Sam Harris is against religion because he believes it is the main reason behind hate and violence. Can I blame him?

So-called Christians have done such a terrible job at loving each other. We feel the need to push our ideals and beliefs on others, but we do it so violently. There is an imperative need for us to show non-believers that they are living in sin and that they need to follow Jesus before it is too late. We don’t want them to be forever damned in a place where there is absolutely no connection with the only one who truly loves them. But how will they know that Jesus is the only one who truly loves them, if we are ridiculing them and showing disdain. Who would want to follow the Jesus the Crusaders claimed to follow? Who would want to follow the Jesus the Inquisitors claimed to be serving? Who would want to follow the Jesus the protestors say hate gays and lesbians? Is that a god of love?

We must become more than our hate for sin. We should hate sin; sin is against God and against our relationship with Him. What we cannot hate is the sinner. God did not create sin, but He created the one whom commits sin, and even though they sin He still loves them and calls us to do the same.

I really liked the idea that Tony the Beat Poet had in Blue Like Jazz. His confession booth really ministered to and healed a lot of people who had been hurt by religion and Christians. Tony and Don owned up to their wrongs, owned up to the fact that they had not been following Jesus in the way they should have been. After they apologized for their crimes they began to live new lives. Their new lives were ones of compassion; they cared for the homeless and the destitute. Their new lives were ones of hearing; they listened to the needs of their fellow humans. Their new lives were ones of actions, not only did they hear the needs, but they acted to fill those needs. What if every person who says he is a follower of Christ was to do this simple act of obedience? What if we were truly to live our lives as Jesus did? Then no one could blame us for the violence, death and hate in our world. We would be accurately portraying Jesus, something we should have been doing from the beginning. If we were true images of Christ, everyone around us would see that He really is the truth, the way, and the life.