I am admittedly a reluctant atheist, but having grown up in the Christian religion and having read the Bible cover-to-cover three times, I have some knowledge of the Christian faith.
Here is something that has annoyed me for a long time:
If Jesus returned to Earth tomorrow and did not identify himself, an unfortunate number of Christians would reject him outright and perhaps even despise him if they met him on the street.
After all, Jesus was Jewish.
He was very much a socialist.
He was homeless for most of his life.
He was a refugee.
An undocumented immigrant.
He was anti-death penalty.
Anti-school prayer (Matthew 6:5-6:7).
Anti-violence.
Opposed to nationalism.
He was strongly opposed and even hostile to the accumulation of wealth.
Anti-capitalist.
He demanded that you love your enemy.
He never said a single word about homosexuality, same-sex marriage, or transgender rights.
And as much as the church might have you think otherwise, Jesus was not white.
He was a brown-skinned Middle Eastern man who wore sandals to the dinner table and hung out with sex workers.
If Jesus returned to Earth tomorrow and made no attempt to identify himself, a disturbing number of Christians would reject him outright, which says a lot about how closely they are truly aligned with the man they claim to be so closely aligned with.
