So often these days, Christianity is perceived as being conservative, fundamentalist, right-wing Republican, and involved in efforts to turn America into a theocracy. I firmly believe this is an abuse and perversion of what Christianity is truly about. I believe that Christ taught us to love and accept. Christ (and God) never forced his will on anybody. Christ loved everyone. Christ included everyone and especially focused on the people who were the outcasts of society. Christ touched literally and figuratively the untouchables. Those people that religous leaders of the time were ready to condemn, kill, or throw away, Jesus rescued, loved, and affirmed. I feel the challenge to live up to this example and wonder how the prevelant or at least most noticeable expression of the Christian faith in America has gone so far from this standard.

I also believe that somehow common sense has been hijacked in how we read and understand the Bible. For some reason, most fundamentalists want us to read the Bible strictly literally and usually only in the King James version. We are taught to ignore or forget the various contexts under which the Bible was constructed or the fact that perhaps the original language in which it was written might translate to words we use today, but have completely different meanings and inferences. We are taught to not think about the prejudices and politics involved in King James's translation nor think about how antiquated some of that (beautiful and poetic though it is) language is.

Unmovable God, we are your Church, called out of darkness into glorious light to proclaim your mighty acts. We confess that within this spiritual house, light and darkness continue to coexist. Here we experience both sanctity and scandal, both grace and greed. There is no place more pure, more generous, more enveloped in beauty; there is no place more compromised, more false, more enmeshed in pettiness. We can be a merciful communion of saints; we can be a poisonous brood of vipers. Lord, forgive our duplicity. Help us cultivate the best that is in us, and eliminate all that smacks of hypocrisy. In the singing and in the silence, empower us through your Holy Spirit to be the people you have called us to be.