“Think not that those who exult in what they have done, and love to be praised for what they have not done — think not that they are secure from punishment. They shall suffer a grievous chastisement.” – Surah 3:189

They say there’s no hate like Christian love. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to all Christians, but it is unfortunately a very common occurrence nowadays. So, if you are a Christian reading this, please don’t click away yet – if anything, it should be the duty of those within a religion to hold accountable those who pervert that faith’s name. 

Among the only “true” Christians I knew growing up were my parents. They practiced everything they preached – humility, honesty, morality, work ethic, accountability, and so on. I consider myself fortunate beyond words to have grown up in such a healthy household – and that they still support me through every high and low. 

I believe people like this constitute a small minority, however. 

Once I entered high school, it became very obvious very quickly that my peers, nearly all of whom professed to be devout, God-fearing Christians, were downright awful examples of the love they liked to discuss. Knowing what I know now, this is no surprise, but it came as a shock back then. 

This is the primary reason I left the church in 2019. I never doubted there was a higher power of some sort, nor have I doubted an afterlife or some overarching sense of justice in the universe. But no longer could I associate myself with a community that was so unbelievably hypocritical. 

Again, this is not all Christians, and this problem is not only a Christian one. Being the dominant religion, however, it should be easy to see why its adherents are the topic of these sorts of discussions. 

I remember feeling like my eyes were finally wrenched open once I had these realizations, and what was a feeling of both betrayal and awe gave way to sadness and frustration over the years. 

And those feelings continue to this day. Just last week, I engaged a stranger online in defense of my fiancée’s aunt, a woman I have high respect for for many different reasons. This stranger accused my fiancée’s aunt of cherry-picking scripture, but when I pointed out to this stranger that she was, in fact, doing the very thing she was railing against, she said she saw “darkness” in my soul and said she would pray for me. 

I quite appreciate it when people say they pray for me, even though I rarely ever pray myself. But those are prayers of genuine concern and love. What this stranger online wanted was to demonstrate to the world just how pious she was. Her response to my showing her hypocrisy was to list as many “good” things she had done in her life that she could think of – volunteering, charity, and so on. 

And this was all in the same breath she was defending extrajudicial murder in the streets at the hands of the federal government. We’re meant to respect the governments, because, after all, God instituted them. Never mind that Jesus himself committed acts of rebellion. 

There are a handful of Christians with whom I am close that have truly devoted themselves to their faith and live it out every day. They do this with little regard for optics, but a genuine and heartfelt desire to make the world a better place through their faith. That is nothing short of admirable, and if that was the norm, the world likely would be a much better place. 

Unfortunately, I believe they also constitute a small minority. 

Ten years ago, I would have found it quite ironic that I chose a verse from the Qur’an to exemplify this. And, I must be honest, I am in disagreement with much of the belligerence held within the Qur’an. But there can be no justice without consequences and accountability. Forgiveness is wonderful, but when so many speak on behalf of their own God to forgive their own sins, you must wonder who is actually talking to them.