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"A lot of us Christians, rather than being followers of Jesus, we're defenders of religious certainty. And having certainty about what is and isn't true, good, and holy is actually not faith, it's just certainty. And certainty regarding matters of faith isn't Christian.
"So we end up acting like jackasses, kicking and galloping and trolling around like we own the place. All the while bellowing scripture and unfounded statistics...
"We can't love people when we're intoxicated with certainty. We can't serve people with a pure heart if we're burdened by certainty. We can't be anything remotely close to 'Christ-like' when we're certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that we know what's up regarding God. Why?
"Because we're too busy defending our rightness to be kind, thoughtful, and good.
"So instead, we kick, stomp, and wake up the neighbors shouting. And then we blame Jesus for the messes we make."
-- Matthew Paul Turner, "Why Does Jesus Turn Decent People Into Jackasses?", 2013-12-23
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Possible alternate title:
WHY DOES "JESUS" TURN DECENT PEOPLE INTO JACKASSES?
I'm not recommending it strongly-- the quotes change the meaning, and it's not my article. Still, I think it's a sufficiently interesting variation to be worth mentioning.
I don't think anyone's exactly addressed the matter of low quality Christianity making people *worse*-- that their social training and natural instincts weren't that bad, and they're being encouraged to override their habitual friendliness.
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