Why are Christians So Intolerant?

Something I’ve noticed (and I’m sure most people have noticed) is that the Christians who appear to be the most religious are also the ones who are the most intolerant of anyone who is different. They preach things like love, forgiveness, and acceptance in the name of Jesus, but I guess these things only apply to other good, God-fearing Christians who follow a strict “Christian” lifestyle.

I have a Christian friend from high school who is really, really into his beliefs. And that’s okay, everyone should be allowed to follow whatever they believe in. I always thought he was a decent guy overall and it never really bothered me that the only thing he ever talked about is God. I only have contact with him on FaceBook anymore, but considering that most of my other FaceBook friends only post about Farmville and quiz results, his constant stream of posts about God and Jesus don’t bother me all that much.

What did bother me was that one day I saw that he joined a fan page for people who are against same-sex marriage. I clicked on the fan page and found that it was filled with extremely hateful, bigoted (and not at all Christian) wall posts, mostly by people claiming to be good Christians.

I asked my friend why he was being so intolerant and told him that people can’t control who they are attracted to or fall in love with, but he simply states that he can’t tolerate things that go against his beliefs. Maybe I’m missing the point since I am not religious, but this does not seem like a very Christian attitude to me. Sure you don’t have to like certain things, but you do have to tolerate them. I don’t particularly like Christianity, but I am tolerant of it and respect Christians’ rights to express their religion (except for when their beliefs deny other people their basic human rights).

If there is a God (and I’m not even going to open that can of worms right now), I don’t think he’s going to condemn people for being the way that he made them, regardless of sexual orientation, race, or what religion they were born in to.

I once heard of a kid from a conservative area who committed suicide just because he thought that there was a possibility that he could be gay. It is exactly this kind of intolerance and homophobia that causes this kind of thing. No one should have to feel so ashamed and depressed about their sexual orientation that suicide feels like their only option. I’m sure that this wasn’t the first time that a teenager ended their life rather than face a lifetime of discrimination. Maybe if people were a little more tolerant of each other there would be fewer teens ending their own lives and feeling ashamed of themselves for things that they can’t control. 

I know that most of these hard-core Christians really do think that they are doing what their God wants them to when they discriminate against gays (and anyone else for that matter), but you can’t change someone’s sexual preferences just by threatening them with promises of hellfire if they don’t change. At most you will cause them to repress who they really are, which will only cause them to have to live in their own personal hell of shame, depression, and unhappiness.

Everyone needs to learn to accept each other for who they are and stop trying to change each other or deny anyone their rights. And Christians who want to follow what Jesus taught need to learn how to be a little more accepting and forgiving of others so-called “sins,” as you might realize that some of the things that you think are sins aren’t really sins at all.