Crisis of faith

Warning, religious rant ahead…

In the last couple years, I have had a crisis of faith. I very rarely talk about my faith because it’s a hot button issue for many and for that reason I prefer to be an unknown entity.
I was raised to believe that being Christian meant following the teachings of Christ and living by his example. I was taught to be accepting, empathetic to the plight of others, give time or funds to causes that feed the hungry, heal the sick and injured, and/or clothe the poor — including outside the country. Turns out, a lot of Christians (particularly in the U.S.A.) believe otherwise. They believe that archaic cultural and patriarchal influences on the bible are more important than good works. To top that off, turns out if I don’t believe as they do I’m not technically a Christian, because a real Christian would follow “the book” blindly without regard for history.
They are incredibly self-centered rather than selfless, screaming about infringements on their right to be bigots and the supposed war on Christmas. Guess what? Not everything is about YOU. This is NOT a Christian nation, and no, your beliefs are not any more important than anyone else’s who lives here. And for the love of God (literally) educate yourselves — many of the current Christmas traditions (including the date) were appropriated from other faiths in order to make Christianity “fit” better for the cultures of those the church was recruiting to the faith. And that's OK. They are not all YOURS. Christmas has become a secular holiday — get over it. Let everyone celebrate as they see fit.
Stop acting like spoiled children. Your willful ignorance is what is killing this once great nation. Frankly I wish we could put you all in “time out” in a single state cut off from federal assistance of any kind until you learn to play well with others.

I am a Christian, but one of my own definition, and if you don’t like it tough — I don’t need or want you in my tribe anyway.