More religion

Back in the late seventies when I was a young impressionable student and not long a believing Christian, an American pastor (whom I greatly respected and still do) told me that there were hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of genuine Christians in America. I simply didn't believe him. I immediately said, "There couldn't be: it'd make more of a difference".
Thirty years later, I'm not sure which is sadder: that I eventually came to believe him as a young man -- lowering my expectations of Christianity in the process -- or that I have come to realise that I was probably right to begin with -- that what often passes for Christianity there (as here and elsewhere) is really just more religion moulded to suit its adherents.

Way back then, I left the strictures (and hidden abuses) of Catholicism to follow Christ as I thought, but eventually I found myself following an Evangelical religious agenda that was ultimately little different to that which I'd abandoned. Religion just isn't the answer: Jesus is.

Don't get me wrong: I've met some wonderful and inspiring people along the way. Most of the Evangelical Christians that I've met have been lovely, genuine, sincere, loving, kind people. And they've been very kind to me personally: I'd hate to hurt any of their feelings.

But the political culture that comes across from the American religious right, supported by my friends, is just so right-wing, dogmatic, misled, misleading, and simply wrong ...that I can't stand it. Honestly, I want to have nothing to do with it.

Evangelicals don't speak for God any more than the Pope does. Or the Ayatollah, Dalai Lama, Sun Myong Moon, Bono or Sinéad O'Connor. It's just more religion, a religion invented in America (like Mormonism) and if it could all be outlawed, it'd be a good thing: Christians could just go back to loving God and our neighbour and stop trying to dictate to others.

God bless America and free it from the bondage of religion.