I won’t spoil the rest of the video (y’all should go and watch it for yourselves), but it certainly left me feeling like absolute shit. Though, I was also very curious. The Satanic Temple has a website, so I decided to check it out and read through it. After spending a half hour or so digging around the website, I suddenly had an epiphany:

“These people are more Christ-like than most of the Christians I’ve run into!”

You read that right. The Satanic Temple cares more about loving, serving, and caring for others than so many Christians I’ve met, and so many churches I’ve attended. That realization has been gnawing at me ever since, especially because my experiences in life have, for the most part, supported that realization. 

Of course, not every church and Christian is so Pharisee-like. I know a lot of Christians (and non-Christians) who genuinely love our Creator and other people, and who genuinely do their best to show their love and service each day. I know a lot of people who, despite their imperfections and missteps, are always striving to be better for no other reason than to be... well... better, which in turn pleases the Lord. I know a lot of people who are deeply loving, humble, and faithful, doing everything they can to make the world a better place. 

Yet, so many people are so wrapped up in legalism and an unhealthy obsession with "us-vs-them", that they fail to see their own sins and the damage they're doing to others (and subsequently to God). So many people are wolves in sheep’s clothing. So many people are obnoxiously Christian on the surface, but are full of hatred, disdain, and downright evil in their hearts. So many people are, for lack of a better term, anti-Christs in a way: people who claim to be Christian, but absolutely annihilate all that it really means to be a Christian which are: Love your God, and love your neighbor as yourself, and pray for your enemies. 

Such hateful Christians do good things not out of genuine love, but to bring attention to themselves and whatever church they attend, and/or political party they adhere to. They seek to punish and oppress anyone who doesn’t share their faith and/or politics and opinions, and go out of their way to find and attack those they think deserve it. They're champing at the bit and endorsing policies they believe will make rapture happen faster (never-mind the fact that the rapture won’t happen like so many Christians think it will, because Revelations’ about how the ancient Romans were persecuting Christians, not about future events). They've taken the idea of looking forward to the afterlife to the extreme, and pretty much don't give a rat's ass about anything going on in this life, so long as they're in some sort of power so they can help speed up the rapture. 

So many Christians (particularly here in the States) have a massive persecution fetish too, and view every minor inconvenience as an attack on their faith. Yet, those same people tend to believe that God punishes humans with everything from minor bumps in the road, to health issues, to tragedies. The more a person or country is punished, the less faithful they are. I recognize that those are two very contradictory ideas, but to the Christians I’m talking about, it somehow makes sense. Even though it doesn’t. But, I’ll move on before I confuse anyone too much. 

Again, some may call me hypocritical for saying these things about some Christians. But, again, did Jesus not warn us to watch out for wolves in sheep’s clothing, and call them out when we see them? Did Jesus not ask us to voice our concerns about churches and Christians we feel have gone astray? Did Jesus not warn us about people who are “surface Christians”, who use God as a means to an end, who use their faith as a weapon of power, rather than a vehicle of love and service? Did Jesus not call the Pharisees “sons of bitches”, among many other demeaning and judgmental things?  

Was Jesus not clear when He pointed out that trees who produce bad fruit will one day be cut down? Something, something, "Sooner or later God'll cut you down. Sooner or later He'll cut you down..."