (while I waffle between atheist and agnostic, my wife is strongly Christian) the preacher went out of his way to preach a sermon saying that tattoos when a sin, and people with them are irredeemable monsters.
No. Really. He said that unless we get them lazered off, no matter what else we did, tattooed people like us were going to hell. Period.
Not all Christians are insane like that, hell, not even most of them, but on the other hand, the foaming at the mouth zealots have become the public face of your religion. They’re the ones that the ultra-conservatives sprinkle “dog whistles” into their speeches for, they’re the ones who fund the fight against abortion, stem cell research, and gay marriage, they’re the ones who keep Fox News in buissness, they’re the ones who insist American is a Christian Nation when we are anything but.
They’re the ones who form the “Moral Majority” and try to force their religion down everyone else’s throat, and for the most part, those right wing Christians call themselves either Evangelical or some flavor of Baptist.
But, as I said, they’re just the public face, and the ones who seek to turn us into a theocracy. On the other hand, there are evangelicals like Fred Clark at the Slacktivist blog who are genuinely good people (better than me in fact).
In closing though, if you don’t like the public face of Christians being hate mongering jag-offs, do something about it. Vote, speak out, and when you hear someone spouting off about “Christian” beliefs that have nothing to do with loving your neighbor or being like Jesus, tell ’em politely that it ain’t cool.
Because without that, the yous and the Fred Clarks won’t define what it is to be Christian in the American mind–Pat Robertson and Sarah Palin will.
Love. Peace. Metallica.
