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Jesus never said a word about abortion and actual followers of Jesus would focus on His teachings
I write mostly about the climate (and in particular, A Climate Declaration), but I find myself sometimes compelled to write about religion. This seems odd — even to me — because I am a nonbeliever.
But though I do not believe in the supernatural, I find myself sympathetic to followers of Jesus. They are a nearly invisible group, especially among self-described Christians. The loudest most visible people who call themselves “Christians” defy Jesus’ teachings in both word and deed.
They defile His name with their bigotry and cruelty and they are destroying the religion of Christianity itself, because they disgust young people — and young people are the future. Young people won’t join a church of hate.
Honestly, I don’t care much about any religion per se. But I support the ideas Jesus preached: love one another, love your enemies, feed the hungry, heal the sick, care for the poor. I don’t think we actually need a God to teach us that these are good things — simple human empathy should be enough. But nonetheless, some very eloquent words attributed to Jesus could encourage the best in people. I appreciate that.
However…