Do you know what? Making sweeping generalizations about Christians is just as wrong as making sweeping generalizations about any other religion. If I (or anybody else) were to rip into [insert non Judeo/Christian religion name here] as a whole the way that people routinely rip apart Christians, I'd never hear the end of it ... and most likely if I made such comments I'd be condemned as one of those hypocritical Christin nuts.

Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell, et al, do not speak for all of us. In fact, they speak for relatively few of us. Most of what they and people like them preach is politically motivated. Just because some over-zealous right-wing nut forgot the commands to "love one another" and "judge not, lest you be judged also" does not mean that all of us are running around pointing fingers and condemning everybody and anybody who looks or thinks or acts differently from us to Hell. I'm a Christian, and I don't like those people any more than you heathens do (that heathens part was a joke, folks).

I do not protest at abortion clinics. I believe abortion is fundamentally wrong, but I also believe that it's a decision to be made between you, your conscience, and God. I do not believe homosexuals are an abomination to God. Yes, I believe the act of homosexuality is a sin, but again, that's between you and God. ALL sin is an abomination to God. Whether you've murdered someone or told a little white lie to your boss, it's all the same to Him. I have no more business or right to shun someone who is gay than I have to shun the guy in the office who routinely steals office supplies. I'm no better than they are. The only difference between me and a non-Christian is that I have acknowledged the sacrifice that God made for humanity, and that is the ONLY reason I get to go to Heaven.

This has become a lot preachier than I intended. Suffice it to say, we are not all judgemental, intolerant hypocrites. Some of us actually do our best to follow Jesus' example (and remember, Jesus hung out with hookers and theives and tax collectors) and love everybody. So the next time someone who claims to be a Christian pees in your Cheerios, don't go condemning the entire belief-system for the acts of a single moron (or group of morons ... those folks tend to run in packs).