As much as I hate diatribes against Christianity, I understand where they're coming from. Really.
For too long, the most visible and vocal among Christians have preached a gospel of intolerance, bigotry and hatred, to the point where even many CHRISTIANS perceive them as a majority. And many Christians have resigned themselves to a life of complacency, figuring that showing up before their "bro" Jesus is more than enough to absolve them of their sins.
In short, Christianity is at war with itself.
On the "left", we have the social gospel ministers, who are right in caring for the poor and needy, but wrong in thinking that a just God doesn't care about the actions of His followers. They often make the mistake of forgetting that unconditional love means to love those that most irritate them as well as the ones with whom they agree. But they deserve honor and credit for doing God's work among society's most wretched.
On the "right", we have moral purists who want to follow every letter of the law, but seem to miss the high points. To them, any form of welfare to the poor and needy must have strings attached, not realizing that, when you've reached your lowest point in life, it's pretty damn humiliating to have to beg for that day old bread. They're willing to give IF someone does this or that, and they have a heart attack if someone applying for aid dares to light up within sight of their church.
A new branch of the latter group is the "God as cosmic vending machine" theologians who give but only out of greed; they believe God will "increase" their giving and pay them back for their faithfulness. While these folks are well meaning, you often won't get aid out of them without showing up in church regularly.
But I do not write this diatribe in the absence of hope; the remaining group, the "misfits" are where I find it. These people are fully dedicated to living the word of God, and have an active, passionate love for God. Unfortunately, these people tend to be publicity shy, as their aim is to exalt God, not themselves, and the media misses them entirely. If the atheists, Muslims, Hindi, and Buddhists knew more of these misfits, they wouldn't be as prone to dislike Christianity.
The misfits are truly square pegs in round holes. Though that term is less than flattering, its genesis can be found in nailless construction. In such construction, you do not carve round pegs; they will pull out over time. You instead carve square pegs, and when you drive them in, they hold firm without pulling out.
And so a square peg is a misfit that holds the house together.
And that is why I find so much hope among them.
signing off,
Gideon MacLeish