Can't we all just get along?

I saw the best bumper sticker today:

"I like your Christ.
I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." ~ Ghandi

I never saw that one before and it is at once both humorous and wise. Mahatma Ghandi never minced his words. I've experienced those words myself. Even before I came out I remember being recipient of the ABUNDANCE of "unconditional love" (insert sarcasm here) that is the legacy of Christianity. Many a Sabbath day I sat in Sunday school listening to teachers tell me that we should always practice unconditional love and charity. I grew older and saw what that really meant to self-described "Christians". Unwed, pregnant teenagers are shunned. Young people choosing not to fulfill the inevitable priesthood calling ,military service or marriage are judged, outcasts. Divorced couples are lepers. Those questioning church teachings are disfellowshipped or excommunicated. How does a church authority figure of human origin become the decider of who God severs contact with? I'm not knocking people's beliefs, if that is what they want to believe and it brings them fulfillment. As for myself I took less and less of the things I was taught at face value and I examined them for myself. Being told I was "scum" by a "nice" man of the church after I came out as a gay man didn't help either. It was then that I knew you can only tell a man by his deeds and not by his words.

I remember once watching a neighbor in my home town, a man of seniority and respect in the church, go out and savagely beat the family dog who was barking. The poor creature,largely ignored by his family, was chained to a far corner of their property once he was no longer a cute puppy. Thankfully that dog was adopted by some of the finest Christians that I know who have always given unconditional love. Their example is few and far between. In our nation today I see lots of the former example rather than the latter who are so involved with telling everyone else how they should live while they themselves have a lot to answer for. Their priorities are skewed. They insert themselves in end-of-life decisions that are deeply private family matters. They attempt to force church doctrine into public schools, insisting that their brand of religious belief is correct for everyone. They obtain public funding for charity outreach but turn away those they feel do not fit their ideology. Meanwhile we have real problems in this country that they are abundantly qualified to help: poverty, homelessness, abused families, people with untreated mental health issues and children becoming involved in gang violence, to name just a few. It is much more important to these churches to demand compliance of everyone to their religious beliefs. If someone doesn't like gay marriage then they shouldn't marry someone of the same gender. If abortion is objectionable, don't have one and give children the tools to make good decisions to prevent them in the first place. If embryonic stem-cell research bothers, then address the people making thousands of frozen embryos, only to use one or two and discarding the rest . Many of these fertility patients I might add are members of the very churches that are fighting this issue. Meanwhile I'd like to hear a good explanation why someone who is dying, sick or disabled must suffer as research is literally thrown in the trash can. I'm one of those disabled by the way. I'm partially hearing impaired because of auditory nerve damage due to an illness as an infant. Research on the regeneration of auditory nerves has been halted because of this interference.

I am thankful that not all religions are conducted in this way. I was overjoyed yesterday to hear from a good friend who is follower of Wicca, a pagan religion that is older than Christianity by millennia. It was through him that I saw the deep love and respect that he and each of those in his circle had for nature, their fellow man and each other. Their marriage ceremony is called a hand-fasting and couples are bound together for one year and one day. Each day the couple is together after that is considered a blessing. I found that very moving. Though I don't practice Wicca myself, I do take away from it the profound sense of the interconnectedness of us all. Too much in this world is about "us" and "them". There is no us and them, only WE. It's amazing that after thousands of years of civilization, many of the human family have yet to learn that lesson. The United Church of Christ is a Christian denomination that does not set itself up as judge and gatekeeper. The Unitarian Universalist Church, while not following a set creed, does advocate the ability of each person to work out their own spiritual journey. I really don't believe there ever was a religion that fits every person. And, I'm glad for that. Having traveled in the world a little I've seen cultures that are very different from my own. They are not better or worse than any other culture, just different. I find that fascinating. Instead of focusing on the differences we have in our beliefs, can we focus on the similarities? Can we learn to share our world?